This Year’s Theme
The Cost of Survey Research — sustaining academic centers under financial pressure.
Welcome to the Garden State. We can’t wait to bring AASRO to Rutgers and show you a little Jersey hospitality.
Our Wednesday evening keynote at the historic Eagleton mansion sets the stage, and every discussion session builds directly on it. As always, there’s plenty of room for the candid, center-to-center conversation that makes this meeting so worthwhile. This year’s sessions cover revenue and pricing, managing centers in lean times, retaining great staff, AI as a cost-saving tool, navigating politically sensitive research, and making the case for your center to your institution.
New This Year: A Vendor Exhibition Over Meals
A handful of carefully selected partners — tools many of us already use — will exhibit during coffee and lunch. It’s a low-key way to see what’s new and connect directly, and their sponsorship lets us hold registration well below what a meeting like this usually costs. We’re finalizing the exact fee now; we’ll confirm it soon, and we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Draft Agenda
Three days on the banks of the Raritan. Sessions and times subject to change.
Wednesday, October 7 — Arrival & Welcome
- Afternoon — Registration & packet pickup
- 5:00 pm — First-Timer & New Member Mixer + speed networking
- 6:15 pm — Welcome Dinner (Eagleton mansion)
- 7:00 pm — Awards Ceremony (Tarnai Scholarship & Kennedy Achievement Award)
- 7:30 pm — Keynote: Survey Costs (theme-setter for the full meeting)
Thursday, October 8 — Building Resilient Centers
- 8:00 — Continental breakfast
- 8:30 — Welcome & logistics
- 8:40 — Annual Business Meeting (officer & committee reports)
- 9:30 — Introductions & 2-minute center updates
- 10:30 — Break
- 10:45 — Managing Centers in Lean Times: One Year Later — who weathered the cuts, and how
- 12:15 — Group photo & lunch
- 1:30 — Know Your Worth: Revenue, Pricing & Smart Partnerships — diversifying revenue, pricing bids, protecting the center
- 3:00 — Break
- 3:15 — Navigating Politically Sensitive Research — protecting funding and staff in a shifting climate
- 4:45 — Wrap-up · evening dinner groups
Friday, October 9 — Working Smarter
- 8:00 — Continental breakfast
- 8:30 — AI That Works for You — AI as a labor-cost story
- 9:30 — Keeping Great People — retention and succession without the abstraction
- 10:30 — Break
- 10:45 — Streamlining Operations — project management, deliverability & text-to-web
- 12:00 — Lunch
- 1:00 — Making Your Center Impossible to Ignore — data release, media relations & advocacy
- 1:45 — Open Space: The Future of Survey Research — attendee-chosen breakouts
- 3:30 — Breakout recap
- 4:00 — Group feedback · passing the gavel · wrap-up
- Evening — Optional Friday social hour
Lodging
Book early — there’s no room block this year.
We don’t have a room block or discounted rate for 2026, so you’ll reserve your own hotel directly. Availability in the area fills up fast, so booking soon gives you the best choice of location and price. Note that none of the area hotels — including the Inn — are within walking distance of the meeting spaces, so plan for a car or ride share.
Stay on-site: Rutgers University Inn & Conference Center
The meeting venue itself has a limited number of guest rooms — not enough for the full conference, so book immediately if you’d like to stay on-site. Easily reached by car or ride share, with a large parking lot.
Closest alternatives — about 5 minutes’ drive:
- Heldrich Hotel — 10 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick — 732-729-4670
- Hyatt Regency — 2 Albany Street, New Brunswick — 732-873-1234
Additional area hotels — a short drive:
- Comfort Suites — 555 Old Bridge Turnpike, East Brunswick — 732-967-1505
- Days Hotel — 195 Route 18 South, East Brunswick — 732-828-6900
- Doubletree Hotel — 200 Atrium Drive, Somerset — 732-469-2600
- Embassy Suites — 121 Centennial Avenue, Piscataway — 732-980-0500
- Hampton Inn — 841 Georges Road, North Brunswick — 732-246-3555
- Hilton East Brunswick — 3 Tower Center Boulevard, East Brunswick — 732-828-2000
- Holiday Inn Express — 4 Tower Center Boulevard, East Brunswick — 732-247-6800
Getting to New Brunswick by Train
New Brunswick sits right on NJ Transit’s Northeast Corridor Line, so the train is your easiest option from anywhere in the region. Note that the station isn’t within walking distance of the venue, so plan for a short cab or ride-share for the final leg.
From Newark Airport (EWR): Take the free AirTrain from your terminal to the Newark Airport Rail Station, then a southbound NJ Transit Northeast Corridor train (toward Trenton) to New Brunswick. About 35 minutes, with departures roughly every half hour.
From Philadelphia Airport (PHL): Ride SEPTA’s Airport Line into Center City, transfer to a Trenton-bound train at 30th Street Station, then change at Trenton Transit Center to an NJ Transit train to New Brunswick. Plan on about two hours. Joint NJ Transit/SEPTA tickets are available at 30th Street Station and make the Trenton transfer simpler.
By Amtrak: Northeast Corridor trains (from Boston, New York, Washington, and points between) connect at Newark or Trenton to an NJ Transit train into New Brunswick. Some Amtrak trains stop in New Brunswick directly.
Registration
Our registration page is in the works and opens soon. It will capture the full schedule, final fee, hotel list, and travel guidance in one place — keep an eye on your inbox. Questions in the meantime? Email akoning@rutgers.edu.
Hosted by
The Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling, Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Association of Academic Survey Research Organizations (AASRO)