Overview

December 4

The network you have may not be the network you need. The key to providing secure connectivity for your school is a resilient network that is easy to provision, with the performance and scalability to meet the flexibility that today's education landscape demands. For many schools, that means embarking on a network modernization journey.

Network modernization helps organizations evolve their systems to handle the flurry of devices coming into the network, satisfy the ever-growing demand for bandwidth and fend off the security threats that lurk around every corner. It's also a significant step towards future-proofing your school's digital infrastructure – a resilient network lets IT leaders shift their focus from managing a network to empowering student success with new tools and technology.

Join IT leaders from Northwestern University, Abilene Christian University and their technology partners at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprises for a lively and interactive question and answer session exploring the education sector's path to network modernization during a live town hall webinar on December 4, 2023, at 11 AM PT/2 PM ET.

You'll Learn:

How Northwestern University and Abilene Christian University modernized their networks and the benefits they've seen as a result
Steps other schools can take to get started with network modernization
Common network modernization pitfalls to avoid and best practices for long-term network success

Speakers

Julian Koh

Director of Telecommunications and Network Services, Northwestern University

Julian Y. Koh is the Director of Telecommunications and Network Services for Northwestern University. TNS is responsible for all voice, video, and data networking for the institution. Julian has worked at Northwestern IT since 1995 when he started as a part time student worker in the computer labs and help desk. He joined Telecommunications and Network Services as an entry level network engineer in 1997 and has been privileged to lead the department since 2014. Over that time, he has participated in and managed multiple fundamental technology implementations and transitions, including VPN, wireless networking, TDM to VoIP, wide area optical networking, and various information security initiatives. An avid proponent of the collaboration and cooperation exhibited in the education space, Julian has been an active member of communities including Internet2, EDUCAUSE, and the Big Ten Academic Alliance.

Arthur Brant

Senior Director, Information Security & Infrastructure, Abilene Christian University

Arthur directs the university efforts in the areas of information security, networking, and system administration. Balancing the needs of reliability, security, and the increasing demands of connectivity, Arthur manages a team that works to provide a secure and robust connected experience for students, faculty, and staff. With more than 25 years' experience in higher education and technology, Arthur has presented at numerous national and international gatherings on topics ranging from mobile connectivity, bandwidth management, social media, consumerization, to emerging technologies. Arthur is an active member in higher education technology groups and currently serves as the steering committee chair of the Educause Communication Infrastructure and Applications Community Group.

Greg Kovich

Global Sales Director, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise

Greg Kovich is the Global Sales Leader for Education at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise. Prior to that, Greg led the North American Education vertical. He has created numerous education specific solutions including “The Fundamentals of Communications” – a vendor neutral course on digital network communications; “Safe Campus” –uniting emergency alerts with first responder collaboration and mass notification; “Secure Campus” –allowing instructors to limit student network access to determined sites; and “Pandemic Education Continuity” – enabling classroom instruction in the event that institutions are closed due to health or environmental crisis.

Ron Bergmann — Moderator

Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Education

Ronald M. Bergmann most recently served as Vice President for Information Technology and CIO at Lehman College/CUNY. At Lehman, Ron and his team pioneered the use of analytics, automated major business processes, enhanced classroom technology, and opened the first virtual reality lab in the region. Lehman was cited as an exemplar in the 2018 Horizon Report for its innovative Lehman 360 digital platform. Ron is a fellow of the EDUCAUSE/CLIR Frye (now Leading Change) Institute and was named in 2017 as one of the nation’s top technologists, transformers, and trailblazers by the Center for Digital Education. Ron previously served as first deputy commissioner of New York City's information technology agency where he was selected by Government Technology Magazine as one of the nation's leading individuals redefining and advancing technology's role in government. 

Webinar

Campus Network Modernization: Finding Answers and Getting Started