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Building Community

Professional Networks and

Practice Groups Made

Stronger Through Collaboration

A key role Edge plays is in the ability to gather stakeholders to collaborate, interact, and strategize about the challenges and opportunities impacting our member institutions. This focus on networking and interaction reflects our commitment to promote collaboration and sharing of insights across the membership and among peers within our community.

Through regular interaction, our practice groups gather thought leaders that share a passion for their role in the education community and a commitment to share their knowledge with, and learn from, others. The Edge community flourishes by convening members around relevant topics to exchange best practices, learn new skills, and ask questions in an environment that fosters trust and professional growth for all involved. Practice groups include the CxO Exchange, and three Technology Practice Groups including, Education and Emerging Technology Practice Group, VMware Practice Group, and Cybersecurity Practice Group.

Digital transformation in the 21st century impacts the entirety of the academic enterprise. In pursuit of excellence in enterprise technology that supports the complete ecosystem of the institution, the CxO Exchange is open to all C-level (Cabinet) executives.

Executive Leadership and Digital Transformation

CxO Exchange provides:

  • Social and professional interactions
  • Views and discussions of emerging technologies including two annual summits: Winter Summit (to be held in conjunction with EdgeCon in January) and Summer Summit (to be held in July)
  • Case studies of successful digital transformations
  • Powerful examples of how institutional digital transformation can positively impact institutional outcomes

Executive leadership will be informed by industry thought leaders through professional development activities, panels, discussions, and informational presentations. The roles of Chief Information Officers, Chief Innovation Officers, and Chief Digital Officers are highlighted as strategic partners with other C-level executives in bringing about achievement of institutional mission and vision in research and education through successful technology implementations.

Technology Practice Groups

Education and Emerging Technology Practice Group

The Educational and Emerging Technology Practice Group convenes around the multiple facets of technology and pedagogy including the review and analysis of:

  • Best practices at the intersection of instruction and technology
  • Delivery of online education and effective use of instructional design
  • Emerging educational technologies
  • Learning space design and digital learning environments
    Assurance strategies for student success

This collaboration is accomplished by bringing together the collective expertise of faculty, technologists and administration to stimulate and sustain online and hybrid learning initiatives and emerging educational technologies through events such as the Faculty Showcase and Best Practices Summit, as well as group meetings with speaker forums and demonstrations offered periodically throughout the year.

For more information on joining this Practice Group, contact Joshua Gaul

Procurement & Purchasing Practice Group

The Procurement & Purchasing Practice Group comes together to discuss best practices, sharing news and related information, and consider the professional practice of institutional procurement and purchasing. This Practice Group focuses on the full supply chain management concept of procurement, related procedures such as request for proposals (RFPs), establishment of awards, and contract management and governance. By collaborating together, the institutional procurement and purchasing experience, efficiency, and value is increased and a community of practice is established and cultivated. The Group’s domain expertise pertains to guidance, knowledge, skills, and abilities that:

  • Ensure a professional and efficient institutional procurement and purchasing process
  • Optimizes procurement and purchasing as a strategic business element
  • Ease the burden of the procurement process and speed our members’ time to implementation and innovation
  • Gain access to current technologies at an affordable price focused on delivering optimum value
  • Deliver consortium purchasing agreements to members
For more information on joining this Practice Group, contact Dan Miller

Cybersecurity Practice Group

The Cybersecurity Practice Group recognizes that security in all of its facets touches every aspect of the enterprise and extends well beyond the perimeter of the enterprise network. This Practice Group focuses on the full spectrum of cybersecurity concerns and dedicates itself to understanding, supporting and uniting the people, processes, standards and technologies that are needed to mitigate threats to our organizations, their students and personnel. The Group’s domain expertise pertains to workflows and cybersecurity processes to:

  • Secure the enterprise network and data
  • Prevent losses and reduce threat vectors
  • Efficiently utilize resources
  • Determine strategies to maximize the ROI on security-centered application and infrastructure investments
  • Promote adoption of national standards to inform local policy and endorses developing metrics and common threat indicators to monitor risk
For more information on joining this Practice Group contact AJ Lacomba.