New York/New Jersey Higher Education IT Leadership Summit 2025
Overview
2025 New York/New Jersey Higher Education IT Leadership Summit: Planning for the Future of Technology in Higher Education
Colleges and universities in New York and New Jersey, like those across the country, are at a transformative moment. As they adapt to shifting demographics, evolving student needs, and changing funding models, the role of technology has never been more essential—or full of opportunity. IT leaders are uniquely positioned to help their colleges and universities thrive by enabling innovation, advancing data-informed decision-making, and improving institutional and student outcomes.
The 2025 Higher Education IT Leadership Summit brings together senior technology and institutional leaders for a day of strategic exchange, peer learning, and collaborative exploration. The Summit agenda reflects the priorities identified by the Advisory Board, offering a balance of strategic insight and practical relevance. While the full agenda will span a range of leadership and operational topics, the Summit is grounded in the issues top of mind for today’s higher education CIOs. These include building digital trust; data and technology governance; modernizing systems; IT organizational models and decision-making structures; aligning AI and data strategies with institutional priorities and mission; navigating the evolving cybersecurity and risk landscape; and strengthening the IT staff talent pipeline. A key focus of this year’s summit is the opportunity—and necessity—to take a fresh look at legacy infrastructure, systems, and policies that have evolved over time. Aligning these foundational elements with today’s institutional strategies is critical to ensuring that IT remains affordable, agile, and sustainable for the future.
These priorities—whether addressed in sessions, panels, or conversations throughout the day—will shape the dialogue and can lead to meaningful relationships afterwards. This Summit is a platform for fresh thinking and actionable solutions. Attendees will leave informed, inspired and equipped to elevate IT as a driver of institutional agility, academic excellence, and long-term success in a dynamic digital landscape.
Participants are encouraged to come ready to share their real-world challenges, engage actively in sessions, and contribute to a collaborative, solution-focused environment.
Who Should Attend
Senior and emerging IT leaders in higher education including, CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, Deputy CIOs/CTOs, IT Directors, System Managers, and those leading digital transformation, infrastructure, and learning technology initiatives.
Summit Objectives
• Foster Collaboration: Connect locally with higher ed IT leaders to exchange strategies, insights, and best practices in a face-to-face, peer-driven environment.
• Showcase Innovation: Explore real-world examples of how technology is transforming teaching, learning, and campus operations.
• Develop Leadership: Gain practical guidance and peer insights to grow leadership skills and advance both career and institutional goals.
• Tackle Top Challenges: Dive into critical topics like AI, system modernization, cybersecurity, privacy, cloud scalability, and managing limited budgets.
• Explore What’s Next: Discover future trends in higher ed tech and how they’ll shape IT strategy, workforce needs, and institutional success.
Why Attend
• Designed for You: Free for higher education professionals. Sized for meaningful engagement—limited to 60 invited attendees.
• Local & Convenient: Held in-state to eliminate costly travel and time away.
• Expert Insights: Hear directly from thought leaders, colleagues, and practitioners on pressing IT challenges and innovations.
• High-Value Networking: Build lasting connections with peers, partners, and potential collaborators in a focused, in-person setting.
Speakers
Agenda
Wednesday, October 15 |
|
8:30 am Eastern |
Registration and Continental BreakfastAgile Strategy Lab (L-70) |
9:00 am Eastern |
Opening RemarksAgile Strategy Lab (L-70)Brian Cohen, Vice President, The Center for Digital Education |
9:15 am Eastern |
Reimagining the Digital Campus — Meeting Student ExpectationsAgile Strategy Lab (L-70)Today’s students arrive with consumer-grade digital expectations: seamless, mobile-first, and highly personalized. How can institutions redesign the “digital campus” to match these expectations? This session will explore student perspectives, the technology investments institutions are making, and how CIOs can partner with academic and student affairs leaders to improve the overall student digital experience. Key Session Take-Aways Attendees Will Leave With: Moderator: Brian Cohen, Vice President, Center for Digital Education Walead Abdrabouh, Information Systems & Business Intelligence, Stockton University Allison Dean, Account executive, Pathify Pooja Goel, Associate Vice President for Enterprise Applications & Associate Chief Information Officer, New Jersey Institute of Technology Dilawar Grewal, Assistant Vice President and CIO, Hostos Community College |
10:15 am Eastern |
Networking BreakAgile Strategy Lab (L-70) |
10:30 am Eastern |
Shared Services, Collaboration, and the Future of InfrastructureAgile Strategy Lab (L-70)With IT costs rising and demand for new capabilities uneven across institutions, collaboration is becoming essential. This session will look at how higher education leaders in NY and NJ can work together on shared services, data centers, cloud strategies, and emerging compute needs. Panelists will share examples of successful collaborations, what’s holding others back, and what the path forward looks like for regional consortia. Key Session Take-Aways Attendees Will Leave With: Moderator: Brian Cohen, Vice President, Center for Digital Education Angela Chen, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, University of Delaware David Michael Chun, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Montclair State University Adam Eckhard, Director of Systems Engineering/Public Sector, Fortinet, Inc. Adrienne Garber, Chief Technology and Innovation Strategist for Higher Education, Dell Technologies Garrett McAlister, Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, Westchester Community College, SUNY |
11:30 am Eastern |
Governance 2.0: Reimagining IT Governance for Today’s Higher Education LandscapeAgile Strategy Lab (L-70)Over the years, colleges and universities have built layers of IT policies, procedures, and decision-making structures, often in response to immediate needs, crises, or compliance pressures. The result is frequently a patchwork of informal and formal governance models that struggle to keep pace with today’s realities: rapid technological change, heightened cyber and data demands, AI adoption, and evolving leadership priorities. This collaborative workshop session will invite Summit attendees to rethink IT governance for today’s higher education environment. Together, participants will explore how to transform legacy governance into a more cohesive and strategic “Governance 2.0” framework—one that clearly defines ownership and decision-making authority, encourages inclusive and transparent input, elevates governance awareness across the institution, and aligns IT governance with mission, strategy, and institutional priorities. Key Session Take-Aways Attendees Will Leave With: Moderator: Brian Cohen, Vice President, Center for Digital Education Gamin Bartle, Chief Information Officer, William Patterson University |
12:30 pm Eastern |
Lunch and NetworkingAgile Strategy Lab (L-70) |
1:30 pm Eastern |
CIO Strategy Playbook: The Next 3–5 YearsAgile Strategy Lab (L-70)What should be in every CIO’s strategic playbook for the next five years? This extended 90-minute session will unpack priorities such as driving innovation, aligning AI to institutional missions, modernizing operating models for efficiency, and rethinking shared services and infrastructure investments. A special focus will be placed on identifying viable AI use cases, moving beyond experimentation to scalable, mission-driven applications in student success, research, and operations. Panelists will share how they are reframing their IT roadmaps to anticipate rising costs, evolving technology demands, and heightened expectations from leadership. To close, participants will engage in a collaborative table exercise where they will translate these insights into actionable strategies. Each table will work together to identify one “play” they believe should be in every CIO’s strategy playbook, grounded in their own campus context. The session will conclude with a quick report-out of these takeaways, creating a peer-driven set of ideas attendees can immediately bring back to their institutions. Key Session Take-Aways Attendees Will Leave With: Moderator: Brian Cohen, Vice President, Center for Digital Education |
3:00 pm Eastern |
Wrap Up and Closing RemarksAgile Strategy Lab (L-70)Brian Cohen, Vice President, The Center for Digital Education |
3:30 pm Eastern |
End of ConferenceConference times, agenda, and speakers are subject to change. |
New Jersey Institute of Technology - Central King Building
355 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard
Newark, NJ 07102
(973) 596-3000
New Jersey Institute of Technology - Central King Building
Advisory Board
Education Representatives
Walead Abdrabouh
Director
Information Systems & Business Intelligence
Stockton University
Gamin Bartle
Chief Information Officer
Information Technology
William Paterson University
Angela Chen
Vice President
Information Technologies
University of Delaware
David Michael Chun
Chief Information Officer & Vice President
Montclair State University
Pooja Goel
Associate Vice President for Enterprise Applications & Associate Chief Information Officer
Information Services & Technology
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Dilawar Grewal
Assistant Vice President & Chief Information Officer
CUNY
Garrett McAlister
Acting Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
SUNY Westchester Community College
Michele Norin
Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer
Rutgers University
Jennifer Smith
Associate Vice President of IT Operations
The New School
Registration Information / Contact Us
Event Date: October 15, 2025
Open to higher education institutions only.
Registration - Free
If you represent a Private Sector organization and are interested in Sponsorship Opportunities, 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
Want to sponsor and stand out? Reach out to explore opportunities!
Heather Earney
Center for Digital Education
A Division of e.Republic
Phone: (916) 365-2308
E-mail: heather.earney@erepublic.com