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About the Summit

Student Cloud Summit is an exclusive, invitation-only gathering for leaders from complex higher education institutions to collaboratively address the challenges and opportunities of modern student information systems. The summit will be hosted at Brigham Young University from August 6-8, 2025.

At the heart of this experience is a commitment to providing unfiltered, vendor-independent insights. By excluding vendors from the event, we aim to foster candid, evidence-based discussions led by experts who have independently gathered and synthesized information from major SIS providers, including Ellucian, Oracle, and Workday.

Why Attend?

Gain Unbiased Insights: All major sessions will be led by higher education experts who have prepared materials based on vendor-independent research. Attendees will receive these materials in advance to ensure informed and productive discussions.
Collaborate with Peers: Join a single-track format where every session is a working session designed to address real-world challenges and opportunities.
Shape the Future: Contribute to actionable outcomes that can influence the SIS landscape and meet the unique needs of complex institutions. The final session will be spent determining how to organize to make a positive difference.

What to Expect

This is not a passive conference. Participants are expected to:

Review summit materials in advance, including expert analysis and vendor-independent findings.
Come prepared to engage in detailed, focused discussions during every session.
Collaborate in a single-track, immersive format where every session is designed to produce actionable insights.

Agenda

Beyond Lift-and-Shift: Making Cloud SIS a Catalyst for Institutional Transformation The Student Cloud invites institutional leaders to explore how we can ensure that the move to a cloud-based student system delivers more than just technical modernization. Any SIS implementation is a significant investment of time and money. By framing SIS transformation as an opportunity to realign student experience, process ownership data strategy, and institutional agility, we can make the investment pay significant dividends.

Wednesday August 6th -Setting the Stakes

3:00-4:00 PM | Arrival and Check in at Wilkinson Student Center Roundabout (WSC) 4:00-5:00 PM | Transportation to Sundance & Scenic Chairlift 5:00-5:15 PM | Welcome Remarks “Why transformation, not migration, must be the goal.” 5:15 -6:00 PM | Opening Keynote – Gartner Trends, data, and consequences of lift-and-shift SIS projects Conditions for transformation 6:00 -7:00 PM | Dinner Table Discussions 7:00 – 8:00 PM | Return to Campus

Thursday August 7th – From Insight to Strategy 8:00–9:00 AM | Breakfast & Networking at BYU Skyroom Event Center (WSC) 9:00–9:30 AM | Summit Kickoff – BYU & Gartner How do we define transformation? 9:30–10:30 AM | Interactive Session – Why Lift-and-Shift Happens Participants identify common traps: speed over redesign, unclear goals, IT/functional misalignment Group synthesis: what needs to change for SIS to transform the institution 10:30–10:40 AM | Break 10:40–12:00 PM | Peer Spotlights: Reframing the Business Case 12:00 –1:30 PM | Catered Lunch and Networking 1:30 – 3:00 PM | Roundtable Rotations – Enablers of Transformation

            Experience Redesign: How do we make the student (and staff) experience better—not
            worse?

       Data as a Strategic Asset: What’s needed to align your data architecture with your
       future goals?

       Shared Ownership Models: Governance and decision-making that enables
       transformation

3:00-3:10 PM | Break 3:10–4:30 PM | Synthesis Session: Shared Playbook Elements Evening | Dinner on your own

Friday August 8th – From Concept to Commitment 8:00–9:00 AM | Breakfast and Networking at BYU Skyroom Event Center (WSC) 9:00–11:00 AM | Next Steps: Building the Coalition How do we stay connected? 11:00 AM | Boxed Lunch To-Go at Wilkinson Student Center Room 5520