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32nd SAAIR: Annual Conference 2025
Kalahari Waterfront
Thohoyandou, Limpopo Province, South Africa, October 27-31, 2025
Conference websitehttps://www.saair-web.co.za/2025-32nd-saair-conference/
Submission linkhttps://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=32ndsaair
Abstract registration deadlineMay 16, 2025
Submission deadlineJune 30, 2025
Acceptance/revision or rejectionAugust 18, 2025
Topics: funding the future from insight to impact bridging the skills gap ensuring excellence and global commitments

OVERVIEW

Since its establishment in 1994, SAAIR has been committed to advancing the understanding, planning, and operational effectiveness of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Southern African region and across Africa. As part of its ongoing mission, the Association supports its members by offering capacity development and networking opportunities. Recognising the ever-changing landscape of HEIs, SAAIR strives to expose its members to diverse perspectives, research methodologies, and best practices from beyond the traditional higher education framework.

The 32nd SAAIR Conference, themed "Towards Excellence: Enhancing Funding Pathways and Student Outcomes through Human-Centric AI, Impactful Research, and Operational Intelligence", serves as a key platform for advancing this commitment. This Conference offers a unique opportunity for practitioners, university leaders, and researchers to engage with current best practices, sector developments, and innovative research. It fosters a multidisciplinary environment where various stakeholders can collaborate, share knowledge, and build meaningful partnerships that impact academic and professional work.

The SAAIR Executive Committee established a unifying theme for all SAAIR events in 2025 and 2026, captured in the DISCO: Data, Impact, Strategy, Capacity, and Optimisation. These five pillars are essential for building a sustainable, data-driven future in higher education and will guide the direction of the conference and its sub-themes. The DISCO framework highlights the importance of promoting a data-driven culture where analytics and evidence inform decision-making across the sector. It emphasises impact and sustainability by designing initiatives that deliver measurable, long-term value, ensuring relevance beyond short-term cycles. The theme also focuses on strategy and policy influence, encouraging active participation in shaping institutional strategies and contributing to national and regional policy discussions. Capacity and professional development are key, with targeted initiatives designed to strengthen expertise and leadership, while exploring opportunities for formal qualifications. Lastly, optimisation and innovation are central, leveraging Artificial Intelligence, digital literacy, and emerging technologies to foster innovation and improve higher education systems.

CONFERENCE SUB-THEMES

The Conference will focus on the following sub-themes, each aligning with the DISCO framework:

  • Funding the Future: Advancing sustainable financial planning and resource optimisation in a rapidly evolving academic landscape.
  • From Insight to Impact: Strengthening strategic governance through data-driven decision-making and emerging technologies.
  • Bridging the Skills Gap: Empowering workforce development through human-centred AI and future-focused higher education.
  • Ensuring Excellence: Enhancing quality assurance frameworks to support transformative, sustainable higher education systems.
  • Global and Continental Commitments: Advancing higher education’s role in achieving the UN 2030 SDGs and Africa’s Agenda 2063 aspirations

SAAIR STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

 The SAAIR exist to fulfil the following: 

  • To advance research and analysis leading to the production of improved management information for understanding, planning, management, and operation of higher educational institutions and agencies.
  • To encourage developing and applying appropriate methodologies and techniques from many disciplines to further such research, analysis, and planning.
  • To encourage collecting, interpreting, exchanging, and disseminating information concerning higher education and its institutions.
  • To further the professional development and training of individuals engaged in institutional research and analysis or interested in its utilisation in planning, management, resource allocation and improving higher education.

TYPES OF CONTRIBUTIONS

The SAAIR encourages proposals from and attendance by all interested in institutional research, learning analytics, quality assurance, strategic and academic planning, and related areas such as teaching-learning and all its associated sub-disciplines and fields of study. The conference aims to attract professionals and higher education scholars to share their knowledge and expertise in higher education management, specifically focusing on institutional research, strategic planning, academic planning, business intelligence, quality assurance and enhancement, and statutory reporting. The following types of contributions will be considered for presentation at the conference:

Contributed paper (CP)

This is a contributed paper in which the author or authors share insights from either research or practice. The paper may present findings from a research study, a case report, or the application of a particular methodology in practice. It could also explore theoretical and conceptual issues relevant to the conference's theme. The proposed paper may draw from original data collection, secondary data analysis, or quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. Contributed papers will be scheduled for 30-minute slots, with at least 10 minutes for discussion.

Panel discussion (PD)

This is a collegial discussion of a topic relevant to the conference theme by several discussants. The outline for such a presentation should describe the topic and the central issues that will be explored. It should also describe how the differing perspectives of each participant will contribute to the topic's development. The total time allowed for a discussion panel will be 60 minutes, of which at least 20 minutes should be dedicated to discussion.

Pre-Conference workshop (CW)

A workshop should facilitate active involvement by participants in deliberations around a topic relevant to the conference's theme. It should include a brief introduction followed by planned activities/engagement processes. The outline for a proposed workshop should describe the topic, participants' activities, the audience targeted through the workshop and its intended outcomes. The outline should also specify any special requirements that may be needed for the workshop (e.g., individual laptops for participation, venue specification, etc.). Please note that such specifications will need to fit in with the overall logistical arrangements for the conference. The total time allowed for a conference workshop will be at least 180 minutes.

Poster presentation (PP)

A poster presentation is a visual presentation for conference attendees to view. Posters can depict research or evaluation findings, outline a research process, or describe a program. The presenter(s) will be available at the poster for discussion at a specific time. The total time allowed for a poster spotlight will be 5 minutes.

Demonstration (D)

A demonstration displays materials related to a project related to research or practice. These may include a variety of formats, such as computer programs or multimedia presentations of a project. The total time allowed for a demonstration is 30 minutes, of which at least 10 minutes should be dedicated to discussion.

PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCESS

Proposal evaluation is an important activity in the run-up to the annual conference. The SAAIR Exco remains committed to coordinating the evaluation process fairly, objectively, and rigorously while also considering issues such as the spread of proposals from institutions across Southern Africa and all types of institutions.

In facilitating this, the following should be noted:

  1. A panel of experts will assess proposals against a pre-determined list of quality criteria (see below).
  2. All evaluations are undertaken through a double-blind review process.
  3. Where proposals are rated at roughly the same quality level, the evaluation committee appointed by the Exco will consider the number of proposals by an individual researcher and the type of institution to which the individual researcher(s) are affiliated to ensure a reasonable spread without neglecting the quality requirements as evaluated by the peer review panel.
  4. Contributions that make a scholarly contribution to addressing the theme of the conference will be considered alongside submissions that, while not directly addressing the theme, focus on one or more of the objectives of SAAIR, namely, "to benefit, assist, and advance institutional research leading to improved understanding, planning, and operation of higher education institutions." Both types of submissions will be equally considered for acceptance, based on their relevance and contribution to the field.

The following criteria will be used to guide the selection of presentations:

General criteria applicable to all proposals:

  • Whether the proposal links to one or more of the SAAIR’s objectives, namely “to benefit, assist and advance institutional research leading to improved understanding, planning and operation of institutions of higher education”;
  • The degree to which the proposal links to the Conference theme (Submissions that do not directly address the theme or sub-themes of the conference will also be considered, provided that they have a clear focus on one or more of the objectives of SAAIR);
  • The overall clarity of the proposal (e.g., quality of writing, organisation of ideas, clarity of assumptions, logic of arguments, etc.);
  • The importance, significance and relevance of the topic and major issue(s) addressed for institutional research; and
  • The potential significance of the contribution.

Specific criteria applicable to contributed papers:

  • Appropriateness of the theoretical or conceptual framework;
  • Soundness of research design;
  • Appropriateness of data sources or evidence used;
  • Clarity of exposition of ideas, analyses, arguments and conclusions; and
  • Evidence that the research is near completion and that the paper will be completed by the time of the conference (e.g., preliminary results).

Specific criteria applicable to panel discussions:

  • Overall focus of the panel discussion and major issues/viewpoints addressed;
  • How the collective issues/viewpoints fit together to create a coherent whole.
  • How the proposed panel will provide a learning experience of value to delegates.
  • Clarity in exposition of ideas, analyses, arguments, and conclusions.

Specific criteria applicable to conference workshops:

  • Overall focus of the workshop and major issues addressed;
  • Soundness of design;
  • Appropriateness of data sources or evidence used;
  • Clarity of exposition of ideas, analyses, arguments and conclusions to be shared with participants; and
  • Clarity of the topic, participant activities, and the intended outcomes.

Specific criteria applicable to posters:

  • Timeliness and general interest regarding the topic;
  • Appropriateness of the theoretical and methodological approaches pursued;
  • Clarity of exposition of ideas, analyses, arguments and conclusions;
  • Preliminary findings, conclusions and implications; and
  • Quality of organisation and format of the proposed content.

Specific criteria applicable to demonstrations:

  • Soundness of design;
  • Appropriateness of data sources or evidence used;
  • Quality of proposed content;
  • Quality of organisation and format of the proposed content.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

Members of the SAAIR and other interested colleagues are invited to respond to this call for contributions to the 2025 Conference. To assist the organisers in selecting contributions, interested persons are requested to submit the following:

  1. A completed cover page. The format of the cover page is provided below.
  2. An outline of their proposed contribution for consideration (see proposal evaluation process above), including an abstract for inclusion in the conference programme if the proposal is successful. The format is provided below.

  3. Abstracts should be submitted by 30 June 2025, and the acceptance notification will be sent by 18 August 2025.

    Presenters/authors are requested to submit an abstract and outline (see below for details instructions) of their proposed contribution at  {add the link once easychair conference approved}

    Before sending proposals, you must have an account with EasyChair. If you do not have one, you can register for free at https://easychair.org/account/signup

Cover page for proposals:

  1. Title of Presentation
  2. Sub-theme of Conference linked to Presentation:
  3. Presentation type:
    • Contributed paper
    • Panel discussion
    • Conference workshop
    • Poster presentation
    • Demonstration
  4. Presenter(s)/Author(s) – names, institution(s), email addresses, daytime phone number(s) and mobile number(s)

Outline and abstracts should be submitted in the following formats:

Format for outline: Panel Discussion and Conference Workshop (required for peer evaluation):

  • No identifying information about the author(s) (these should be provided on the cover page).
  • English language only.
  • MS Word format.
  • Not exceeding 600 words, but providing enough detail to evaluate the proposal.
  • It should be evident from the outline how the proposal will meet the general and specific criteria.

Format for abstracts: Contributed Paper, Poster Presentation and Demonstration (for inclusion in Conference booklet if accepted):

  • No identifying information about the author(s) (these should be provided on the cover page).
  • English language only.
  • MS Word format.
  • Not exceeding 200 words in length.
  • No illustrations, graphs or references should be included.

 

Call for contributions

The call is open, so please submit as soon as possible.   

We look forward to receiving your abstracts and welcoming you to the 30th SAAIR Conference.

Sincerely,
Dr. Patience Mativandlela and UNIVEN SAAIR Conference
Team email: SAAIR.Conference@univen.ac.za
Conference website: SAAIR Conference 2025
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