One of the annual EDUCAUSE highlights is the release of the group’s Top 10 Report. The 2025 edition describes how higher education technology and data leaders can help restore trust in the sector by building competent and caring institutions through radical collaboration. I was able to speak with Susan Grajek, Vice President of Partnerships, Communities and Research for EDUCAUSE, for a sneak peek on how the sausage was made to put together this important research. Have a listen and click through to dive into the details.
She emphasizes three main goals for higher education: enhancing institutional competence, fostering a caring environment, and balancing these two through effective leadership. Susan notes that technology and data were noted as crucial tools for achieving these aims, with priorities ranging from cybersecurity to administrative simplification, and from creating seamless student experiences to managing digital resources.
2025 EDUCAUSE Top 10
- #1. The Data-Empowered Institution: Using data, analytics, and AI to increase student success, win the enrollment race, increase research funding, and reduce inefficiencies
- #2. Administrative Simplification: Streamlining and modernizing processes, data, and technologies
- #3. Smoothing the Student Journey: Using technology and data to improve and personalize student services
- #4. A Matter of Trust: Advancing institutional strategies to safeguard privacy and secure institutional data
- #5. The CIO Challenge: Leading digital strategy and operations in an era of frequent leadership transitions, resource limitations, societal unrest, and rapid technology advancements
- #6. Institutional Resilience: Contributing to institutional efforts to prepare for and address a growing number and range of risks
- #7. Faster, Better, AND Cheaper: Using technology to personalize services, automate work, and increase agility
- #8. Putting People First: Helping staff adapt, upskill, and thrive in an era of rapid change and ongoing digital advancements
- #9. Taming the Digital Jungle: Updating and unifying digital infrastructure and governance to increase institutional efficiency and effectiveness
- #10. (tie) Building Bridges, Not Walls: Increasing digital access for students while also safeguarding their privacy and data protection
- #10. (tie) Supportable, Sustainable, and Affordable: Developing an institutional strategy for new technology investments, pilots, policies, and uses
Be sure to check out the Educause site here for an exhaustive dive into the particulars.
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