EDUCAUSE Annual Conference 2023

#EDU23frjp
Visits to Oakton Community College,
Harper College,

University of Chicago,

EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative Annual Meeting 2023
French & Japanese Delegations Joint Report
John Augeri, PhD (Ed.)

Shoji Kajita, PhD (Ed)Laurent Flory

Takuto Matsuhashi

Julien Gibert

Tatsuya Tohyama

Frédéric Habert
Sylvie Haouy
Thierry Koscielniak, PhD
David Rongeat
Bruno Urbero, PhD
Emmanuelle Vivier
Olivier Wong-Hee-Kam

Forewords

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Contributors

7

Introduction & Trends of Higher Education in the US

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Laurent Flory - French Delegation
Political context

8

Legislative context

10

Economic context

11

Conclusions

13

EDUCAUSE Top-10 Issues 2024

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Laurent Flory - French Delegation
Institutional Resilience

15

Issue #1 - Cybersecurity as a core competency - Balancing cost and risks

18

Issue #2 - Driving to better decisions - improving data quality and governance

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Issue #3 - The enrollment crisis - Harnessing data to empower decision-makers

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Issue #4 - Driving deep into data - Leveraging analytics for actionable insights to improve learning and student success

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Issue #5 - Administrative cost reduction - Streamlining processes, data, and technologies

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Issue #6 - Meeting students where they are - Providing universal access to institutional services

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Issue #7 - Hiring resilience - Recruiting and retaining IT talent under adverse circumstances

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Issue #8 - Financial keys to the future - Using technology and data to help make tough choices

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Issue #9 - Balancing budgets - Taking controls of IT cost and vendor management

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Issue #10 - Adapting to the future - Cultivating institutional agility

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Honorary issue: AI… Friend or foe - Developing and institutional approach

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Conclusion

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On-Site Visits

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Frédéric Habert & John Augeri, PhD - French Delegation / Shoji Kajita, PhD, Takuto Matsuhashi & Tatsuya Tohyama - Japanese Delegation
Visit to Harper College

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Visit to University of Chicago

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Visit to Oakton Community College

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ELI Annual Meeting 2023

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John Augeri, PhD - French Delegation
Context

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Structure and main topics of the 2023 edition

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Examples of sessions and posters

51

Comments and positioning in relation to EDUCAUSE Annual Conference

53

Learning Spaces

54

John Augeri, PhD - French Delegation
Meeting of the Learning Space Design Community Group54

FLEXspace 3.0

55

Trends and Perspectives of the Learning Spaces

56

Hybridizations & HyFlex

58

John Augeri, PhD - French Delegation
EDUCAUSE Research reports on trends among Teachers and Students

58

HyFlex implementations: Tools and Strategies

62

Two challenges for IT Management

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Emmanuelle Vivier - French Delegation
Adapting to the future and cultivating institutional agility

64

Resilient hiring: recruiting and retaining talents in unfavorable circumstances

67

Innovations and Trends in Educational Technologies - 360° View

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Thierry Koscielniak, PhD - French Delegation
Generative AI sessions

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XR sessions

76

Other topics sessions

80

Exhibit hall85

AI and Student Success: an ubiquitous presence

88

Bruno Urbero, PhD - French Delegation
Introduction

88

Analyzing students' digital experience through user research

89

Improve student success using cross-listing across a range of institutions

89

Optimizing the nancial aid process, increasing enrollment and retention with AI

90Using AI to foster interaction with and between students

91

Develop an application that brings value to students to encourage their commitment

92

Developing a student-centered ecosystem to foster a sense of belonging

93

Con dentiality: an asset for the university

93

Conclusion

94

What’s up Doctor Data ?

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Sylvie Haouy & David Rongeat - French Delegation
EDUCAUSE gives you a dose of data literacy

95

A booster injection of Data Governance - Strong, shared governance -97

A prescription for healing and being more resilient - Conclusions and perspectives -100

Research Data Management: Current Status and Challenges

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Tatsuya Tohyama - Japanese Delegation
Handling of research data

103

Storage of research data

104

Organizational structure supporting research data management

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Conclusion

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Computing, Storage, Network… Where does the Cloud t in ?

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Olivier Wong-Hee-Kam - French Delegation
Cloud in Research ?

107

Network

113

A few thoughts

117

Security, Privacy and Compliance

119

Julien Gibert - French Delegation
Allocating budgets to security is key

119

Utilizing frameworks to facilitate compliance with rules and regulations

120

Management of privacy is delegated to each university

121

Special Thanks

125

Credits

125

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The Annual Conference 2023 held in Chicago in October marked the 10th anniversary of the EDUCAUSE
French Delegation. From the outset, this initiative has sought to provide the French Higher Education community
with an international perspective on digital issues, by bringing together complementary pro les able toappreciate the major trends and prospects. However, from an initial philosophy of simple participation thatprevailed in the early years, this decade saw an increasing involvement of this Delegation’s members at various
levels of EDUCAUSE.
We have been selected over 15 presentations on a number of topical subjects. In addition, several of ourdelegates are mobilized each year as proposal reviewers for the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference and ELI Annual
Meeting, as well as members of the respective program committees (in 2019 and 2023). Lastly, some of us are
members of expert panels for the EDUCAUSE Horizon Report and annual Top-10 issues, are active in various
thematic Community Groups (XR and Learning Spaces in particular), or are involved as editors of reference
articles and translators of tools1.
Recognition of these different levels of intervention has enabled us to forge privileged connections withEDUCAUSE and in particular its executive members (President, Vice-Presidents and Directors). Our actions
have also given us signi cant visibility within the North American academic community and beyond, leading to
the establishment of formal collaborations, some of which are long-standing.
Amongst them, through long lasting exchanges and meetings during the conference, different bonds
increasingly created themselves during the years between the French and the Japanese Delegations, to nallyreach a formal collaboration around the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference 2022. Practically speaking, it consisted
as a rst step to involve a member of the Japanese Delegation in the on-site visits the French one issystematically organizing before and after the event (25 of them have been conducted since 2013), and then asa second step to extend the French Delegation Annual Report published since 10 years (19 editions in French
and English, representing 1500 pages) to integrate contributions from the Japanese Delegation, and to release a
rst ever Japanese extended translation, which we are very happy to present you today.
These different actions all express our commitment to exchanging, raising awareness, informing, inspiring, andsharing to support the development of digital technology in our respective Higher Education communities, andbeyond. We expect this report and the overall French/Japanese cooperation to contribute to the development of
the digital in Higher Education and the innovation in the Teaching and Learning practices.
We wish you a pleasant and informative read.

The EDUCAUSE French Delegation Steering Committee
John Augeri, Laurent Flory, Thierry Koscielniak and Bruno Urbero

1 Especially for the French and Japanese Translations of the EDUCAUSE Learning Space Rating System (LSRS), see https://

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Forewords

The AXIES International Collaboration Of ce has organized AXIES receptions and seminars at EDUCAUSE
Conferences to provide opportunities for Japanese participants to exchange opinions with EDUCAUSE leaders
and to interact with EDUCAUSE-like organizations in other countries. In FY2022, we started a trial delegation
program for EDUCAUSE Conferences to promote the globalization of the AXIES human network by sharing
knowledge through EDUCAUSE conferences and strengthening cooperation with organizations that promote
the use of ICT in universities, while nurturing successors with an international mindset for the post COVID-19
era. The EDUCAUSE Conference delegation program was initiated on a trial basis. In particular, one of our goals
is to strengthen cooperation with EDUCAUSE-like organizations that promote the use of ICT in universities invarious countries, including EDUCAUSE, and we sought cooperation with France, which has already sent adelegation to EDUCAUSE conferences for many years.
The French delegation is supported by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, and its
organization and quality far exceed those of the Japanese delegation. The Japanese delegation participated in
the EDUCAUSE Conferences with Mr. Takanori Matsuura (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology
Graduate University), who was selected through an open call last year, Dr. Takuto Matsuhashi (University ofElectro-Communications), who was selected through an open call this year, and Mr. Tatsuya Touyama(Information Division, Kyoto University), who participated with independent funding, and they joined the Frenchdelegation's site visit with us. In both years, the results were reported at the AXIES Annual Conference through aorganized session, but this year, for the rst time, we decided to write a report jointly with the French delegation.
The French delegation's report was compiled in French and translated into English and Japanese, and theJapanese delegation added to the French report. In this sense, we would like to thank the French delegation forproviding us with this opportunity. In particular, we would like to express our special thanks to Dr. John Augeri,
who was in charge of liaison with the French delegation, including the compilation of this report and contribution
to the organized sessions at the AXIES annual conferences.

Tsuneo Yamada (The Open University of Japan), Shoji Kajita (Nagoya University/Kyoto University),
International Collaboration Of ce, AXIES

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Contributors
French Delegation

John Augeri, PhD

Laurent Flory

Center for Teaching & Learning Director
International Projects and Uses in Institutions Manager
Ile-de-France Digital University
French HE & Research Ministry National Software Agency
EDUCAUSE Learning Spaces Community Group Member CSIESR Board Member/Secretary/International strategy leader
ELI Annual Meeting 2023 Program Committee Member
laurent. ory@cnlesr.fr/laurent. ory@csiesr.eu
EDUCAUSE Review Advisory Board Member
EDUCAUSE Top-10 Issues Panel Member
john.augeri@unif.fr

Julien Gibert
Head of Conception and Developments
Abes
gibert@abes.fr

Frédéric Habert
EdTech Department Manager
Nantes University
frederic.habert@univ-nantes.fr

Sylvie Haouy

Thierry Koscielniak, PhD

David Rongeat

Bruno Urbero, PhD

Enterprise Architect
Côte d’Azur University
CSIESR Board Member
Sylvie.HAOUY@univ-cotedazur.fr/sylvie.haouy@csiesr.eu

Chief Digital Of cer
Le CnamCSIESR Board Member/EUNIS Board Member
EDUCAUSE eXtended Reality (XR) Community Group Member
EDUCAUSE XR Community of Practice Member
thierry.koscielniak@lecnam.net/thierry.koscielniak@csiesr.eu

Digital Manager
Department of Digital Strategy & Transformation
AMUE
david.rongeat@amue.fr

French HE & Research Ministry National Software Agency Director
CSIESR Board Member/Secretarybruno.urbero@enseignementsup.gouv.fr/bruno.urbero@csiesr.eu

Emmanuelle Vivier

Olivier Wong-Hee-Kam

CIO
Picardie Jules Verne University
CSIESR Board Member / President
Emmanuelle.Vivier@u-picardie.fr/Emmanuelle.Vivier@csiesr.eu

Digital Vice-President
Rennes University
Vice-President of VP-Num Association
olivier.wong-hee-kam@univ-rennes.fr

Japanese Delegation

Shoji Kajita, PhD

Takuto Matsuhashi

Tatsuya Tohyama

Professor
Kyoto University
kajita.shoji.5z@kyoto-u.ac.jp

Assistant Professor
The University of Electro-Communications
ta.matsuhashi@uec.ac.jp

Technical Staff
Kyoto University
tohyama.tatsuya.6x@kyoto-u.ac.jp

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Introduction & Trends of Higher
Education in the US
Laurent Flory - French Delegation

The 2023 edition marks a return to normal for the French delegation at EDUCAUSE. The COVID-19 crisis, whichbrought about signi cant changes in society, especially in Higher Education (HE), now seems to be a thing of thepast, giving way to a new normal. EDUCAUSE is a non-pro t association that unites technology, academia,
industry and campus players to promote higher education through the use of information technology. Amongother things, it hosts an annual conference that attracts several thousand digital education professionals,
researchers, decision-makers and solution providers. This year’s study tour was lled with valuable interactions
and exchanges with teams from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, especially the French consular teams responsible
for higher education and research. We would like to thank them for their warm welcome and the high level of
discourse. We also deepened our relationship with the Japanese delegation, with whom we conducted site
visits for the second year in a row. For the rst time, the 2023 report of the French Delegation to EDUCAUSE(DFE) will be published in Japanese, highlighting a collaborative effort between the two delegations as coauthors.
Our site visits afforded us an in-depth insight into the ecosystem of community colleges, speci cally public
undergraduate institutions with a vocational emphasis. We took note of the diversity of these institutions, which
are not invariably underprivileged. We also had the opportunity to re-engage with esteemed institutions such as
the University of Chicago. Founded in 1890, the University of Chicago is a private research university that ranks
as one of the most prestigious and in uential institutions in the United States and globally. Our previous visit tothis institution was in 2019, just before the emergence of the pandemic. As with each report, this introductory
section presents the delegation’s perception of HE in the United States. It also aims to contextualize the report
within the ever-evolving North American political, economic and societal landscape. This view is by nature
subjective, incomplete, and partial.

Political context
The 2023 edition took place in a period of normally calm political activity, situated between the 2022 mid-term
elections and the race for the nomination, and then the elections in November 2024. Yet EDUCAUSE opened
within a context of turbulence and major national and international crises.
Driven by its extremes, the Republican party impeached Kevin McCarthy, Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives, on October 3, following a motion for his ouster introduced by Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, afervent supporter of Donald Trump. It took two weeks for Elise Stefanik (also a Trump supporter) to replace him.
The tragic events, followed by the war between Israel and Hamas, which took place during the conference
triggered an explosion whose consequences are still unknown, and objectively poured oil on the re, especiallyin Higher Education.
Growing divisions continues to profoundly mark American society. The post-Trump era has yet to be settled.
Societal rifts between Republicans and Democrats, as well as between big cities and remote hamlets, or
between coastal and inland inhabitants, but also between ethnic communities, are intensifying. Re ecting the
Trump administration’s alternate facts, the USA today presents a polarization of irreconcilable realities, with
Americans living in distinct, politicized and diverging worlds, where conspiracy is at its height. In 2023, the Biden
administration faced two major defeats in the eld of higher education. In June 2023, the Supreme Court, by avote of six to three, ruled in opposition to the af rmative action policy for admission to institutions of higher

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learning. In other words, the favoring of black and Latino student applications for college admission, in place for
78 years to promote diversity without strict quotas, will no longer apply. This measure, initially introduced byPresident Kennedy in 1961, had spread to various sectors, including HE. This decision has cast doubt on
selection procedures for entry into higher education, impacting all institutions from a technical and organizational
point of view.
Eight states had already abolished af rmative action by July 23, though race or ethnicity still comprised morethan 25% of college selection criteria (see the Figure below2).

In August 2022, the Biden administration pledged to forgive a portion of student debt under certain conditions.
This measure, with an estimated cost of between $10,000 and $20,000 per person, was intended to bene t
nearly forty million Americans. But it was rejected by Republicans as unfair to those who had already repaid theirloans. Contested in court, it was blocked by an appeals court, pending review by the Supreme Court.
Confronted with these obstacles, on the eve of the EDUCAUSE conference, the government introduced a newbill to ful ll its promise, but also to cancel the debts of students who have been victims of fraud by institutions
deemed to be unscrupulous, such as the University of Phoenix3.
Six months before the initial deadline, President Biden announced on January 12, 2024, the premature
implementation of a agship the SAVE4 plan. , President Biden's SAFE plan is a groundbreaking initiative aimed
at alleviating student debt by forgiving loan amounts under certain conditions, primarily targeting community
college students who face the greatest challenges in repayment, thereby promoting a more equitable higher
education landscape. Commencing in February 2024, borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan, who have incurred
less than $12,000 in loans and have been repaying for ten years, will be exempted from the remaining balanceof their debt. This measure is targeted primarily at community college students, who are the least af uent andhave the greatest dif culty in ful lling their repayments.
Academic freedom5, under siege from Republican elected of cials at the end of Donald Trump’s term, has
become one of the campaign themes of Ron DeSantis, the staunchly conservative governor of Florida andcandidate for his party’s nomination. In June 2021, he enacted a law requiring students and faculty at the state’s
2 A

rmative Action Statistics in College Admissions | BestColleges

3 The University of Phoenix, a private, for-pro t university, had advertised fake close relationships with companies, many of them fortune 500s,

which were supposed to provide students with easier access to the job market. See https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/12/11/ftcand-university-phoenix-settle-over-long-running-investigation-advertisements
4 According to the White House, 6.9 million Americans have already signed up for the plan, and 3.9 million have already had their monthly

repayments waived.
5 Academic freedom is a fundamental principle that guarantees researchers and teachers the right to conduct and disseminate their work freely,

without interference or censorship from political or religious authorities.

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public universities to disclose their political views to the state, in the name of combating perceived socialist
indoctrination. On March 28, 2022, he enforced a law prohibiting the discussion of topics related to sexual
orientation or gender identity in schools. In April 2022, he backed the Stop WOKE Act, an acronym for “Stop theWrongs to Our Kids and Employees”, which contests the view of US history through the lens of racism. Coming
into effect on July 1, 2022, this law eliminates the teaching of critical race theory from the school curriculum. In
counteraction to attacks on academic freedom in the United States, Harvard teacher-researchers responded bycreating the Council on Academic Freedom at Harvard in May 2023. “The embattled ideal of academic freedom
is not just a matter of the individual rights of professors and students. It’s baked into the mission of a university,
which is to seek and share the truth—veritas, as our university, Harvard, boasts on its seal” they said6. In March
2023, a Florida teacher had been terminated from Palm Beach Atlantic University after a complaint from parents
for addressing racial justice in his course. This case illustrates the link between the restriction of academic
freedom and the threat to democracy, emphasized by many players in higher education and research.
In the United States, academic freedom is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids(among other things) Congress from limiting freedom of expression. It is also recognized and defended byprofessional associations, unions, universities and the courts. However, recent history shows that academic
freedom in the United States is neither absolute nor unconditional. It is subject to legal, ethical and institutionalboundaries, which aim to preserve the quality, accountability and integrity of research and teaching.

Legislative context
On the legislative front, the year 2023 was marked by numerous ongoing negotiations between the various
departments of the Biden administration and higher education and research lobbying groups, including the
Association of American Universities (AAU, the counterpart of « France Université », former CPU) and
EDUCAUSE, which has a permanent legal of cer in Washington, supported by law rms and consultants.
Among the major issues at stake were compliance with the Safeguards rule7 for the Federal Trade Commission(FTC), the federal agency responsible for consumer protection and competition, and the establishment of IT
security requirements for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). For Federal Student Aid (FSA), the federal agency incharge of scholarships, two major projects were set for completion (end 2023) around student aid. The SAIG(Student Aid Internet Gateway) project is an electronic communications system that allows higher education
institutions, loan agencies, guarantee agencies, collection services and other players in federal student aid
programs to transmit data to the federal agency. The launch of a new FAFSA (Free Application for Federal
Student Aid) portal scheduled for late 2023 should streamline the process8 for current and prospective students
with a new online form to determine their eligibility for federal nancial aid such as grants, loans or work-study
programs.
The U.S. Department of Labor is contemplating changes to the overtime regime, which could have signi cantconsequences for private educational institutions, depending on whether it provides for broad or strict
exemptions. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal agency in charge of consumer
protection and competition, has announced that it could advance the net neutrality issue, with a law that would
uphold the principles in force in 2015. Furthermore, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), theElectronic Communications Regulatory Authority (ECRA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are collaborating
to adopt the new WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards for institutional websites and mobile applications, withpotentially signi cant impacts in terms of compatibility for private institutions (public institutions may be exempt).
These laws or draft laws are not always mutually consistent, generating uncertainty and negotiations to modify
particular texts or elds of application. Nevertheless, they all have, or will have, a major impact on theinformation systems of higher education and research institutions.
6 https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2023/04/14/harvard-faculty-creates-group-academic-freedom
7 Safeguards rule compliance" is compliance with the customer information security rule established by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission(FTC). This rule requires nancial institutions to implement an information security program with appropriate measures to protect their customers'
personal data.
8 The FSA is advertising a drop from a hundred questions to a few dozen for families.

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Economic context
From an economic perspective, the United States has managed to control in ation, which, after the surge in
2021 and 2022, appears to be now under control (see the Figure bellow9).

Student debt persists in its growth. In mid-2023, it amounted to $1,766 billion10, impacting 43.6 million people
in the USA, a third of whom do not have a degree. Although it is showing signs of easing, it remains a major
issue in the USA, despite not posing a threat to the banking sector, as it is mainly funded by public entities.

9 Evolution of in ation in US in 2023 | Statista (in French)
10 https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics

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Debt issues keeps impacting former students long, long after their studies.

The 2.4 million former students over the age of 62 and still in debt11[9] have an average debt of $49,000, which
exceeds more than one year’s median wage in the states, which is approximately $40,00012. Another dimensionof the Higher Education industry is the increase in institution mergers, closures, or bankruptcies, which has been
predicted since the turn of the decade and was thoroughly examined in last year’s report. The Higher Education
economy is transitioning from a periodof unconstrained growth towards
uncertain horizons with a multifaceted
decrease in demand. WhenEDUCAUSE opened, over 300
colleges in the USA had openings13.
Despite numerous federal grants, thecrisis has impacted non-pro t higher
education institutions in the UnitedStates. By 2023, 14 of them had
declared their closure14. These weremainly small private institutions, relying
on tuition fees and limited resources.
They had been experiencing declining
enrolment for years and had not beenable to revive their situation. A fteenth
institution, King’s College, met thesame fate, without of ciallyannouncing it. This institution, founded in 1938, had nancial problems and lost its accreditation, forcing it to
shut its doors. The “highereddive” website reports 20 closures or mergers in the USA in 202315 and provides amap of closures by state since 2019. And the Bestcolleges website is already forecasting16 9 more for 2024...

11 For a total of $98 billion in outstandings
12 Wages W-2 - Personal income in the United States - Wikipedia
13 https://www.highereddive.com/news/almost-300-colleges-still-have-open-seats-for-fall-2023/649256/
14 https://www.insidehighered.com/news/business/ nancial-health/2023/12/21/look-back-college-closures-and-mergers-2023
15 How many colleges and universities have closed since 2016? | Higher Ed Dive
16 Closed Colleges: List, Statistics, and Major Closures | BestColleges

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Conclusions
In addition to the decreasing pool of potential students17, and not only for demographic reasons with the“demographic cliff”18, but American society is also questioning its higher education. It questions the added value
and return on investment of higher education. The Gallup study shows that public con dence in higher
education is plummeting, from a majority with 57% con dence in 2015 to a minority with just 36% in 2023 (seethe Figure below19).

This pattern, while impacting the public as a whole, also highlights the political and social divide mentioned
earlier, with a 37-point dip in con dence among Republican sympathizers and a 16-point decline among
independents. Even Democrat sympathizers, who are historically and culturally more pro-ESR, experienced adecrease in con dence by 9 points.

17 See former EDUCAUSE reports
18 Demographic hill or the fall in the number of young people of university age as a result of the decline in the birth rate that began twenty years

ago and is set to continue
19 Americans' Con dence in Higher Education Down Sharply (gallup.com)

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The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored some fragilities of North American higher education and research,
but also their potential to marshal unexpected resources. In a context of social and political fractures, American
society appears more divided than ever. Con icts in Ukraine and the Middle East, the escalation of a majorsocial network, the spread of false information (easily created by arti cial intelligence), and the internal crisis of
the Republican Party, split between moderates and extremists, are all factors stoking tensions and uncertainties
on the eve of an election year.
“Education is one of the major issues in the 2024 presidential election”, which of cially commences in midJanuary in Iowa with the rst caucus. That’s what Barbara Mistick, president of the National Association of
Independent Colleges and Universities, predicted20 at a meeting of leaders of private nonpro t institutions . The
Republican and Democratic candidates will thus have to present their divergent visions of higher education andresearch to try to meet voters’ expectations.
We hope this report will provide you with useful and interesting information, and perhaps motivate you to join the
EDUCAUSE French and Japanese Delegations.
On behalf of our delegations, enjoy reading.

20 https://www.highereddive.com/news/policy-developments-private-college-leaders/704132/

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EDUCAUSE Top-10 Issues 2024
Laurent Flory - French Delegation

Institutional Resilience
The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly altered our world, leaving behind more complex challenges than initiallyanticipated. However, the American Higher Education sector is not facing this crisis alone. Evolving issues suchas lack of societal trust, the persistent student debt crisis, climate change, weather disasters, cybersecurity
gaps, deep fakes, cultural and political polarization, mental health issues, declining campus demographics21, AI
mastery, hate crimes, global instability, and of course, the potential threat of the next pandemic, are also
affecting the landscape.
In this context, it becomes imperative to adapt and evolve. Today's leaders must broaden their agenda beyond
growth and innovation to address potential challenges
and prepare for the future. In 2024, ESR leaders andtheir CIOs will be focusing on building institutional
resilience, de ned22 as the ability to anticipate, respondand adapt quickly to changing circumstances in orderto maximize opportunities and minimize unforeseen
consequences.
The "2024 EDUCAUSE Top 1023", entitled "Institutional
Resilience", drawn up by Susan Grajek and a panel ofexperts, highlights the 10 (+1) key contributions ofdigital, data and IT expertise. Each issue addressed isaccompanied by a comprehensive toolbox detailing thesteps and technological, political and humanprerequisites needed to make optimal progress.
Mission Resilience
Institutional resilience mainly concerns training, research and user services. It aims to adapt to current needs
and opportunities, while honoring historical missions. Education is at the heart of resilience, according to the
TOP 10 of 2024.
The "student journey" traces the stages in the relationship between a student (customer) and the institution,
beginning with recruitment, admissions and enrolment. It encompasses the multiple touchpoints, dimensions ofa student's academic work and extracurricular life, and extends through the alumni's relationship with theinstitution. By 2024, digital managers will be collaborating with institutional stakeholders at all phases of thestudent journey.
Unfavorable demographic shifts, affordability and lower con dence in higher education are contributing to ahigher education enrollment crisis. Managers are looking beyond traditional students to identify potential newaudiences. In addition to traditional degrees and courses, they are trying to offer more diversi ed offerings tomaintain and increase enrollments. Data is essential for making the right choices in innovation, and forunderstanding which options work and which ones fall by the wayside (issue #3 The enrollment crisis Harnessing data to empower decision-makers).

21 See the 2023 report For a more detailed presentation, the USA refers to this as the "demographic cli ".
22 The EDUCAUSE Institutional Resilience Working Group developed this de nition of institutional resilience in higher education. The group wasconvened by EDUCAUSE in summer 2022 and included faculty and experts from NACUBO, CUPA- HR, and URMIA as well as EDUCAUSE.
23 Find the entire report at this URL : 2024 EDUCAUSE Top 10: Institutional Resilience | EDUCAUSE Review

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The student-institution relationship is largely mediated by technology. Today's students demand digital
experiences comparable to Amazon, Spotify and Instagram, wanting exibility in their learning and interactions
with the institution. Student life leaders are working on multimodal channels for individualized services andlearning experiences (issue #6 Meeting students where they are: Providing universal access to institutional
services).
Students (and families) who invest in higher education expect a positive service, experience and return on
investment. Analytics can guide students and institutional support teams in monitoring and adjusting theiracademic progress. Data and analytical tools abound, but the challenge lies in understanding and acting onthese sources (issue #4 Diving deep into data: Leveraging analytics for actionable insights to improve training
and student success).
Oprational Resilience
Operational resilience extends to institutional assets, human resources, planning, risk management anddecision-making processes. Cybersecurity remains a major risk for institutional data and players in Higher
Education and Research. It's a never-ending race in which security systems try to protect against attacks.
Management must direct their investments towards the most important and most likely risks (issue #1
Cybersecurity as a core competency - Balancing cost and risk).
Governing bodies are increasingly relying on data to inform their decision-making. Today, getting fast, relevant
answers from data is possible. This is crucial, because neither crises nor opportunities are willing to wait weeks
for factual answers. Decision-makers need to base their decisions on facts, not anecdotes (issue #2 Driving tobetter decisions - Improving data quality and governance).
Relatively low salaries, poorly articulated "value packages" for existing or potential staff, combined with rigid
work rules, hamper recruitment to ll vacancies. Human Resources (HR) and digital departments need to
improve the value proposition for employees in order to recruit and retain the best digital and data specialists(issue #7 Hiring resilience: Recruiting and retaining IT talent under adverse circumstances).
During the pandemic, higher education overcame its reputation as a temple of resistance to change. Institutional
leaders can now harness the dynamics, exibility and widespread collaboration that characterized operations
during the pandemic as a catalyst to foster sustainable institutional agility (issue #10 Adapting to the future Cultivating institutional agility).
Financial Resilience
The foundations of college and university nancing are based on long-standing habits and practices. Enrollment,
grants, investments and donations on the one hand, and capital and operating costs on the other, have longin uenced nancial performance. Managers were familiar with the levers they could pull to adapt. Today,
however, many institutions face a bleak outlook, and results are not responding to traditional levers.
Although digital development can increase costs, it can also be a driver of ef ciency and added value.
Combined with the decision-support possibilities offered by data, Chief Information Of cers (CIOs) become
essential partners in strengthening nancial resilience. Technology and data transformed into information canhelp reduce administrative costs (issue #5 Administrative cost reduction - Streamlining processes, data andtechnologies) and provide estimates and projections to help executives make dif cult decisions with greatercertainty (issue #8 Financial keys to the future: Using technology and data to help make tough choices).
IT-related costs have risen signi cantly, often exceeding the rate of in ation. Digital and procurement managers
are working with internal stakeholders and external partners to address this nancial risk. They are also facedwith the threat of having to part with technologies prematurely when they could lead to future savings or create
new revenue streams (issue #9. Balancing budgets - Taking controls of IT cost and vendor management).

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So the EDUCAUSE Top-10 issues 2024 are :1. Cybersecurity as a core competency - Balancing cost and risks
2. Driving to better decisions - improving data quality and governance3. The enrollment crisis - Harnessing data to empower decision-makers
4. Driving deep into data - Leveraging analytics for actionable insights to improve learning and student success
5. Administrative cost reduction - Streamlining processes, data, and technologies
6. Meeting students where they are - Providing universal access to institutional services
7. Hiring resilience - Recruiting and retaining IT talent under adverse circumstances
8. Financial keys to the future - Using technology and data to help make tough choices
9. Balancing budgets - Taking controls of IT cost and vendor management
10. Adapting to the future - Cultivating institutional agility
And…
Hororary issue. AI… Friend or foe - Developing and institutional approach17Issue #1 - Cybersecurity as a core competency - Balancing cost and risks
The importance of cybersecurity remains unchanged, andevery year it features in EDUCAUSE's Top 10 due to theconstant evolution of threats and technological advances. This
dynamic requires institutions to remain proactive, agile andadaptable in their cybersecurity practices. Higher education is
no exception; cybersecurity remains a constant threat to allindustries.
In 2024, a number of developments will require particularattention. Institutional systems and users are handling larger
volumes of data than ever before, with data owing between
solution providers and across end-user locations and devices. Three years after the start of the COVID-19
pandemic, many institutions are still struggling to adapt to the expansion of remote learning and working, as wellas increased exibility in working hours. The transformative impact of AI is beginning to be felt, with huge
potential not only in operational services, training and research, but also as a potential vector for cybercriminals.
Politicians and elected representatives are concerned about cyber threats to assets and individuals, introducing
regulations to address these challenges. Higher education legal of cers and CISOs need to anticipate theimpact of these regulations, adapt to them and bear the consequences. Regulatory frameworks relating tocybersecurity and data privacy, often intertwined and interdependent, add to the complexity of compliance. In
the United States, "dual federalism" creates national laws and fty separate, sometimes divergent state privacy
laws. Despite these challenges, strategic institutions will treat cybersecurity as a core competency, basing theirdecisions and investments on risk management tailored to their resources and values. They will ensure thatpolicies, training and practices evolve in response to constantly changing threats and regulations.
The perspective
Effective cybersecurity is of crucial importance, as it affects access to research funding, recruitment of foreign
students and partnerships with commercial organizations. It plays an essential role in protecting student privacy
and creating a safe learning environment.
Ongoing cybersecurity activities, such as audits or penetration tests, provide an opportunity to better
understand the institution's assets and vulnerabilities before malicious actors exploit them. Cybersecurity
practices are intrinsically linked to general digital dexterity, so investments in training can help students and staff
improve their digital skills while learning how to better protect data, devices, their identity and the institution.
Making cybersecurity a core competency is not only a preventative measure, but also helps to build con dence.
Students, alumni, funders, partners, staff and the communities served by the institution can have con dence in
an institution that places digital security at the heart of its priorities. This strengthened trust becomes a solid
foundation on which the institution's reputation and long-term success are built.
In summary
A nancial tsunami threatens educational institutions, with data breaches in the "higher education and training
sector" costing an average of $3.7 million in 2023. Even a medium-sized attack can generate considerable
costs in data protection, disaster recovery and legal fees.
Pooling is emerging as a key solution. Institutions can collaborate, avoiding the need to manage their own
security operations center (SOC). Outsourcing and shared SOCs are viable options.
Silos hinder progress. Stakeholders from IT to privacy to cybersecurity, but also procurement, legal and others,
need to collaborate when drafting agreements with software and cloud providers.
Keeping cybersecurity on the agenda is imperative. Institutional leaders must maintain a constant understandingof cybersecurity risks. This task is particularly challenging - and crucial - in highly decentralized and diverse
institutions.

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Shadow IT is a threat. Teachers and administrators can acquire or develop solutions without involving IT teams.
Open and honest dialogue between technology and cybersecurity professionals on the one hand, and teachersand staff on the other, is essential. It enables end-users to express their needs, and experts to propose solutions
focused on security and privacy, thus preserving data and the institution without compromising innovation,
productivity and creativity.
Understanding the trade-offs is crucial. Institutions can address this issue effectively by adopting a risk
management framework, fostering informed and objective discussions. This enables executives to balance risks
against opportunities and costs, ensuring a solid posture in the face of cybersecurity challenges.
Key success factors
Facilities can effectively address cybersecurity challenges by adopting a risk management framework thatencourages in-depth, informed conversations. This helps executives balance risks against opportunities andcosts, forming a strong defense against digital threats.
Making cybersecurity a core competency becomes an essential element in building trust with students, alumni,
funders, partners, staff and the communities served by the institution. This approach allows the necessary
activities and investments to be integrated into the institution's operating model and culture. Data protection andprivacy are no longer seen as a one-off reaction to incidents, but as an ongoing and constantly evolving
practice.
By viewing cybersecurity as a core competency, educational institutions can anticipate, prevent and proactively
respond to emerging threats. Cybersecurity thus becomes a fundamental pillar of all institutional operations,
helping to create a culture of vigilance and shared responsibility.
In conclusion, an integrated approach to cybersecurity is not simply a technical necessity, but an essential
component in building lasting trust. It positions the institution as a responsible player, capable of ensuring data
security and protection, while fostering continuous innovation and meeting ethical and regulatory expectations.

19Issue #2 - Driving to better decisions - improving data quality and governance
Despite data abundance and technological advances, higher
education still faces fundamental challenges in data
governance and data quality. So why do we persist in
struggling with these basic principles?
Institutional culture is a major obstacle. Often, theunderstanding of data within the institutional community does
not match the stated commitment of leaders to analytics
technology. Many administrative and academic players fail tograsp how to use data effectively in decision-making, ignoring
the value of such data in informing choices. The issue of data
ownership also creates tensions, with some departments viewing data as their property rather than an
institutional resource. These attitudes hamper the crucial tasks of de ning, cleansing, protecting and integrating
data.
Time is another challenge. Despite the profusion of data available, teachers and managers often lack the timeneeded to access and use this data to address their speci c concerns.
The rapid evolution of data-related technologies, risks and policies further complicates the situation. Maintaining
stable institutional technological and political environments requires constant effort. Institutional managers facecomplex legal hurdles, with a diversity of laws governing privacy in different regions of the world, countries andUS states. These legislative provisions affect the privacy rights of institutional members, and the way in which
decision-makers can collect and use data.
Finally, the growing in uence of arti cial intelligence (AI) is adding to the complexity. AI is rede ning not only how
technologies collect data, but also how experts and users harness it to gain valuable insights. This evolution,
while exciting, involves signi cant costs, adding a layer of nancial complexity to the already existing challengesof harnessing data for decision-making in higher education.
The perspective
In a context of limited resources and revenues, data is emerging as an essential asset, enabling managers to
overcome multiple challenges. As institutions face nancial constraints and constantly evolving models, dataoffers valuable insights into understanding and addressing these challenges.
Currently, many institutions are implementing change initiatives and experiments aimed at transforming teaching
and learning models, reaching new student populations, and adapting to remote and hybrid work environments.
Data plays a crucial role in providing an in-depth understanding of institutional evolution, evaluating the successof these initiatives, and identifying the reasons for and bene ciaries of these changes.
Data also guides managers in the search for opportunities to do more with less. It allows them to discern when
to take an opportunistic approach, rather than pushing exhausted staff to do more with less. Data becomes a
strategic tool for making tough decisions, providing tangible evidence rather than relying on con icting gut
feelings. In this way, leaders can determine what to stop, what to celebrate, and which areas to develop to
ensure the institution's longevity and effectiveness. In short, data proves to be a catalyst for innovation and a
reliable compass for guiding strategic choices in a constantly changing environment.
In summary
A top-down approach is essential to changing the culture. If the facility's leadership and administrators value
data, use it to inform their decisions, and ensure that their teams have the time to develop the processes,
policies and subsystems needed to support a data-driven culture, the facility's culture will evolve accordingly.
Otherwise, data governance will be limited to pockets of excellence within departments.
Listening to employees is crucial. Managers need to listen to and collaborate with teachers, students,
administrative staff and other stakeholders to ensure that data and analysis tools are truly useful to them.

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Data governance initiatives that rely on heroic individual actions to ll gaps may make initial progress, but they
will struggle to scale across the institution.
It's not a question of technology. Processes, culture and results must drive these initiatives, rather than aparticular technological solution.
Risk aversion is a risk in itself. Institutions too focused on risk avoidance may miss opportunities that could
easily offset these risks.
Key success factors
Institutional leaders need to treat data as a true strategic asset, just as they do with their facility's equipment,
buildings and installations. Both data and infrastructure require constant maintenance and attention. However,there are major differences. The revision and replacement cycles for data, technology and associated policies
are much shorter.
The value proposition of a new building, with classrooms, laboratories and state-of-the-art equipment, is muchbetter de ned and easier to understand than a proposal to develop a data dictionary, ETL process or data
warehouse. It is essential to recognize this complexity and allocate the necessary resources to keep datasystems relevant and ef cient. By investing in proactive data management, institutions can better position theirstrategic assets to meet evolving digital needs and maximize their long-term utility.

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Issue #3 - The enrollment crisis - Harnessing data to empower decision-makers
Enrollment levels in higher education institutions have dropped
considerably. The (RSE industry) markets served are changing,as are customer behaviors and needs. By 2025, the longawaited demographic crisis will particularly affect institutions
catering for traditional students, generally aged between 18
and 25 (most colleges and universities).
However, the enrollment crisis is not limited to demographic
change. Attitudes towards higher education continue todeteriorate. Many students' educational experiences during the
COVID-19 pandemic are in uencing their interest in and
expectations of higher education. Students are now savvy consumers, asking crucial questions about return on
investment, such as "What bene ts will I get from this degree from this institution?" and "What if I start here but
don't nish here? What will these credits be worth?" Students and their families question the nancial
commitment required of them.
Many enrollment strategies are evolving to include a more diverse group of students, covering different age
brackets, full-time and part-time statuses, nationalities and a variety of programs and degrees. However, thisdiversity requires equally diverse support services and learning modalities, the costs of which only become
apparent after enrollment, when students' needs are better understood.
Given how institutions operate with numerous data silos, there are plenty of companies offering the next
promising gadget to facilitate enrollment. For a strategic approach, institutional managers need to consider theirdata and tools holistically, validating data sets and looking for cause-and-effect relationships. By leveraging thisinformation, managers can help students assess the value of an institution, degree program or credential. In thisway, students can better integrate the higher education experience they expect to have into their daily lives,
which have become increasingly complex in the post-pandemic world.
The perspective
The current enrollment and nancial crises are jeopardizing the nancial health and strategic positioning of manyhigher education institutions. These crises may provide the opportunity for a much-needed re-examination,
motivating fundamental changes such as offering different types of degree at different prices. These changes
could help to reinforce the relevance, access and affordability of institutions at a time when all three are being
eroded. Higher education leaders and executives are rede ning the concepts of student and student journey.
Traditional models may seem less attractive, but this need not doom higher education.
Data and market research will be needed to design and evaluate different offerings, as well as the institution's
future business model. Data, now more abundant and varied thanks to the many applications deployed during
the pandemic, goes beyond the students' academic experience. It also enables a better understanding of theneeds of current and potential students. As a result, institutions can tailor academic programs, support services(from housing and food insecurity to mental health needs) and points of contact in the enrollment process. This
judicious use of data will help guide higher education institutions towards innovative solutions, strengthening
their ability to respond to current and future challenges.
In summary
Highlighting your value proposition is essential. It's better to target and direct offerings to the audiences theinstitution is best suited to serve, rather than adopting a "growth at all costs" philosophy. Models such ascompetency-based education and digital degrees can help reach new markets and change perceptions of thevalue of higher education. Ideally, these innovations will be derived from the institution's existing strengths.
It's crucial not to rest on your laurels. The world is changing rapidly, and today's success may mean tomorrow's
stagnation. Managers need to use data and foresight techniques as signals of change to anticipate emerging
needs and recalibrate offerings accordingly.

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The wrong seed cannot bear good fruit. The abundance of data sources requires continuous reconciliation,
validation and correction before they are integrated into corporate data repositories and reporting tools. Thisguarantees the reliability of dashboards and analyses.
Democratizing data is crucial in enrollment models. This requires a single, shared version of reliable data frommany sources. Moving data and notions of data ownership out of institutional silos and shadow IT and into an
institutional data ecosystem is essential.
Cultivating external partnerships is a wise strategy. Although many institutions are individually vulnerable,
collectively they can represent a strength. Partnerships between groups of facilities federating different
audiences and local communities or employers can help managers simplify transitions between facilities andoptimize market offerings.
Key success factors
Harnessing data to solve the enrollment crisis is part of a wider institutional transformation. This transformation
is iterative and ongoing, so the use of data by stakeholders must be equally dynamic.
This requires a constant commitment to data analysis, the adaptation of strategies based on new information,and close collaboration between the various entities of the institution. Leaders need to foster a data-driven
organizational culture, promoting transparency, collaboration and innovation.
The agile use of data also implies ongoing staff training to ensure a thorough understanding of analytical tools
and best practices in data governance. In addition, effective communication of data ndings is crucial to making
strategic trade-offs and fostering informed decision-making at all levels of the institution.
In summary, solving the enrollment crisis by harnessing data requires a holistic approach to institutionaltransformation, where exibility, continuous learning and collaboration are at the heart of the successful adoptionof data-driven solutions.

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Issue #4 - Driving deep into data - Leveraging analytics for actionable insights toimprove learning and student success
The higher education landscape is changing rapidly, withteachers increasingly adopting learning tools and technologies.
Teachers combine a variety of learning modalities and spaces
throughout their courses. Similarly, students use a variety oftools and modalities for their learning. It's essential thatteachers and students understand what works, when, forwhom and why. Campus planners also need to understandwhat kinds of learning spaces to invest in or divest.
Student success encompasses not only academic success,but also services such as career counseling, tutoring, nancial
aid, behavioral health services and extracurricular activities. Students may also need a variety of services tocope with the everyday challenges that can disrupt their learning, such as transportation, housing, childcare,healthcare, and access to digital equipment and a network connection. It's crucial that counselors, students andtheir families understand what combination of support and services can best help each student de ne andachieve academic success.
While instinct, personal preference and prejudice still often in uence decision-making on campus, managers
now have unprecedented access to data and analysis on student learning and success. The information
contained in Learning Management Systems (LMS) is no longer suf cient. Analytics and data professionals needto integrate data from many sources to provide students, teachers and advisors with actionable information.
Managers need to focus on how and where to concentrate resources, now and in the future, and how toevaluate pilot projects and initiatives. Analytics professionals need to provide exible models and projections toguide these decisions. Technology professionals need to understand data and analytics needs across theinstitution, providing cost-effective, modern data services and infrastructure. Finally, technology and data
managers must develop a strategy that enables the institution to leverage analytics for actionable insights.
The perspective
Ultimately, the ability to use and manage quanti able, actionable data will help decision-makers track progress(or lack thereof), allocate resources for all items on the TOP 10 list, and react to changes in an informed manner.
When it comes to student learning and success, nal results and course credits are de nitive, but they often
come too late in the term for students, faculty and staff to proactively intervene. Student use of digital learning
environments can be a reasonable indicator of engagement and progress. The social sciences have long usedsurvey or behavioral data as indicators of dif cult-to-measure concepts such as well-being or socio-economic
status. Similarly, the eld of learning analytics has been exploiting "digital footprints" of student time andattention for over a decade to improve teachers' ability to deliver the right message to the right student at theright time. This data can also help to develop students' autonomy by making them aware of their habits andresults on time, so that they are encouraged to seek the help that the institution is more than willing to provide.
As leaders struggle to recruit and retain student promotions beyond those the institution has traditionally served,
it's particularly important to look at data to understand student needs, engagement and outcomes, and adjust both for individual students and systemically - what's happening inside and outside the classroom. This will
ensure a proactive and targeted approach to supporting every student in their academic journey and beyond.
In summary
Developing a culture of data and analysis is essential. Users and decision-makers need to adopt the habit ofsaying: "We have data about this" or "We know how to get data about this". They need to be skilled in using,interrogating and interpreting data to solve problems.

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However, it's important not to fall into the data trap, and to avoid obsessing over perfect predictions at theexpense of effective action. Those who are prepared to try, iterate, re ne and repeat their attempts to help
students, while rigorously collecting and evaluating outcome data, will be more successful in implementing
student learning and success analytics.
Investment is essential, even though data analysis tools can often be expensive. Even free or inexpensive
solutions require knowledge, staff and resources. It's necessary to see this investment as a means of improving
process ef ciency and maximizing the potential for student success.
Leadership with a strong vision and concrete priorities is crucial. This type of leadership will facilitate the use ofdata to advance priorities, and help unite the divergent voices of administration and faculty to agree on common
data sources and shared dashboards.
Key success factors
Institutional leaders and their constituents who have de ned clear priorities and problems to be solved, framing
student learning and success from the learner and teacher through to the institution, will be best placed to takeadvantage.
By focusing on speci c objectives, such as improving retention rates, personalizing the student experience, or
strengthening teachers' pedagogical skills, these leaders can determine the crucial data to collect and analyze.
This will help guide institutional efforts towards concrete solutions tailored to the real needs of the educational
community.
Effective communication and close collaboration between the various players will also be key to ensuring the
successful use of data. School leaders need to foster a culture of sharing and continuous learning, where
teachers, students and administrative staff work together to interpret data and implement results-driven
initiatives.
Ultimately, the success of data analytics in improving student learning and success relies on clarity of purpose,
collaboration and ongoing stakeholder engagement. Institutions that adopt this strategic approach will be better
positioned to optimize their performance and deliver an exceptional educational experience to their students.

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Issue #5 - Administrative cost reduction - Streamlining processes, data, andtechnologies
Organizations have always sought ways to optimize operations
and reduce operating costs, but today's environment andavailable strategies both complicate and facilitate these goals.
Technological advances such as automation, AI and cloudcomputing, together with management styles that have
evolved to make effective use of these advances, offer greater
opportunities. However, data, its diversity and its data sources
continue to increase rapidly and become more complex. Staff
and teachers are also using more and more digital tools, manyof which are unknown to digital management. Administrative
processes still often conform to manual work rather than being
optimized for modern digital solutions. Too often, the solution to this digital mess has been to hire more staff,
bring in consultants and invest in more tools, with the resultant increase in complexity and costs.
No institution can afford to continue on this path. By 2025, the demographic cliff will hit higher education. At thesame time, skepticism about higher education is growing. Only 36% of respondents to a Gallup opinion poll
conducted in June 2023 expressed "great" or "fairly great" con dence in higher education, compared with 48%
in 2018 and 57% in 201524. Other studies suggest that this drop in con dence is associated with questions
about the costs of higher education and the concrete bene ts that actually ow from this investment25. The
ability to save money and cut costs is vital for higher education institutions, and reducing operating costs ispreferable to cutting programs and academic experiences.
The perspective
Streamlining processes, data and technology can bring bene ts beyond cost reduction for institutions that
undertake this work at a strategic level. Students are used to very quick responses and easy interfaces withlarge private digital players, an experience they don't often have in colleges and universities. The reorganizationof student services to offer consumer-level ease and functionality represents a further opportunity for institutions.
Simplifying administrative processes and data can lead to more qualitative data, which should improve steering
indicators, reduce administrative errors and provide more meaningful economic information.
A streamlined technological and data environment helps lay the foundations for institutional agility. Changes areless likely to lead to errors, and errors are easier to diagnose and correct. The very conduct of a streamlining
initiative - if successful - will stimulate cultural change, since much of the institution's existing administrativecomplexity is based on cultural aspects that have become dysfunctional and obsolete.
This work can also facilitate innovation. A simpli ed administrative backbone can provide the cultural andtechnical exibility needed to support the development of new business models, diversi cation into new areas ofactivity and the exploration of new ways of managing the student journey from start to nish.
Those fortunate enough to be in a nancially balanced institution may be able to transfer savings on
administrative costs to more student-focused services. This not only enhances student satisfaction, but also
contributes to the school's nancial sustainability and competitiveness in an ever-changing educationallandscape.

24 Americans' Con dence in Higher Education Down Sharply (gallup.com)
25 One Semester Later: How Prospective and Current College Students’ Perspectives of Higher Ed Have Changed between August andDecember 2020 – Third Way

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In summary
It's good to be small. Small and medium-sized institutions with limited resources and tight budgets have themost to gain, because even small savings have a proportionally greater impact.
It's hard to be complex. Institutions with multiple sites, autonomous curricula and many levels of decisionmaking will nd it dif cult to achieve signi cant cost reductions. Initial estimates of signi cant savings may bedashed by a multitude of exceptions on the part of stakeholders.
Say goodbye to the digital legacy. Replacing legacy systems and infrastructures with modern ERP is a strategy
many institutions are pursuing to reduce administrative costs.
Compliance comes at a price. A complex regulatory environment can reduce executives' ability to nd andmaximize cost savings.
Culture trumps strategy. Resistance to change is likely to be the main obstacle to administrative streamlining.
Institutions will need effective, committed leaders who know how to drive cultural change.
Key success factors
It's up to managers to focus these initiatives on signi cant cost savings, and to help stakeholders recognize the"bigger picture" bene ts these savings will bring. This means clearly communicating the strategic vision behindadministrative streamlining, highlighting not only the immediate cost savings, but also the long-term gains inoperational ef ciency, institutional agility and improved student experience.
Leaders must also be proactive in identifying and resolving potential challenges, including establishing transition
plans, offering appropriate training to mitigate resistance to change, and providing feedback mechanisms toadjust initiatives as they are implemented.
By putting forward a clear vision and skilfully managing the cultural aspects of change, managers can turnadministrative streamlining into an opportunity to strengthen the institution's nancial sustainability while
improving the quality and relevance of its services.

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Issue #6 - Meeting students where they are - Providing universal access toinstitutional services
The COVID-19 pandemic has given us a whole newperspective on higher education. The abrupt and forced shift
to all online in spring 2020 has laid the foundations for
multimodal forms of learning and working. Students, teachersand staff have developed preferences for their own optimal
ways of cooperating with each other and with the institution.
Simultaneously, but in line with these preferences, theinstitution's leaders and staff are designing and building future"phygital26" campus
The pandemic has also helped teachers and administrators tosee students more clearly, as it has opened up the partition
separating learners from the wider context of their lives. No one can forget what they've been through, and theempathy generated by students' events and dif culties is helping to shape a broader approach to institutional
services and strengthen commitment to helping students overcome individual barriers to academic success.
Leaders initiate or develop services to address food and housing insecurity, childcare, transportation, mental
health, career counseling and basic technology needs. Many teachers and educational technology professionals
see this period as an opportunity to invest in universal design for learning (Universal Design for Learning27).
Ultimately, universal access is about providing multimodal channels to access individualized services. This work
is part of a broader shake-up of the status quo underway across higher education. Everyone is asking why,
when and where to teach, learn, work and interact. No one has yet found the (right) answer.
The perspective
The challenge is to offer students secure universal access to the services they need to ensure their success.
Flexible, multimodal services need to be designed around students' needs and outcomes, and adapted to theinstitution's resources. Offering online options can be cost-effective, reaching and supporting many more
students. This can enable non-selective institutions to expand their services more cost-effectively. Technology
managers can help executives understand how to look at digital opportunities and bene ts more broadly, whileremaining realistic.
The possibility of providing universal access to institutional services may be limited in time. Teachers, students
and staff still think differently because the pandemic is still fresh in their minds. Now is the time to develop asustainable framework and digital environment.

26 This term has been used in healthcare to describe mixed digital and physical environments.. See, for example, Artin Entezarjou et al, Healthcare utilization following “digi-physical” assessment compared to physical assessment for infectious symptoms in primary care | BMC Primary
Care | Full Text (biomedcentral.com) BMC Primary Care 23 (January 12th 2022).
27 Today's learners have diverse abilities and pro les, including students with physical, sensory and learning disabilities, varied cultural andlinguistic pro les, as well as diverse learning preferences and motivations. Teachers therefore have a responsibility to ensure that they o er
learning opportunities that guarantee the success of all their students. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) helps to meet the challenge of diversity
by providing exible teaching materials, techniques and strategies for designing teaching and academic strategies and practices more holistically.

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In summary
It's time for action. Resolute leaders who focus on action and accountability will help stakeholders move beyond
analysis and debate to focus on results and continuous improvement.
Effective governance is important. Institutions with a strong system of shared governance will thrive, because
they have reliable processes for getting buy-in from faculty, administration, board and students.
It will never be the same again. Institutions steeped in history and tradition, which have viewed the pandemic asa bump in the road rather than a crisis that has changed the landscape of higher education, will miss theopportunity to embrace innovation. This missed opportunity could even be the death knell for some of them.
Focus on students. Results that bene t students must guide efforts to provide universal access to institutional
services. And what better way to put students at the center of these initiatives than to involve them throughout
the process?
Key success factors
Institutions that are responsive and agile will progress faster. It is essential to take a proactive approach to
emerging challenges, to adapt quickly to changes in the educational environment and to continually seek
opportunities for improvement. This will enable institutions to keep pace with student needs and remaincompetitive in an ever-changing educational landscape.

fi29Issue #7 - Hiring resilience - Recruiting and retaining IT talent under adverse
circumstances
It's essential for higher education institutions to recognize that
remuneration, while crucial, is only one aspect of their
attractiveness and ability to retain IT talent. Flexible working
hours and locations, work-life balance, and the opportunity tomake a signi cant difference in the world are equally importantin attracting and retaining skilled professionals28.
It is also necessary to recognize that the diversity of employee
needs calls for exible policies that take this diversity into
account. IT and HR managers need to work together todevelop policies that promote fairness rather than equality,
recognizing that different people place varying importance on work-life balance29.
The strategy for attracting and retaining talent must go beyond compensation. Institutions can explore ways of
reducing workloads by rethinking processes, automating procedural tasks and focusing on differentiating,relationship-based services. This will enable staff to focus on meaningful and collaborative tasks, strengthening
their commitment to the institution.
Ultimately, digital managers need to take a holistic approach to talent management, recognizing the different
needs and motivations of employees, while creating an attractive and stimulating working environment.
The perspective
Every issue in the EDUCAUSE 2024 Top 10 creates a dependency on, and signi cant opportunities for, thetechnology workforce. Institutional leaders must therefore strive to build a competent digital team to makecybersecurity a core competency, fully exploit the potential of data in decision-making, improve access tostudent services, and promote institutional agility.
Recruiting technological talent, retaining it, developing it on an ongoing basis and ensuring effective succession
planning are essential elements in building digital teams capable of maximizing their contribution to achieving theinstitution's goals and mission. Managers must adopt innovative strategies to attract quali ed professionals,
while putting in place training and development programs to keep their skills up to date in an ever-changing
technological environment. In addition, succession planning ensures the continuity and stability of teams,
guaranteeing that the institution is well positioned to meet future challenges.
Ultimately, the technology workforce is the engine that propels higher education forward, leveraging innovations
and advances to meet the changing needs of students and the institution as a whole.

28 Splitters and Blenders: Two Di erent Relationships With Work (gallup.com)
29 What Gen Z wants in a job - The Washington Post

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In summary
Be exible and dare to be radical. Digital and HR leaders need to work closely together and be prepared tochallenge rigid hiring practices and labor policies. They must in uence institutional culture by introducing
innovative recruitment and HR practices, while piloting bold pilot projects to foster innovation.
Become an integrating CIO30. CIOs who are relationship- and people-focused, and who understand how tointegrate fully with the institution's strategy and direction, will be able to exert political in uence to promote fairer
compensation and greater exibility in the workplace. Their contribution to understanding and enhancing thevalue of technological contributions to the institution will be crucial in gaining the necessary support.
Creating a climate of belonging in the workplace. Potential candidates quickly sense the atmosphere within an
organization and how employees perceive their work and colleagues. Whether work is face-to-face, hybrid orremote, all staff members need to feel welcomed and integrated into the institutional and organizational
community.
Rethinking work and organization. Financial constraints and job opening opportunities can be an opportunity torestructure jobs and tasks, creating more attractive working conditions at competitive salaries. Managers needto consider exible organizational models that promote employee ef ciency and professional ful llment, while
ensuring that talent is aligned with the institution's strategic priorities.
Key success factors
The job market and issues of exible working are constantly evolving. Recruitment and retention practices andpolicies will need to evolve accordingly, as the solution that works today may not be suitable tomorrow.
HR and digital managers need to stay alert to emerging labor market trends, changing candidate preferences,and new employee expectations. Organizations that take an agile approach to adjusting their recruitment,compensation, and talent management strategies will be better prepared to attract and retain quali ed
professionals.
Experimentation and collaboration with employees will be essential to understand what motivates and retains
staff in a constantly changing work environment. Adaptability will become an essential skill for HR and IT teams,
who will need to adjust quickly to the new realities of the working world to remain competitive and attractive on
the job market.
In short, exibility and the ability to innovate in HR practices will be crucial for higher education institutions toremain competitive, attract talent and meet the changing needs of their workforce.

30 See the issue #10 The Integrative CIO, in Susan Grajek and the 2019–2020 EDUCAUSE IT Issues Panel, "Top 10 IT Issues, 2020: The Drive to

Digital Transformation Begins," EDUCAUSE Review, January 27, 2020 at this URL https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/1/top-10-itissues-2020-the-drive-to-digital-transformation-begins or in the 2019 edition of this report.

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Issue #8 - Financial keys to the future - Using technology and data to help maketough choices
The nancial situation of many US higher education institutions
has become precarious, with Moody's outlook for 2023
changing from stable to negative. Revenue constraints,
including tuition fees and public funding, as well as in ation31,
have contributed to this trend. Although not all institutions are
in dif culty, state funding for higher education has fallen in 28
states32 compared to before 200833.
CIOs can play a crucial role in improving corporate nances.
Firstly, they can help reduce workloads by automating andoptimizing processes, consolidating redundant technologies.
Secondly, they can ensure that funds allocated to corporate
technologies are used ef ciently, despite in ation and technology-related cost increases.
On the other hand, CIOs can lead data and analytics initiatives to make fact-based decisions, identify costsaving opportunities and optimize resource allocation. However, the challenge often lies in the dispersal of data
in SaaS solutions across campus, making it dif cult to develop powerful predictive analytics models.
The rapid evolution of higher education, marked by mergers, institution closures and fundamental changes in
educational models, also requires long-term nancial forecasting and planning. CIOs can contribute to thistransition by expanding forecasting models, integrating diverse data sources and exploring the application of AI
and machine learning for more accurate forecasts over extended periods, up to ten years into the future.
The perspective
Better data and more powerful nancial models are essential assets for strengthening the resilience ofinstitutions in the face of the growing complexity of change in higher education. Dynamic models offer valuableagility in planning, enabling decision-makers to quickly adjust projections to incorporate new information.
In the current context, many institutions nd themselves at a crossroads. Some are close to nancial collapse,
others are struggling, while some are actively trying to reinvent and reposition themselves to meet thecontemporary and emerging needs of higher education. The leaders of these institutions are faced with dif cultchoices, and access to reliable data and dynamic nancial models is becoming critical to guide them in theirstrategic decisions.
The challenges facing higher education, such as changing demographics, nancial pressures and rapidly
evolving educational models, require informed and timely decision-making. Quality nancial data and models
can serve as a compass, providing leaders with the clarity they need to navigate these tumultuous waters andmake decisions that shape the future of their institutions.
The future of higher education depends in large part on leaders' ability to use data and nancial models
intelligently. By investing in in-depth analysis, consolidating relevant information and adopting dynamic models,institutions can proactively position themselves to meet the challenges ahead. In this way, the digitaltransformation of nancial processes and the implementation of agile decision-making structures become
crucial elements for effective and strategic management in an ever-changing educational landscape.

31 2023 Credit and Capital Markets Outlook for Higher Education | Kaufman Hall KaufmanHall (website), January 27, 2023
32 Out of a total of 50 states, this represents a reduction in 56% of states.
33 State Support for Higher Ed Continues to Rise. Yet Public Colleges Still Face Headwinds. (chronicle.com) Chronicle of Higher Education, May

25, 2023

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In summary
What's your superpower? Institutions facing dif cult challenges or competitive situations may be more open to
radical change. Large, complex institutions may have many more options and resources to devote to solving aproblem. Institutional cultures that favor innovation and change may be able to reason in the broadest terms.
Data doesn't make decisions. Dif cult decisions are hard to make because the solutions are not obvious and are
hard to accept. Better data can provide a clear picture, particularly of the future, to help propose different paths,
explore different scenarios and make informed choices. But ultimately, facility managers - informed by data andstrategic thinking - need to use their judgment to make the tough decisions and choose the best paths for theirfacility.
Act like professionals. It's time to apply business practices to improve modeling and forecasting, for example byconducting landscape analysis, examining supply and demand, and developing sustainability forecasts.
Don't cede leadership to consultants. Consultants can help institutions improve their nancial management
maturity, but boards and executives must take ownership of the strategy and truly lead the engagement toensure that the institution will bene t in the future.
Key success factors
When tough choices have to be made, there's no substitute for effective leadership. Leaders must be able toinspire the community, articulate a clear vision of the future, and understand the details, trade-offs, risks andoptions accurately enough to make the right choices.
An effective leader must be communicative and transparent, sharing critical information with stakeholders while
actively listening to their concerns. Trust is fundamental, and leaders must strive to build and maintain this trust
within the corporate community.
The ability to make tough decisions, learn from mistakes and adjust course as circumstances change isessential. The leader must be exible while remaining anchored in the values and mission of the institution.
Leadership must also be collaborative, involving all stakeholders in the decision-making process. Leaders must
recognize that the best ideas can emerge from a variety of sources within the community.
Ultimately, an effective leader is one who can inspire, guide and mobilize the community in dif cult times,
creating a sense of unity and trust to overcome challenges and pursue the institutional mission.

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Issue #9 - Balancing budgets - Taking controls of IT cost and vendor
management
Costs are rising rather than falling, but technology spending isincreasing much faster than usual. In ation, supply chain
disruptions and a buoyant job market are the main causes. IT
specialists are particularly in demand. The Dice Tech Salary
Report for 2023 revealed that the average technology salaryrose by 2.3% in 2022, but increases for the ten fastest-growing
jobs ranged from 6.1% to 15.6%34. In ation is slowing down,
and this could continue into 2024, but weather disasters aswell as global con ict and competition could continue todestabilize supply chains.
The history of exchanges and partnerships between higher
education and business is a bumpy one. At the best of times, institutions and companies form lasting
partnerships that bene t both parties. Companies bene t from access to students and an emerging market,
strengthening their brand and enhancing their reputation by associating with a trusted industry. In some cases,
this enables them to work with brilliant academics. In return, institutions can obtain even lower prices than theusual discounts granted to educational institutions or non-pro t organizations, as well as direct access to senior
corporate executives and experienced engineers, and even the opportunity to in uence the development of
products and services.
These are not the best of times. Many CIOs still enjoy trusting relationships with various companies. But many ofthem are also receiving invoices with staggering price increases of 10-20% or more for software licenses, cloudservices and other solutions, often at relatively short notice. Having accompanied the rather dif cult transition
from capital to operating funding, from in-house solutions to SaaS, IaaS and other cloud solutions, CIOs andpurchasing managers had, until now, managed a relatively stable renewal process.
Other industries are passing on spending increases to their customers. Not so in higher education. Students,
legislators and the media are already irritated and unhappy with the cost of higher education. Now is not thetime to seek to impose signi cant increases in the digital budget without solid guarantees of return on
investment.
The perspective
Managers will have a hard time containing the costs of core technologies, but those who do won't have to cut
back on services and service levels, or defer new investments. It will be easier for them to maintain staff morale,
which can plummet in an atmosphere of budgetary stringency. They will be able to direct institutional leadershiptowards the use of technology for the bene t and transformation of the institution.
Effective management of technology costs requires a strategic approach. Leaders must understand the true
value of each technology service to the institution, evaluate alternatives and implement innovative solutions to
optimize costs. This can include consolidating redundant services, negotiating advantageous contracts with
suppliers and exploring new technologies that offer better value for money.
Transparent communication is essential. Managers must clearly explain the reasons behind budget decisions,emphasizing the need to maintain a balance between operational ef ciency and technological innovation. They
should also encourage cross-departmental collaboration to identify innovative solutions that deliver savings while
improving services.
Training and professional development are crucial. Investing in building the skills of technology staff can increase
operational ef ciency and reduce costs in the long term. Managers need to support ongoing training andencourage the acquisition of new, relevant skills to meet the changing needs of the institution.

34 Introduction - Tech Salary Report (dice.com)

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In summary
Identify your friends. Form partnerships with peer institutions to collectively negotiate prices and service
agreements. It's a win-win situation for both parties: institutions have a larger market to offer, and company
representatives have to work with a single group rather than several institutions.
Consolidate. Now is the time to eliminate redundant licenses and agreements, to consolidate technology
solutions so that the institution has a single point of contact with solution providers. This will simplify
management, reduce administrative costs and make it easier to negotiate advantageous contracts.
Negotiate. Work with different solution providers to eliminate waste, nd creative nancing options and leverage
your knowledge of the market. If possible, hire or contract with a vendor management specialist who has
expertise in contract negotiations.
Be smart. Calculate the return on investment and total cost of ownership of solutions. Are you really getting
value for your investment? Evaluate alternatives: nd other companies, work with a consortium, leverage the fullvalue of other solutions you're using, or even create your own solution or go open source.
Key success factors
Taking the time to develop strong partnerships and relationships with solution providers outside the institution
can prove bene cial for both CIOs and purchasing departments. These trusting relationships facilitate open
dialogue and a mutual understanding of needs and constraints. It is crucial to communicate transparently,
sharing strategic objectives and budget constraints. By anticipating long-term technology needs andestablishing strategic partnerships, suppliers can better align their services with corporate objectives, offering
bene ts such as ongoing training or enhanced technical support.

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Finally, continuous monitoring and adjustment are necessary. Executives must put in place mechanisms to tracktechnology costs, regularly analyze results and adjust strategies in line with changing needs and market
conditions. This will enable proactive management of technology spending and promote the institution's
nancial stability.

Issue #10 - Adapting to the future - Cultivating institutional agility
Higher education has undergone major transformations overthe past fteen years, largely driven by digital technology. The
COVID-19 pandemic accelerated these changes, highlighting
the crucial role of campus technology organization in planningand managing institutional change.
The rapid adjustments during the pandemic demonstrated aform of agility, but it is clear that they were mainly reactive.
Institutional agility goes beyond emergency reactivity. Leadersneed to drive the redesign of institutional processes to makethem more agile and prepared for a variety of future
circumstances. This involves anticipating scenarios, assessing
probabilities and developing appropriate strategies.
Executives increasingly rely on the IT organization, not only for technology services, but also for project
management and change management. Technology professionals are key players in promoting institutional
agility, with their experience in project management and inter-institutional collaboration.
Faced with an uncertain future, preparation for constant change becomes crucial. Leaders must recognize thatchange does not follow a xed timetable, and invest in exible organizational structures and processes tocultivate sustainable institutional agility.
The perspective
The world is evolving at a faster pace than our institutions can adapt. Cultivating agility involves efforts toanticipate change by actively seeking out the signals and drivers of change, understanding how they mightin uence the institution. Agile leaders will be better equipped to identify opportunities and challenges quickly,
develop solutions iteratively, and act promptly to seize opportunities and meet challenges.
Agile institutions will be better able to solve the many problems facing higher education. They will have thepractical ability to initiate and implement the changes needed to remain relevant in a constantly evolving
environment. Thus, promoting institutional agility becomes essential to meet today's challenges and prepare
higher education for future changes.
In summary
Working in cohesion is crucial. While institutional silos help optimize departmental speed and results, facilitywide agility requires fostering internal collaboration, coordinating efforts and prioritizing the success of theinstitution as a whole. An ancient proverb sums it up well: "If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far,go together". Today, institutions must master the art of going fast and far together.
It is imperative to follow the same course. A uni ed vision of success is essential to avoid unnecessary debates
about what success means and which directions are most crucial. Clear direction makes it easier to coordinate
and align efforts.
The integration of innovation into everyday life is a necessity for agility. It requires time and resources toexperiment, to learn from failure without stigma, and to stimulate creativity. It is therefore essential to create anenvironment that supports innovation, by developing speci c processes and budgets, and by integrating
innovation into job descriptions and objectives.
Stopping things in the rst place is a crucial strategy for freeing up resources. Streamlining the portfolio ofservices by eliminating those that are duplicative, don't add enough value or aren't essential frees up time andfunds for more innovative, goal-aligned initiatives.
Taking care of people is also fundamental to the quest for institutional agility. This process requires energy andoptimism. Striking a balance between the urgency of change and supporting staff, ensuring that they canmaintain a work-life balance, is essential to overall well-being.

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Accelerating governance is a necessity. Prolonged planning and development cycles can hold institutions backin a constantly changing environment. Designing more agile governance processes and a exible nancial
framework promotes agility by enabling rapid, relevant adjustments to the institution's changing needs.
Key success factors
Rather than a vast monolithic program of removal and replacement, much of this work will involve efforts basedon short sprints. These successive sprints will gradually contribute to strengthening the institution's cultural andoperational agility. This iterative approach will enable processes to be ne-tuned, feedback to be gathered andcontinuous improvements to be made, thus fostering a smoother institutional transformation that is better
adapted to the speci c needs of the institution. By adopting this method, the institution will not only be able toadapt more rapidly to change, but also develop a resilient and proactive culture, ready to meet future challenges
with agility and ef ciency.

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Honorary issue35: AI… Friend or foe - Developing and institutional approach
OpenAI stunned the world in November 2022 with the releaseof ChatGPT, its web interface for the GPT-3.5 model. Suddenly,
a generative AI model trained on massive amounts of content
from the internet was accessible to many people andorganizations around the world. Since then, we've all been
experimenting with use cases and amusing (sometimes
frightening) each other with stories about original query results,
sinister or stupid answers, and powerful ways of using
generative AI to be more productive and innovative.
Things have (already) changed since then. Generative AI isremarkably different from all status quo technologies. It's atechnology that invades the mind, so to speak. It brings some of the tacit knowledge of our collective mind andmakes it available to all. Although arti cial neural networks, the technology that led to large language models
and generative AI, are decades old, and although we've been using AI in chatbots and other products for years,
ChatGPT has brought this technology within reach of the widest possible audience.
Overnight, everyone has direct access to generative AI. It is tangible and controllable by each and every one ofus. We can now much more easily understand the many ways AI can and will change our lives, intransformations that will surpass the impact of other 21st century innovations, from smartphones to social
media to cloud computing.
But is AI good or bad, friend or foe? The questions we should be asking are not binary. We need to question:
how do we make the best use of AI to bene t the mission of higher education and its constituents? How can wetransform higher education to adapt to an AI-driven future?
The perspective
AI makes knowledge and expertise available in a way that didn't exist in the past. It can help people develop
rapidly, including those who traditionally have no access to adequate training provision or educational resources.
In higher education, AI can potentially help reduce administrative costs if applied to administrative processes,
job descriptions, project organization, meeting summaries and tracking, software development, onboarding andtraining. Pedagogical applications could include redesigning assessment, developing pedagogical content for(basic) courses, and tutoring. These are just the rst ideas, and we're almost certain to create more powerfuluse cases in the months and years to come. AI may not have made the EDUCAUSE Top 10 list for 2024, but
30% of respondents to the TOP10 survey rated this priority with an importance score of 9 or 10 out of 10.
In summary
Be smart and stay smart. What you knew last month about AI is not what you'll need to know next month. Take
the time to develop and maintain your understanding of AI. Create or use existing forums to share knowledge
and ideas within and outside the institution.
Join management teams. Boards, presidents, faculty and others look to IT managers to advise them on
institutional AI strategy. This is your chance to be that integrating CIO.
Dare to dream big. AI is more than a collection of tools for incremental improvements. Work with facility leadersand outside experts to rethink the facility and our industry.
Learn from your students. Students use AI and think about AI in ways that are more elastic, innovative andrelevant to student learning and success than the rest of us. Involve them in AI strategy and experiments.

35 This year, Susan Grajek proposes an 11th point: AI. Although not included in the TOP10, the panel felt it necessary to include it in the 2024

study, not only in view of its growing importance, but also in view of the panelists' assessment of the importance of this trend.

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Beware of hype. There's money to be made with AI, and many companies and consultants will tend to oversell
their "AI-driven" products and services.
Key success factors
Institutions with "organizational capital" - those that have already invested in the cultural, human andtechnological capabilities essential to effective global digital transformation - will be best placed to adapt to,
mitigate the risks of and bene t from AI. Some of them will have the resources to carry out these efforts. Other
institutions - smaller or less well-resourced, but nonetheless agile, with digital transformation underway - canbene t from these "early adopters" and become fast followers.
By working collaboratively, institutions can share best practices, experiences and resources to maximize thebene ts of AI. Strategic partnerships between institutions, industry and other stakeholders can foster successful
AI adoption and enable institutions to anticipate and respond to emerging challenges.
It is essential to develop an organizational culture that encourages innovation, adaptability and collaboration.
Institutions must support ongoing staff training to build the skills needed to use AI effectively and ensure asmooth transition to this new digital environment. This will help create a skilled workforce able to take advantageof the opportunities offered by AI.
In summary, the successful adoption of AI in higher education depends on preparation, collaboration andorganizational culture. Institutions that invest in these aspects will be better positioned to navigate the AI era anddeliver enhanced educational experiences.

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Conclusion
In 2024, higher education leaders are striving to help their institutions become more resilient in order to meet the
major challenges on the horizon. The EDUCAUSE Institutional Resilience Working Group de nes institutional
resilience in higher education as "the ability to anticipate, respond and adapt to rapidly changing circumstancesin ways that maximize opportunities and minimize the consequences of unforeseen events". The working groupadds: "More resilient institutions anticipate the needs of stakeholders to advance the institution's mission andpurpose, foster collaboration and improve equity by involving all relevant communities and resource
ecosystems".
For several years, EDUCAUSE has been talking about digital transformation (Dx) and how a series of deep,
coordinated changes in culture, workforce and technology can enable new educational and operational models
and transform our institutions, strategic directions and value proposition. Much of this work has focused on
innovation and initiatives to attract new students or funding sources, offer new degrees, expand to new physicalor digital campuses, and help more students earn degrees more affordably. The notion of improvement is
implicit in all this work.
But risk is becoming a permanently more important part of life. Our world is changing rapidly and dramatically.
This change fuels innovation, but also risk. Digital transformation shouldn't just be about improving businessmodels and advancing missions; it can also be driven by risk reduction. Institutional resilience has been anelement holding back digital transformation, and this needs to change. EDUCAUSE is working to integrate theconcepts of institutional resilience into its digital transformation resources. This will enable higher education
leaders to build on current Dx initiatives rather than trying to gure out how to take on another "big new thing"when they're already overwhelmed.
Higher education remains the driving force behind individual success. In the United States, higher education
graduates experience much lower unemployment and poverty rates than their counterparts whose highest
diploma is a bachelor's degree. They also earn, on average, $1.2 million more over their lifetime. But the net
wealth resulting from this income premium is eroded when students are saddled with student debt. Even worse
off are the millions of people who, even with student loans, were unable to earn the degrees that would havegiven them access to higher-paying jobs. In a recent article, Paul Tough looked at this situation from theperspective of net wealth, rather than income, and concluded that: "For most people, the new economics ofhigher education make enrolling in college a risky gamble36"
Yet Tough's article concludes with a forecast of increasing job opportunities for higher education graduates in
the coming years, and a shortage of between 6.5 and 8.5 million graduates available to ll these jobs. Higher
education quali cations remain essential to the health of our economy. We need to ensure that they also
contribute to the economic health of individuals. But to do this, we need to change things. We need to reduce
the nancial burden on students and ensure that every student can graduate. For years, institutional change has
focused on innovation. It's time to learn to adapt to a world where risks proliferate, both for students andinstitutions. It's time to build institutional resilience and, in so doing, contribute to the success of every student.
In 2024, higher education leaders will use data and technology to increase mission, operational and nancial
resilience. Don't be left behind.

36 Americans Are Losing Faith in the Value of College. Whose Fault Is That? - The New York Times (nytimes.com) New York Times Magazine,

September 5, 2023 -paid access-

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On-Site Visits
Frédéric Habert & John Augeri, PhD - French Delegation / Shoji Kajita, PhD, Takuto Matsuhashi & Tatsuya Tohyama Japanese Delegation

Visit to Harper College

Presentation
Harper College is an institution of higher education located in Palatine, 40 km from Chicago. Founded in 1965
and opened in 1967, the college takes its name from William Rainey Harper, an educator and rst president of
the University of Chicago. Harper College offers a diverse range of academic programs, including university
degrees, certi cates and professional training programs, mostly in 2 years and at moderate cost. The 13,500(20,000 with evening classes) students can choose from a wide selection of elds of study, ranging from thehumanities to the applied sciences. There are 640 teaching staff and 810 administrative staff (full-time and parttime). The community college organizes community events, volunteer activities and partnerships with local
businesses to strengthen ties between the institution and the community.
Harper College offers a wide range of student services, including academic advising, health services,
extracurricular activities and nancial aid resources to support students throughout their educational journey.
Many Harper College students choose to continue their studies at universities after completing their programs.
The college facilitates this process by collaborating with various institutions to simplify transfers, including
Depaul University, Roosevelt University, Northern Illinois University and Southern Illinois University. In addition to
traditional academic programs, Harper College offers continuing education and professional development
opportunities for adults seeking to acquire new skills or change careers. Finally, it values diversity and inclusion
by striving to create a welcoming environment for students from all backgrounds and by offering scholarships.

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Digital Strategy
Riaz Yussuff has been CIO at Harper College for the past 2 years. His department has a staff of 85, 20 student
employees and 20 contractors. The department favors innovation with its $17m budget. In the area of cybersecurity, they use Ivanti to deploy patches and raise staff awareness with annual training. They have had
problems with phishing on student e-mails (attempted scams). They also use a VPN for certain applications.
Overall, they encourage BYOD (using personal equipment) and offer 3,000 Chromebooks on loan to the library.
In terms of strategy, they have set up a digital project management process with committees at different levels(users, decision-makers, IT department) to involve all stakeholders. This makes it possible to de ne a 4-year
strategic plan, as well as a digital roadmap for this period. For applications, they host their Active Directory andthe rest is in the Cloud, but as if it were on premise. They use Fusion for SaaS management, Blackboard as ateaching platform with Analog (remote monitoring system) for online exams (especially during the pandemic).
They have 7 Hy ex classrooms at $25,000 each and are planning 14 in the future. They use Webex, but canalso use Zoom, Teams and Panopto solutions. These rooms are mainly used to record lessons, as the majority
of courses are face-to-face. However, some pioneering teachers use them to develop their innovative practices.
Although they do not offer training in digital tools for students, they do have access to a helpdesk and tutorials,
as well as a Chatbot in their CRM (Salesforce). In future, the student portal will be migrated from Banner to
Elusion.

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Visit to University of Chicago

Presentation
This university was founded in 1890 by John D. Rockfeller. It is a private, non-pro t institution. It has around16,000 students, with a different distribution from the others, as there are fewer undergraduates (7,000) thanmasters (10,500). There are 2,800 teaching staff
and 16,000 personnel, including the university
hospital. It is the most expensive university in theUSA, with tuition fees of $60,000 and up to$100,000 for Law. Its operating costs are coveredby tuition fees and donations. The acceptance rate
for applicants is 7%.
It is the site of the 1st atomic reactor (Fermi), andhas 99 Nobel Prize winners, notably in chemistry,
physics, economics and medicine. It has a strong
research focus, with 9 campuses worldwide(including one in Paris). It is regularly ranked among
the world's top 10 universities, and 6th in the USA.
The issue of higher education and its cost is of strategic importance. Student debt is a problem, but they offer
scholarships and their students have a lower debt ratio than others in the region. Finally, competition from online
courses is disrupting the lower end of the education market, but not affecting them.

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The university's operations are highly decentralized. The central IT department employs 275 people, and there
are a total of 815 IT specialists in the faculties. They share Peoplesoft tools, as well as in-house developments,
but the faculties also have their own software. The IT Director, Kevin Boyd, proposes solutions for everything,
but nothing is imposed on the various departments. There are 3 Data Centers (with a dedicated team of 6
people) with 55 petabytes of data and a 400 Gbps network (notably to remote laboratories).
The main challenge in the ICT eld is security (with Chinese threats in particular), and they have de ned a
procedure for storing research data, which is mandatory for sensitive data. Furthermore, data management is an
important issue in keeping pace with the ever-increasing amount of data to be stored, analyzed andmanipulated. Given the diversity of elds (physics, etc.), current tools are no longer suf cient for analysis. As far
as administration is concerned, they use the cloud ( nance, alumni,...), but also Of ce 365 , and Gmail forstudents. They also have a Privacy Of cer in charge of personal data protection. An effort is also being made toprovide high-performance IT resources with a good level of support for research.
Short-term projects include the transformation of the nancial management system (move to Oracle Cloud
Finance), accelerated renovation of wired and wireless networks, identity management evolution (replacement of
Shibboleth), generative Arti cial Intelligence and user experience enhancement. In the eld of education, and inparticular online courses, they mainly practice hybridization and have few distance courses. Zoom is used forcontinuing education on Saturdays. Generally speaking, students want to be in contact with teachers on
campus. They use Canvas as their teaching platform. It is used for on-campus courses, continuing education
and working groups. According to their data, 80% of courses use Canvas (the percentage is higher forundergraduates). But they don't yet know how to discriminate between types of use, so they can then provide
support and advice. Use is based on volunteer teachers, and there are no standard courses or templates tofollow. Generally speaking, they aim to simplify the student experience in terms of educational information
systems. They use Panopto (video capture) for some ipped classroom courses (based on videos and quizzes)
and nd that this approach is more interesting and more successful, even if it requires more work. For students
with dif culties, or those who are not native English speakers, this means they can view the course at will.
The leadership provided by Mr. Kevin Boyd is well-described in the IT Strategic Plan. In special, he focused onproviding trusted services rather than developing brand-new services. It is underpinned by his corporate
background and the CIO experiences at School of Business, University of Chicago.
Learning Spaces
In terms of Learning Spaces, the University of Chicago is demonstrating a proactive strategy, which neverthelesshad to take into account the historic character of several of its buildings. While this aspect may have presented
constraints in terms of architectural renovation or transformation, the fact remains that a variety of spaces areoffered to students: formal (renovated Classrooms and Lecture Theaters), informal (Learning Commons-type)
and transitional. Some of these are based on furniture that allows exibility in spatial con guration, particularly
appreciated in group activities.
Furthermore, several of these spaces have evolved to adapt to new trends in learning practices, notably aroundhybridization and HyFlex. In particular, they are equipped with A/V equipment to enable continuous
communication and exchanges with remote students. These include multi-directional ceiling microphones (tileshaped), or a device for detecting the position of the teacher in front of the blackboard in a lecture hall (in theform of sensitive mats) enabling automation of the video capture zone during the lecture, and thus optimizationof the content generated.
The governance and the operation of these Learning Spaces, in line with IT issues, is decentralized. However,within the same structure or department, standardization of equipment and procedures is applied to optimize
maintenance and facilitate use by Faculty.

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Datacenter
The University of Chicago operates two types of data centers as facilities for operating and managing
information systems.
The data center used primarily for mission-critical systems related to university operations is equipped with 80
standard 19-inch racks (42U), each capable of using up to 15 kW of power. On the other side, the data center
used mainly for research systems is equipped with 147 standard 19-inch racks (42U) and can use up to 25 kWof power per rack. The data center for research systems is also equipped with water-cooling facilities for HPC
and machine learning computers, which allows the equipment to operate more ef ciently.
In addition, the power used by the server equipment is supplied in both data centers by UPSs that support
CVCF (constant voltage and frequency). This enables the UPS system to supply power for up to 20 minutes inthe event of a power outage, even in an environment where servers use 100% of the 2.5MW, the maximum
power available in both data centers, contributing to 24/7/365 operation of the information systems.
In addition, some of the racks are sealed, and air conditioning equipment installed between the racks blows cool
air from the sides to cool the equipment. The system is designed to cool equipment with the minimum amountof power required by collecting warm air at the back of the rack and creating an air ow that prevents cold andwarm air from leaking out.
Note that in data centers used for mission-critical systems related to university operations, large windows are
installed if the air conditioning system cannot operate due to a breakdown or unintended power outage. Whendesigning data centers, windows are generally avoided for safety and temperature/humidity stabilization
reasons. However, police regularly and frequently patrol the data center, and bulletproof window glass thatcannot be easily broken is used to make the risk acceptable. Regarding temperature and humidity stabilization,
as mentioned above, the use of sealed racks makes it possible to install windows as there is no need to stabilize
the temperature and humidity in the data center.

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A look inside the data center

UPSs that can supply 2.5MW of power for 20 min

Science DMZ
The University of Chicago has received a grant, and it is providing the Science DMZ, a network infrastructure
built specially for researchers in data-intensive science. The Science DMZ is a special network designed foref cient high-performance computing and large-volume research data transfer, unlike a typical campus network.
It has a dedicated server (data transfer node) that specializes in data transfer and is designed to ef ciently
handle high-speed data transfer, as well as to relax restrictions imposed by security policies to prioritize datatransfer performance. This Science DMZ includes support for VC (Virtual Circuit), SDN (Software-De nedNetworking), and 100 Gbps Ethernet.
While enabling effective high-speed data transfer, the university has also been mindful of security and has taken
several steps to make the extensive campus network more secure. One of these measures has been to restrict
all external remote access protocols from outside to the university, and it has built in such a way that remote
access is not possible without the use of a VPN and two-factor authentication. This response has caused someresearchers to complain that they no longer have direct access to the computers in their laboratories from theoutside as before, but only for legitimate reasons, such as network research, for example, by separately
preparing a low-speed DMZ for research that does not require a VPN using two-factor authentication, this has
been successfully handled without increasing the risk to the university as a whole.
The Science DMZ is a very useful network for research projects dealing with big data and collaborative researchrequiring large-volume data sharing with remote locations and is expected to continue to contribute to theef ciency data linkage with other research institutions in this university’s academic research and improve theproductivity of researchers.

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Visit to Oakton Community College

Presentation
Oakton College is an institution of higher education located 34 kilometers from Chicago. Founded in 1969 tomeet the growing higher education needs of Chicago's north suburban community. This community college
offers a variety of academic and technical programs ranging from general studies to specialized technicalprograms and professional development courses,
usually in 2 years. The 7,400 students can choose
from a variety of elds of study, including the liberal
arts, sciences, management, health and industrial
production activities, with courses in nursing andtruck driving, for example. It maintains partnerships
with local universities and businesses, offering
students transfer opportunities (notably
Northwestern University) and employment after
graduation. Oakton College primarily targets
students from disadvantaged backgrounds in thesurrounding area (tuition fees are more expensive
for those from outside the district) and those fromethnic minorities, in order to promote social mobility. The economic model is based on tuition fees (1/3), a statesubsidy (10%) and the remainder nanced by the equivalent of local housing taxes. It should be noted thatenrolments have been declining since 2009 (with 12,000 enrolled) due to demographic trends, even though
there has been a 6% increase in registrations since the end of the pandemic.

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Digital Strategy
The school IT department, headed by Prashant Shinde, has 40 people, with a budget equivalent to 11% of thatof the community college. In the area of security, they have had no problems internally, but 2 of their suppliers
have been affected. 11% of the IT department's budget is devoted to security, including a simulated attack by aservice provider every year, which enables them to assess their vulnerability and decide on staff training actions.
However, their modest size in the American higher education sector does not make them particularly vulnerable
to attacks from unfriendly countries.
The use of data is a strategic issue for the management and responsiveness of the institution, and in particular
for the implementation and support of their strategic program up to 2030. The Data Warehouse will provide themeans to measure this objective in a way that is accessible to staff. One of the applications is to measure equity(by collecting information on ethnicity, age, gender, etc.) in order to provide personalized access to training(adapted course content and assessment). This should also help to ensure that timetables are adapted to
students' needs, and to optimize the funds used for the success of foreign students ($1M/year). Equity initiatives
include teacher training and the recruitment of tutors to keep students motivated (especially black students).
In the eld of pedagogical engineering, they use D2L on the cloud as a pedagogical platform (courses,
information and grades), Screenpal to create videos and Sharestream to broadcast them, all accessible fromtheir D2L. Support is available around the clock with a virtual assistant, or on a more limited basis via chat/phone with an agent. They broadcast content online, but are confronted with the disparity of access possibilities
for their students.

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ELI Annual Meeting 2023
John Augeri, PhD - French Delegation

Context
ELI Annual Meeting, the second EDUCAUSE conference held annually in May or June over three days, is, as its
title suggests, focused on issues related to Teaching and Learning practices. Organized by EDUCAUSE
Learning Initiative (ELI)37, it is a smaller event than the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference held in October, which itcomplements (this year 300 participants compared to 8000). However, this event bene ts from a wellestablished image with audiences whose pro les may be different and more speci c than those of the Annual
Conference (Raculty/Researchers, Heads of Departments, ICT and related services Directors, Digital VicePresidents, Teaching Vice-Presidents, Instructional Designers), and who also devote real loyalty to it throughregular attendance.
In addition to its Annual Meeting, ELI is also directly involved in several publications: the annual Horizon Report |Teaching and Learning Edition38 (for which several members of the EDUCAUSE French Delegation are regularly
serving in the panel of experts who contribute to the perspectives addressed), the 2023 Students andTechnology Report: Flexibility, Choice, and Equity in the Student Experience39, the 2023 Faculty and Technology
Report: A First Look at Teaching Preferences since the Pandemic40 (to which the article Hybridizations & HyFlex
returns at length) or the 2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Action Plan: Generative AI41.
While the 2023 edition of this report is the rst one to include a formal
coverage of the event, several members of the EDUCAUSE French
Delegation have already participated and/or presented posters or
sessions at various ELI Annual Meetings. It should also be noted thatthe author of this article has been selected as member of the Program
Committee for the 2023 and 2024 editions. Finally, ELI Annual Meetinghas already been mentioned directly or indirectly in previous editions of
this report, for example in 2022 in Aurélien Saïdi's article The
Technician and the Pedagogue: a Teacher’s Subjective View on theconference.
This article reviews the main topics covered during the 2023 edition of
ELI Annual Meeting, illustrating them with a selection of sessions andposters, before concluding with a mention of the articulation with the
EDUCAUSE Annual Conference.

37 A branch of EDUCAUSE, since renamed Teaching and Learning Program
38 https://library.educause.edu/resources/2021/2/horizon-reports
39 https://library.educause.edu/resources/2023/8/2023-students-and-technology-report- exibility-choice-and-equity-in-the-student-experience
40 https://library.educause.edu/resources/2023/8/2023-faculty-and-technology-report-a- rst-look-at-teaching-preferences-since-the-pandemic
41 https://library.educause.edu/resources/2023/9/2023-educause-horizon-action-plan-generative-ai

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Structure and main topics of the 2023 edition
ELI Annual Meeting 2023 was held from June 7 to 9, 2023 inAnaheim, California, not far from the Convention Center which has
itself hosted the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference on several
occasions. As usual, and following a similar pattern to EDUCAUSE
Annual Conferences, this event was structured around opening andclosing plenary sessions, sessions based on the tracks listed below, aposter area, and an exhibit hall.
The theme of this 2023 edition was Together Towards Tomorrow: Shaping the Future of Teaching & Learning.
Logically, it focused in particular on new practices arising from the pandemic, exploring - and questioning - their
future(s). The various tracks of the conference, established by the program committee, were as follows:
Equity, Mindset & Practice: Voluntary reconsideration by teachers, staff and stakeholders of practices, policies andinitiatives to promote success for all students.
The Future of Educational Technology: Integrating technologies into physical and digital environments. Political,
operational, practical and ethical dimensions.
Fostering the Practice & Profession of Teaching: Teacher training and change management for the implementation ofredesigned courses in multiple modalities.
Innovative Learning Environments & The Future of Higher Education: De ning a new normal for Learning Environmentsfrom Hybrid and HyFlex perspectives.
Advancing Student Support & Success: Holistic consideration of students' cognitive, emotional and psychosocial
needs for success.

Examples of sessions and posters
Among the variations on the tracks listed above, multimodality (Hybrid and HyFlex con gurations, synchronous/
asynchronous) and Faculty Development were the focus of sessions representative of the trends in these areas.
Online, In-Person or Hybrid ? Yes ! Horizon Report Exemplar Stories (EDUCAUSE, University of Massachusetts Amherst,
Foothill-DeAnza Community College District, California State University San Bernadino)This session, the title of which re ects one of the items in the EDUCAUSE Top-10 issues 2023 (also mentioned
in the previous edition of this report), looked at various aspects of the implementation of Hybrid and HyFlex
con gurations. To this end, the 2023 edition of the Horizon Report | Teaching and Learning Edition was evokedin relation to the presence of HyFlex in the list of perspectives identi ed as key ones in terms of technologies
and practices in Higher Education. On this basis, three signi cant case studies were presented. University of
Massachusetts Amherst (through its LRC / Learning Resource Center42) presented its HyFlex SI (Supplemental
Instruction) project, which involved rede ning its teaching system, with particular emphasis on the use of the
LMS. California State University San Bernardino also talked about its VR Meet XR Meet the Matrix project, which
integrates XR and arti cial intelligence components in a multimodal con guration. Foothill-DeAnza Community
College District presented its Humanizing Online STEM Classes initiative, which explores ways of creating
welcoming, supportive and inclusive distance learning environments, based on inter-university cooperation43.

42 https://www.umass.edu/lrc/
43 https://humanizeol.org/about/

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Active Flex (Athens State University)
This presentation focused on Athens State University's response to a decline in enrollment following the
pandemic. The Active Flex project, in this case, aims to remove the barriers students may face in accessing
courses, make them more engaging, and create closer connections with campus life. For the institution, Active
Flex represents an evolution of the HyFlex concept, with a particular focus on Active Learning and collaborative
working. The team in charge of Active Flex presented the main thrusts of the instructional design implemented in
the development of courses (in particular, creation of high-quality asynchronous content, development of
resources for teachers), and in increasing the exibility of their access (in particular, coordination of schedules,
automation of tasks). The presentation also discussed the results of this approach in terms of perception, andtherefore potential for student retention: 91% of participants rated the format positively, and 90% as moreengaging.
Beyond Teaching Remotely, Let’s Go Fully Asynchronous (University of San Francisco)
University of San Francisco presented a 100% asynchronous distance learning initiative. Implemented on
modules of different disciplines offered during the summer, it relied on a selection of teachers who bene ted
from structured coaching from ITS44 as well as support from the institution, and on a course design process
taking place over ve months. Since 2020, 25 teachers have been involved in setting up 21 courses. The growthin enrollment has been very signi cant: from 160 in 2020, 607 were registered in 2023. It's also worth notingthat qualitative surveys carried out on these modules have shown that they are at least as well received - if notbetter - than traditional courses, in terms of aspects such as instructional design, teaching practice, student
engagement and learning outcomes. Nevertheless, the presenters stressed that design planning, teacher
workload, understanding of the very idea of such a teaching modality, and technological limitations remainchallenges to be taken into account.
Walking the Walk: Modeling Tech-Forward, Culturally-Responsive Practices in Faculty Training (Minnesota State University)
Minnesota State University, for its part, addressed the issue of DEI45 in teacher training, with a session
describing the implementation of Faculty Learning Communities (FLC). Surveys, the results of which were alsopresented as part of this session, validated the effectiveness of this format in addressing points of attention
relating to pedagogical practices themselves, as well as to uses of technology. An open book entitled Faculty
Learning Communities for Culturally Responsive Teaching, written by one of the people in charge of this session
and recounting the FLC experience, is now available46.
A number of posters were also presented. The University of Chicago, which was also the subject of one of the
EDUCAUSE French Delegation's on-site visits this year47, presented its Learning Technology Group, which
structures and coordinates actions around the institution's LMS. In its poster Teaching with Analytics to improve
Student Success: Review, Amend, Apply, Indiana University focused on the effective use of Learning Analytics such
as LMS behavior, video viewing and e-book reading to improve student success. In the poster Distinguished
Course Repository, Kennesaw State University presented its approach to building a collection of excellent courses
in a variety of formats, and promoting them internally and externally. University of Maryland, Baltimore County
presented its initiatives to train students in digital uses and culture (a Digital Tech Credential) in its poster The
Future of Tech Talent; How UMBC is preparing Students for the Digital Age. Lastly, our Dutch colleagues from SURF
looked at scenarios and trends for the Future Campus, How could the future of the campus look like in 2040 ?

44 Instructional Design Team
45 DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), which has been addressed in several editions of the Conference and of this report.
46 https://minnstate.pressbooks.pub/crt c/
47 See the article On-Side Visits of this report

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Comments and positioning in relation to EDUCAUSE Annual Conference
The 2023 edition of the ELI Annual Meeting has not departed from the vocation of this conference, by clearly
focusing on themes relating to teaching and learning practices, treating them - at least for part of the sessions from a forward-looking angle. This approach is all the more appropriate given that the aspects concerned arestill in a post-pandemic phase, with tensions between a return to the pre-COVID situation, and the perpetuationof practices born of this situation. Some of the latter, in fact, claim to foreshadow a new normal in the middle tolong-term, raising fundamental strategic, operational, technological and even conceptual questions that arepotentially restructuring for Higher Education institutions.
While these changes are still underway on a global scale, some US institutions are already providing very
concrete illustrations, in the form of actual achievements that were presented at the conference. Flexibility inaccess to teaching - under the name of HyFlex or others - optimized asynchronous learning, and otherdevelopments in Faculty Development are just some of the key themes discussed, re ecting their growing
integration into academic and institutional strategies48.
Participation in the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference in October, four months after the ELI Annual Meeting,con rmed the complementary nature of the two events. Given their respective thematic scopes, participants canchoose to attend one or both, depending on their pro le and expectations. Once again, the ELI Annual Meeting
stands out for its focus on questions and issues relating to technology-enhanced pedagogical practices, rather
than on the technology itself.
Finally, it should be noted that a few days after the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference was held, it was announced
that the next ELI Annual Meeting would be held in full distance mode.

48 See the articles Learning Spaces and Hybridizations & HyFlex of this report, which address these trends

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Learning Spaces
John Augeri, PhD - French Delegation

Meeting of the Learning Space Design Community GroupThe Annual Conference in Chicago was the occasion to hold the traditional meeting of the EDUCAUSE Learning
Space Design Community Group. Once again, the meeting provided an opportunity to exchange views on
topical issues and challenges affecting Learning Spaces. Among these, three were the focus of particular
discussion.
Governance
The question of governance, and in particular of the entity responsible for implementing Learning Spaces
projects, remains central in many institutions, and even more so in the context of industrialization. While it's
natural for such projects to require cross-functional involvement at institutional level (typically: IT, A/V and ICT
department, facilities, etc.), the latter can involve players who are certainly complementary, but who retain adegree of independence (operational and decision-making) between themselves. Consequently, the question of
an identi able (and identi ed) entry point for any question relating to Learning Spaces may prove to be an issue.
Discussions have underlined the importance of a coordinating and supporting entity, which can take the form ofa steering committee to build bridges (as some institutions have mentioned in relation to their experience), or asingle project manager (whose job title may itself be an issue).
Data-driven approach, assessment and Learning Analytics
The industrialization, or even generalization, of Learning Spaces depends not only on conceptual and equipment
issues, but also on the validation of the actual transformations they can bring about in teaching and learning
practices. Metrics and evaluation are thus increasingly becoming fundamental issues for these new spaces49.
The Learning Spaces Design Community Group meeting addressed this issue from the angle of data-driven
decision, dashboards adapted to the different spaces, or Learning Analytics applied to multimodal and HyFlex
con gurations50.
A/V equipment and adaptation to HyFlex configurations
As a direct consequence of the pandemic and its prospects in terms of hybridization, Learning Spaces need toadapt technologically in order to host activities that meet these con gurations. A/V equipment is a major
component of these developments. Discussions at the meeting underlined the importance of shorter
development cycles in today's A/V world51. They also returned to the perspective of the HyFlex, which - while
representing a potentially strategic challenge for certain institutions52 - is by its very nature directly dependent on
A/V equipment, and therefore intimately linked to issues concerning it. It should also be noted that these
aspects are all the more important when it comes to standardizing the design and equipment of Learning
Spaces, which should be promoted as part of an institutional policy.

49 See the part Trends and Perspectives of the Learning Spaces below in this article
50 See the part Trends and Perspectives of the Learning Spaces below in this article
51 See the part Trends and Perspectives of the Learning Spaces below in this article, and the article Hybridizations & HyFlex
52 Here again, see the article Hybridizations & HyFlex

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Lastly, the meeting was an opportunity to recall the availability of V3 of
EDUCAUSE's Learning Space Rating System53 (LSRS). This tool, which has
already been presented on several occasions in previous editions of this report,
offers an evaluation framework particularly suited to Active Learning
Classrooms, but which can also be used as a best practice guide for a wider
spectrum of Learning Spaces. It consists of a rating sheet with a set of criteriathat re ect its overall approach to Learning Spaces. The rst part of the rating
sheet is devoted to questions of institutional context, planning and support,
while the second focuses on the possibilities and characteristics of the various
spaces: environmental quality, layout and furniture, technology and tools, andinclusion. Linked to the rating sheet is a guide to each of the criteria, setting out
how to validate them using practical, concrete examples. French and Japanesetranslations of the LSRS are available54.

FLEXspace 3.0
The FLEXspace project, best known for its database of Learning Spaces (6,000 users from 1,400 institutions in
70 countries), and regularly mentioned in previous editions of this report, took advantage of the Chicago
conference to present some major updates.
FLEXspace will be upgraded to V3. Changes in this new
version include a complete redesign of the interface (withspecial consideration for mobile terminals), the possibility of
discussions at record level, and reorganized idea walls to
encourage collaboration. There's also an optimized global
search feature and a simpli ed process for registering new
spaces. FLEXspace V3 will be available in early 2024.

53 https://www.educause.edu/focus-areas-and-initiatives/teaching-and-learning-program/initiatives/learning-space-rating-system
54 https://www.educause.edu/focus-areas-and-initiatives/teaching-and-learning-program/initiatives/learning-space-rating-system

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Trends and Perspectives of the Learning Spaces
The EDUCAUSE Annual Conference 2024 program included a forward-looking session entitled Future Trends in
Learning Environments. Moderated by Lisa Stephens (SUNY/UB & FLEXspace), Helen Chu (Stanford), Joe Way(UCLA & HETMA), Rebecca Frazee (UCSF & FLEXspace) and the author of this article, it proposed a discussion
around major trends and perspectives related to learning environments (physical and digital) in the post-COVID
era.
Equity and Inclusion in the Design
Stanford presented its strategic plan Stanford Classrooms Reimagined, scheduled on ten years, and which aims
to integrate a student-centered and inclusive approach into the renovation of the institution facilities (60 rooms
have already been updated for summer 2021). This plan is based on the involvement of numerous players within
the institution, and on the implementation of standards for A/V, furniture and design, control systems andsupport. It also pays particular attention to themental health issues that began to affect students
during the pandemic, and to accessibility issues
more generally. Its aim is to promote equity andinclusion55 (taking into account ADA standards),
well-being and integrative learning. These
principles are re ected, for example, in adjustableheight tables located as close as possible to theentrance to the room, in seminar rooms whose
size ensures that everyone has a place at thetable, in the installation of microphones within thespaces to ensure that distance-learning students
can hear what everyone is saying, in theWith courtesy of Stanford Learning Technologies & Spaces
installation of specialized listening systems, and in(https://lts.stanford.edu/)
the design of spaces that support small-group
activities and collaboration to promote a sense of
belonging to a community of learners.
This part of the session went beyond the Stanford case, to consider more generally the potentially segmenting
factor that A/V can represent in a world of Higher Education in which remote and hybrid training is set tobecome widespread, with on one side the institutions investing in high-quality and high-performance equipment,
potentially contributing directly and indirectly to their attractiveness, and on the other side the other ones56.
Measuring results in Learning Spaces
The presentation then focused on the issue of evaluation, and more speci cally on the methods used tomeasure the results obtained in Learning Spaces. Beyond questions of design and furniture and/or
technological equipment, which have historically focused most of the attention, the assessment of Learning
Spaces is increasingly being taken into account through the implementation of quantitative and qualitative
indicators aimed at qualifying the reality and nature of the transformation of teaching and learning practices.
The research carried out by the Mosaic Initiative at Indiana University57 was mentioned in particular. Some of the
protocols implemented incorporate technologies such as hemispherical ceiling cameras coupled with motion
detection systems (e.g. positioning tags worn by users), and sound level meters. The results they generate canbe represented in the form of heatmap or sound diagrams (see examples below), to be connected to the various
teaching phases of the course in which the recordings were made.

55 See the article about this topic in the 2022 edition of this report
56 See the interview of Joe Way about this topic, published in the AVNetwork website: https://www.avnetwork.com/news/is-pro-av-the-new-divide-in-education
57 A webinar held on February 23rd 2023 on this topic is available at the following URL: https://iu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/t/1_8ek18ply

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Examples of results obtained from the research carried out by Mosaic
Initiative, Indiana University (courtesy of the authors)

Learning Analytics in multimodal configurations
Following on from the presentation on the measurement of results obtained in Learning Spaces, the session
also focused on the special case of multimodal con gurations, and in particular those simultaneously involving
face-to-face students (potentially within Learning Spaces) and others in distance learning. This multimodality,
which can be part of co-modal or HyFlex con gurations, regularly and logically raises the question of equity
between different groups of students, and their respective engagement in learning activities. On this last point,
the implementation of Learning Analytics through a speci c protocol can provide a relevant basis for theevaluation - and steering - of innovative pedagogical systems, and thus possibly validate their sustainability.
Sophia University (Tokyo, Japan) initiative in this eld58 was presented. Its aim is to evaluate and compare theactive involvement of two groups of students (one face-to-face, the other synchronous distance learning), using
a body posture detection system (head orientation) and a voice recording system based on mobile terminal
cameras and multi-directional microphones. The initial results of this experiment, in progress at the time of the
Chicago conference, will be published.

Protocol of the research carried out by Sophia University(courtesy of the authors)

58 And with whom the author of this article had the opportunity to collaborate.

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Hybridizations & HyFlex
John Augeri, PhD - French Delegation

The hybridization of courses and the prospects for this are certainly one of the most notable consequences ofthe pandemic on teaching and learning practices. Logically dealt with on a regular basis at the various
EDUCAUSE conferences since 2020, they were once again addressed at the Annual Conference in Chicago59,
mainly from two angles that this article proposes to relate: the publication of two reports dealing with thepractices of teachers and students, and a pre-conference workshop speci cally focused on HyFlex. It should be
added that these same themes were also addressed as part of the Future Trends in Learning Environments
session to which the Learning Spaces article in this report returns in detail, and in different talks and posters
mentioned in the Innovations and Trends in Educational Technologies - 360° view article.

EDUCAUSE Research reports on trends among Teachers and Students
In August 2023, ECAR60, the EDUCAUSE research center already mentioned in previous editions of this report,
published two reports dealing with post-COVID changes in teaching practices (in the rst report) and learning
practices (in the second). Respectively entitled 2023 Faculty and Technology Report: A First Look at Teaching
Preferences since the Pandemic61 and 2023 Students and Technology Report: Flexibility, Choice and Equity in
the Student Experience62, they offer a list of metrics, the main trends of which were presented in a speci csession63 at the Chicago conference. The rst chapter of this article looks at the main parts of these results thatare directly or indirectly connected to the issues of hybridization (deliberately pluralized) and HyFlex.

59 In addition to the ELI Annual Meeting in June, see the corresponding article in this report.
60 https://www.educause.edu/ecar
61 https://library.educause.edu/resources/2023/8/2023-faculty-and-technology-report-a- rst-look-at-teaching-preferences-since-the-pandemic
62 https://library.educause.edu/resources/2023/8/2023-students-and-technology-report- exibility-choice-and-equity-in-the-student-experience63 EDUCAUSE Research: Results from the 2023 Student and Faculty Studies https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/

educause-research-results-from-the-2023-student-and-faculty-studies

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The 2023 Faculty and Technology Report: A First Look at Teaching Preferences since the Pandemic64 is
EDUCAUSE's rst survey of teachers since 2019. This report describes the results of the study in four mainareas:••••

Modality preferences and the impacts of teaching in non-preferred modes
Experiences teaching online and hybrid courses
Technology and digital availability of course components
Types of support needed and utilized for teaching

These results obviously take on particular signi cance in view of the transformations that the pandemic hasbrought about in teaching practices, and the questions and issues that their possible perpetuation raises. For
the purposes of this article, we have therefore focused on the ndings relating to the rst two areas65.
When it comes to preferences in terms of teaching modalities, several key facts66 can be mentioned. A small
majority (53%) of teachers prefer face-to-face teaching, but almost all of them are happy to use digitaltechnology to enrich their practice in this same modality. 18% opt for 100% distance learning, and 20% forhybrid. It should be noted that there has been an evolution since the 2019 study, which showed 73% ofteachers preferring full or semi-full face-to-face teaching, and 9% full distance learning. Another importantnding of the study, particularly with regard to hybridization, is that 68% of teachers favor a single modality for all
their classes. 25% are more inclined towards a combination of modalities, and 15% favor hybridization for their
entire practice. The last two categories underline the exibility that these modalities offer them and theirstudents, compared to face-to-face teaching. However, these preferences need to be set against a reality in theeld that may be different: 31% of the teachers questioned say that they do not give all their courses in theirpreferred modality. 59% of this population stress that this situation is the result of an institutional obligation,leaving them no choice in the matter.
With regard to experience of online and hybrid teaching67, the survey shows that only 4% of teachers had nevertaught a single course in one of these two modalities. While, logically, 69% of teachers said they have had thisexperience during the pandemic, 48% still claimed to be teaching at least one of their courses in one of the twomodalities at the time of the survey - well after the emergency measures had been put in place. Asked how theirpast experience in distance or hybrid teaching had in uenced their current preference, 71% of teachers replied
no change, or an increased preference. The study also showed that 86% of teachers with a preference forhybridization prefer to implement a single modality for all their students in a given time slot. Moreover, 76%prefer to decide for themselves which modality should be applied to each slot, thus not leaving the choice to thestudents.

64 https://library.educause.edu/resources/2023/8/2023-faculty-and-technology-report-a- rst-look-at-teaching-preferences-since-the-pandemic
65 However, we invite the reader to consult the full report, which deals in particular with the apprehension of technological components inteaching practice, and accompanying issues.
66 The full results for preferences in terms of teaching methods are available at https://www.educause.edu/ecar/research-publications/2023/

faculty-and-technology-report-a- rst-look-at-teaching-preferences-since-the-pandemic/modality-preferences
67 Full results on preferences for online and hybrid learning experiences are available at https://www.educause.edu/ecar/research-publications/

2023/faculty-and-technology-report-a- rst-look-at-teaching-preferences-since-the-pandemic/online-and-hybrid-teaching

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Faculty's perceptions and expectations

Students' perceptions and expectations
The second report, entitled 2023 Students and Technology Report: Flexibilité, Choice and Equity in the Student
Experience68, is student-focused and covers three main areas:•••

Supporting students on and off campus
The role of students as consumers in the educational marketplace
Equity and accessibility in teaching and learning

Among these areas, and for the purposes of this article, we have once again focused on aspects directly or
indirectly related to issues concerning hybridizations or HyFlex69.
When it comes to supporting students on and off campus70, and more speci cally the technological component,
the report rst highlights a signi cantly different levels of satisfaction between Internet access on campus and at
home. Only 32% of students are satis ed with connectivity on campus (42% are dissatis ed), compared with
72% who are satis ed with access at home. The report then looks at the shift in students' lifestyles. It showsthat students living off-campus are more likely to report having a family life and/or a job, factors weighing in favorof learning modalities that offer exibility and/or a distance option. Conversely, and predictably, on-campus
students are more likely to be socially connected, and therefore more likely to participate in face-to-facecourses. These results, however, need to be assessed in relation to the type of teaching activities undertaken,
with those involving a practical component or interactivity (group work) concentrating the most preferences forface-to-face. The speci c case of exams also shows a disparity between the two populations, with 32% of offcampus students favoring on-site exams, compared with 68% of on-campus students.
On the question of preferences in terms of modality and potential choice71, the report rst recalls the market
reality of higher education in certain territories - notably North America - which has already been mentioned
several times in previous editions of this report. In this respect, he mentions the need for institutions to adapt tostudents' preferences in all their plurality and to demonstrate responsiveness in this area, while underlining theissue of equity. Half of all students (53%) have a preference for traditional, on-site course experience.
However, and coming back to the question of choice and exibility, one notable outcome emerges from thereport: students' responses go beyond their individual cases, and position the question of hybridization from an
ethical angle. 82% of them feel that "every student should be able to participate in course activities in whateverways work best for them". The breakdown of this result between the different activities shows that a majority orplurality of students feel that the choice of modality should be offered for lectures, presentations, tutoring,
research activities, but also - and here again it's worth emphasizing - examinations. The same majority felt thatpractical work, interactive or group activities, and course discussions should be conducted face-to-face for all
students.

68 https://library.educause.edu/resources/2023/8/2023-students-and-technology-report- exibility-choice-and-equity-in-the-student-experience
69 Here again, we invite readers to consult the full report.
70 Full results on supporting students on and ocampus are available at https://www.educause.edu/ecar/research-publications/2023/studentsand-technology-report- exibility-choice-and-equity-in-the-student-experience/supporting-students-on-and-o -campus
71 Full results for the modality preference and choice issues are available at https://www.educause.edu/ecar/research-publications/2023/

students-and-technology-report- exibility-choice-and-equity-in-the-student-experience/empowering-students-to-choose

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These two reports, which once again prove all the richer the more they are read in their entirety, provide anumber of insights into the challenges and prospects of hybrid and HyFlex con gurations in the post-COVID
phase. The question of a lasting transformation of the new practices put in place during the pandemic, andmore speci cally of the sustainability of a proportion of distance learning of courses offered in hybrid mode, oreven of open HyFlex curricula, has indeed been regularly raised since 2020 (as, for example, in the context of
the ELI Annual Meeting covered in this same report). Beyond their middle and long-term projection, however,these possible prospects currently seem to be coming up against the reality of a return to face-to-face teaching,which has been the effective norm in many institutions as soon as the sanitary situation allowed. A modality
which, moreover, seems to correspond to the preference of a majority of students, at least for part of thelearning activities, and to that of teachers (bearing in mind that the latter seem to favor the option of atechnologically enriched face-to-face setting). Taking into account the overall metrics and results presented inthese two reports, however, provides a richer reading, particularly with regard to potential changes in teaching
and learning practices. The prospect of greater hybridization of courses, in particular, is all the more likely to betaken into consideration as it could be based on various factors highlighted in these reports on the part of bothteachers and students, as well as on more general, and in particular societal, considerations.
Indeed, while the 2023 Students and Technology Report: Flexibility, Choice and Equity in the Student Experience
indicates that just under half of students favor traditional face-to-face learning, it also highlights the fact that asigni cant proportion of them accept or subscribe to alternative modalities, i.e. distance or hybrid learning. The
same report also mentions the large majority of students (82%) who, beyond their own personal situation, feelthat everyone should be able to choose their own modality. These perceptions, combined with possible
considerations of personal life that might interfere with participation in face-to-face courses, or simply of the
comfort represented by the possibility of taking a course without having to commute, and with the assurance ofhigh-performance connectivity, further position the prospect of hybridization - and a exible one - as a potentiallyrealistic prospect.
This hypothesis is also echoed by teaching staff in the 2023 Faculty and Technology Report: A First Look at
Teaching Preferences since the Pandemic, particularly in relation to the growing acceptance of the principle ofgoing beyond the traditional classroom setting, and the experience gained in this area during the pandemic. As
far as teaching teams are concerned, the focus seems to be more on exibility, and therefore on learningmodalities, which, as we've seen, students demand. Teachers thus seem to favor a "controlled" hybridization inwhich they de ne the learning modality for each session, and the fact that this modality applies to the entire
student contingent.
The post-COVID landscape thus seems to be witnessing the emergence of conditions that could make theprospect of 'industrialized' hybridization possible - even likely - in the middle and long-term. Two issues remainunresolved, however: the acceptance and integration of such hybridization at institutional level, and the form it
may take. On the rst point, let's recall that the 2023 Faculty and Technology Report: A First Look at Teaching
Preferences since the Pandemic underlines the limitation that the institutional framework (and the relative
obligations in organizational terms) can represent. It should be noted, however, that there are signi cantexamples of deliberate institutionalization of hybrid courses (particularly in the US), very often connected to arationale of differentiation and attractiveness to students. As for the form of hybridization, it is all the more
important because of the real divergence between teachers and students. While the latter seem to favor
exibility in the choice of modality, teachers tend to want to retain control over how their groups will participate in
the different sessions. A further question concerns the number of modalities, and in particular the effectiveness or otherwise - of an asynchronous distance learning option. This exibility and triple modality are particularly
differentiating features between a conventional hybridization system and a - true72 - HyFlex (Hybrid-Flexible)
con guration.
The HyFlex is a prime example of the aforementioned strategies for the institutional integration of hybrid training
programs to enhance the attractiveness of the school and its curricula. HyFlex continues to be the focus ofparticular attention at both the ELI Annual Meeting in June and the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference in October,

72 See the article Hybride/HyFlex Trends: Myth or Reality ? in the 2022 edition of this report, which mentions the distortion between the original

concept of HyFlex, and the implementations declared as such during the emergency response to the pandemic.

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Analysis and et comments

and was the subject of a dedicated pre-conference workshop at both events, the Chicago edition of which isreported below.

HyFlex implementations: Tools and Strategies
The speci c Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) con guration, which was particularly exposed in the second phase of the
responses to the pandemic, continues to be the focus of particular attention from practitioners and facility
management73. This trend, already addressed in the 2022 edition of this report, goes beyond the logic ofresponding to an emergency situation (in which the HyFlex concept has often been distorted) to consider
medium and long-term sustainability, and is re ected in the presence of the topic in several sessions at
EDUCAUSE conferences. This was the case at the ELI Annual Meeting in June (see the corresponding article inthis report), as well as at the Annual Conference in October, where a comprehensive pre-conference workshop
was held on the theme Beyond the Basics, Advancing your HyFlex Implementation. The latter focused on tools(particularly technological) and strategies for optimizing the implementation or conversion of a course to HyFlex.
At the Annual Conference in October, the workshop moderators Brian Beatty (San Francisco State University,
widely recognized as the creator of the HyFlex concept), Glori Hinck (University of St. Thomas) and Cathy
Little eld (Peirce College), all three involved in the HyFlex Learning Community74, began the discussion bydescribing their respective journeys to HyFlex, which were intentional on the one hand (in particular, San
Francisco State University's need to meet enrollment and access challenges), and/or the result of a combinationof circumstances on the other. They then recalled the fundamental principles of HyFlex: the triple modality (faceto-face, synchronous distance and asynchronous distance) and the four pillars of student choice of modality,
reusability, equivalence and accessibility.
The workshop then addressed three main issues: the technological component, the question of student
involvement in the various modalities, and implementation strategies.
Technology pour the HyFlex compatible classrooms
The implementation of HyFlex structurally involves a technological component75. In particular, this concerns theA/V equipment of classrooms used by face-to-face students, an aspect on which several examples andfeedback were discussed. These include San Francisco State University's Burk Hall 170 Active Classroom /HyFlex, about which an interview with Brian Beatty was published by EdTech Magazine76, and of which a 360°
view is also available77. In particular, the use of equipment such as PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) cameras with automatic
tracking, document cameras, multi-directional and ceiling microphones, or multiple monitors with wirelessconnection was mentioned78.
Discussions also highlighted the possibility of an iterative approach, which can start with relatively lightequipment before evolving towards more complex, richer solutions.
Strategies for the engagement in the HyFlex courses
The plurality of modalities inherent in HyFlex logically raises the question of student engagement, particularly
with synchronous and asynchronous distance learning. A number of involvement-related questions have been
listed for the pedagogical engineering phase: How do students interact with the content? How do they interact

73 Here again, see the article Hybrid/HyFlex Trends: Myth or Reality ? in the 2022 edition of this report
74 https://www.hy exlearning.org/
75 Component also discussed in a speci c article on the HyFlex Learning Community website: https://www.hy exlearning.org/2022/04/29/

technology-for-hy ex-classrooms-major-considerations/
76 https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2023/05/explore-technology-behind-todays-hy ex-classroom
77 https://s.insta360.com/p/85ae78f16ef27f02e0441f5e61760317
78 Let’s remind here that several examples of HyFlex rooms are presented in a speci c gallery in the FLEXspace database. https:// exspace.org/

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with each other during learning phases? How do they interact with the teacher? The moderators then stressed
the need to consider both face-to-face and synchronous distance learning students as a single group, ensuring
intentional interaction with both populations (while being aware of the dif culty of this practice). They alsosuggested inserting references to asynchronous students during synchronous phases, such as "for those whowill watch this later online...".
Overall, the recommended approach is one of uni ed student consideration, based on the use of common
activities and assignments, common assessments and exams, and the assignment of students from all
modalities in group projects.
Strategies for implementation
The last part of the workshop was focused on the logistical, administrative and institutional aspects ofimplementing a course in HyFlex. It was an opportunity to emphasize the importance of cross-functional
involvement of support services, as part of a strategic approach to the project. Support for teaching teams(pedagogical engineering and training) as well as for students was highlighted as a fundamental point, illustrated
by several feedbacks from course leaders (including speci c modules on LMS). Administrative aspects were also
discussed, with - once again79 - the need for a commonly-accepted de nition of HyFlex, but also the need toqualify HyFlex in the information systems that manage registrations (with the choice management inherent in thismodel).
Lastly, in addition to recalling the existence of the Hybrid Flexible Course Design80, the workshop also provided
an opportunity to announce the 2nd edition of the HyFlex Collaborative Conference, supported by several of its
moderators, to be held on June 27th 2024 in remote and asynchronous mode81.

79 A session of the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference 2022, especially, highlighted this stake, which may sometimes represent a real diculty, see

the article Hybrid/HyFlex Trends: Myth or Reality ? in the 2022 edition of this report
80 Edited by Brian Beatty, with contributions from the other two workshop moderators, and freely available at https://edtechbooks.org/hy ex
81 https://aatlased.org/hy ex-collaborative/hy ex-collaborative-conference/

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Two challenges for IT Management
Emmanuelle Vivier - French Delegation

During the edition 2022 of EDUCAUSE, the theme Leadership and future workforce encompassed all issues
related to managing a digital department. In the 2023 edition, the theme was divided into two: Leadership,partnerships and strategy and Future of work and today's workforce.
Among all the presentations on offer, and in connection with the visits to institutions made by the Delegation,
two issues included in the Top-10 Issues 2024 will be developed, namely:••

Adapting to the future and cultivating institutional agility
Resilient hiring: recruiting and retaining talent in adverse circumstances

Adapting to the future and cultivating institutional agility
The IT departments of American institutions are demonstrating a need for formalizing their strategy and theresulting project portfolio in the interests of the success and in uence of their institution, while overcoming
current challenges such as budgets constraints, technological and risk developments, reorganizations, changes
in management methods, staff departures and uctuating team motivation82.
For example, the institutions visited by the French Delegation at EDUCAUSE were able to provide us with aconcise document outlining key points for the coming years, which were extremely enlightening in terms of theircurrent concerns, but also inspiring thanks to their highly pragmatic approach.
The information technology departments we interviewed formalized the essential elements that characterize theiractivity on a double-sided A4 sheet for the University of Chicago, and on a ten- page document for Harper
College: mission, guiding principles, core values and strategic objectives broken down into action plans.
In a very clear presentation, the Oakton college also highlighted its strategic focus areas including cyber security,
data-centric approach, development of equity of treatment between students, investment in online technologies
for teaching and student support.
These presentations and guiding documents each demonstrate a commitment to transparency and proactive
engagement in the service of the institution.
Let's take a closer look at the content of these reference documents and the concepts they cover.

82 IT service foundations : journey of transformation

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Values
The institutions share common values, both among those visited and those present at the EDUCAUSE
conference. These values include :
•
•

•
•

Transparency/integrity: decisions are explained, roles and responsibilities are clearly de ned,
opportunities and objectives are shared. All stakeholders feel involved in the decision-making process.
Respect/trust: acknowledging individual differences (diversity, equity, inclusion), dialogue encouraged,
decisions once adopted collegially are supported by all, feedback from users is collected through regularsurveys and taken into account constructively.
Excellence: constant vigilance to provide cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions.
Collaboration and partnership: stakeholders are involved not only in the decision-making process forchoosing learning technologies and tools, but also in the development of these solutions, which areessential to student success.

These values are summarized in an informative poster from the University of North Carolina Charlotte83.

Summary of the values that should govern IT governance

Strategic objectives
Selected strategic axes align with ours: modern technologies to support student success, accessibility andimproved user experience, robust infrastructures, security and cyber risk management.
Others are only just beginning to emerge in France; at the University of Chicago, for example, there is a strategic
focus on generative AI, with increased support for teachers. Improving the user experience is also the focus of

83 Exploring the Intersection of data, planning & empowerment : Creating a structure to transform IT Project Governancefi

65attention, with the need for simplicity and consistency, the integration of search engines, and consideration of
the digital accessibility of different resources.
Lastly, a strategic axis is becoming central, which was also presented to us during our visit to Oakton College,
and which concerns the analysis of data ( nancial, administrative, educational). This "data-centric" approach
offers the assurance of making informed, timely decisions.
These strategic objectives are further managed in a project portfolio with tools and monitoring.
Project portfolio management
The project portfolio is built and prioritized according to a number of guiding principles :• Analysis of existing processes and identi cation of areas foref ciency improvement• Annual call for projects from the various departments of theinstitution, possibly with the application of quotas;
maximum number of projects allocated for eachdepartment.
• Project prioritization based on alignment with corporate
strategy (e.g. infrastructure security)84• Estimating and control of resource consumption for various
projects• Guaranteed transparency and regular communication to
the community about portfolio developments• Critical analysis of the project request; learning to say no if
The role of strategy
the project is not justi ed or exceeds the quota
By way of example, a project appraisal process is shown below; any project submitted is rst examined by therelevant department to check strategic alignment, then by the IT department to verify technical and nancial
feasibility, before nal approval, planning and nally operational implementation. The notion of a project quota
per department is also present.

Project appraisal process.
84 Curiosity and Change : a framework for aligning technology investments with university objectives, The university of Oklahoma

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Once the strategy and project portfolio are established and validated, the next step is to optimize humanresources management to ensure implementation. In this respect, it is essential that the IT department works
hand in hand with the human resources department.

Resilient hiring: recruiting and retaining talents in unfavorable circumstancesWork evolution and burnout
A conference on the theme of burnout and changing work85 laid the foundations for the psychological state of IT
teams in the current post-health-crisis period, with upheavals in work organization and ever-greater challenges
to be met.
A number of factors are particularly signi cant in terms of their capacity to generate stress at work: an increasein the number of meetings linked to the development of videoconferencing, an increase in the number of e-mails
to be processed, the introduction of new tools that will further increase the number of requests (e.g. instantmessaging), and an increase in the number of documents and projects to be processed.
The three signs of burnout: feelings of exhaustion, disengagement/cynicism, lack of professional effectiveness.
Burnout makes the brain feel foggy, hampers concentration and decision-making, and makes small tasks seemhuge and insurmountable.

Findings and stress-causing factors

According to a Stanford study, a number of stress-generating factors are highlighted: excessive number andlength of meetings, women are more tired than men after Zoom meetings, and personal life often intrudes on
professional life.
The smooth, professional image projected during video conferences hides a completely different reality (seephoto below: behind the scenes).

85 Combating burnout to reach our goals, Jennifer Moss

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The other side of a videoconference

Jennifer Moss even explains that the explosion in the use of videoconferencing, which forces employees toconfront their own image all day long, has led to a boom in cosmetic surgery !
Solutions to prevent burnout and unhappiness at work
•

•
•
•
•
•

Before scheduling a meeting, ask yourself the right questions: is the meeting
really necessary, who should attend, what are the objectives, how longshould it last ?
Schedule non-work meetings: how are we doing? Who's doing well, who's
doing badly ? How can we simplify each other's lives ?
Take productive breaks: mental, physical, emotional, sensory, social, spiritual,creative
Having a best friend (a social life): reduces the risk of burnout by 41%,
increases feelings of psychological security by 27%
Feeling emotionally safe at work
A sense of belonging86 (only 34% of employees feel this way). Without asense of belonging, employees feel isolated, do not feel treated fairly, do nothave the opportunity to exchange ideas, and are not recognized for theirindividuality.
Studies on the sense of belonging

A sense of belonging reduces the risk of turnover and the number of days ofabsence, and boosts productivity.

86 Creating a culture of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, Roger Willimas University IT

68

The clash of generations and the mindset towards work
In the 1960s, Douglas McGregor, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), observed that
employees had different expectations of their company depending on their generation.
Generation X, Millennials (Generation Y) or Generation Z, each "category" of employee has its own particular
relationship to work, a parameter that it is now essential to take into account when building appropriate
recruitment strategies and long-term engagement.
Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2012) account for 6% of the workforce. Parents are among their best friends(50%) and are often consulted when responding to a job offer. They have been brought up in the age of theInternet and new technologies, and are fervent supporters of innovation, social networking and othercollaborative tools. Job security, well-being and mental health are among their primary concerns. The quest forrecognition and meaning at work is another of their speci c characteristics; Generation Z wants to do a useful
job and make a real contribution to the company's progress. What's more, they want to work for an inclusive
and responsible company that promotes diversity in the workplace. The question they ask themselves: What am
I prepared to sacri ce for my job? They want to optimize their professional and personal lives, and demand
exibility (telecommuting, innovative of ces). We can compare their characteristics with those of previous
generations.

Millennials or Generation Y (born between 1980 and 1995), the so-called « digital natives », account for 39% of the workforce.
This generation is very attracted by mobility. It's also a generation motivated by collaboration and the quality ofrelationships with hierarchy: a policy of feedback, transparency, horizontal hierarchical relationships and trust
constitute the ideal employee experience for this generation.
Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) account for 35% of the workforce. They are ercely independent, honest,
straightforward and un ltered, yet highly respectful of hierarchy. They are less attached to the company's
capacity for technological innovation than subsequent generations, but they are very attentive to remunerationand professional success. It's a sandwich generation that has to manage both parents and children. This
generation needs to be reassured, and is looking for reassurance in the form of responsibility (project
management or supervision of juniors).

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Bene ts of a sense of belonging

Baby-Boomers (up to 1964) account for 19% of the workforce. They are optimistic by nature and believe that anythingis possible. They want to revolutionize society. They are in the process of retiring. Every day, 10,000 baby
boomers turn 65. In 6 years' time, Generation Z will represent almost 30% of the workforce.

Succession planningWith boomers retiring in droves, succession planning is a hotly debated topic. Succession planning was initiallyreserved for key positions in the company, and was intended to accompany the end of a career. Today, with thearrival on the job market of new generations who are more mobile than the "boomers", and the shortage ofcandidates, succession planning has taken on a whole new meaning. The departure of an employee, whether
voluntary or not, can become a real handicap for the company: loss of know-how and interpersonal skills,
inability to ll the position, etc.
The consequences of these changes mean that, without exception, all employees are now concerned bysuccession planning. Companies need to ensure that they are able to ll every strategic position in theirorganization, with a suf ciently large and diverse pool of candidates and talent.
The various stages of succession planning can be as follows87:
•

•
•
•
•
•
•

Clearly identify high-risk strategic jobs. Those requiring essential knowledge and skills, but also
management positions. Not forgetting jobs held by employees nearing the end of their careers, and those
whose departure may be envisaged
List the skills and knowledge required for each position, and in particular identify the behavioral skills
neededConduct an internal audit on the skills and talents of current employees
Matching expected skills with existing skills
Implement and communicate training programs to encourage internal promotions.
Consider/encourage the retraining of non-IT staff to overcome external recruitment dif culties
Anticipate external hires

Succession planning can even be the subject of an annual review with the institution president to validate thestrategy to be followed. Speakers at the conference on succession planning and recruitment in general
highlighted a number of qualities sought in candidates which they felt should be prioritized in the recruitment
process: resilience, adaptability, curiosity and exibility, but also emotional intelligence and a sense of dialogue.
They all indicate that we may prefer to recruit a person with solid human rather than technical qualities, andpropose an appropriate training plan.
Mentorship
Mentoring recognized as a valuable tool for succession planning. As withthe previous edition of EDUCAUSE, this opportunity is highlighted by thevarious stakeholders. Mentoring is not reserved for student employees,
but we note that 50% of the people recruited by IT departments arealumni, and that they have been or will be accompanied in theirdiscovery of the institution by a mentor. The bene ts of mentoring forboth mentor and mentee are well identi ed in the extract below,
including personal development, skills transfer, commitment,
development of managerial skills, development of a positive corporate
culture. Nevertheless, it's important to emphasize the need to match theinterests, skills and objectives of the mentor and the mentee, if theprocess is to have the best possible chance of success.

Bene ts of mentorship

87 Succession Planning : Cultivating Future IT Leaders

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In conclusion, we can say that American Higher Education IT Departments have effectively managed thechallenges posed by the pandemic. They were able to upgrade their infrastructures and invest massively incloud hosting. They have also invested in risk management, particularly cybersecurity. Thanks to thesenecessary efforts, they can now put themselves fully at the service of the institution's strategy and the values
and projects that will contribute to its success, while at the same time mastering data management, a guaranteeof the institution's sustainability and the reliability of decision-making.
Today's major challenge lies in managing the human resources weakened by the upheaval in work organization
and anticipating the massive retirement wave that will occur over the next few years.

71

Innovations and Trends in
Educational Technologies - 360°
View
Thierry Koscielniak, PhD - French Delegation

This article describes a full tour of EDUCAUSE 2023 conference with a focus on Educational Technologies(EdTech). This year it was all about generative arti cial intelligence (GenAI) but the author also looked atimmersive technologies, as has been the case since 2016. Other topics were explored throughout the sessions
and Exhibit Hall.
This article would not had been as rich without the help of GenAI, as all the posters have been analyzed andprocessed from the PDF les to produce a strategic summary with the use of ChatGPT 4 Pro (April 2023
release). This summary was then revised by the author, but only slightly, as the results are striking. Without Gen
AI the chapter « Other Topics Sessions » could not have been written in time.
All photos in this article were taken with the author's cell phone. The English language has been optimized using
DeepL.

Generative AI sessions
The EDUCAUSE 2023 annual conference was completely swamped with AI-related sessions! The author of thearticle was lucky enough to be able to attend some of them, as the rooms were generally full.
In the EDUCAUSE online library, a page is dedicated to AI, with links to highly relevant resources88. Before
writing the abstracts on his visits, the author of the article highlighted the following three references:•••

The 2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Action Plan for Generative AI
The synthesis document: 7 Things You Should Know About Generative AI
A course taught during October 2023 for EDUCAUSE members: ChatGPT in Higher Education: Exploring
Use Cases and Designing Prompts (Learning Lab Online Course)

Following these three references are summaries of a round table of EDUCAUSE experts, two posters and acorporate panel.

88 https://library.educause.edu/topics/infrastructure-and-research-technologies/arti cial-intelligence-ai

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2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Action Plan for Generative AI89
The 2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Action Plan for Generative AI focuses on creating an equitable, accessible, andethical future in higher education. Strategies include ensuring unbiased AI development, enhancing access to
educational technology, promoting critical thinking about AI tools, and using AI to enhance human relationships
and complete undesirable tasks. Real-time analytics and personalized digital assistants will support student
learning, while institutions will foster AI literacy, create collaborative environments, and invest in AI infrastructure.
Multi-unit and institutional collaborations will be vital, with an emphasis on ethical guidelines and compliance.
The plan presents a comprehensive approach for integrating Generative AI into the higher education landscape,emphasizing innovation, ethics, and collaboration.
7 Things You Should Know About Generative AI90 (EDUCAUSE Review)
This documents is from the "7 Things You Should Know" series of EDUCAUSE Review articles. It outlines key
insights:
1. What Is It ? Generative AI creates human-like content and is rapidly integrated into various sectors, including
education, evolving into versatile tools.
2. How Does It Work ? It operates through neural networks and large language models, predicting and generating
new content based on massive datasets.
3. Who’s Doing It ? Students, faculty, librarians, and administrators are using generative AI for a variety of tasks,
from essays to administrative decisions.
4. Why Is It Significant ? Generative AI allows for innovation and design at scale, altering professional landscapesand educational practices.
5. What Are the Downsides ? Challenges include ethical concerns, the pace of technological advancement, risks ofplagiarism, and data privacy issues.
6. Where Is It Going ? Future trends include private organizational tools, larger and cleaner datasets for moreaccurate tasks, and integration into everyday applications.
7. What Are the Implications for Higher Education ? There's a need for AI literacy, ethical usage, and strategies tointegrate AI into teaching and administration effectively. Institutions must consider how AI changes learning,assessment, and the nature of academic work.
ChatGPT in Higher Education: Exploring Use Cases and Designing Prompts (Learning Lab Online Course)91
Part 1: Exploring AI PromptingPart 2: Re ning AI Prompts
Part 3: AI-Generated Prompts and Pedagogical and Design Best Practices
Part 4: Review and Re ect: Applying AI to Your Work
Learning Outcomes:
•

•
•
•
•

Demonstrate an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of conversational AI platforms, including
ChatGPT by OpenAI, such as their ability to generate text, answer questions, and carry out
conversations.
Identify appropriate use cases for incorporating AI into various higher education work ows, such as
student support services, research, and teaching.
Apply best practices for prompting and leverage AI capabilities for speci c tasks and contexts.
Evaluate the output of AI-generated work and make appropriate adjustments to ensure that the output
meets professional standards and expectations.
Collaborate effectively with colleagues and stakeholders to identify opportunities and risks in integrating
AI capabilities into higher education work ows.

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90 https://er.educause.edu/articles/2023/12/7-things-you-should-know-about-generative-ai
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•

Participants will critically analyze the ethical considerations related to prompt generation, including bias,
misinformation, and intellectual property rights - including strategies for responsible usage.

Generative AI Implications for the Future: EDUCAUSE Expert Panel Recommendations92 (Panel session)
The EDUCAUSE 2023 Expert Panel on Generative AI Implications for the Future comprises diverse academic
leaders and focuses on understanding and navigating the evolving landscape of generative AI in education. The
panel's goals include collecting signals of change, identifying implications of AI's increasing capability,
addressing the needs of the eld, and providing strategic guidance for staying ahead. Key themes identi ed are
critical AI use and digital literacy, preparing students for future workforces, ethical and equitable AI use,
academic integrity, personalization in learning, enterprise AI approaches, and evaluating AI tools. The panel also
encourages exploring questions around AI's broader impact and invites ongoing community engagement andfeedback to shape future strategies and actions in higher education. This initiative re ects a proactive stancetowards understanding and integrating generative AI in a way that is ethical, equitable, and enhances teaching,learning, and administrative functions in higher education institutions.
Here are some oral feedbacks from the experts:
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« This technology is transformative. The capabilities are crazy and we are still in a demo mode. »« Fantastic possibilities but dangerous for deep fakes »« Philosophy will be important: questioning ethics issues about the nature of reality. »« The providers don’t understand how its work! »« AI will be as a copilot. The term copilot comes from Microsoft. »« If there is any suspicion of cheating, discuss it directly with the student. »« For homework it's the best way to learn literacy. But don’t use is as a search engine. »« Students should learn to prompt and discover the strengths and weaknesses of AI« Too many AI tools: see https://theresanaiforthat.com/ »« Don’t trust the rst output! »At the end of the session, participants were sent a question via a mobile app to choose three topics from a list
selected by the experts93. 190 people have voted.
Rank

Topic

Percentage

1

Using AI as a copilot: Use cases and best practices

17 %

2

Enterprise approaches to AI: Governance and guidelines

15 %

3

Using AI critically: Digital Literacy for students, faculty and staff

14 %

4

Ethics and equity: privacy concerns and parity of access

10 %

5

Evaluating AI tools: Functionality, privacy and cost

10 %

6

Helping students use AI as a partner to prepare them for the workforce

9%

7

Academic integrity in an AI world: What does “originality” mean ?

9%8Preparing students for the workforce of the future

8%

9Augmenting learning with generative AI: Personalization

7%

No topic appears really strongly at the top of the ranking.

92 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/generative-ai-implications-for-the-future-educause-expert-panel-

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93 https://app.sli.do/event/uEsxFp7cvHvuLDhd2GtF2p/live/polls

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Generative AI Is More than a Tool- It’s a Digital Collaborator94 (Poster)
The Digital Gardener Initiative (DGI) at Indiana University and the Generative AI integration focus on rede ning
digital literacy and education through AI collaboration. DGI promotes digital ways of knowing, doing, andmaking, seeing Generative AI as more than a tool but as a digital collaborator enhancing learning experiences.
The initiative underscores the symbiosis of humans and AI in crafting richer, dynamic educational content. It
encourages educators to approach teaching with a digital literacy lens, integrating Generative AI authenticallyinto student activities and assessments. The goal is to foster a digital literacy culture, preparing individuals tonavigate the complexities of the digital age with a mindset of exploration, critical thinking, and adaptability, while
also understanding AI's capabilities and limitations.
Using OpenAI to Enhance Student Support: A Higher Education Case Study95 (Poster)Florida SouthWestern State College implemented Ocelot's AI-driven communication platform to transform its
student support strategy. By integrating Generative AI (OpenAI) and Human-Centered AI, the college shiftedfrom a reactive, phone-heavy approach to a proactive, multi-channel strategy, signi cantly enhancing thestudent experience. Ocelot's platform includes AI-powered texting, a chatbot, and AI-assisted live chat, which
reduced call volume by 1/3 and saved 230+ hours of staff time. The implementation prioritized personalized
student engagement, compliance, and streamlined communication, resulting in a 300% increase in chatbot
engagement and doubling the likelihood of students registering for classes after receiving text reminders. This
human-centered AI approach ensured accurate, compliant responses across multiple channels, supporting
students throughout their academic journey and improving overall institutional ef ciency.
Making the Promise of AI Real in Higher Ed: a Panel Discussion96 (Industry led session)
At the EDUCAUSE 2023 annual conference, this panel presents a multifaceted view of AI's role in transforming
higher education:
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The Chief Innovation Of cer of Microsoft Education US discusses Microsoft's AI initiatives like Azure AI,
which powers analytics and cognitive services to create personalized learning experiences. He highlights
collaborations with universities to implement AI-driven research tools and AI-infused curriculums that
prepare students for the AI-augmented workforce.
The Executive Director at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor showcases their work on AI for academic
support services, leveraging data analytics for student success and operational ef ciency. They mightpresent on the use of AI chatbots for student queries and AI-driven platforms for streamlining campus
operations.
The Vice President Information Technology and CIO of the University of South Florida shares insights on
deploying AI for campus safety and smart campus initiatives. The focus might be on AI tools that analyze
student data for insights into health, well-being, and academic progress.
The Vice President of Anthology on product management elaborates on integrating AI in Anthology's
suite of higher education solutions, like using predictive analytics to enhance student retention andsuccess, and AI to customize learning management systems for diverse educational needs.

Each panelist then provides practical examples and tools:••••

Microsoft's Of cer introduces Microsoft Teams as a collaborative tool that integrates AI to organize study
groups, harnessing cloud services to support hybrid learning environments.
The Executive Director from Michigan describes their AI-enabled monitoring systems that analyze student
engagement in virtual learning environments, providing instructors with actionable insights.
USF's VP & CIO discusses their predictive analytics dashboard that forecasts student success, allowing
for timely interventions and support services.
Anthology's VP showcases their AI-enabled CRM systems that personalize student communications andsupport services, catering to the unique needs of various student communities.

94 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/generative-ai-is-more-than-a-tool--its-a-digital-collaborator
95 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/using-openai-to-enhance-student-support-a-higher-education-case-study
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These examples re ect the broad potential of AI in higher education, from personalizing learning to optimizing
institutional operations, all while saving time for instructors and creating inclusive, customized platforms.

XR sessions
This chapter is the eighth in a series of articles begun in 2016 in the delegation's previous reports97 :2016 - Learning with Virtual Reality - page 44
2017 - Teaching with virtual reality - page 42
2018 - Immersive Learning: Promises kept ? - page 48
2019 - Immersive Learning: Massive Feedback in 2019 - page 61
2020 - Immersive Learning : grand cru 2020 - Production réduite et d’excellente qualité - page 105 (no English
translation)
2021 - Using immersive technologies to teach - page 38
2022 - Immersive Learning: XR Station, a demonstration dedicated space - page 75
On the EDUCAUSE online library, a page of summary documents to begin discovering immersive technologies
and their educational applications: Extended Reality (XR)98.

Zero to Hero: Empowering Faculty to Explore and Utilize XR/VR Technologies for Research and Pedagogy99 (poster)
Illinois State University's "Zero-To-Hero" program, in collaboration with the Provost and Of ce of Technology
Solutions, is bringing Extended Reality (XR) to classrooms across various academic colleges. The program
includes an AR/VR Bootcamp, teaching asset acquisition, basic C# scripting, materials & lighting, VR
deployment, and 3D interaction. Participants from diverse disciplines, including Applied Science, Fine Arts,
Nursing, Arts and Sciences, Education, Business, and the Library, undergo six two-hour sessions to create anddeploy their VR applications. Future plans involve grant inquiries, curriculum integration, exploring alternativeengines, and additional bootcamps to further harness XR's educational potential. The initiative is led byuniversity faculty and graduate students, signifying a multidisciplinary approach to immersive technology
education..
Technical Support for Integrating VR Technology in a Pilot Course100 (poster)
The University of Texas at San Antonio's pilot course in Philosophy of Space Exploration utilized VR technology
to enhance student learning and engagement. Immersive VR environments allowed students to explore
astronomical realms, fostering an authentic learning experience. The course used Oculus Quest 2 due to its
extensive content library, superior performance, and ergonomic design. ManageXR facilitated seamless VR
content management and distribution. The total investment was $55,432, demonstrating a signi cantcommitment to integrating innovative technology in education. The course aimed to share experiences, discuss
VR optimization, and address accessibility, setting a precedent for future educational endeavors involving
immersive technologies.
Optimizing Complementary Use of AR and VR in the Classroom while Minimizing Accessibility Barriers101 (Panel Session)
97 http://tinyurl.com/delegation-Fr-EDUCAUSE
98 https://library.educause.edu/topics/emerging-technologies/extended-reality-xr
99 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/zero-to-hero-empowering-faculty-to-explore-and-utilize-xrvr-technologies-for-research-and-pedagogy
100 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/technical-support-for-integrating-vr-technology-in-a-pilot-course
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This panel session focuses on enhancing learning in a multivariable calculus classroom using Augmented Reality(AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). It emphasizes the need for a framework of best practices to ensure meaningful XR
learning activities, highlighting the importance of sound pedagogical principles. Key objectives include sharing
project results, discussing optimization strategies for AR and VR, and minimizing accessibility challenges. The
initiative utilizes best practices for choosing, using, and designing XR learning applications, considering factors
like cost, pedagogy, accessibility, and ease of use. The results indicate that both AR and VR positively impacted
learning, and future research will focus on optimizing their complementary use and addressing accessibility
concerns. The presentation underscores the trade-offs involved in technology selection and the importance ofdesigning materials with purpose, user control, and considerations for diverse user needs.
XR Community Group Meeting102

Some members of XR Community Group

This community is led by Randy Rode, Senior Consultant at Yale University and Colleen Bielitz, VP Strategic
Initiatives & Outreach at Southern Connecticut State University. The group meets regularly103 and has a forum
like all the other EDUCAUSE community groups. Link104 to join the XR group forum. The Q&A discussion forum
is very active online and all EDUCAUSE members interested in the subject should join this group. The meeting
was an opportunity to share project milestones and views on the XR market. What a great community!
The Current State of Extended Reality for the Classroom105 (Community Groupe Meeting)This session was a meeting of the EDUCAUSE Community Group (see previous chapter). As this was an
informal meeting in the Community Group Corner located in the EDUCAUSE conference lobby, the author did

102 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/xr-community-group-meeting
103 https://www.educause.edu/community/xr-extended-reality-community-group
104 https://connect.educause.edu/community-home?CommunityKey=70ee8002-b716-4412-81e6-6a2bd605d58c
105 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/the-current-state-of-extended-reality-for-the-classroom

77not have the opportunity to take notes on the discussion. The following 9 points and summary were therefore
generated by ChatGTP4 Plus (April 2023 release) using the session title as a prompt.

Group picture of the meeting participants

1. Technological Advancements: VR and AR hardware and software have become more affordable andaccessible. Devices like the Oculus Quest 2 and HoloLens, along with mobile AR capabilities, are making iteasier for educational institutions to adopt XR technologies.
2. Curricular Integration: Educators are increasingly incorporating XR into a variety of subjects, from science andmedicine to history and language arts, offering immersive and interactive experiences that can enhance
understanding and retention.
3. Skill Development: XR is being used to develop practical skills, especially in elds like medicine, architecture,and engineering, where students can practice in a risk-free, virtual environment.
4. Distance Learning: XR technologies are enabling new forms of remote education, allowing students toparticipate in virtual classrooms and labs, and to experience eld trips and cultural sites virtually.
5. Engagement and Motivation: XR has been shown to increase student engagement and motivation, providing
novel and interactive ways to explore complex topics and abstract concepts.
6. Research and Collaboration: Universities and tech companies are collaborating on research to further
understand the effectiveness and possibilities of XR in education, leading to more evidence-based practices andinnovative applications.
7. Challenges: Despite its potential, XR in education faces challenges, including high costs for sometechnologies, the need for technical support and training, potential health effects, and ensuring accessibility for
all students.
8. Future Trends: Looking ahead, it's expected that XR will become more personalized, with AI integration
making learning experiences more adaptive. Also, as technology continues to develop, it's likely that we'll see
lighter, more comfortable headsets and even more immersive and realistic experiences.
9. Ethical and Privacy Considerations: As with any technology, there are ethical considerations, particularly
concerning data privacy and the psychological effects of prolonged VR use. Educational institutions arenavigating these issues with policy and guidelines.
In summary, XR in the classroom is at an exciting point of growth, offering transformative possibilities foreducation. However, its integration is a complex process that requires careful consideration of pedagogical,
technological, and ethical factors. As the technology continues to develop and more research is conducted, we
can expect to see even more innovative uses of XR in education.

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Empathy Unfolding: Immersive Learning and Neuroeducation Insights through eXtended Reality Simulation106 (poster)This poster addresses the declining empathy in the nursing profession, particularly impacting low-income andethnically diverse patients. The proposed solution contrasts the traditional disease-centered perspective, where
patients are de ned by their illness and treated with rigid, one-size- ts-all pathways, with a patient-centered careapproach. This approach emphasizes treating patients as individuals, fostering trust and shared decisionmaking, and empowering both patients and healthcare providers to have a voice in healthcare decisions.
The study aims for interdisciplinary collaboration to produce an immersive, story-driven extended reality (XR)
study to investigate the effect of 2D and 180° virtual reality (VR) micro-story interventions on nursing students'
empathetic concern. It integrates micro-storytelling across the curriculum, from novice to expert levels, andemploys various interdisciplinary processes including IT, Neuro-Education, and patient story production,emphasizing empathy in general education, science, and clinical aspects.
The study design includes behavioral tests, neurophysiological tests, and assessments of transformational
learning and empathetic concern. The mixed-methods ndings, indicated by signi cance levels (p<0.05),
suggest a measurable impact of the interventions. This approach signi es a critical shift towards understanding
and enhancing empathy in healthcare through innovative educational strategies and technology, aiming to
improve patient care and outcomes.
Reality Bytes: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly-Crying of Using Virtual Reality in the Classroom107 (poster)Central Methodist University's "Reality Bytes" project explores the use of Virtual Reality (VR) in the classroom,
detailing its implementation, applications, and observed outcomes. The university purchased 40 Quest 2
headsets, distributing them across various academic divisions and teams. Notable VR applications included
Oxford Medical Simulation, Anne Frank House, Virtual Speech, Wander Workrooms, Anatomage, A Dark Matter,and WIN Reality.
In practice, the Anne Frank House VR was used in a literature course focusing on Holocaust writings, enhancing
student empathy and perspective-taking. Virtual Speech was utilized in public speaking courses, providing aplatform for students to practice and receive feedback on their speaking skills. The First Steps app wasincorporated into Comparative Religion and Philosophy courses to explore identity and embodiment.
The project emphasizes the transformative potential of VR in education, enhancing student empathy, curiosity,and engagement while providing realistic learning scenarios and feedback. Despite facing challenges like device
issues, app sharing blocks, onboarding, and faculty reluctance, the initiative developed best practices, including
trained staff, marketing to faculty, creating dummy accounts, and using mobile carts for transport.
The strategic use of VR at Central Methodist University represents a commitment to innovative teaching
methods, emphasizing immersive learning to enhance student understanding and engagement. The initiative's
success and lessons learned provide a valuable roadmap for other institutions considering integrating VR into
their curricula.
VR Learning Design Compendium: Design Artifacts to Inspire VR Education108 (poster)
The VR Learning Design Compendium by Grand Valley State University is a pioneering guide addressing
instructional design in Virtual Reality. It presents an analysis of educational VR artifacts, focusing on pedagogicalimplications to inspire and guide learning designers. The compendium is categorized into Interactive Design forengagement, Immersive Design for presence, and Relational Design for empathy. An example discussed is theuse of ' oating hands' in VR settings like Anne Frank’s house, illustrating how design elements can guideinteraction and narrative engagement, while also offering practical design recommendations to overcome
disadvantages like visibility issues. This strategic resource aims to enhance educational VR by providing insights,
inspiration, and guidance for creating engaging and effective learning experiences.

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VR Meditation at The Ohio State University109 (poster)
The "Using Virtual Reality to Meditate on Campus" project by the College of Engineering at Ohio State University
leverages VR technology to enhance the well-being of the campus community. With the increasing prevalence ofmental health disorders and substance abuse among younger adults, the project, backed by Buckeye Wellness
Innovators and grant-funded research, aims to provide an immersive meditation experience through VR.
The initiative utilizes the Quest 2 headset for its mobility and user-friendly interface, supported by high-spec PC
hardware for optimal performance. Best practices like Kiosk Mode and on-site support ensure streamlined andaccessible VR experiences. Organizational practices focus on breaking down silos, developing mobile units for
wider access, following accessibility practices, and centralizing the experience on campus.
Applications like Guided Meditation VR, Bliss, TRIPP, and Cosmic Flow are managed through platforms like
SideQuest, Arbor XR, and Steam, indicating a robust and exible application environment. The future of the
project includes using AI to develop more immersive experiences, providing developer software for studentcreated content, and fostering partnerships for VR course creation. This initiative represents a strategic
commitment to leveraging VR for mental well-being and educational innovation.

Other topics sessions
A breakout session on digital accessibility and posters on Analytics, OER, Interoperability and HyFlex. For moreinsights on HyFlex, see the article Hybridizations & HyFlex in this report.
The State of Digital Accessibility in Higher Ed: 2023 Survey Takeaways110 (Breakout session)
The "State Digital Accessibility" presentation at the EDUCAUSE 2023 Annual Conference by Kyle Shachmut
from Harvard University and Eudora Struble from Wake Forest University provides strategic insights into digitalaccessibility in educational settings. The presentation underscores the importance of IT Accessibility as a facetof diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), advocating for resources and institutional effort to improve digital access.
Key points include:
1. Community Advocacy: The EDUCAUSE Community Group for IT Accessibility111 meets monthly to advocate
for resources and institutional efforts, emphasizing the need for baseline data and evolving knowledge to guide
initiatives.
2. Staf ng and Resources: Many institutions report inadequate staf ng dedicated to accessibility roles, with 59%
reporting fewer than two staff and 17% having none, indicating a widespread challenge in allocating suf cient
resources.
3. Universal Design: Recognizing universal design and accessibility as DEI in action, the presentation stresses
the importance of inclusive design in educational technology.
4. Emerging Technologies: The integration of emerging technologies, including Generative AI, is highlighted as a
crucial factor in advancing digital accessibility.
5. Data and Metrics: The lack of large-scale datasets on accessibility and the need for comprehensive metrics totrack progress and guide efforts are identi ed as signi cant challenges.
6. Institutional Challenges: The presentation acknowledges the challenges institutions face without adequate
data and metrics, emphasizing the need for a strategic approach to build a more inclusive digital environment.

109 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/vr-meditation-at-the-ohio-state-university-1
110 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/the-state-of-digital-accessibility-in-higher-ed--2023-survey-takeaways
111 https://www.educause.edu/community/it-accessibility-community-group

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Additional ressource: “Get to know the EDUCAUSE IT Accessibility Community Group" poster112
Sourcing and Incorporating Quality Open Educational Resources (poster)113
Lone Star College's guide for sourcing, creating, and sharing Open Educational Resources (OER) emphasizes
understanding and respecting creator rights via licenses like Creative Commons. Ef cient sourcing involves
surveying the market for appropriate scope, sequence, and content, and establishing quality criteria such as
credibility and accessibility. Organizing links and attribution information in one place is crucial for ease of use.
When sharing OER, consider the appropriate license, platform, and audience, and ensure compliance withplatform vetting, accessibility, and le requirements. This strategic approach aims to foster ethical use andsharing of OER, enhancing educational materials while respecting creators' rights and ensuring broad, effective
dissemination.
Additional ressources: https://rise.articulate.com/share/VlXOXSPZwCxtqA4yHO15TOJxuCXdcusr#/
OER attribution builder: https://www.openwa.org/attrib-builder/
Here's Your Easy Button for Implementing Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) Advantage (poster)114
This poster highlights the strategic approach to integrating the Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) Advantage
into educational institutions. It emphasizes tailoring the LTI Advantage to enhance digital learning environmentswith a focus on security, power, and exibility, while addressing the inherent complexities of varied institutional
needs.
Key considerations include:
1. Functional Needs and Access: Customizing to institutional requirements, focusing on user roles, custom
elds, and substitution variables to ensure a robust digital learning environment.
2. Enhancing User Experience: Streamlining navigation and interactions within digital platforms to reduce clicks,
optimize the mobile experience, and ensure full accessibility for all users.
3. Ef cient Administration: Automating processes like enrollment and roster management, ensuring secure andunique identi ers, and providing comprehensive usage data for better oversight.
4. Content Management and Flexibility: Enabling instructors to easily add and manage tools, supporting
complex hierarchical relationships, and providing reliable end-user support within the digital learning context.
5. Vendor Collaboration and Support: Ensuring ongoing communication, up-to-date documentation, clear
roadmaps for feature development, and a collaborative approach to meet educational goals.
The poster emphasizes the importance of a thoughtful, comprehensive approach to integrating LTI Advantage,
considering the varied and complex needs of educational institutions, instructors, and learners. It suggests a
strategic, tailored approach to adoption, ensuring that technology enhances learning experiences without
imposing undue burdens on users or administrators.
Follow-up reference from 1EdTech company:
Digital Learning Environment Integration Considerations: Why You Should be Using LTI Instead of APIs or
Building Custom Integrations for Your Products115.

112 https://drive.google.com/ le/d/16wFfuqRBQPZyBJowdxO37sOKGLAe6X09/view
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This presentation at EDUCAUSE 2023 provides a strategic overview of the current landscape, challenges, andfuture directions in digital accessibility in education, advocating for a concerted effort to ensure that digital
resources are accessible to all.

Predictive Analytics for Advising: Hard Truths and Lessons Learned from a Pilot (poster)116
This poster provides strategic insights into the deployment and implications of predictive analytics in academic
advising. The Penn State’s Data Empowered Learning (DEL) team developed an adviser-facing application called
LIFT, which uses machine learning to predict student-course outcomes, leveraging 8.6 million records to inform
decisions before the semester starts.
Key challenges and lessons include:
1. Data Literacy Problem: Advisers initially struggled with interpreting and operationalizing analytics data,
highlighting the need for extensive training in data comprehension.
2. Feel Bad Problem: Ethical challenges arose when predictive analytics con icted with advisers' preconceived
notions about students, prompting a reevaluation of interventions.
3. Demographics Problem: Incorporating demographic data increased accuracy but raised signi cant ethicalconcerns regarding potential biases in courses, instructors, and enrollment processes.
4. Surveillance Problem: The institutional culture around data privacy and the perceived surveillance impact on
certain populations necessitated a careful approach to data use and communication.
5. Spotlight Problem: Analytics can reveal systemic biases, creating institutional challenges in addressing
emergent data issues and the resulting inequities for students.
6. Institutional Values Problem: Balancing optimizing for grade performance and retention versus learning andethical advising posed signi cant dilemmas.
7. Catch-22 Problem: While transparency in algorithms is crucial for trust, overreliance on predictive analytics
without understanding can lead to awed interpretations and decisions.
8. Faculty Review Problem: The data's underlying biases need to be understood to ensure faculty aren't unfairly
evaluated based on biased metrics.
The pilot emphasized the importance of data literacy, ethical considerations, and the need for a holistic
approach to integrating predictive analytics in advising. It provides a strategic framework for institutions
considering similar initiatives, highlighting the potential bene ts and complexities of using predictive analytics tosupport student success.
On-Demand and In-Demand: Marshall University’s Approach to Implementing HyFlex (poster)117
This poster aims to understand faculty perspectives, organizational support expectations, and the impact oftechnology in HyFlex courses. Launched in Spring 2023, the pilot involved 11 faculty members and 298
students, covering subjects like Cyber Forensics, Business, Health Sciences, Psychology, and more.
Key strategic objectives include:
1. Faculty Insights: Determining the most signi cant hurdles faculty face when considering HyFlex for theircourses, aiming to address and mitigate these challenges through targeted support.
2. Organizational Support: Discussing the required organizational support for faculty development, ensuring that
instructors are adequately prepared and supported in their HyFlex teaching efforts.
3. Technology and Systems: Understanding the role and impact of classroom technology and learning
management systems in supporting HyFlex modalities.
4. Future Goals: By 2027, Marshall aims to increase the number of courses offered in exible formats (blended,hybrid, online, or HyFlex) by 60%, re ecting a strong commitment to expanding exible learning options.
5. Classroom Upgrades: Upgrading 60% of classrooms by 2027 to support active and exible learning, ensuring
an equitable remote learning experience for hybrid learners.

116 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/predictive-analytics-for-advising-hard-truths-and-lessons-learned-from-a-pilot
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6. Classroom and Faculty Support Programs: Implementing programs to assist instructors with technology
management and hybrid learning challenges, along with faculty development programs and best practices tosupport exible course modalities.
Marshall University's strategic plan for HyFlex implementation emphasizes a comprehensive, supportive
approach to exible learning, focusing on faculty readiness, technological infrastructure, and a long-term vision
for increasing exible and hybrid course offerings.
Getting Started with HyFlex: Building a Strong Foundation for Flexible Learning Environments (poster)118
This poster explores the strategic implementation of HyFlex courses, allowing students to choose their learning
mode: in-person, online (synchronous or asynchronous), or a combination.
Key considerations for a successful HyFlex model include:
1. Flexibility and Student Choice: The core of HyFlex is to provide multiple learning options, ensuring students
can select the mode that best ts their needs and circumstances.
2. Equivalency in Learning Options: All modalities must offer equivalent content, learning outcomes, andassessments to ensure a consistent and fair learning experience.
3. Use and Reuse of Resources: HyFlex encourages the use of existing materials and resources, emphasizing
ef ciency and consistency in course delivery.
4. Accessibility for All: Ensuring that all students, regardless of ability or circumstances, have access to thenecessary materials and learning activities.
5. Institutional Customization: Each institution should de ne and communicate its HyFlex model clearly, tailoring
it to meet speci c needs and contexts.
6. Continuous Feedback and Improvement: Soliciting and incorporating feedback is crucial for the ongoingenhancement of the HyFlex experience.
7. Community Engagement: The creation of a learning community around HyFlex, such as HyFlexLearning.org,
provides a platform for sharing research, resources, and best practices.
This strategic summary underscores the importance of exibility, equivalency, ef ciency, and accessibility indesigning and implementing a HyFlex learning environment. By focusing on these areas, institutions can offer amore personalized, inclusive, and effective learning experience.
Maximizing Access and Inclusion: A HyFlex Approach to Meeting Diverse Learner Needs (poster)119
This poster presents a strategic overview of HyFlex (Hybrid-Flexible) course design aimed at meeting the diverse
needs and preferences of students. This approach allows students to choose how they engage with course
content, supporting Universal Design for Learning principles by offering various ways of acquiring knowledge,
demonstrating understanding, and engaging with content, instructors, and peers across different delivery
modes.
Key strategic insights include:
1. Understanding Diverse Needs: Recognizing the wide range of student circumstances, including work, family
commitments, disability status, and other factors in uencing learning preferences.
2. Increasing Demand for Flexibility: Students increasingly demand exible and convenient learning modalities tobetter t their diverse lifestyles and commitments.
3. Ensuring Access and Inclusion: Prioritizing digital accessibility by addressing core skills in course content andusing accessibility checkers to ensure that all students can participate fully in their chosen learning mode.

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4. Supporting Technology Use: Providing students and faculty with the necessary training, support, and tools likehigh-speed internet and virtual desktops to facilitate effective participation in HyFlex courses.
5. Addressing Equity: Aiming to provide equal access to opportunities and resources for all students, especiallythose who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized.
6. Leveraging Evidence: Drawing from sources like the EDUCAUSE 2023 Students and Technology Report andthe 2023 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report, which emphasize exibility, choice, and equity in the student experience.
7. Community Engagement and Resources: Encouraging participation in the HyFlex learning community andoffering research resources and sample strategies for successful implementation.
This strategic summary underscores the importance of exible, inclusive, and well-supported learning
environments in meeting the varied needs of today's students, highlighting HyFlex as a viable and effective
approach to enhancing access, engagement, and success in higher education.
Seneca Polytechnic's Hyflex Classroom Technology Journey (poster)120
The poster about Seneca Polytechnic's journey into HyFlex classroom technology provides a strategic
framework for integrating exible learning environments. HyFlex courses allow students to choose between inperson, online synchronous, and online asynchronous sessions, enhancing accessibility and accommodating
various learning needs and schedules.
Key insights from the journey include:
1. Technology Implementation: HyFlex classrooms are equipped with ceiling microphones, dual cameras,
whiteboards, and software-agnostic equipment, ensuring all students, whether remote or in-class, have aseamless learning experience.
2. Evolution from Flex 1.0 to 2.0: The transition from the initial setup to an enhanced version included
improvements like rear-facing cameras, ceiling microphone arrays, dual monitor arms, and expanded ITS
support, demonstrating a commitment to continuous enhancement.
3. Faculty Preparation: Intensive training, Flex Ambassadors for real-time support, and a comprehensive online
course with hands-on practice were implemented to prepare faculty for this new mode of teaching.
4. Student Feedback: HyFlex courses were well-received, offering students exibility, reduced stress, andopportunities for growth in metacognitive awareness. However, the need for community and connection acrossmodes was also highlighted.
5. Teaching Strategies: Faculty are advised to design asynchronous pathways rst, ip the classroom for active
learning, move away from high-stakes exams, and engage students in helping online peers.
6. Challenges and Adaptations: Initial challenges such as audio visibility and managing videoconferencing wereaddressed in subsequent iterations, re ecting a responsive and adaptive approach to technology integration.
7. Impact Measurement: The usage of HyFlex courses at Seneca Polytechnic surged from 50 to over 700, with116 classrooms equipped, indicating signi cant adoption and scalability.
Seneca Polytechnic's HyFlex initiative represents a strategic commitment to exible, inclusive education, offeringvaluable insights for institutions looking to implement or enhance their own exible learning environments.

120 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/seneca-colleges-hy ex-classroom-technology-journey

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Exhibit hall
As usual the exhibit hall at EDUCAUSE conference is HUGE (Pictures below). More than 250 exhibitors presents
on stands. Surface of stand generally represent the nancial weight of the company ! You will nd there vendors
for IT technology and also for educational digital solutions.
Unfortunately the exhibit hall opening hours are very short:
Tuesday, October 10 - 10:15 a.m. -> 4:45 p.m.
Wednesday, October 11 - 10:15 a.m. -> 4:00 p.m.
So you have to run in-between sessions to visit stands that you have to check before on the map unless you will
be quickly lost in the alleys. But the author found little time to visit old acquaintances and also good friends from
Apereo Foundation.
Hopefully the poster sessions are located within the exhibit hall !
There is also two spaces dedicated to EDUCAUSE Central + Emerging Tech Zone. The rst provide a location to
get informations about EDUCAUSE association and to meet EDUCAUSE executives and the second waspreviously called the « Startup Alley », a more understandable name. (Pictures below).

Stands visited in the general space
LMS creators, vendors and integrators : Moodle / Apereo Foundation (Sakai) / Anthology (Formerly Blackboard) /D2L / Instructure / K16 Solutions / Open LMS / Instructure
Meta for Education121 : This year Meta’s stand was designed as a Chemistry Lab with demonstrations of Quest3
Mixte Reality abilities (Picture below).
Revolution Lightboards122: Manufacturer and provider of lightboards and self-service (Picture below).

Stands visited in the Emerging Tech Zone
Wooclap123: an European company with an of ce based in Montreal which provides a tool transforming typicalpresentations into dynamic, co-constructed interactive learning moments.
Ziotag124: Generative AI auto-chaptering platform that makes the information contained within video and audio
content accessible for everyone including those people with disabilities.
eduLAB125: Transforming technical education through virtual labs and tailored contextualization services. Suited
for a range of technical courses: Cybersecurity, Networking, Arti cial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Web
Development, Programming, Engineering, and Gaming Development.
APL nextED126: a cloud-based academic operations ERP that streamlines academic processes and centralizes
faculty management.
LearningClues127: Introducing CourseGPT™: The ability for learners to receive responses to questions that are
informed solely by what was presented in class videos or made available in the course LMS.
Kritik Education128: A peer assessment platform that puts students at the center of learning.

121 https://about.meta.com/immersive-learning
122 https://revolutionlightboards.com
123 http://www.wooclap.com/
124 https://ziotag.com/
125 https://www.edulab.com.au
126 https://aplnexted.com
127 http://www.learningclues.com
128 https://www.kritik.io/

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Here is the map of the hall129

Pictures from the Exhibit HallWest Side of the Exhibit Hall

Stands / EDUCAUSE Central / Posters area
129 https://s23.a2zinc.net/clients/EDUCAUSE/E23/Public/EventMap.aspx

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EDUCAUSE Central

META stand: MR Chemistry Lab

Revolution Lightboards stand87AI and Student Success: anubiquitous presence
Bruno Urbero, PhD - French Delegation

Introduction
By 1975, predictions were already pointing to a correlation between complete knowledge of students' lives andtheir academic success. For almost fty years, institutions have systematically collected and stored student
education data and all other accessible information in their information systems, in order to demonstrate thereliability of this model, which they have then exploited in a positive way. However, it is only in recent years, with
the integration of arti cial intelligence (AI), that this model has nally been validated.
Prior to this validation, many institutions collected a plethora of data on their student data, going beyond mereschooling: curriculum choice, grades, course attendance, social interactions (virtual and physical), survey
responses, use of university services, ethnic minority membership, skin color, receipt of public aid, living
conditions below the poverty line, resource issues, health and disability, nancial concerns, presence ofexcessive debt, food dif culties, family responsibilities, life instability, receipt of or eligibility for a Pell grant, andso on.
Holistic knowledge of the student is based on all these data, and validation of the model has shown that they
enable early prediction of the risk of dropping out, thus facilitating the implementation of measures to improvestudent retention in their course of study, mainly at undergraduate level. Dropping out is a double failure, bothfor the student, who faces not only a personal setback but also signi cant debt, and for the institution, whose
reputation can be damaged by individual failures, leading to a direct loss of income, a fall in rankings (such as
the Carnegie classi cation), long-term funding dif culties, and challenges in recruiting and attracting investors,
including alumni.
Although students are informed about data collection and use, the considerable cost of this process legitimately
raises questions about the need to collect all this information. A number of initiatives are underway to ensure
data con dentiality and anonymity.
The rapid evolution of this subject, driven by the agility of the institutions, is obvious. In just three years, this
topic has gone from a research topic, aimed at validating the model, to experimentation, initially on a small
scale, and then to implementation on a school-wide scale. Dropout remediation solutions, including escalation
to a counselor and the use of approaches like "nudges" to redirect students when a dropout is detected, havesupplanted the theory of the model, which is no longer even mentioned.
Now that the reliability of the model has been established, the solutions are mainly commercial, coming fromuniversity companies, specialized start-ups or established publishers who have taken up this theme. The focus
has now shifted to the implementation of these solutions in institutions and the resulting analyses, which are thesubject of feedback.
To create a student-centered ecosystem, universities and community colleges are undertaking a digitaltransformation of their existing information systems, promoting interoperability, data integrity and governance tosupport students throughout their studies.
Most of the projects quoted are deployed within a short timeframe, ranging from a few months to an academic
year, which goes some way to explaining the dynamism of this theme. The presence of commercial solutions
based on a limited number of learning management systems (LMS), such as Canvas (41%), Blackboard (28%),
Moodle (17%) and Brightspace (14%), has enabled not only rapid standardization of solutions, but also easy
integration into existing information systems, generating economies of scale in American higher education.

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Analyzing students' digital experience through user research
A signi cant part of the student experience, including accessing services, attending courses, connecting withpeers, and nding information about the university, is achieved through technological solutions via various digital
tools and applications. However, this experience can sometimes be hampered by legacy systems, multiple
applications hosted by different parts of the university, and the introduction of new tools.
The University of California - Fresno130 undertook an in-depth study of the role of technology and the issues
surrounding student access to digital services, as well as the barriers associated with the processes. This
campus-wide project involved all stakeholders, from senior management to the students themselves. The
research team worked to understand the current state and design a future, easy-to-navigate application toprovide easy access to digital services and resources, with the aim of improving the digital experience forstudents.
In line with EDUCAUSE and Gartner recommendations, improving the user experience should be a top priority
for institutions. Seamless access to campus resources and services, including course support and campus life,
is identi ed as one of the keys to student success. California State University, Fresno (CSU-Fresno) surveyed
students about their expectations, synthesized the results, created prototypes and tested them. This research
initiative actively involved students in all phases of the project, making it possible to assess the impact of digital
tools on their experience, identify the most-used applications and websites, gather feedback on how they work,and understand dif culties in use.
Students expressed high satisfaction with university applications, particularly Canvas and Google. However, forsome less frequently used processes, they would like to see improvements on the dif cult aspects of navigation.
Similarly, they aspire to more concise and rapid communications, with clear priorities, as well as easy access toservices and modern interfaces.
The proposed model was validated and put into production in spring 2023, after six months of implementation.
It incorporates the tasks most in demand by students, such as checking grades and updating schedules,
booking an appointment with an advisor, reserving study rooms, nding out about student organizations, etc.,
thus meeting expectations in terms of ergonomics.

Improve student success using cross-listing across a range of institutions
The "California Community Colleges131" is a virtual campus of 116 colleges, hosting 1.9 million students andoffering over 10,000 online courses, encompassing more than 90 certi cation and/or degree pathways forstudents af liated with these institutions. The "California Virtual Campus (CVC)" is a collaborative initiative of the
California Community Colleges (CCC) to increase access to and success in high-quality online courses, so that
more students can achieve their educational goals.
This arrangement enables students to take courses at any of the 115 partner colleges, without having to change
their home college. This exibility gives students access to courses that are not available locally, eliminating theneed to change colleges and considerably broadening the range of courses on offer without having to relocate.
Online enrolment is instantaneous and limited to the open enrolment period of participating colleges,
guaranteeing all eligible students, whatever their priority status, equitable access to courses.
130 Analyzing the Student Digital Experience through User Research - Max J. Tsai, Innovation O

cer | Interim Director of Digital Transformation,
California State University, Fresno - Katherine Rae Lathos, User Experience Designer, California State University, Fresno - Kate Mi tt, Director for
Innovation, California State University, O ce of the Chancellor - Allison Green, User Experience Designer, California State University, O ce of the
Chancellor
131 Eliminate the Application! How California Uses System-Wide Cross-Enrollment for Student Success - Marina Aminy, Executive Director, CCC

Online Education Initiative (OEI) - Mike Vogt, Director of Strategic Planning and Operations -Information Technology, Foothill-DeAnza Community
College District

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Virtual campus operation does not impede access to nancial aid and scholarships. All participating institutions
have signed a nancial aid agreement, allowing students enrolled at two different colleges to receive federal andstate nancial aid funds, based on combined units taken at both colleges.
More than three quarters of California's higher education students are enrolled in one of the CCC colleges,
underlining the fact that this system bene ts the vast majority of California students. This inter-institutional
collaboration signi cantly facilitates the achievement of students' educational goals by providing simpli ed
access to online courses and automating registration between independent colleges. Cross-registration
eliminates many of the obstacles associated with registering, taking courses and, ultimately, graduating.
By means of a single application covering all colleges, students can search for courses offered by the 116
colleges on the virtual campus. They can register centrally for the courses that interest them, make thecorresponding payment, and the courses are then integrated into the Canvas dashboard of their homeinstitution. In this way, students can follow their courses, complete their curriculum and obtain their certi cation
and/or diploma with ease.

Optimizing the financial aid process, increasing enrollment and retention with AI
The New Jersey Institute of Technology132 (NJIT) has optimized its nancial aid processes by adopting solutions
from Ellucian. The issue of nancing education is more acute for disadvantaged groups, particularly rstgeneration students, who face both nancial challenges and dif culties in accessing information.
Major concerns and criticisms focus on rising tuition fees, the complexity of accessing federal aid and the costof education, which doesn't always seem to be offset by future salary prospects. Recognition of the value ofhigher education in the United States is undeniable, but its high cost is an obstacle for many students.
Due to the demographic crisis, institutions are facing recruitment dif culties on a national scale. This decline inenrolments calls for the urgent adoption of new strategies. Uncertainty over funding and eligibility criteria
represents the main barrier to recruitment and, subsequently, to student retention.
NJIT found that 1/3 of students who don't go on to higher education think they can't afford it, and 73% of
dropouts report that the nancial aid process has had a signi cant impact on their results.
By addressing the needs of each stage of the student journey, NJIT has turned the process on its head andovercome recruitment barriers, improving student retention. Students are supported at every stage by a virtualadvisor based on arti cial intelligence:•

During the school search, the school promotes cost transparency by presenting the full cost of tuition to
the student via a personalized cost calculator.

•

When registering, a digital offer and appropriate noti cations are made available.

•

For nancial support, streamlined scholarship management is implemented.

•

During registration, forms are collected and validated automatically.

•In the event of a student dropping out, emergency funding is available.

Speed of response is a key factor in recruitment. Students begin to consider other options if there is no
response to their request for nancial support. After 2 weeks, 17% are considering an alternative, 58% after one
month and 79% after 2 months.
The main obstacle to changing nancial aid solutions is the slowness of implementation. To remedy this, NJIT
opted for a commercial solution. This choice of partnership enabled the university to implement a solution
quickly, with precise, on-time deliverables: the registration module was delivered after 1 month, the virtual

132 Transforming Challenges into Success: How One Institution Flipped the Script and Halted Barriers to Increasing Enrollment and Retention -Chaitrali Rane Manager of Student Financial Aid Information New Jersey Institute of Technology - Nathalie Walther Director, Strategic Programs,
Ellucian

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The abandonment of the inef cient and frustrating paper-based process has been made possible by digitalveri cation, allowing administrative staff to focus on more complex tasks. This dematerialization has streamlined
the awarding of scholarships, reducing the risks associated with handling physical documents.
The use of a commercial solution has reduced paper processing through digital veri cation, leaving
administrative staff to concentrate on more rewarding tasks. These paperless processes are quicker and easierfor students to use, attracting and retaining them.
What's more, going digital reduces paper use and administrative costs, increases transparency in the allocationof nancial aid, and has a positive impact on budgets and the environment.
The cost calculator enables students and their families to make informed decisions by transparently outlining
tuition fees, ancillary costs and potential nancial aid. This transparency reinforces students' con dence in theschool.
Observed bene ts include elimination of administrative formalities, reduction of errors and delays, acceleration of
the overall process, reduction of risks associated with handling physical documents, real-time tracking ofstudents, automatic reminders, meeting deadlines, reduction of calls and queries, freeing administrative staff
from manual tasks, and increased ef ciency.
The full implementation of this solution took NJIT 3 years and led to a signi cant increase in enrolments, as wellas increased student commitment and success in the rst year of implementation.

Using AI to foster interaction with and between students
Mercy College133, a private multi-campus institution, has identi ed major challenges in the accessibility ofresources and the ease of obtaining information for its students. According to a survey conducted among them,
87% said they had dif culty nding admissions information and lling out forms, 84% had dif culty obtaining
consistent advice between different sources, and 80% found the answers between these sources confusing,risking not completing their enrolments properly or even dropping out. It should be noted that 30% of students
are rst-generation students.
To address these issues, Mercy College implemented AI-based communication tools to integrate campus data
sources and enhance the student experience. This AI-enabled communication platform has signi cantly
strengthened connections between students and provided personalized support in the face of institutional
needs. In an ever-changing digital landscape, higher education institutions need to engage students throughuid and effective communication.
The use of AI natural language query processing has enabled the integration and exploitation of campus data
sources, standardizing access to this information and improving students' ability to locate personalized
information. The solution adopted is a chatbot, named Mercy-chatbot, using Ocelot Chatbot multilingual
technology. Initially equipped with just 500 responses, the chatbot relies on an intermediary layer that queries
the school's various databases to provide answers to students.
The advantage of this solution is that it doesn't require any expertise to de ne the answers. As soon as it went
live, the chatbot responded to 90% of student queries, simplifying data exchange and boosting student
satisfaction. In addition, the number of calls decreased by around 25%.
Each chatbot query, consisting of an average of twenty questions/answers, sends personalized informationsuch as the advisor's name and contact details, results and student grades. This ability to centralize data
sources eliminates the need to contact several separate departments or systems.
133 Empowering Student Interactions: AI-Driven Strategies for Communication and Institutional Efficiency - Todd Pratella Executive Director of IT

Mercy University - Je Butera Senior software Architect Ocelot

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advisor in 2 months, the cost calculator in 4 months, and the extension of scholarships to the entire campus in 6
months to 1 year.

Implementing this solution has freed up staff time for more value-added tasks, such as sophisticated targeted email campaigns. The aim of this solution is to improve interaction between students and educational staff,
without seeking to replace the latter.
As a result, student satisfaction has increased, as they get immediate answers without time constraints, and nolonger need to access multiple systems or contact different administrative of ces. The solution took 8 months to
set up, and handles around 4,000 queries per hour from 10am to 4pm, but remains available at any time of the
day or night. Ultimately, it aims to answer all students' questions concerning enrolment, retention, welfare andaccess.

Develop an application that brings value to students to encourage theircommitment
Ohio University134 has developed the "Go OHIO" application with the aim of making it easier for students tonavigate the university's resources and thus increase their commitment with their curriculum. A diverse group of
student experts was formed to pilot the development of this application, following the project from its initialconception through to its beta phase and full launch. The group adopted an approach based on continuous
collection of student feedback, usability testing, collaboration with various stakeholders, and documentation of
success metrics to assess the value of the project and ensure transparency at all levels.
Although the project focuses on student commitment via technological solutions, the university has also
increased the number of educational advisors, in line with the student success model. However, an emerging
trend shows that students prefer digital exchanges to face-to-face meetings with their advisors. The evolution of
student preferences in the use of technological solutions is still being evaluated to determine whether it is achange in usage or a technological drift.
The development of the application, carried out in just a few months using the agile method, took into accountthe speci c needs of both online and on-campus students, with strong student participation in all phases of theprocess. Initial requirements gathering structured the application, the beta phase enabled student feedback to
be used for incremental developments, and data transparency and beta-test participation ensured buy-in fromthe cross-functional business group.
The aim was to launch the mobile app by June 2023, meeting users' expectations in terms of ease ofnavigation, accurate and up-to-date information, a directory of useful people and services, important dates,
explanatory videos on complex systems, and solutions for connecting with other students. The application alsooffers the possibility of evaluating students' progress in response to a question asked, enabling misunderstoodquestions to be corrected and the interface to be adjusted in the event of erratic navigation.
The launch of the application was a strong success for Ohio University, exceeding expectations in terms of
downloads (2 times higher than hoped) and usage (2.6 times higher than expected).

134 Student Engagement Tactics: Building Technology That Delivers Value to Students on Day One -Julie Chiki Campus Engagement Specialist

Ohio University - Jen Van Nostran Product Manager Ohio University

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Developing a student-centered ecosystem to foster a sense of belonging
American universities, such as Cornell and Wisconsin-Madison135, are striving to create a strong sense of
belonging among students throughout their academic life cycle by implementing student-centered ecosystems.
These institutions have leveraged their CRM (Customer Relationship Management) to personalize student
interactions, provide access to diverse data sources, establish consistent problem-solving methods, and foster
interdepartmental collaboration to deliver a seamless student experience. The strategies adopted aim to
implement and continually improve CRM technologies, placing the needs of students and Student Affairs staff at
the forefront of their design.
Although numerous platforms exist at these universities, the solutions and processes presented are based
primarily on Salesforce. This vendor's CRM provides advisors and the university with a complete view ofstudents, their education and associated metadata. It offers personalized dashboards for each student,
including progress tracking, alerts, etc. The aim is to provide counselors with a 360° view of students.
The user interface is designed to facilitate the journey, enabling users to interact with others, trigger actions,
make decisions, communicate without delay, and generate reports. Centralized access to data creates apersonalized user experience by contextualizing exchanges with data speci c to each student, through a web
and mobile application accessing all the university's services and resources.
The application responds faster than an e-mail system, increasing the coordination of the application team. Witha more personalized user experience thanks to the centralization of information, universities are planning to goeven further by integrating other types of data, such as family data, management of pending requests, data fromother departments, etc.
Three main axes guide the application to strengthen the sense of belonging: providing and tracking holistic
engagement through an advice portal, ensuring equitable access to resources and opportunities, andorchestrating key moments in student life. An alert interface has also been created in the event of imminent risk,
reinforcing the university's support in the event of unmet vital needs, serious medical problems, serious mental
problems, threat to self or others, or inability to locate a student. This approach also strengthens the sense of
belonging to the university community.
The student experience covers aspects such as integration, nances, learning, extracurricular activities,
counselling, career, community life and graduation. The application is designed to support students in all these
aspects of their university life.

Confidentiality: an asset for the university
The University of Illinois136 has set up a team dedicated to identity, privacy and cybersecurity, whose
fundamental principles are based on supporting the autonomy of individuals and their participation in the
management of identifying information. This team, focused on the concepts of consent, transparency and trust,has become a strategic partner for all stakeholders involved in the management and protection of student data.
The team's recommendations cover a variety of areas containing personal data, such as learning analytics,
student health/wellbeing, student success, in-class and out-of-class experiences, community building andapplication development. A central aspect of these recommendations is to enable students, alumni and otherindividuals to oversee the management, processing and sharing of their data, while maintaining a balance
between data con dentiality and availability.

135 A Sense of Belonging: Leveraging CRM Technology to Establish a Student-Centric Ecosystem - Rebecca Jo rey Chief Innovation O

cer

Cornell University - Kyla Faroll Associate Director Entreprise & Engagement Solutions University of Wisconsin-Madison
136 Student Success – Privacy Enables the University - Phil Reiter, Associate Director, Privacy – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - Stephen

Collette, Manager, Privacy Operations– University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - Aaron Collie, Manager, Privacy Engineering– University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign

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Privacy guidelines focus on minimizing the storage and use of personal data, with particular emphasis on taking
privacy into account right from the design stage of applications, covering all uses, both academic and related tocampus life.
The team also made speci c recommendations for the use of arti cial intelligence (AI), taking into accountaspects of data protection, transparency in development, and consideration of RGPD guidelines. This includes
guidance for uses of generative AI and chatbots, as well as the creation of a privacy center for students tomanage their data and consents.
The rapid evolution of AI offerings requires an emerging take on data protection, con dentiality, transparency
and user control. AI and its regulatory framework are constantly evolving, requiring careful implementation basedon ongoing assessment of program outcomes, including bene ts, risks and harms, particularly with regard to
privacy breaches.

Conclusion
Reference to the model predicting student dropout based on holistic knowledge has been widely acceptedwithout the need to question it. The solutions implemented to anticipate and treat student dropout are mainly
based on arti cial intelligence (AI) and are often provided by commercial companies. These solutions are
implemented rapidly, usually in less than a year, and are subject to feedback to optimize their operation.
University governance selects priority areas for solution optimization, such as enrolment processes, scholarship
allocation, student communication, student commitment, and so on. The implementation of these solutions isoften accompanied by a total or partial redesign of the university's information system (IS). This redesign aims tointegrate heterogeneous and unconnected systems, offering students seamless navigation and high-value,
personalized information.
Taking data con dentiality into account, in addition to complying with regulatory constraints, makes datacollection and management more ef cient and less costly. Solutions often incorporate mechanisms foraccessing and rectifying data, reinforcing students' con dence and adhesion to the solutions developed.
These AI-driven solutions, although more technological than human, effectively contribute to increasing student
retention by cultivating a strong sense of belonging and commitment to their university community. Achieving theultimate goal of actively contributing to student success is clearly progressing thanks to the use of AI.

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What’s up Doctor Data ?
Sylvie Haouy & David Rongeat - French Delegation

EDUCAUSE gives you a dose of data literacy
EDUCAUSE 2023 puts the spotlights on the emergence of a new concept around data, scarcely identi ed today
in French Higher Education: data literacy. A number of papers discussed the characteristics of data literacy andpresented concrete actions to foster its dissemination and usage.
But rst, what is “data literacy”? According to Wikipedia, data literacy is the ability to identify, collect, process,analyze and interpret data in order to understand the phenomena, processes and behaviors that generated
them, with a critical eye. More concretely, data literacy seeks to develop a person's ability to understand,analyze and work with data, and thus to express themselves effectively. These individual skills can as well betransposed to an organization.
It covers topics such as data exploration, data understanding, acculturation to data management for all players,
data analysis, creative experimentation around data, data visualization, critical evaluation of data andcommunication of results.
With the growing amount of data in all elds, people need to be supported and trained around the use of thisdata.
Literacy can therefore be seen as the "CARE" for data management: CARE being meant as the attention given
to data management, with evidence of empathy and seeking for a long term well-being.
In some American universities, data literacy is obtained thanks to speci c training including awareness-raising,presentation of the data governance in place, and knowledge of regulations. These are planned in particular foreach recruitment, whether for administrative positions or for teaching and research positions. While in the
French research world, we have implemented trainings to both data management plans and researchers' digital
identities management, American practices can be perceived as a generalization in terms of both scope andscale.
In other institutions, data literacy is used to improve student success, whether through better support for theiracademic careers thanks to data, or through the development of dedicated data skills.

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Phases of Maturity in Data Literacy from Mariacopa Community College's presentation "Making data less di cult"

Poster EDUCAUSE 2023 about Data Literacy

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A booster injection of Data Governance - Strong, shared governance For the record : the immense scope covered by data governance
Data governance applies to a wide number of data centric tasks

Illustration from the presentation "HUG a CDO" in a chapter entitled "Why do IT and business units need to collaborate? "An inspiring organizational scheme
The Data Governance Community Group had a strong presence at EDUCAUSE 2023 with, in addition to theclassic poster, several workshops and testimonials on the implementation of data governance and the
popularization of the role of Chief Data Of cer (for example, via a participatory workshop entitled "Hug a
CDO").
The elements presented below concerning the University of Wichita are based on a method and a set of tools
proposed by this working group.
The University of Wichita137 provides us with an inspiring model for a founding document. It sets out all theelements required to set up a data governance policy, and describes the statutes, bodies and functioning ofsuch bodies as the Data Governance Council.
This model is used, tested and adapted by several institutions (no recent statistics available).

137 https://www.wichita.edu/services/DataGov/fi97Proposed data governance model (after Wichita University)

This system involves all the hierarchical layers in the operation of a facility, and represents all professions andactivities (management, functional, technical, etc.).
The proposal highlights the different levels of organization required for collaborative governance and the searchfor buy-in from all the institution's players:•

A strategic level with "Data Trustees", which clearly shows that this subject goes far beyond IT, and thatproperly managed data throughout its lifecycle is the basis for decision-making on issues such as user
service, strategic development, and cost reduction for a facility. Trustees de ne strategic data priorities
and arbitrate proposals or con icts identi ed by the Data Management Committee.

•

A decision-making level, the "Data Management Committee", which includes data owners, data
stewards, compliance of cers and those in charge of data management (IT Department and Steering
Department). Data owners can decide on data access rights, while data stewards can decide on data
management policy in a functional area or more transversally.

•

And nally, the operational level, which brings together, in an advisory capacity on the GovernanceCouncils, those responsible for data in a speci c functional area, known as "Data custodians", who are in
charge of maintaining this data.

This matrix organization includes all data-related professions, covers all functional areas and the geographicaldimension, and includes representatives from different campuses.
Meetings of the Data Governance Council, moderated by the Chief Data Of cer, can be organized on request
with all or some of the members of the Data Management Committee and all or some of the data custodians.
The aim is to supervise data in terms of its integrity, consistency, compliance, ethics and security, on the one
hand, and to determine current uses and new query requirements, on the other.

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Temporary working groups can be set up to investigate speci c themes and provide input for the Governing
Board's discussions.

Extract from ”Using Data Strategically : The EDUCAUSE Data Governance Action Plan”

Collaborative, shared governanceThis proposal does not advocate a centralized organizational model, such as that seen in our French institutions,with a steering department that manages an institution's entire data policy for a single speci c objective lacking
cross-functionality : it proposes shared, collective governance.
This system promotes con dence in data with a shared vision of it, it puts aside “centralization” typeorganizations and offers collective work on data and not putting a single person in the driver seat. For example
the CDO (Chief Data Of cer) role is rather to synchronize people efforts and consolidate a shared strategy.
This model aims at strengthing and unifying the vision of data for the 3 major job categories in institutions:administration, research and education.
Other feedback
The University of Chicago has welcome the French delegation to the 2023 EDUCAUSE conference. The subjectof setting up its data governance is under active consideration, and it shared its strategic objectives for 2024.
One of them concerns “Decision making and data” covering two aspects:•

Provide enhanced data analysis and reporting capabilities•

Collaborate with key partners to improve the quality, accessibility and governance of administrative data

Four Canadian universities also shared their progress on institutional data governance and presented theircurrent actions and level of maturity (“Data is the new what?” Presentation), with a speci c focus on thegovernance of “indigenous” data.

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“Data is the new what?” Excerpt from the presentation of Canadian universities

A prescription for healing and being more resilient - Conclusions andperspectives Combining data literacy, in the sense of understanding and sharing data, with participative data governance isan effective way of launching a general approach to data in the organization.
This "prescription" then improves the use of data, increasing its quality, consistency, and ease of sharing, whileat the same time calling for the creativity of the stakeholders.
All this work involved then contributes to having better information for decision-making, the famous “informed
decision making”, based on a common and coherent point of truth.

Logical path between data literacy, data governance and informed decision making

100For further information, a source of reference on this subject is the document “Understanding and Developing a
Data-Informed Culture138” published by EDUCAUSE, which provides concrete tools in its nal section. Far awayfrom American journalist Roy Rowan’s quote: "Management is the art of making decisions from insuf cient
information."
Vatsala Sarathy from Stanford graduate School of Business gave an interesting talk entitled "How to create a
Data-Driven Culture", which presents a journey around an organization that is curious about its data. One of the
key recommendation from his presentation stands at recruitment time for people exposed to data : chose
people who are curious, capable of creativity, and willing to capitalize on dysfunctions. She wishes that
institutions can become data-curious organizations.
All these plans about data strategy, to be successful require two fundamentals which are acculturation andtraining of all staff in the subject of data.
This high-dose " prescription " on data is ranked in second and fourth positions in the EDUCAUSE 2024 Top 10,
via the two themes "Driving to better decision" and "Diving deep into data".

In summary a proposal for data hygiene to increase the resilience of our institutions :“Master your data, share with others and be creative”

138 https://library.educause.edu/-/media/ les/library/2022/5/understandinganddevelopingdatainformedculture.pdf

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Research Data Management:
Current Status and Challenges
Tatsuya Tohyama - Japanese Delegation

The management and utilization of the vast amount of research data generated in research activities is anextremely important issue for research institutions. The various data collected and generated in the research
process are indispensable assets for verifying research results and making new discoveries.
The Nelson Memo, released in August 2022 by the Of ce of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), requires
recipients of federal research grants to make publicly available papers and related data sets that are the result of
publicly funded research. This is a revised version of the 2013 Holdren Memo and differs signi cantly in that it
places a greater emphasis on data release than in the past.
In response to the Nelson Memo, major funding
agencies, such as the National Institutes of
Health (NIH), have established speci c policies
regarding the sharing of research data. For
example, the NIH's data sharing policy, which
will take effect in January 2023, requires thesharing of evidence-based data sets whenpublishing research ndings. The NIH data
sharing policy also emphasizes reproducibility
and requires the sharing of not only
experimental data, but also data necessary to
reproduce the computational environment.
Excerpt from “Grow Your Research Computing and Data Program”

In one session139, it was noted that the demand
for a wide range of data management services,
including storage, security, long-term preservation, and publication support for research data, is rapidly
increasing at various universities against the backdrop of the mandatory publication of research data. In
addition, the establishment of a consistent management system from data creation to storage and release, as
well as strengthening the linkage between research data and analysis software to ensure reproducibility, are also
considered important.
Furthermore, the scope of support for research data management is also an issue for consideration. While many
institutions consider support to achieve a certain level of data management essential, some do not provide
support for more advanced needs beyond a certain level, while others provide exible support as needed,
indicating that each institution is making various efforts140.

139 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/recent-developments-in-research-data-management
140 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/grow-your-research-computing-and-data-programnbspseparate-registration-

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Handling of research data
How to properly manage and preserve large and complex data sets, such as large-scale simulations, genome
analysis, and image analysis, is a serious problem for many institutions. In one session, it was introduced thatwhen promoting large-scale projects, management and preservation plans are formulated from the initial stage
because handling of large-scale data sets is inevitable, but that suf cient measures are often not taken except
for such special large-scale projects141. In addition, for long-term preservation of large-scale data, it is essential
to have a system that can secure storage capacity and cope with complex data structures, but many
institutional repositories are not equipped with such functions. In the presentation, it was introduced that someinstitutions have introduced measures such as excluding some of their research data from research data
management as a short-term solution.
However, as the era of using AI moves into full swing, it is expected that opportunities to create large-scale data
will increase in the social sciences and humanities as well, and in light of these medium- and long-term trends, it
is essential to respond to large-scale data. In particular, in the medical eld, while the importance of image datasuch as life log data, sensor images, and surgical images is increasing, the storage format and management
methods for such data have not been established, and it was pointed out that a new approach, including
standardization of metadata descriptions, is needed. Another issue is the development of an analyticalinfrastructure for the appropriate use of large-scale data. It is necessary not only to accumulate data, but also tocreate an environment in which researchers can refer to and analyze data from all angles.
Research data may contain sensitive data,
including personal and con dential
information, the proper management of suchsensitive data is an important issue. In
addition to simply meeting legal requirements,
measures must be taken to comply withvarious security standards, including NIST
800-171, HIPAA, and CMMC. One session
pointed out that while immediate release of
research data is required, some data cannot
be released, and that general repositories
such as Dryad and Figshare tend to be
reluctant to accept research data requiring
Excerpt from “Grow Your Research Computing and Data Program”
restricted access due to the risk that theycannot adequately guarantee thecon dentiality of the data they introduce It was pointed out that this is the current situation. Therefore, it has
become necessary for each research institution to prepare its own recipient, but it was also pointed out that it isnecessary to create a mechanism to release data on a limited basis, because it is dif cult to be widely used if it
is treated as non-public data.
In addition, developing an analytical infrastructure called a "data enclave" for the safe storage and analysis ofhighly con dential information is also an essential issue for consideration. Traditionally, "data enclave" have been
secured by cutting off connections to the outside world and placing them under strict security control. However,this has greatly reduced convenience and has become a barrier to the effective use of research data. One
session introduced the construction of data enclave on cloud services as one way to solve this problem.
Building data enclave on the cloud is expected to greatly improve convenience, as it allows access fromanywhere and enables expansion of computing resources. However, countermeasures against security risks
such as unauthorized access and information leaks have become important issues, and it was pointed out thatcomprehensive efforts are needed to introduce strong authentication functions, encrypt data, strengthen log
management and auditing, prevent internal fraud, and establish governance.

141 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/recent-developments-in-research-data-management

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Storage of research data
Research data preservation requirements suchas store active data, sharing data withcollaborators, securing data, and data retention
requirements are being sought. One session142
presented the various strategies universities andresearch institutions are considering achieving
these requirements. Among them were reportsthat some universities that have traditionallyinvested in institutional repositories are
expanding existing repositories, while others are
moving to cloud storage services that provide
access to large resources at low cost. In
Excerpt from “Grow Your Research Computing and Data Program”
addition, universities with large-scale storage
resources, such as large computer centers andsupercomputer centers, are considering using such existing resources as a long-term storage platform forresearch data.
It was also reported that there is a movement to fundamentally review current institutional repositories in light of
the life cycle of repositories. This seems to be due to the fact that there are cases where institutional repositories
released more than 10 years ago are facing serious challenges due to aging, forcing them to choose between
updating their institutional repository platform or migrating to a new platform.
There is generally no clear policy established as to when and how research data should be disposed of. It is notrealistic to generally decide on "permanent retention," and it is necessary to assume that data will be deleted
after a certain period. However, many institutions have not established at what point and based on what criteria
the value of data should be determined, and some reported that it is important for each institution to develop its
own data lifecycle management policy. As a policy for life cycle management, it was proposed that, from thestandpoint of cost-effectiveness, the standard policy is to dispose of data after a certain period of time, and thatdata requiring permanent preservation be considered on a case-by-case basis. It was also explained that in thehumanities and social sciences, the value of data often changes over time, and that it would be desirable toconsider measures such as setting a certain grace period for the handling of historical materials, followed by aprocess to seek expert opinions again. In any case, it was reported that it is important to formulate a detailed
policy according to the nature of the data after suf cient discussion among the parties concerned143.
Furthermore, in one session, it was reported that ethical and legal considerations are also essential when
disposing of data, and that a thorough disposal process must be followed for personally identi able informationand for data that pose security risks. The committee also commented that a strict management system shouldbe established, including the establishment of a special committee for disposal, and that when considering thedisposal of data, it is important to establish a process to make a rational decision after thorough discussion frommultiple perspectives, including the research community and related companies.
In addition, it was reported that it would be desirable not only to establish a policy on data retention periods, butalso to consider institutionalizing periodic reviews. It is important to recognize that the data retention period isonly a temporary standard, and to update the policy as appropriate in response to changes in research elds orchanges in social conditions involving new values. In addition to the physical disposal of data, clear rules need
to be established for the handling of metadata and other related information. Since metadata contains important
information such as research background, methods, and location of related materials, some reported that
metadata should be stored for a certain period after the main body of data is disposed of so that it can be used
for future research144.

142 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/recent-developments-in-research-data-management
143 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/recent-developments-in-research-data-management
144 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/from-curation-to-compliance-supporting-research-data-sharing-at-scale

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Organizational structure supporting research data management
In a case study of Princeton University145, it wasreported that a cross-departmental organizational
structure, including the library, IT department, andresearch promotion department, is essential for
providing effective research data management
services throughout the university. In addition, it isalso important to establish an organic collaboration
system among a wide range of related departments,
including the legal department. Furthermore, theoperation of research data management services
requires the securing of diverse human resources,
including leadership personnel, system infrastructure
personnel, user support personnel, andcommunication personnel. It was also reported that it
will be necessary to procure human resources in avariety of ways, including salary innovations and theuse of student assistants146.

Excerpt from “From Curation to Compliance:
Supporting Research Data Sharing at Scale”

In university organizations, changes in leadershipoften trigger a review of strategies and replacementof relevant personnel, and in many cases, theinterdepartmental cooperation that has been built up
to date is disrupted. In addition, as new
management issues erupt one after another since
COVID-19, the focus on research data management
may also take a back seat. One session147 reported
that the establishment of a permanent
Excerpt from “Grow Your Research Computing and Datainterdepartmental collaboration system from a longProgram”
term perspective is an important issue for the future
Speci cally, it was reported that establishing apermanent committee on data management and institutionalizing the participation and mutual understanding ofeach department would be a promising option, and it was suggested that establishing such a top-down
framework would make it possible to develop medium- to long-term organizational efforts on an ongoing basis.

Conclusion
I have summarized the status and issues surrounding research data management in universities and otherresearch institutions based on the contents and discussions of related sessions at Educause Conference 2023.
None of these issues can be solved immediately, and long-term efforts are required.
First and foremost, it is important to establish an institution-wide system to address these issues. In addition, across-organizational governance structure must be established, research data management must be positioned
as an important management issue for the institution, and a system must be built to ensure that suf cienthuman and nancial resources can be secured over the long term.
145 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/from-curation-to-compliance-supporting-research-data-sharing-at-scale
146 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/grow-your-research-computing-and-data-programnbspseparate-registration-

is-required
147 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/recent-developments-in-research-data-management

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In addition, a deep dialogue among stakeholders is required on how research data management itself should be
conducted. It is necessary to look at the entire lifecycle of data, from collection, processing, preservation,
release, and disposal, and to examine issues and optimal solutions for each process in cooperation withindustry, academia, and the public sector.
Thus, research data management is an important issue that universities and research institutions must seriously
address as we move toward a fully- edged data-driven society. The mission of universities and research
institutions is to appropriately manage high-quality research data, ensure transparency in the research process,and develop an environment that allows maximum use of data in society. We felt that universities and research
institutions are required to seek and implement appropriate research data management methods according totheir own circumstances.

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Computing, Storage, Network…
Where does the Cloud t in ?
Olivier Wong-Hee-Kam - French Delegation

Previous editions of the EDUCAUSE Report trace Cloud trends (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS)148 :•Follow UP – On the Cloud again, p.52 EDUCAUSE Report 2021 (English version)•

Cloud & SaaS, p. 91 – 94, rapport EDUCAUSE 2020 (in French, no English version available on that year)•

Cloud, p.50 – 53, EDUCAUSE Report 2018 (English version)•

Cloud: presence at EDUCAUSE and trends, p 31 – 36, EDUCAUSE Report 2017 (English version)

In the last article, the author wrote: “In general, the Cloud is now acquired, and many universities haveembraced a Cloud First policy.” This observation is con rmed in 2023: during the opening of the session« Moving Core IT to the Cloud: Strategies for Small Colleges »149 : the presenter stated: “Tambellini researchshows that in 2022 more than 95% of ERP selections were for SaaS-architected solutions, and we know it’s asimilar statistic for other core IT systems. But the journey is especially dif cult and important for small institutions
with limited resources”. Instead of a “Cloud First” approach, their nancial resources and existing infrastructures
require a more pragmatic "College First" strategic approach. Visiting Oakton College150 was an opportunity toobserve this delicate process indeed relevant today for many parts of the information system.
The picture is more contrasted for issues related to research support (data centers) or network infrastructure.

Cloud in Research ?
The following presentations address strategic, technical and nancial issues when it comes to designing,
deploying, maintaining high-performance computing (HPC) and storage infrastructure, whether "on premise" orusing cloud providers.

148 The term Cloud or Cloud computing covers a galaxy of services. The main ones are SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as aService) and IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service). These concepts are cited below and explained in this article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Cloud_computing
149 Support available at https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/moving-core-it-to-the-cloud-strategies-for-small-collegesby Michelle Hobbins, CIO / Associate Vice President for Information Technology & LIS, Carthage College & Nathan Phillips, CIO, American
College of Healthcare Sciences & Bill Thompson, Director Digital Infrastructure, Lafayette College.
150 See the article On-Site Visits of this report

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Adventures in Communicating Value of Research Computing Investment (Purdue University)151
Purdue University has promoted mutualization of computing resources “on-premise” for its various colleges
since 2006, by creating the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing (RCAC)152 : the Center hosts several
shared clusters. Among them, ten of which are currently among the world’s top 500 supercomputers153. This
long-term commitment comes from a desire to democratize HPC tools.
The presentation focuses on communication strategy towards the institution's local actors, summarized in 3
steps :
1. Know your Stakeholders, and what is important at the institution at this point in time
2. Have quantitative Center metrics telling your story based on the interests of the speci c stakeholder, given
the institution’s priorities in the current context
3. Get Testimonials. Don’t underestimate the power of qualitative data
The strength of this strategy lies in the depth and exhaustiveness of the measurement approach exposed inpoint 2. Exploring different dimensions is possible to answer the issues of key stakeholders.

Annual cost compared for each cluster versus public clouds providers.
Preston Smith, Purdue University

For example, the progression of investments reported to the computation capacity shows an optimization of
costs : Figure above154, the presenter compares the total annual costs of different clusters of the university withthose of generalist cloud offers (Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google GCP). The latter appear systematically
two to ten times more expensive. This type of computation workloads doesn’t get along with the cloud's
elasticity: the very high computing and storage capacities available almost instantly are unused and cost more.

151 Support available at https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/adventures-in-communicating-value-of-research-

computing-investment by Preston Smith, Executive Director, Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, Purdue University.
152 https://www.rcac.purdue.edu/about
153 RCAC Annual Report 2022, p.7 https://www.rcac.purdue.edu/ les/publications/annualreports/2022-Annual-Report.pdf
154 Source : https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/adventures-in-communicating-value- of-research-computing-investment

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Growth over time for HPC usage versus capacity.
Preston Smith, Purdue University

On this point, the presenter emphasizes the very strong convergence of computing capacities along the natureof workloads: Figure above155 shows a strategic planning of investments where HPC clusters occur at the righttime to serve researchers' projects, while ensuring every cluster is fully occupied in order optimize the return on
investment .
Communication towards different pro les of stakeholders highlights the direct contribution of RCAC to research
performance: majority of research funding obtained by RCAC users, positive return on investment, signi cantcontribution to the university's overall funding, greater productivity in research according to multiple criteria(scienti c eld, publications, citations, H-index, expenses, fundings).
The contribution to the teaching and learning is also addressed positively: over the last ve years a graph showsa growth of courses and graduates based on RCAC's resources.
A research work conducted by the presenter tries to model (scienti c) production as a function of work (staff
salaries) and investment (calculation speed measured in TeraFlop/s). The conclusions are speci c to Purdue
University. This approach makes it possible to map the in uencing factors according to research performance
criteria, and even to compare different institutions.

155 Source : https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/adventures-in-communicating-value- of-research-computing-investment

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Scaling Research Computing Environment: A Journey to the Cloud! (Bentley University)156
In 2021, Bentley University’s computation infrastructure was near its end of its useful life. It no longer met
researchers' needs (economics, nance, management, mathematics, etc.): advanced statistical analysis, bigdata, natural language processing, Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning. At that time, the size of the staff wasclearly insuf cient given the challenges: recently obtained fundings meant that research activities had to start
quickly.
The presenters summarized the approach implemented after two years of hindsight. They began by identifying 5
issues linked to their context to guide future choices :•Management of technical and nancial environment: researchers independently determining the use ofcomputing clusters, with diverse nancial models•

Cloud vs. physical servers : limited adoption of cloud computing, but potential shorter run times, variability inhardware replacement cycles (from 3.5 to 10 years)•

Security : legally regulated enclaves (HIPAA, CUI, etc.), with a mix of security standards•

Storage and backup : balance between bandwidth and capacity, up to archiving (cold storage)•

Training and technical support : emphasis on thorough documentation, diverse support models, status andconnectivity dashboard, assistance by system administrators for performance optimization as necessary

After studying a panel of institutions with a similar size and scienti c problems, they note that the majority ofthem were "on-premise". However, a physical infrastructure hosted on-campus (or on colocation in another
Massachusetts campus) means :•Investment budget (CAPEX – Capital Expense) in computing and storage servers•

Annual operating budget (OPEX – Operating Expense) to maintain the environment in the data center oncampus

The Cloud approach is chosen because there is not enough time, particularly to recruit pro les with the rightskills. What's more, they can mobilise an OPEX budget quickly, and this outsourcing gives them the experts theyneed. The chosen solution is Microsoft Azure, following a comparative study with Amazon AWS and NERC157.
The next step was to de ne the needs with representative use cases in the form of four "Research Computing
Persona”. Each pro le is described in terms of its scienti c objectives, ML skills and speci c needs, particularly
in terms of parallel computing or the preferred operating system. The needs are described in terms of thecomplexity of the algorithm (which has an impact on the duration of the workloads) and the size of the data sets.
To meet these needs, the chosen Cloud solution proposes 3 types of environments, with a range of prices
depending on the features already integrated. For each environment prices vary according to the type of virtual
machine which is described in terms of the number of CPU cores, GPU, RAM, storage, and location. All thiscon guration data is summariszed in a spreadsheet. The le is used to cross-reference the needs (persona) withall the available offerings: around ten typical scenarios are then established, making it easier to analyse theobjectives of the researchers, whose workloads are quali ed in terms of intensity and frequency. By con guring
the desired options in the le, they can quickly obtain realistic cost forecasts in relation to their needs.
The spreadsheet is also used during the deployment phase as a cost control tool. Cloud dashboards provide
data (consumption, cost) that are integrated into the spreadsheet. Then the presenters are able to forecast
overall trends on a weekly basis, well in advance of the monthly billing deadline.
This ability to forecast costs is essential in a Cloud context: informing users enables them to adopt goodpractice and optimise the use of virtual machines. For example, they were able to indicate which of their virtual
machines had been switched off via the daily shutdown at midnight: laboratory managers were then able toencourage their researchers to shut down their virtual machines properly earlier, thereby avoiding unnecessary
extra costs.

156 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/scaling-research-computing-environment-a-journey-to-the-cloud by Cilfton

Chow, Sr. Research Technology Consultant, Bentley University & Gaurav Shah, Director, Academic Technologies, Bentley University.
157 The NERC or New England Research Cloud is a service (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) o ered by the Massachusetts Green High Performance

Computing Center, a regional inter-institutional consortium https://nerc.mghpcc.org/about/

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Support for researchers is an important aspect and starts with a formal contract. The aim is to specify scienti cneeds, not to specify equipment. Each user manages their own budget, with no charge-back for support.
Ideally, the contract should be formalised before any funding is obtained, so that a Cloud budget (in OPEX) canbe included et the very start of the research project.
Such an approach requires new skills: in addition to system administration on the Cloud solution, it is essential
to master cost modelling as part of a FinOps (Financial Operations) approach. This “Cloud rst” approach is not
exclusive: the team will still support a minority of speci c needs when it seems appropriate to acquire a
dedicated machine.
Data Centers of the Future: They Are More Exciting Than You Think (University of Chicago)158
The presenters addressed a number of trends discussed with the audience in terms of needs and technologies,
illustrated with concrete examples :•HPC needs are in strong expansion (explosion) with an increase in the bay density (25kW and more) which
requires signi cant electric power supply and special care about weight•

Cooling159 needs are increasing, and concerns are raising about hot spots management: therefore energy
demand is increasing, and related costs too•

Flexibility in design and operation becomes a necessity, along with strong integration with the communityof stakeholders. An open-minded approach is needed about design and cost modelling (peer evaluation,industrial partnerships, publications, and communications)•

Reducing the environmental footprint requires a global approach on the whole current technical stack, with
openness to alternatives: colocation, Cloud, geographical migration (climate, cost of energy)

The re ections presented below synthetize a transcription of the exchanges. Some parts were deepened during
the visit to the University of Chicago's data center160 : Ray Parpart, Director Data Center Strategy & Operations,
toured the behind-the-scenes with passion, humility, and transparency.
The data center is spread over three buildings (the oldest of which has been in service since 1960) for a capacityof 1400m² occupied by about 400 bays. These are occupied at more than 80% by more than 4000 servers. 55
Po of storage of different storage technologies coexist with a great variety of computing nodes (CPU, GPU,
FGPA). The renovation of the main building was constrained by the original envelope and its architectural limits.
This point illustrates the exibility approach in designing a data center: various measures have been provided to
manage the risk of ooding which structurally affects a part of the building. As a ooding incident, suchmeasures were able to deal ef ciently with it, fortunately without major damages to the infrastructure.
The DEEP Gold161 certi cation awarded in 2022 testi es the level of commitment and work accomplished toreduce the environmental footprint of the data center which had become the 4th largest power consumer of the
University. University’s sustainability optimizations improved the overall ef ciency of cooling: use of rear door
heat exchangers that reduce cooling energy, the treatment of the raised oor as a slab space that eliminates
bypass air ow, and a shift in voltage that produces less heat off transformers. Among future evolutions, directto-chip liquid cooling is studied. Immersion cooling, despite desirable high ef ciency, seems dif cult toimplement due to frequent physical interventions.
The automation approach162 deployed around their DCIM163 software in the last 10 years offers exibility, as
processes become more resilient, risks of errors are minimized, and intervention times are reduced. Timesavings are reinvested in optimizing the data center design, investing in predictive analysis, and strengthening

158 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/data-centers-of-the-future-they-are-more-exciting-than-you-think by Kemal

Badur, Chief Technology O cer, University of Chicago & Ray Parpart, Director Data Center Strategy & Operations, University of Chicago
159 About chilling technology in a data center : https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/tip/Data-center- cooling-systems-and-technologies-and-how-they-work and a video https://youtu.be/xBxyhxmhigc
160 See the article On-Site Visits in this report
161 https://datacenterevolve.com/sites/default/ les/UChicago%20Case%20Study.pdf
162 See article and recording here : https://www.sunbirddcim.com/blog/3-real-world-use-cases-driving-data- center-automation-integration
163 Data Center Infrastructure Management https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/de nition/data- center-infrastructure-management-

DCIM

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hosting services: IaaS for users migrating machines from a department and PaaS for users wanting virtual
machines on a shared or dedicated cluster .
Researchers have a wide range of HPC needs now present in all disciplines. University of Chicago created the
Research Computing Center (RCC)164 to support them. The Center promotes best practices sharing, retaining
internal skills up to date (architects, developers, cloud or data engineers): they provide training, scienti canimation, and thematic expertise. The “Midway” cluster dedicated to the RCC represents nearly half of the data
center's bays. The RCC developed of collection of software covering the major elds of scienti c computing,tailored to quickly burst workloads on Midway. Other approaches are promoted: workloads running on Cloud
platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) is possible with an internally developed software called Skyway165 : “Skyway
enables users to run computing tasks in the cloud from Midway in a seamless manner without needing to learn
how to provision cloud resources. Since the user does not need to setup or manage cloud resources
themselves, the result is improved productivity with a minimum learning curve.” Users can ef ciently choose tooutsource (or not to).
The Research context is important here: the nature of the workloads implies that the on-premise clusters areoccupied at full capacity and permanently. Here, the Cloud appears as a complementary solution to get a result
quicker or to experiment temporarily before obtaining fundings for the nal solution. However, if all the workloads
were to switch to the Cloud it would be dif cult to bear the global OPEX.
The physical space needed for the data center remains a major challenge for the University of Chicago.
Colocation has been explored with specialized players but in the end, there are only a few who can
accommodate such needs. At present, the decision has not been taken because long-term nancial
sustainability remains uncertain given the level of OPEX required.
The University is also investing in international collaborations, through its wholly owned af liate UChicago
Argonne LLC166 which manages the rst national laboratory Argonne. Known for its historical participation in the
Manhattan Project, the laboratory founded the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility167 in the early 2000s to
host multiple supercomputers. Aurora168 is the latest addition to the stable: created with several innovations, it
should exceed 2 Exa op/s when ready for service, aiming for 1st place in the Top 500. .

164 Created in 2012 https://rcc.uchicago.edu/about-rcc and presented by Hakizumwami Birali Runesha, associate vice president for research

computing and director of the Research Computing Center, University of Chicago
165 Description at https://cloud-skyway.rcc.uchicago.edu/ and code published at https://github.com/rcc-uchicago/skyway
166 https://www.uchicagoargonnellc.org/about
167 https://www.alcf.anl.gov/
168 Description at https://www.alcf.anl.gov/aurora

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Network“NaaS or No NaaS“ the presentation169 title summarizes the key question for CIO as network costs (investment
and maintenance) are increasing while campus budgets are more and more limited. As the trending approach"as a Service" affects every part of the digital world, the network professionals wonder about the emerging
concept of "Network as a Service" (NaaS).
The following presentations do not show an implementation of a NaaS approach but highlight the current
sensitivity towards building a highly valuable service based on network. The latter appears here as a driver ofinnovation serving strategic goals.
Modernizing the Campus Network to Support Success (University of Illinois Chicago)170
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public institution, with 16 colleges and a hospital, an enrolment of
34,000 students, and $460M invested in research annually. The campus has 110 buildings (including 3 for thedata center, 1700m²) located just west of downtown Chicago. To give a baseline, the network infrastructure has:
800 network closets; 2,000 switches with 108 routers; 64,000 network ports; 6,000 access points and about
32,000 peak concurrent devices on wireless network; 7,700 VoIP phones, and 200 "silent panic buttons"
underneath desks.
Early 2020, the recent vice-chancellor in charge of innovation published his of ce vision focusing on researchand students, which implies several challenges for the network team:•

A solid strategic network plan must be designed to achieve these new objectives•

The team of 8 network engineers struggles with emergencies and outages, without enough time to invest
in strategic re ections about modernization of the network•

The dependence to one speci c vendor, used for every aspect of the network, is questionable•

Technical debt is considerable and there are many years of deferred maintenance•

Documentation must accurately cover technical debt and deferred maintenanceFirst a thorough network assessment was conducted, with an analysis of the network's performance, reliability,
and security. In this context, the current Zero Trust approach represents an opportunity: the network
modernization project is perceived here as much as a security project.
Prioritizing improvement points according to the strategic roadmap of the vice-chancellor helped the team toestablish a strategic network plan with actions described in terms of objective, deadline, and budget.
A large part of the presentation is dedicated to different ways of communicating with stakeholders. The objective
is to get institutional support and aim for an alignment of strategy and operation, enabling the team to purge
technical debt while achieving intermediate objectives for each project.

169 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/naas-or-no-naas
170 Support available at https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/modernizing-the-campus-network-to-support-success byJelene Crehan, Director of Infrastructure, University of Illinois Chicago & Jon Young, Vice-President, Vantage Technology Consulting Group.
Recording of a similar presentation available at https://internet2.edu/modernizing-campus-network-to-support-success/

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To deal with the workload, the team chose to outsource certain tasks or projects, or even to recruit additional
staff. Automation and the use of orchestration have particularly helped the team by enabling them to :•Reduce errors by eliminating the need for manual input, which reduces the risk of human error. The time
freed up is allocated to more strategic activities, and improves the team ef ciency•

Automate tasks and processes that require many manual actions. This also enable the team to take on
more tasks without having to increase staf ng levels•

Visualize the status of tasks and projects for more ef cient prioritization and more informed decisions

The Covid-19 crisis disrupted the start of the strategic network plan. The team was able to adapt andsuccessfully carry out the actions during these last 3 years. On the Fugure below, the projections for the next 3
years are already in place: some topics planned testimony the rise in maturity compared to the initial situation(next-generation rewall with ML, Role Based Access Control implementation).

Network Strategic Plan. Jelene Crehan, University of Illinois
Chicago & Jon Young, Vantage Technology Consulting Group

Transforming IT into a Strategic Campus Asset171
Ryan Turner, Director of Networking at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has put in place a strategy
around his team aiming:•

A stable and resilient budget•

A sustainable growth trajectory•

An innovation approachThis strategy is based on several key pillars described below.
The team is considered a strategic asset separate from the IT department, with a dedicated budget and different
funding model. The network team of 10 technicians is responsible of 10,000 switches and 150,000 devices, 24

171 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/transforming-it-into-a-strategic-campus-asset by Ryan Turner, Director of

Networking, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. This team is considered essential to ensure the proper
functioning of the network.
Automation and delegation allow the team to focus on transformative projects. DevOps principles are embraced
to produce high-value-added software solutions and strengthen skills within the team. Such pro les attract
others, making it easier to recruit talented people.
A long-term strategic alliance with suppliers must be built, refusing to be trapped by an opportunistic sales
approach "take it or leave it."
The team is also encouraged to adopt an innovation approach by taking initiatives and developing complex andinspiring projects and avoid silos. To be more globally ef cient, users are authorized and encouraged to takecharge of certain basic services, allowing the team to focus on such tasks with higher added value.
Communication is at the heart of the strategy. The presenter encourages proactive communication andemphasizes incorporating and listening to user feedback. Establishing formal processes improves the quality
and speed of communication and must be tested and trained: in the advent of an issue or just an issue
suspicion, information must be sent quickly without waiting for the problems to worsen. For example, herecommends alerting users as soon as a service becomes unavailable even if the restoration should take lessthan 10 minutes, because a 5-minute silence is long enough to stack much more problems.
Communication is formalized in detailed semi-annual campus reports (Figure below172) with examples andimages173. The objective is to extend mere accountability and transparency, reporting to stakeholders and users
how investments are utilized. These reports also help memorialize achievements, which is useful to present thelong history of successes to renewed direction or governance.

Networking Report July - December 2022. Ryan Turner, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill

172 Source : https://its.unc.edu/2023/02/17/new-networking-biannual-report/biannual-report-july-though- december-2/
173 All reports are publicly published at https://its.unc.edu/resource/data-networking/

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Private mobile network
Two presentations gave an overview of the deployment of private mobile networks (4G or 5G) within universities,
citing examples of use :•Connecting the Campus through Private 5G174•

Innovative Wireless Network Catalyzes University of Colorado Innovation Program175

Currently, the private mobile network market has not yet taken off signi cantly due to costs and low return on
investment. Wi-Fi costs are low because the technology has been mature for 20 years. On the contrary, 5G and
4G are more recent and more expensive. Moreover, apart from recent smartphones, few devices are equippedwith 5G compared to Wi-Fi which is very widespread in a wide range of devices.
The private mobile network presents advantages in complement to the wired network to address speci cconnectivity situations :•Emerging use cases•

Dedicated critical applications•

Advanced security and access control

A 4G or 5G public or private network can de ne a slice of the network, like a dedicated lane on a road (bus laneor carpool lane) to have a fast lane adapted to certain users. For example, separate generic needs can beseparated for speci c bandwidth issues or latency needs: video streaming, real-time drone, automated guided
vehicle176. 5G allows to differentiate needs according to terminals. Uplink or downlink can be prioritized forspeci c devices. Other advantages are greater coverage than Wi-Fi with fewer access points needed; radio
spectrum less crowded, thus minimizing interferences; integrated security (relies on SIM card).
In Wi-Fi, none of this is possible: each terminal connects on an available slice, which causes bandwidth issues
and latency rises when many people connect to the Wi-Fi network. For example, this occurs during large
gatherings (sports competitions, big shows, or public events).
Several players have gathered (integrator, university, city) for a shared objective: testing 5G network solutions ina dense urban environment such as downtown Denver. The university serves as a giant laboratory for IaaS
services for connectivity and IoT (Internet Of Things) devices as well as for incubating businesses on real-life 5G
use cases. The incubator serves to protect intellectual property and support speci c needs of project teams.
The chosen 5G autonomous solution is open source, providing an "on-premise" solution at a reasonable price.
The nancial breakdown between players is balanced in the best interests of each. This enables for partnerships
with providers: the objective is provide an open platform that can connect different types of technologies.
Compared with a 5G network from a public operator, there are many advantages:•

Local management of users and their security (identi cation relies on SIM card)•

No billing based on usage, which would be prohibitive for experiments•

Possibility of migrating towards an access license according to user demand, which represents a
potential source of funding•

Scalability of the architecture according to needs

174 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/connecting-the-campus-through-private-5g by Ram Venketaramani, SeniorDirector, Solutions, Service Provider & Edge BU, VMware LLC. Recording of a similar presentation « Are You Afraid of Adopting Private 5G?
Address Your Fears with VMware at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTo4KsI8dBo
175 https://events.educause.edu/annual-conference/2023/agenda/innovative-wireless-network-catalyzes-university-of-colorado-innovation-

program-1 by Dan Griner, Director of Smart Futures Lab, University of Colorado Denver & Chad Michels, Higher Ed Account Executive, World
Wide Technology & Patrick Rhatigan, Business Development Manager, RF Connect & Tyler Svitak, Executive Director, Colorado Smart Cities
Alliance
176 Automated Guided Vehicule might use network communication for navigation

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Several use cases from research projects or the incubation program are mentioned :•Help localization and guiding for blind or visually impaired people, where the precision of the 5G network
is essential•

Augmented Reality information using a phone on points of interest in the city•

Snow tolling robot or delivery robot navigating in the campus with real-time control from a remote server•Radio propagation studies inside buildings

In this niche sector, suppliers and integrators are positioned to hold the whole or a part of the infrastructure,from its deployment to its operation and maintenance, with the appropriate software suite, and management ofradio use licenses, with advanced automation features.

A few thoughts
These various experiences have similar strategies in the face of shared challenges :•Communicate with key decision-makers and stakeholders about their strategic importance in relation to
the nancial implications. Communication is best carried out on a partnership basis (rather than in an
authoritarian manner), given the strong autonomy of the various components•

Plan for the long term. Anticipate nancial ows and support staff skills development, while keeping aclose eye on market developments and user needs•

Innovation as it drives attractiveness both in terms of nancial returns and talent retention

Many of the issues raised may also be valid in the French context :Recruiting skilled staff in the digital eld is particularly dif cult: even the most prestigious universities hardly
compete with the substantial nancial resources from other sectors. Off-presentation, most of the presenters
indicated emphasizing the working conditions (service hours, holidays, etc.), the interest and diversity of thetechnical subjects, and the reputation of the institution. Several directors invest in training and upgrading theskills of their teams, to retain them for as long as possible.
Budget is under pressure both in terms of costs and nancing. In ation in energy costs is compromising
investment capacity. Some universities are optimizing by mutualization of resources locally or by outsourcing
appropriate services. While the entire Cloud sector is increasing its prices, unilaterally and with little room fornegotiation, universities' budgets are tending to shrink. The business model is suffering from a decline inincoming students due to the demographic cliff.
The environmental impact of digital technologies is a matter of concern, as demonstrated by the University of
Chicago, which is committed to reducing its environmental impact. “Finally, being green in supercomputing has
truly become a global endeavour. The top 10 spots of the GREEN500 are occupied by 8 different countries:
United States (3 times), France, Australia, Sweden, Spain, Finland, Germany, and South Korea.”177. The big 3
Cloud providers are highlighting their ecological efforts, but are nevertheless being questioned by players suchas Carbone4178.

177 https://www.top500.org/lists/green500/2023/11/
178 https://www.carbone4.com/en/analysis-carbon-footprint-cloud

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Demand for digital resources is rising sharply, driven by underlying trends such as Big Data and Arti cial Intelligence.
The Cloud is growing rapidly179 and seems to be the ultimate solution to deal with such as this demand, wanting
to become a kind of measure unit by itself for the maturity of an information system. However, the offer does notappear to be fully adapted to the needs of Research, except for certain speci c requirements :•Highly variable workloads, which bene t from the responsiveness and elasticity of the Cloud•Intense but one-off or infrequent needs, for which on-premise investment would be risky

In other sectors, the feverish rush to the Cloud is showing signs of abating. Two recent examples are indicativeof the thinking underway :•LinkedIn, despite being a subsidiary of Microsoft, is abandoning its total "Cloud only" migration to
Microsoft Azure launched in 2019 in favour of a hybrid Cloud180: in this approach, part of the information
system is on-premise while certain applications are in the Cloud•

Software publisher 37signals has decided to leave the public Cloud and opt for colocation. Its decision is
explained in detail181 and illustrates the concept of "Cloud Repatriation", i.e. a migration from the Cloud toits own infrastructure.

These steps back are the result of a pragmatic approach to analysing needs and the dif culties encountered.
The focus seems to be on the desired level of control in several areas: cost, performance, visibility, security,
sovereignty, and regulatory constraints.
In French higher education, Cloud solutions have been deployed at a rising rate since the Covid-19 crisis but isstill below the North American level. In this respect, the hybrid Cloud strategy represents an interesting way of
avoiding costly subsequent reversals, while at the same time aiming to control the environmental impact.

179 Global revenue from public cloud services up 19.2% year-on-year in the

rst half of 2023, according to IDC tracker https://www.idc.com/
getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS51501823 and https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231211563210/en/Worldwide-Public-CloudServices-Revenues- Grew-19.2-Year-Over-Year-in-the-First-Half-of-2023-According-to-IDC-Tracker/
180 https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/14/linkedin-shelved-plan-to-migrate-to-microsoft-azure-cloud.html
181 37Signals share their thoughts on the public Cloud and their architecture choices :- https://www.networkworld.com/article/972064/cloud-vs-on-prem-saas-vendor-37-signals-bails-out-of-the- public-cloud.html- https://dev.37signals.com/37signals-datacenter-overview/

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Security, Privacy and Compliance
Julien Gibert - French Delegation

No wonder cybersecurity has been ranked number 1 priority among the ten top issues of this year's
EDUCAUSE conference: although the nancial impact of a data breach in higher education and researchremains lower than in healthcare, pharmaceuticals or nance, the average cost has been close to 4 million
dollars per year over the last two years, according to an IBM study182. An ever-increasing amount of data
circulates in information systems made up of both in-house software bricks and external modules. Furthermore,they are accessed from different locations via virtual private networks and all kinds of terminals.
To address the risks of piracy and data disclosure, each state comes up with speci c regulations in addition to
those imposed by the federal government. Compliance with these regulations is mandatory to obtain statefunding, but also to attract foreign students from countries with strict data protection regulations, such as
GDPR183 in Europe.
To ensure data con dentiality, strong security measures must obviously have been set up upfront.
To tackle those challenges, institutions must delve into different areas: network con gurations ( rewalls, multifactor authentication, etc.), penetration tests, installation of SIEM-type tools (log collection and analysis),
implementation of zero-trust architectures, certi cations, use of frameworks, training for staff and students,
dedication of internal or external teams (notion of managed SOC184).

Allocating budgets to security is key
At Oakton Community College, John Wade, Director of Information Systems, explains that two people work fulltime on the cybersecurity issue, and that a third person is currently being recruited. 1% of the Community
College's overall budget is allocated to cybersecurity.
At Harper Community College, in the Chicago suburbs, one of the three crew in the IT department (composedof three full-time employees) is dedicated to security. On his arrival at Harper, CIO Riaz Yussuf committed the 6th
goal of his strategic plan to security. This goal is broken down into the following objectives: to protect
con dentiality, integrity, and availability of data, to provide a secure technology environment for remote and oncampus access and to enhance the security posture to guard against emergent cyber threats.

182 https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/E3G5JMBP
183 https://gdpr-info.eu/
184 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_operations_center

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Utilizing frameworks to facilitate compliance with rules and regulations
In the Exhibit Hall, Scott Foy from WTC presents how his company can help institutions to comply with CSF
Framework185. Mr. Foy con des that the various current cybersecurity frameworks tend to overlap, and thatnone is necessarily superior to the others. There is no legal obligation for universities to implement this type ofFramework, it is more of a proactive approach to put into motion best practices. This type of approachobviously has a cost, and implementation is often spread over several years.
CSF de nes ve functions, themes that cover the elements required to implement cybersecurity management(Figure below). Links to regulations and references are also provided. The Framework then de nes levels of
maturity for the organization to which it applies, and nally “pro les” that enable the prioritization of actions to belaunched and the measurement of the organization's progress.
.

CSF framework functions

Frameworks are useful for structuring cybersecurity processes within institutions, but compliance withspeci cations even becomes mandatory when it comes to universities handling research data, known as CUI
CUI186 (Controlled Unclassi ed Information). From there on, controls verifying NIST187 standard 800-171 (often
reinforced by various standards such as DFARS, ITAR, DIBCAC, CMMC) become a federal obligation.
Katrina Biscay from the University of Cincinnati emphasizes just how confused CISOs can be when faced withthis multitude of regulations, each of which is relevant to a speci c area of data. VP Technology at Virginia tech,
Matt Wolfe is responsible for the security of data used in research labs. But as a biochemist by training, headmits that regulations are not his area of expertise. In 2022, however, the move to a cloud-based infrastructure
accentuates this need for clarity. They called in a company to set up CMMC level 2 certi cation, derived from the800-171 standard. This certi cation covers hundreds of controls. It is published by the Department of Defense
and applies to all external software claiming to be integrated into the university's information system. CMMC

185 https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/CSWP/NIST.CSWP.04162018.pdf
186 https://researchcomputing.princeton.edu/systems/secure-research-infrastructure/what-cui
187 National Institute of Standards and Technology, a U.S. Department of Commerce Standards Agency

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reinforces DFARS regulations, notably by requiring third-party vendors to have assessment carried out by a third
party (C3PAO).
The solution implemented by Prevail makes it possible to manage the security of CUI data both in terms ofstorage and transmission, in shared documentation as well as in emails, seamlessly integrating with Outlook or
Gmail. It leverages a zero-trust architecture, with password-less authentication, end-to-end encryption andsharing of CUI data only with identi ed third parties. This makes it compatible with the use of cloud services.
The provider insists that hundreds of hours were spent studying NIST / CMMC documentation to ensure thecompliance of the proposed solution.
It should be noted that the advent of the cloud has contributed to the emergence of so-called Zero Trustarchitectures. The implementation of this type of architecture paves the way for facilitating certi cations such as
CMMC .
Another Framework for evaluating third-party application modules is HECVAT, used by over 166 American
universities. This is a set of tools proposed by the HEISC (Higher Education Committee of Experts on Data
Security and Privacy) that enable software module suppliers to self-assess their product according to the criteria
it must meet to be accepted into the institution's information system. HECVAT covers security, con dentiality
and accessibility.
Eva Dale, Web Services Director and Digital Accessibility Coordinator at Ohio State University, points out that
universities are required to take accessibility into account in their projects because they are funded by thegovernment. The control rules are based on the WCAG188 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) of the W3C,
the international standards organization for the World Wide Web. She explains that when purchasing external
software, the university asks vendors to make their software compliant with accessibility requirements.
Unfortunately, such compliance is not systematic, and the means of exerting pressure are all the weaker when
the software is the only one to meet the required service. What's more, vigilance is required when upgrading
software versions, as previously compliant software can sometimes lose its accessibility.
The use of Framework is now an established practice at universities, as con rmed by Mike Ruel of the Universityof Chicago. As Director Network Engineering and Operations, he speci es that the prestigious university's
infrastructures meet the NIST 800-53 moderate level standard.

Management of privacy is delegated to each university
Unlike European citizens, whose personal data is protected by the General Data Protection Regulation,
Americans have no national regulations. Even if a state like California has adopted the California Consumer
Privacy Act, the general culture is still one of "opt-out", meaning that data is massively collected and analyzed
by default, and that it is necessary to express explicitly if you don’t want to give away your data.
Each university is free to choose how to manage its students' personal data and what information to provide
them on the subject.
In a presentation concerning how to weave privacy considerations in strategic decisions, Svetla Sytch, Assistant
Director of Privacy and IT Policy at the University of Michigan, argues for informing the students about the
implications of the use of arti cial intelligence. Despite a widespread lack of interest, students need tounderstand what their personal data will be used for, and consider which data they are comfortable to share.

188 https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/

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As far as providing educational resources, EDUCAUSE has published the CPO Primer189 which characterizes
the role of the DPO in higher education, de nes his or her functions and clari es how the notions of security andcon dentiality intersect (Figure below). This document lists the various regulations and types of data (HIPAA for
health, ADA for disability, etc.) and provides guidelines for launching a data con dentiality program within one's
institution.

Con dentiality is a subset of information security

In the absence of clear legislation on data sharing, the University of Illinois feels it has a duty to guarantee thesecurity of its members' data. It therefore sets its own principles of good conduct in terms of data sharing.
Under the aegis of both a CIO and a CISO, a relatively recent team has set up a "privacy center"190 whose
mission is to provide the most transparent possible information on the use of personal data, notably via arti cialintelligence (Figure below). For libraries, it describes how and what data is collected via integrated librarymanagement systems, how long it is kept and for what purpose (improving the user experience, solving
problems linked to interlibrary loans, billing, etc.).

189 https://library.educause.edu/-/media/ les/library/2023/6/cpoprimer2023.pdf
190 https://cybersecurity.illinois.edu/manage-and-protect-my-data/

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The Privacy center website describes the data collected

The center also aims to raise awareness on the subject, so that users who are to provide personal data canmake informed choices about sharing it. It emphasizes the need for clear data-sharing policies. It also provides
information on the risks involved in the use of personal data by AI: data disclosure and copyright infringement,
for example.
So, in the absence of a law, the university community is taking the issues surrounding the con dentiality of
personal data head-on and knows how to provide concrete answers.

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Special Thanks
To the teams of EDUCAUSE: John O’Brien, Kathe Pelletier, Helen Norris, Susan Grajek, Karen Mateer, Mark McCormack,
Sean Burns, Teddy Diggs and Cathy Hafkus.
To the teams of University of Chicago: Kevin B. Boyd, Cheryl Johnson, Lynn Barnett, Marlon Aguilar, Ray Papart, Birali
Runesha, Kemal Badur and Mike Ruel.
To the teams of Oakton Community College: Prashant Shinde and the IT staff.
To the teams of Harper College: Riaz Yusuff and the IT staff.
To the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research.
To the teams of AXIES: Tsuneo Yamada and the secretary staff.

Credits
Contributors: John Augeri, Laurent Flory, Julien Gibert, Frédéric Habert, Sylvie Haouy, Shoji Kajita, Thierry Koscielniak, Takuto
Matsuhashi, David Rongeat, Tatsuya Tohyama, Bruno Urbero, Emmanuelle Vivier, and Olivier Wong-Hee-Kam
Editors in Chief: John Augeri (for the French contributions) & Shoji Kajita (for the Japanese contributions)
Layout: John Augeri
The statements and opinions expressed are those of their respective authors.
All trademarks belong to their respective owners.

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