News
John Tarnai Memorial Scholarship
The JOHN TARNAI MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP will be awarded annually to selected staff members of academic survey organizations to cover expenses associated with attending the annual meetings of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) or the International Field Directors and Technologies Conference (IFD&FTC) or both.
Nominations for the award will be made by directors of academic survey organizations. The nominee should be early in their career, be pursuing a long-term career in survey work, and demonstrate one or more of the following criteria:
- commitment to producing quality survey data and related work products;
- commitment to learning and implementing best research practices;
- commitment to advancing knowledge about best research practices;
- commitment to sharing and disseminating knowledge within and/or outside the survey organization; or
- commitment to advancing the goals, mission, stability, and longevity of the survey organization.
Each year, the AASRO Awards Committee will solicit nominations for the JOHN TARNAI MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP in writing. Members of the committee will not be eligible for nomination or receipt of the scholarship while serving on the committee. Once nominations are received the Awards Committee will determine the winner or winner(s) considering the above criteria. The number and amount of scholarships to be awarded in a given year will be determined by the Awards Committee in consultation with the Executive Committee based on the availability of funds.
The recipient(s) of the scholarship will be informed in late winter or early spring to allow time for the winner to plan for attendance at AAPOR or the IFD&FTC accordingly. An announcement of the winners will also be placed on the AASRO website.
The nomination form for the Tarnai Memorial Scholarship can be found here:
AASRO John Tarnai Memorial Scholarship Nomination Form 2012-2013
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The AASRO Achievement Award
The AASRO ACHIEVEMENT AWARD will be awarded not more than once each year to academic survey researchers (individuals, groups, or organizations) that have demonstrated one or more of the following criteria:
- meritorious service or help to AASRO or to its member organizations;
- accomplished leadership in public opinion research that promotes the value of survey research, enhances public understanding of survey research, fosters advances in survey research methods as a science, improves delivery of survey services, or otherwise promotes quality in survey and public opinion data collection;
- advancement or innovation in developing or improving the capabilities of an academic survey research organization (for example, improving client interactions, respondent experience, project management, staff training, quality of survey data collection, fiscal or personnel management); or
- promoting or improving the understanding, within their own institutions, of survey research conducted by academic survey research organizations.
To encourage a broad range of candidates, there are no constraints on the educational attainment, profession, specific discipline, or tenure status of individuals who are or have been affiliated with an academic survey research organizations. The AASRO ACHIEVEMENT AWARD may honor AASRO member directors, leaders, field leaders, AASRO advocates, academic survey organization professionals, innovators, translational social behavioral scientists, or any other individuals, groups or organizations with distinguished accomplishments that meet the award criteria.
Each year, a five-person selection committee appointed by the AASRO President, with advice of the Executive Committee, considers the above criteria when determining the winner of the AASRO ACHIEVEMENT AWARD. The committee will solicit nominations and self-nominations in writing. Members of the nominating committee will not be eligible for nomination or receipt of the award while serving on the committee. The committee may decide in any given year not to make an award. As a recipient of the award, the winner or one person from the winning organization will serve on the selection committee as a voting member the subsequent year. Committee members (other than the prior-year recipient) will serve staggered two-year terms.
The official presentation of the award will normally be timed to coincide with the annual AASRO Directors Meeting.
The nomination form for the Annual Award can be found here:
AASRO Achievement Award Nomination Form 2012-2013
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Indiana's John Kennedy honored with AASRO’s first achievement award
John M. Kennedy, emeritus senior researcher and former long-time Director of the Indiana University Center for Survey Research, received the first ever Achievement Award from the Association of Academic Survey Research Organizations (AASRO). The award will henceforth be known as the John M. Kennedy Achievement Award and acknowledges Kennedy’s decades of service toward supporting academic survey research.
Kennedy directed the IU Center for Survey Research for 25 years, from 1987 to early 2012. The CSR provides survey services to university faculty, government agencies, media, and nonprofit organizations. 
Under Kennedy’s leadership, the center helped to launch the widely cited National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), an Internet and postal survey of college and university undergraduates at more than 750 U.S. and Canadian schools. NSSE, which began in 1999, now covers a sample of more than 2 million students. The CSR also carries out the Law School Survey of Student Engagement, in which more than 80 law schools participate.The AASRO award also honors Kennedy’s contributions to the broader community of academic survey centers. In 1995, Kennedy organized the first of a long series of annual, informal meetings of academic survey directors, which eventually led to the creation of the Association of Academic Survey Research Organizations. Today, AASRO is an association of over 60 academic survey research organizations, representing survey organizations from both private and public universities 
across the United States and Canada. AASRO’s mission is to support and promote excellence in survey research conducted in academic settings. Since the organization formed in 2008, Kennedy served on the steering committee and then in a presidency role on the first executive committee.
In 2008, Kennedy also served as the first editor of the online journal Survey Practice, which provides practical information that supports the production of surveys, the application and outcomes of survey methods research, and documents the changing conditions that impact survey quality and survey organizations.
Under Kennedy’s guidance, Survey Practice has become a go-to resource for survey practitioners.
“John’s tireless service to the research survey profession is outstanding,” says Thomas Guterbock, chair of the AASRO Achievement Award committee and past president of AASRO. “Few people can claim to have made such important contributions to our field in such a variety of ways. We are so pleased to honor John as the first recipient of the AASRO Achievement Award.”
Citing “the lasting impact that John leaves on the academic survey research community and AASRO,” Yasamin Miller, current AASRO president, announced that “the AASRO Achievement Award will henceforth be named the John M. Kennedy Achievement Award.”
Download a PDF of this Press Release.
The AASRO Timeline
The History and Archives Committee has prepared a timeline to show AASRO's history. Click the link below to view photos from our recent Directors Meetings and other significant milestones in our short history:
2012 Annual Meeting of AASRO
Join Us in Georgia!!
The 2012 Annual Meeting of the Association of Academic Survey Research Organizations (AASRO) will be held at the University of Georgia March 1st – 3rd, 2012. Persons affiliated with university-based survey research centers in the U.S. and Canada are welcome to join us for several days of meetings regarding common issue and challenges. This is a great opportunity to meet peers at other institutions in an informal, collegial setting.
This year, there will be no limit on the number of attendees from a single organization so please encourage others at your organization to attend.
To register for the program and make hotel accommodations, please click on the link to the Georgia Center at the University of Georgia.
The Future of the Academic Survey Research Organization
Dr. Tom Guterbock, Director of the Center for Survey Research at the University of Virgina, offers a look into the future for academically-based survey research centers. PDF