https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/ en https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/why-higher-ed-cios-should-embrace-federated-data-governance-strategy In higher education, the standard advice on data governance has been pretty simple for a long time: Build a council, centralize decisions and route everything through IT. For a while, that works. You stand up a committee, you write a charter, you centralize definitions and approvals. And then, quietly, the model stops working. IT becomes the bottleneck for every data question on campus. You’re chasing report definitions, field names and artificial intelligence (AI)-related concerns one request at a time. The council still meets, but governance isn’t really operating day to day. The problem… Thu, 27 Aug 2026 12:41:10 -0400 John Rathje https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/why-higher-ed-cios-should-embrace-federated-data-governance-strategy https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/technology-powers-university-industry-research-partnerships At the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Advanced Manufacturing Pilot Facility (AMPF) is a newly expanded research lab where university researchers and private companies collaborate and use the latest tools, including robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), to develop next-generation manufacturing technology.  More than 300 graduate and undergraduate students and 22 faculty conducted research in the space over the past year, most of it backed by industry sponsors including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Siemens, says Steven Ferguson, principal research scientist and deputy director of… Wed, 26 Aug 2026 16:01:40 -0400 Wylie Wong https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/technology-powers-university-industry-research-partnerships https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/how-can-ai-agents-support-lean-higher-ed-security-teams Growing cyberthreats and limited head count create ongoing challenges for security teams at colleges and universities. According to research from Nile, 94% of higher education IT teams are understaffed amid rising cybersecurity threats. Artificial intelligence could be a way to augment their security strategies to free up staff and resources.  “For organizations with lean security teams, there is an exciting opportunity for AI to support some of the heavy lifting,” says Ramya Chitrakar, vice president of engineering at Google Cloud Security. “We are already seeing huge gains for… Tue, 25 Aug 2026 14:08:11 -0400 Teta Alim https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/how-can-ai-agents-support-lean-higher-ed-security-teams https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/why-higher-ed-cios-must-own-enterprise-data-strategy Three departments walk into a meeting with three different enrollment numbers — all of them technically correct. Most institutions are surrounded by data: reports, dashboards and transactional systems pulling from every corner of campus. And yet, when a leader needs to make a fast, confident decision, the data doesn’t quite deliver. It can be fragmented and inconsistent. I think about data strategy as everybody’s opportunity and no one area’s problem. Academic affairs, enrollment, student success and finance — each of these teams is using data in smart ways to solve local problems. What a CIO… Fri, 21 Aug 2026 16:09:03 -0400 John Rathje https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/why-higher-ed-cios-must-own-enterprise-data-strategy https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/how-campus-it-leaders-can-innovate-despite-ai-pushback Most colleges and universities are asking IT and academic technology leaders to integrate artificial intelligence tools across campus. But that job may be easier said than done, as negative sentiment toward generative AI technology is growing, particularly among college-aged Americans. A recent Gallup survey found that excitement about AI among U.S. 14- to 29-year-olds has dropped 14 percentage points since 2025, to 22%. Hopefulness has fallen 9 points, to 18%, and anger has increased 9 points, to 31%. Anxiety remained unchanged, at 42%. As students and other members of the campus community… Thu, 20 Aug 2026 16:21:51 -0400 Nancy Mann Jackson https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/how-campus-it-leaders-can-innovate-despite-ai-pushback https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/higher-educations-technology-shift-serves-food-service-cost-optimization Pomona College, a member of The Claremont Colleges located in Claremont, Calif., is a longtime leader in campus sustainability policies and is working to become carbon-neutral by 2030. Those efforts extend into many facets of campus life, including the college’s self-operated dining services, where they meet head-on with another Pomona College goal: technological innovation. Pomona College’s Dining Services staff is using an artificial intelligence-driven solution from Metafoodx in the dining hall kitchens that prepare meals for the student population of 1,700 to support campuswide… Wed, 19 Aug 2026 15:34:24 -0400 Alexander Slagg https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/higher-educations-technology-shift-serves-food-service-cost-optimization https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/what-workforce-pell-grant-launch-means-community-college-it-leaders In 2025, the Workforce Pell Grant was announced as part of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act. On August 4, the first program was approved for the new Workforce Pell Grant, a milestone in higher education. To be eligible, institutions must prove a 70% completion rate and 70% job placement rate — in the industry or field of the program — within 180 days. Programs must also run between eight to 15 weeks in length. “If an institution is starting now, they’re six months too late — minimum,” says Wesley Bange, a chief information and technology officer at Bossier Parish Community College. Meeting… Mon, 17 Aug 2026 16:02:54 -0400 Alexandra Shimalla https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/what-workforce-pell-grant-launch-means-community-college-it-leaders https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/ai-and-enrollment-pressures-are-reshaping-higher-education Higher education is at an inflection point. The 2026 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report identifies the forces most likely to reshape teaching and learning over the next decade — and the picture is complex. As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, it’s changing relationships across campus. Institutions also continue to face mounting enrollment challenges. And emerging risks related to cybersecurity, policy reform and sustainability are compounding institutional strain.  AI’s Influence on Teaching and Learning According to the report, AI is redefining instructional design and how faculty teach… Thu, 13 Aug 2026 13:37:38 -0400 Amy McIntosh https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/ai-and-enrollment-pressures-are-reshaping-higher-education https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/virtual-tech-tools-fuel-higher-ed-robotics-research The percentage of physical robots in industrial settings that are designed to work alongside humans has more than quadrupled since 2017, according to data from the nonprofit International Federation of Robotics. To investigate how collaborative robots can effectively communicate with people in manufacturing, medical and other settings, a number of colleges and universities have launched research efforts that involve virtual reality (VR), which may also help provide students with valuable workplace skills and experience. Vision-based training can be a powerful way to tap into the speed,… Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:43:58 -0400 Erin Brereton https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/virtual-tech-tools-fuel-higher-ed-robotics-research https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/centralized-cybersecurity-operations-keeps-community-colleges-protected As the largest single-district community college system in the nation, Maricopa Community Colleges educates more Arizona residents than its three large public universities combined.  The system operates 10 main campuses across the Phoenix metropolitan area and more than 30 satellite sites, serving nearly 100,000 students and employing 14,000 faculty members and staff in the 2026 spring semester.  Those superlatives and numbers are all familiar to Jamie Spradlin, MCC’s CISO. When he took his position in June 2024, his first order of business was to establish a cybersecurity program… Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:02:25 -0400 Chris Hayhurst https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2026/08/centralized-cybersecurity-operations-keeps-community-colleges-protected