Date: November 11\, 2026
\n Time: 11:00 AM America/New_York
Joshua F iske\, Vice President for Information Technology a nd Libraries\, Clarkson University
\n \nJoshua Fiske is Vice President for Informati on Technology and Libraries at Clarkson University \, where he has worked for more than 25 years. He oversees Clarkson's server infrastructure\, networ ks\, academic technology\, administrative and enga gement systems\, web properties\, and libraries. J osh began his career in hands-on technical roles a t Clarkson\, including Linux/UNIX system administr ation and network engineering\, before moving into executive leadership. His technical depth spans i nfrastructure\, high-performance computing\, netwo rking\, and security. And he has long championed o pen source as a way for smaller institutions to ke ep control of their data and technology direction. Josh has also served on the board of Nysernet as a member-institution representative\, and he has a strong professional interest in enterprise AI str ategy and governance in higher education.
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Smaller institutions f ace the same technology expectations as large rese arch universities\, with a fraction of the budget and staff. Commercial platforms promise convenienc e\, but they often come with escalating license fe es\, vendor-driven roadmaps\, and data locked insi de someone else's system. At Clarkson University\, open source has been equal parts cost-saving tact ic and deliberate strategy for keeping control of the institution's data\, systems\, and future.
\n \nIn this session\, Josh draws on more than two decades of hands-on and leadership experience at Clarkson to show how open source underpins cor e services across the institution: Proxmox for vir tualization\, Linux across the infrastructure\, Mo odle for teaching and learning\, CAS for authentic ation\, and many others.
\n \nBeyond the te chnology\, the session addresses the institutional side of the decision: how to make the case to lea dership\; what "total cost" really means when you factor in staff skills and support\; where open so urce is the right fit and where it isn't\; and how to keep open source systems sustainable through s taff turnover and organizational change. Attendees will leave with a candid view of what it takes fo r a small institution to succeed with open source.
\n \nThe Apereo Fou ndation is an independent\, U.S.-registered 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to adv ance open technologies and open practices in highe r education. As a non-profit\, open source foundat ion\, Apereo does not sell software\, products\, o r commercial services.
\n \nRegistration is requested solely to manage webinar participati on and provide attendees with event access and rel ated logistics. Registrants may optionally sub scribe to receive notifications of future Apereo M icroConferences\; this subscription is entirely vo luntary and may be discontinued at any time. The A pereo Foundation does not sell\, rent\, or share p articipant information with third parties for mark eting or commercial purposes. We appreciate the op portunity to share professional development resour ces that support the higher education community an d strive to ensure our communications align with t he collaborative principles of the open source and academic communities.
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The link to access this ev ent will be included in your registration confirma tion email.
DESCRIPTION:\n \n \n \n Open Source Software as a Strategic En abler for Smaller Colleges and Universities \n \n \n Date: November 11\, 2026\n \n Time: 11:00 AM Am erica/New_York\n \n \n \n Presenter\n \n \n Joshua Fiske\, Vice President for Information Technology and Libraries\, Clarkson University\n \n \n \n Jo shua Fiske is Vice President for Information Techn ology and Libraries at Clarkson University\, where he has worked for more than 25 years. He oversees Clarkson's server infrastructure\, networks\, aca demic technology\, administrative and engagement s ystems\, web properties\, and libraries. Josh bega n his career in hands-on technical roles at Clarks on\, including Linux/UNIX system administration an d network engineering\, before moving into executi ve leadership. His technical depth spans infrastru cture\, high-performance computing\, networking\, and security. And he has long championed open sour ce as a way for smaller institutions to keep contr ol of their data and technology direction. Josh ha s also served on the board of Nysernet as a member -institution representative\, and he has a strong professional interest in enterprise AI strategy an d governance in higher education.\n \n \n \n \n \ n \n \n \n Session Description\n \n \n Smaller ins titutions face the same technology expectations as large research universities\, with a fraction of the budget and staff. Commercial platforms promise convenience\, but they often come with escalating license fees\, vendor-driven roadmaps\, and data locked inside someone else's system. At Clarkson U niversity\, open source has been equal parts cost- saving tactic and deliberate strategy for keeping control of the institution's data\, systems\, and future.\n \n \n \n In this session\, Josh draws on more than two decades of hands-on and leadership experience at Clarkson to show how open source und erpins core services across the institution: Proxm ox for virtualization\, Linux across the infrastru cture\, Moodle for teaching and learning\, CAS for authentication\, and many others.\n \n \n \n Beyo nd the technology\, the session addresses the inst itutional side of the decision: how to make the ca se to leadership\; what "total cost" really means when you factor in staff skills and support\; wher e open source is the right fit and where it isn't\ ; and how to keep open source systems sustainable through staff turnover and organizational change. Attendees will leave with a candid view of what it takes for a small institution to succeed with ope n source.\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The Apereo Foundation is an independent\, U.S.-regist ered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose missio n is to advance open technologies and open practic es in higher education. As a non-profit\, open sou rce foundation\, Apereo does not sell software\, p roducts\, or commercial services.\n \n \n \n Regis tration is requested solely to manage webinar part icipation and provide attendees with event access and related logistics. Registrants may optionally subscribe to receive notifications of future Apere o MicroConferences\; this subscription is entirely voluntary and may be discontinued at any time. Th e Apereo Foundation does not sell\, rent\, or shar e participant information with third parties for m arketing or commercial purposes. We appreciate the opportunity to share professional development res ources that support the higher education community and strive to ensure our communications align wit h the collaborative principles of the open source and academic communities.\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n The link to access this event will be included in your registration confirmation email.\n \n CATEGORIES:Workshop CALSCALE:GREGORIAN DTSTAMP;TZID=America/New_York:20261111T110000 DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20261111T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20261111T120000 LOCATION:Online Event\n BigBlueButton\n URL:https://apereo.civicrm.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=339 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR