Overview

The Higher Education IT Strategic Leadership Council Summit is an invitation-only gathering of CIOs and senior technology leaders hosted by the Center for Digital Education. This closed-door, peer-to-peer forum brings together institutional and industry executives to exchange ideas, compare strategies, and shape the future of digital leadership in higher education.

The summit begins with a networking dinner, followed by a full day of focused, candid discussions. Topics reflect the core responsibilities and strategic priorities on every higher education CIO’s desk today, including:

• Enterprise architecture, modernization road mapping, and lifecycle management
• Cybersecurity resilience, risk governance, and incident readiness
• Data strategy, analytics maturity, and AI-enabled student and administrative services
• Budget optimization, sustainable funding models, and aligning IT investments with institutional mission
• Organizational structure, talent development, and workforce retention in a changing IT landscape
• Digital experience and service delivery improvements for students, faculty, and staff

This is a working session—not a conference. Attendees leave with practical insights, meaningful connections, and strategies to lead complex institutions through ongoing technological and organizational transformation.

Speakers

Dan Arnold, Ph.D.

Provost Fellow for Artificial Intelligence and Director of Support & Innovation for Online Learning, Oakland University

Dan Arnold, Ph.D., serves as Provost Fellow for Artificial Intelligence and Director of Support & Innovation for Online Learning at Oakland University in Metro Detroit. With over two decades of higher education experience, he leads university-wide strategy, governance, and literacy for responsible AI adoption. Dan also teaches graduate courses in organizational leadership and consults externally on AI literacy and change management, helping organizations navigate emerging technologies.

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Josh Callahan

Chief Information Security Officer, California State University

Josh Callahan is the Systemwide Chief Information Security Officer for the California State University. He previously held technology and security leadership roles at Cal Poly Humboldt and worked as a systems and network engineer at CSU Monterey Bay. A contributor to the Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT) since 2018, Josh works with higher education peers to strengthen cybersecurity resilience, risk management, and shared security practices.

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Megan Hall

Associate Vice President of IT Services, National University

Megan Hall is Associate Vice President of IT Services at National University, with more than 15 years of experience leading technology initiatives and IT service delivery. Her work focuses on making technology easier to use, improving how IT services are delivered, and helping teams turn new technology into practical solutions for students, faculty, and staff. Her experience spans large-scale technology implementations, enterprise systems, service operations, and organizational change, with a growing focus on the practical use of AI to improve communication, productivity, and the user experience. Megan is based in San Diego and, outside of work, enjoys travel, art, music, the beach, and discovering new restaurants.

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Ayman Idrees

Chief Information Officer, Wor-Wic Community College

Ayman Idrees is the Chief Information Officer at Wor-Wic Community College, with over 25 years of experience leading technology strategy and digital transformation in higher education. He focuses on aligning technology, data, and AI to enhance student success, enable personalized learning experiences, and drive institutional effectiveness.
Prior to Wor-Wic, he served as Executive Director of Digital Transformation at UAE University and held leadership roles at the American University of Sharjah and Prince George’s Community College. Ayman holds an M.S. from the Rochester Institute of Technology and has completed executive education at MIT Sloan and the Harvard Kennedy School.”

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Praveen Sharma

Director of Cyber Range Operations and Strategic Partnerships, Salem State University 

Praveen K. Sharma is an internationally recognized technology executive, cybersecurity strategist, educator, and researcher with more than 30 years of experience driving innovation across networking, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and enterprise operations.
As Director of Cyber Range Operations & Strategic Partnerships at Salem State University, he leads one of the region's emerging centers for cybersecurity education and experiential learning, developing partnerships with government agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and technology organizations to strengthen workforce readiness and cyber resilience. His leadership has helped establish strategic collaborations among academia-industry, cybersecurity education from K-12 school and in multiple discipline at Higher education center, expand cybersecurity certifications, modernize higher education curricula with AI and applied cybersecurity.
Before joining academia, Praveen spent over 25 years at Cisco Systems, where he led global engineering, customer success, and mission-critical deployment programs for large-scale service provider networks. He later served over 5 years as Director of Cloud Operations at IBM, leading global data center IaaS operations, AI-enabled cloud transformation, observability, and capacity management for enterprise hybrid cloud services. Praveen has also worked as Scientific Officer developing academic research network at Computer Science department, of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India.
His current research explores cyber resilience, cyber threat intelligence, AI governance, sustainable quantum computing, and the future of technology-enabled workforce development. Praveen has authored and presented research at international conferences, spoken at industry events including Cisco Live, and actively serves on academic advisory boards supporting interdisciplinary innovation and cybersecurity education. 
Praveen is passionate about transforming complex technological challenges into practical solutions that bridge academia, industry, and public service, empowering organizations and communities to thrive in an increasingly digital world.
Praveen holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Computer Science and Engineering, with a specialization in data networking, along with multiple professional certifications in cybersecurity and networking.

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Made Possible by Our Corporate Sponsors

Council Partner

Council Partner

Council Partner

Council Partner

Registration Information / Contact Us

Event Date: December 8 and 9, 2026

This is an invitation-only event, open to Public Sector only. For more information or to request an invitation, please contact Jasmin Tetzlaff.

Sponsorship is open to Industry members of the Higher Education IT Strategic Leadership Council Program only. To learn more about becoming an Industry member, please contact Heather Earney.

This event is open to all individuals who meet the eligibility criteria, without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, age, disability, or any other protected class. We are committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming environment for all participants.

Contact Information

Need help registering, or have general event questions? Contact:

Jasmin Tetzlaff
Center for Digital Education
A division of e.Republic
Phone: (916) 932-1308
E-mail: jtetzlaff@erepublic.com

Already a sponsor, but need a hand? Reach out to:

Mireya Gaton
Center for Digital Education
A division of e.Republic
Phone: (916) 296-2617
E-mail: mgaton@erepublic.com

Sponsorship is open to Industry members of the Higher Education IT Strategic Leadership Council Program only. To learn more about becoming an Industry member, please contact:

Heather Earney
Center for Digital Education
A division of e.Republic
Phone: (916) 365-2308
E-mail: heather.earney@erepublic.com