Oracle Higher Education Summit Agenda

Oracle Student Strategy Council (by invitation only)

Oracle Community College Roundtable (by invitation only)

Oracle CHRO Council Roundtable (by invitation only)

Registration

After you register, be sure to visit our demo area for personalized one-to-one demonstrations. Our sponsors will also be on hand with exhibit tables.

Oracle keynote

Maz Songerwala, Senior Vice President, Oracle Applications Service Experience

Room 272

University of Tennessee keynote

Bernie Savarese, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Research and Student Success, University of Tennessee System

Room 272

Networking reception at the University of Tennessee Student Union

Student led campus walking tours will be available.

Breakfast

Visit our demo area for personalized one-to-one demonstrations. Our sponsors will also be on hand with exhibit tables.

Tennessee’s Cloud Journey: Successes and Lessons for Higher Education

Join a dynamic main stage panel featuring leaders from Tennessee’s higher education institutions as they candidly discuss their cloud transformation journeys. Panelists will share real-world successes, unexpected challenges, and invaluable lessons learned along the way. Explore how cloud solutions have impacted student outcomes, operational efficiency, and long-term strategy. Whether you’re just starting out or already on your path, gain practical insights and inspiration to guide your institution’s adoption and evolution in the cloud.

Panelists

• Jennifer Chavez, Chief Information Officer, Tennessee Tech University
• Brian Dickens, Chief Human Resources Officer, University of Tennessee System
• Christina A. Graham, Chief Financial Officer for Business and Finance, East Tennessee State University
• Drew Harpool, Vice President for Business & Finance, Middle Tennessee State University
• Shahrooz Roohparvar, Ed.D., Vice President, Finance & Administration (CFO), Austin Peay State University
• Colette Williams, Director University Process Improvement, University of Memphis

Moderated by Laura Shevling, Director, Higher Education Strategy, Oracle

Room 272

Campus Solutions track

PeopleSoft Campus Solutions Strategy and Innovation Roadmap

Join Oracle’s Higher Education Product Development team for an in-depth look at the strategy and innovations shaping PeopleSoft Campus Solutions. This session highlights recent enhancements through PeopleSoft Update Manager (PUM) images and previews what’s ahead. Whether you’re optimizing your current environment or seeking modernization ideas, you’ll discover new features and initiatives to bring added value to your institution.

Speaker

• Steve Brawn, Director, Product Strategy, Higher Education Applications Development, Oracle

Room 262

Applications track

Roundtables with Peer Perspectives: Real-World Insights from Oracle Cloud Leaders in Higher Education

Join fellow higher education leaders for an interactive roundtable session led by institutions actively implementing Oracle Cloud. To spark discussion, each session begins with a real-world lesson learned. Connect with peers, share experiences, and ask candid questions about topics related to IT, finance, and HR. Take this opportunity to build your network and gain practical insights from those shaping the next generation of campus operations.

Moderator

• Laura Shevling, Director, Higher Education Strategy, Oracle

Room 272

Technology track

AI Fabric for Research: Advancing HPC and GPU Workloads with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

Discover how Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) empowers research institutions with purpose-built, high-performance AI infrastructure. OCI’s AI fabric seamlessly integrates RDMA-networked GPU clusters and ultralow-latency interconnects, enabling researchers to easily scale workloads for LLM training, genomics, climate modeling, and complex simulations. Leverage bare metal NVIDIA H100/A100 GPUs and optimized high-throughput storage for AI/ML pipelines. Beyond world-class hardware, OCI provides integrated AI and machine learning services that streamline every research phase—from data preparation to model deployment and inference at scale.

Speaker

• Bernie Hizon, Master Principal Cloud Architect, Oracle
• Rock Whitney, Director of Cloud Engineering, Government and Education, Oracle

Room 362

Campus Solutions track

PeopleSoft Technology Strategy and Innovation Roadmap

Oracle continues to invest in PeopleSoft technology, driving innovation and enhanced value for customers. In this session, we’ll highlight the latest PeopleTools release and what’s coming next. We’ll explore how Landing Pages can improve role-based experiences and help users quickly access the content and actions that matter most. We’ll review Customization Insights and how it can help you better understand, manage, and reduce customization over time. We’ll also cover technology capabilities that enable AI integration, including an overview of the PeopleSoft AI reference architecture and guidelines, and how institutions can approach adoption in a secure, scalable way. Finally, we’ll provide a preview of upcoming features in the new release, along with practical takeaways you can apply within your institution.

Speaker

• Sasank Vemana, Director, PeopleTools Product Strategy, Oracle

Room 262

Applications track

Talent E.D.G.E. at Rice University: Transforming Performance and Learning with Oracle Cloud

Discover how Rice University expanded its Oracle HCM Cloud footprint with Performance Management. Learn how they used the solution to empower leadership, elevate career development conversations, and align talent strategies with institutional goals. Hear real-world insights as they share their strategy, key outcomes, and lessons learned on their journey to driving growth through talent development.

Presenters

• Dr. Pam Minigan, PhD, Director of Organizational & Talent Development, Rice University
• Yesenia Servellon, Director of HRIS, Rice University

Room 272

Technology track

From Data to Degrees: Using Oracle’s AI Data Platform to Improve Student Outcomes

This session highlights how higher ed leaders can use Oracle AI Data Platform to transform institutional data into predictive insights that improve student persistence, completion, and success. Attendees will explore how AI-driven analytics identify students at risk and reveal opportunities for earlier intervention and how unified data supports cross-campus collaboration on student success. You’ll gain an understanding of governance considerations for using AI responsibly—all while maintaining data security, privacy, and trust.

Speaker

• Scott Howe, Cloud Engineering Senior Manager, Oracle

Room 362

Break

Visit our demo area for personalized one-to-one demonstrations. Our sponsors will also be on hand with exhibit tables.

Campus Solutions track

Maximizing Your Oracle and Campus Solutions Investment

This session reaffirms Oracle’s PeopleSoft investment strategy and showcases practical, high impact ways to modernize, simplify, and accelerate delivery—without costly customizations. We’ll focus on configuration-first approaches that lower total cost of ownership: use Event Mapping to safely extend delivered logic, Page and Field Configurator to tailor pages without code, and Drop Zones to insert institution-specific content—so you can deliver enhancements faster while staying current.

We’ll then show how the PeopleSoft Test Framework (PTF) can industrialize your testing pipeline, cutting regression test time and boosting deployment confidence through automation and reusable assets. Finally, we’ll demystify PUM Selective Adoption, helping you stay current with regulatory updates and PeopleSoft Release Patchsets (PRPs) while minimizing disruption. You’ll leave with actionable practices to increase agility, reduce maintenance, and maximize the value of your PeopleSoft investment.

Speakers

• James Douglas, Senior Principal Application Engineer, Oracle
• Edo Kentjana, Senior Manager, Customer Support, Oracle

Room 262

Applications track

Modernizing Higher Education Finance: AI, ERP Innovation, and Real-World Impact

Discover Oracle’s vision for the future of higher education finance through the latest ERP roadmap and AI-driven enhancements. Learn how new features advance process automation, deliver actionable insights, and empower data-driven, agile decision-making. Explore how these innovations boost financial transparency, improve compliance, and create a foundation for continuous improvement. Hear from a peer institution about their journey to Oracle Cloud ERP and its impact on their organization.

Speakers

• Laura Shevling, Director, Higher Education Strategy, Oracle
• Danny Tang, Chief Information Officer, University of Alabama in Huntsville

Room 272

Technology track

Low-Code, High Impact: Rapid Integration Solutions for Universities

Universities battle complex, manual integrations across SIS, LMS, and HR, causing data silos and bottlenecks. Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC) provides a powerful low-code platform to rapidly build robust, automated connections. It empowers IT teams to eliminate inefficiencies, improve data accuracy, and deliver high-impact solutions with less coding, accelerating digital transformation.

This session, designed for both decision makers and function-technical attendees, offers a concise overview of OIC's benefits, followed by a live demonstration of a compelling, higher education-centric use case. We'll illustrate OIC's practical application and rapid deployment capabilities, addressing common university challenges.

Speaker

• Scott Howe, Cloud Engineering Senior Manager, Oracle

Room 362

Campus Solutions track

Unlocking Potential: Bring Underutilized Campus Solutions Features to the Forefront

Campus Solutions is a comprehensive platform with a wide array of features designed to streamline academic, administrative, and self-service processes. Yet many institutions and users leverage only a fraction of its capabilities, leaving substantial efficiencies and user value untapped. This session aims to showcase key underutilized functions within Campus Solutions—spanning both Classic and Fluid interfaces—that, if adopted, can enhance productivity, improve user experience, and reduce manual workload. We will provide live demonstrations and real-world use cases and share strategies to drive awareness and adoption across your campus.

Speaker

• Kevin O’Connor, Senior Principal Product Manager, Higher Education Applications Development, Oracle

Room 262

Applications track

Advancing Research Excellence: Oracle’s Cloud Grants Management Solution and Roadmap

Discover how Oracle Fusion Grants Management helps research-intensive universities streamline and modernize the administration of sponsored research. This session will showcase current capabilities, tailored to the complex needs of higher education institutions, as well as provide an insider’s look at the solution roadmap, highlighting upcoming innovations, including AI-driven capabilities to automate workflows, enhanced transparency, and support for strategic research growth. Hear from the University of Maryland Baltimore on their grants journey.

Presenters

• John Kostecki, Director, Product Strategy, Oracle
• Chiradeep Mukherjee, Executive Director, Business Applications, University of Maryland, Baltimore
• Luke Quell, Director, Acting Director, Business Applications, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Room 272

Technology track

Modernizing Higher Education Application Stacks with OCI and Oracle Cloud VMware Solution

Learn how higher education institutions are modernizing mission-critical applications, such as Ellucian Banner and PeopleSoft, by performing a straightforward lift-and-shift from on-premises VMware to VMware on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure using Oracle Cloud VMware Solution. This session will cover how colleges and universities can migrate existing application stacks with no refactoring, retain familiar VMware tools and operational models, and gain the scalability, performance, and security of OCI. We’ll also highlight examples that have successfully adopted this approach to support student systems, administrative workloads, and campus growth

Speakers

• Ryan Patel, Master Principal Cloud Architect, Oracle
• Rock Whitney, Director of Cloud Engineering Government and Education, Oracle

Room 362

Lunch

Visit our demo area for personalized one-to-one demonstrations. Our sponsors will also be on hand with exhibit tables.

HESS Consortium Collective lunch (by invitation only)

General session

Who Answers the 2 AM Questions? Oracle Student in Action

Late at night, your students’ most pressing questions often go unanswered—until now. Join us as Oracle Student harnesses the power of AI to transform those anxious moments into opportunities for clarity and progress. See for yourself with dynamic product demos designed around real student needs—from understanding tuition costs to mapping out degree requirements.

Plus, hear directly from University of Tennessee students on what it means to have their toughest questions answered when it matters most. Discover how Oracle Student is setting a new standard for transparency, support, and student agency in higher education.

Speakers

• Nicole Engelbert, Vice President, Product Strategy & Campus Solutions Product Management, Oracle
• John Hanna, Group Manager, Oracle Student Product Management
• Sarah McConville, Principal Product Manager, Oracle Student
• Chris Thompson, Director, Product Management, Oracle
• Students from the University of Tennessee System

Room 272

Break

General session: De-Risking Financial Aid in a High-Change Year: Oracle Student Financial Aid Roadmap

Financial aid performance has become a frontline driver of enrollment, retention, student satisfaction, and cash flow—at the same time that regulations keep changing and teams stay lean. In this roadmap session, Oracle will share how Oracle Student Financial Aid is helping institutions deliver faster aid decisions, earlier disbursements, and fewer surprises for students and families, while reducing operational burden and strengthening compliance. We’ll cover what’s shipping next, how institutions are using automation and better visibility to run aid more predictably, and how Oracle is helping customers de-risk major federal aid changes with flexible, creative solutions that insulate customers against uncertainty at the federal level.

Presenter

• John Refila, Vice President, Higher Education Product Management, Oracle

Room 272

Break

Sponsor session: Building the Future Support Organization for Oracle Cloud: What to Design Before Go Live (and What to Evolve After)

As higher education institutions modernize with Oracle Cloud, one of the most common—and least defined—questions is what the future support organization should look like and where it should live. In this session, leaders from Vanderbilt and Baylor share lessons learned from operating post go-live support models, while Middle Tennessee State explains why designing support early during the implementation phase is critical. Attendees will explore how decisions made during CRP shape long-term adoption, self-sufficiency, and operational sustainability and leave with practical guidance for building a support organization that evolves with their Oracle transformation.

Panelists

• Yvette Clark, Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, Middle Tennessee State University
• Ben Frazee, Executive Director of Enterprise Applications, Vanderbilt University
• Marissa Tiner, Associate Vice President, Enrollment Management, Operations, Data Analytics & Financial Services, Baylor University

Room 262

Sponsor session: From Banner to Oracle: University of Memphis’s SOAR Implementation–Early Wins and Lasting Value

The University of Memphis went from a legacy on-premises enterprise platform to Oracle’s cloud-based SaaS solutions for ERP and HCM. Get the highlights of their two-year transformation, including the strategic rationale for change, implementation approach used to modernize core business processes, and the governance and partnership model that enabled effective decision-making and disciplined delivery. The session will cover key milestones, including design, testing, cutover, and stabilization, as well as the outcomes achieved, such as a scalable, secure foundation for improved efficiency, strengthened data and reporting, and better support campus stakeholders.

Speakers

• Shirley Ford, Assistant Vice President Accounting and Financial Reporting, University of Memphis
• Raj Kamal, Specialist Leader, Deloitte

Room 272

Sponsor session: Stepping Into the Cloud: Lessons from the Early Stages of Financial Aid Transformation

Modernization is no longer optional in higher ed—but knowing how and when to move financial aid to the cloud is especially challenging, particularly for multi-campus institutions balancing shared standards with local flexibility. This session brings together institutional and industry perspectives on evaluating next-generation student systems, including early planning, stakeholder alignment, and key strategic choices. Attendees will receive a practical framework of seven essential questions to guide major financial aid technology investments, with an emphasis on compliance, operational sustainability, and a more student-centered experience. Walk away with actionable insights for aligning IT, enrollment leadership, and financial aid teams at the start of a transformation journey.

Speakers

• Antoine Andari, Associate Vice Chancellor, Information Technology Services, San Diego Community College District
• Glenda Hernández, Oracle Higher Education, Accenture
• Dr. Brian Dixon, Oracle Higher Education Industry Lead, Accenture

Room 262

Sponsor session: Delivering AI + Oracle Cloud Transformation at Tulane and JMU

In this moderated session, you will learn about Oracle Cloud transformation through the experiences of two institutions, Tulane University and James Madison University. Panelists will share candid, practical lessons across HCM transformation and payroll readiness, ERP data governance and procurement, Grants lifecycle and compliance, and EPM alignment for planning and reporting. The session will also explore how AI, combined with the power of Oracle Cloud, is poised to reshape higher education operations across HCM, ERP, and Student areas—helping institutions improve decision-making, streamline service delivery, strengthen insights, and accelerate value realization. Attendees will gain both proven lessons from Tulane’s recent go-lives and forward-looking perspective from JMU’s ongoing implementation journey toward 2027.

Speakers

• Rajeev Ponnusamy, Senior VP & Managing Partner, Drivestream
• Michael Swartley, Director, Strategic Initiatives, James Madison University
• Jacob Thomas, EVP & Managing Partner, Drivestream

Room 272

Reception at Neyland Stadium

Breakfast

Visit our demo area for personalized one-to-one demonstrations. Our sponsors will also be on hand with exhibit tables.

Volunteer

Join us as we give back to the community by packing bags for the Big Orange Pantry, which supports students in need by providing nonperishable foods, fresh produce, hygiene products, and essential items.

The Customer Playbook for Fusion Agents: Quick Wins to Autonomy

Customers are already using agentic AI in Oracle Fusion Applications to streamline approvals, resolve exceptions faster, and reduce repetitive work. Hear directly from Oracle GVP for Service Excellence, Enda Hu, about how institutions can realize maximum value from their Oracle investment, sharing practical examples and repeatable patterns. You’ll learn how to identify the right first processes, select the best-fit Fusion agents, and define guardrails for trust and control. Walk away with a “customer-tested” approach to move from quick wins to touchless, agentic workflows.

Speaker

• Enda Hu, GVP, Applications Service Excellence, Oracle

Break

Campus Solutions track

Realizing the Modern Student Experience: A Customer Panel

What does it take to deliver a truly modern campus experience? In this panel, Oracle moderates a discussion among institutions that have implemented (or are piloting) major PeopleSoft Campus Solutions user experience improvements, including ClassicPlus, Fluid UI, next-gen landing pages, and accessibility features. Panelists will share adoption strategies, ways to drive user engagement, and how student and staff feedback has reshaped their projects.

Moderator

• Kevin O’Connor, Senior Principal Product Manager, Higher Education Applications Development, Oracle

Room 262

Applications track

Leading the Human-Agent Workforce: A New HR Operating Model

HR leaders in higher education face a defining moment: AI is no longer an emerging tool; it's part of how work actually happens. Yet few organizations have a model for how people and intelligent systems should work together. It's time for HR leaders to develop and empower the human agent workforce, supported by the right foundation that is rooted in trusted data, embedded intelligence, and agent led experiences. Discover how Oracle Cloud HCM is helping higher education shape the future of human agent collaboration and learn the concrete steps Vanderbilt University is taking to start that evolution today.

Presenters

• Nancy Estell Zoder, Group Vice President, Oracle Cloud Product Strategy
• Ben Frazee, Executive Director of Enterprise Applications, Vanderbilt University
• Amanda Jacob, Director Enterprise Application Administration, Vanderbilt University

Room 272

Technology track

Turning Student Data into Action: A Hands-On AI Workshop with Oracle Autonomous Database

Unlock the power of your student data—no coding needed. In this interactive workshop, you’ll use Oracle Autonomous Database and Select AI to ask real questions in plain English and receive instant, actionable insights. Identify students who need support, spot trends impacting retention, and deliver data-driven answers to leadership on the spot. Experience how Oracle’s retrieval-augmented AI turns static reports into dynamic, explainable decision-making tools—all while keeping student data secure and private. Bring your laptop. We’ll provide everything else. Walk away ready to put AI-driven insights to work at your institution.

Facilitators

• Scott Howe, Senior Manager, Cloud Engineering, Oracle
• Rock Whitney, Director, Cloud Engineering Government and Education, Oracle

Room 362

Campus Solutions track

Run PeopleSoft in the Cloud—What’s New in Cloud Manager

Unlock more value from PeopleSoft by running Campus Solutions on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Learn how to reduce administrative overhead, maintain currency, and control costs—while taking advantage of the latest innovations in PeopleSoft Cloud Manager when migrating to OCI.

See how Cloud Manager and PUM Automated Updates (PAU) work together to minimize manual effort and keep your environments current. We’ll cover how PAU automates the download and application of PeopleSoft Release Patchset (PRP), enabling consistent, low-touch updates across your PeopleSoft landscapes.

Speakers

• James Douglas, Senior Principal Application Engineer, Oracle
• Edo Kentjana, Senior Manager, Customer Support, Oracle
• Sasank Vemana, Director, PeopleTools Product Strategy, Oracle

Room 262

Applications track

Small Teams, Sustainable Systems: Delivering Enterprise Value with Oracle in Higher Education

What happens when small or mid-sized colleges roll out Oracle Fusion with lean IT, HR, and finance teams? Join leaders from Allegheny, Davidson, Flagler, Seton Hill, and Trinity for a candid panel on making Fusion work on a smaller campus. Learn practical strategies, creative workarounds, and tough trade-offs for keeping things running with limited resources. Discover how these colleges organize small teams, tap into partner and peer ecosystems, and use Fusion to drive change amid tight budgets.

Speakers

• Melissa Alsing, Chief Information Officer, Seton Hill University
• Kevin Davis, Chief Information Officer, Davidson College
• Kristen Eshleman, Vice President for Library and Information Technology Services, Trinity College
• Katrina Yeung, CIO & Chief Information Security Officer, Allegheny College

Room 272

Break

Campus Solutions track

First Step, Big Impact: Oracle Student Financial Aid for Campus Solutions Institutions

Financial aid is one of the most visible - and high-impact - areas to modernize first. In this candid panel, PeopleSoft Campus Solutions institutions will share how they’re adopting Oracle Student Financial Aid as a practical first step on their path to Oracle Student, while continuing to run Campus Solutions.

Panelists will discuss what drove their decision to start with financial aid, how they approached deployment (in progress or already live), and the real-world outcomes they’re seeing: streamlined processes, improved staff efficiency, and a better student experience across key financial aid interactions. Attendees will leave with actionable guidance on planning, stakeholder alignment, integration considerations, change management, and lessons learned to accelerate value, without taking on a full SIS transformation on day one.

Speaker

• Derek Kurzenknabe, Strategic Solutions Executive to Higher Education Institutions, Oracle

Room 262

Applications track

Beyond Technology: Building a Culture of Continuous Innovation with Oracle Cloud

Texas Woman’s University’s move from a legacy EBS system to a unified Oracle ERP and HCM Cloud platform was more than a technology upgrade—it sparked a cultural shift toward continuous innovation. In this session, TWU shares how cloud modernization enabled campus-specific agility while strengthening cross-campus alignment through standardized processes, end-to-end automation, and improved grant management. Learn practical strategies to drive data-informed decision-making and build a sustainable culture of continuous improvement—where innovation is an everyday mindset, not a one-time project.

Panelists

• Subhendu Rath, Executive Director, Finance Strategy & Operations, Texas Woman’s University
• Jason Tomlinson, Vice President for Finance and Administration and CFOO, Texas Woman’s University

Moderated by Laura Shevling, Director, Higher Education Strategy, Oracle

Room 272

Campus Solutions track

Simplifying Interoperability with Emerging Data Standards: A Panel Discussion

Join Oracle’s Higher Education Product Strategy team for a panel discussion on EDU-API, the emerging 1EdTech data standard, and its potential to simplify interoperability across the higher education ecosystem. This session will provide a brief project overview and update, followed by a conversation with ecosystem partners on why standards-based approaches matter and what it takes to turn them into practical, scalable integrations.

Panelists will share perspectives on testing approaches, common integration challenges, and strategies for sustaining interoperability as data standards evolve—helping institutions reduce complexity, improve data exchange, and accelerate time to value.

Presenters

• Steve Brawn, Director, Product Strategy, Higher Education Applications Development, Oracle
• Brian Mikesell, VP of Solutions Consulting, Stellic
• Jake Owen, Senior Product Manager, Instructure

Room 262

Applications track

Accelerate Your Journey: Unlocking Value with Cloud Success Navigator

Discover how Oracle’s Cloud Success Navigator empowers your organization to maximize cloud value at every stage. This presentation and demo explores key features and best practices designed to streamline adoption, drive business outcomes, and ensure ongoing cloud success. Learn how guided resources and expert support shape seamless migrations, foster innovation, and deliver measurable results

Presenter

• Jessica Wright, Director, Oracle Cloud Success Navigator Customer Adoption

Room 272

Campus Solutions track

PeopleSoft Campus Solutions Community Forum and Q&A

Bring your questions, challenges, and successes to this open mic session with product experts and peer institutions. Share feedback, exchange tips, and network with others facing similar journeys in managing and modernizing Campus Solutions.

Moderator

• Nicole Engelbert, Vice President, Product Strategy, Higher Education Applications Development, Oracle 

Room 262

Applications track

Advancing Campus Safety: Innovative Solutions with Oracle Public Safety

Learn how Oracle Public Safety brings next-generation technology to higher education institutions, enhancing campus security and student well-being. This presentation and demo explores cloud-based tools that empower campus police and administrators with real-time insights, streamlined operations, and collaborative emergency response. Discover how Oracle supports safer, smarter, and more connected campus communities.

Speaker

• Ben Statema, Solutions Engineering Manager, Oracle

Room 272

Summit concludes