CIOs in the Student Shark Tank

CIOs are the head honchos of tech at our institutions, but what happens when they answer directly to the students? At the Student Shark Tank, CIOs must convince student "sharks" from various colleges and universities to win funding for their initiative/project. This is their chance to look past budgets, bureaucracy, and practicality to put their greatest ideas forward in a high-stakes competition for the chance to see it through! (Competition is simulated.)

The session will feature a panel of three to five students from various institutions and a group of CIO presenters pitching their ideas. The ideas are all about the student experience and learning outcomes using digital transformation, something they think would be useful but would normally be hard to put in place. The students will then have a chance to comment on and critique the idea, and each will have a pile of (simulated) cash funding (bitcoins) to invest in the ideas they believe in the most.

This session will be a lighthearted role reversal, where some of the most influential EDUCAUSE members will find themselves answering directly to students. Our goal is to create a fun way for higher education technology professionals to connect to students and brainstorm their thoughts about future tech needs. We hope this session can pave the way for more student participation in higher education tech and EDUCAUSE.