As we close out 2025, we’re taking a moment to celebrate everything the Apereo community has achieved this year. This final newsletter of the year highlights milestones, partnerships, and the remarkable energy that continues to drive our shared mission of advancing open source in higher education.

2025 has also been a year of exciting new collaborations and international partnerships. Apereo has joined forces with the Eclipse Foundation’s OCX, SCaLE, and FOSDEM, and we encourage our community members to register for these events, all taking place in the first quarter of 2026.

We are thrilled to celebrate new commercial partnerships with JMA Consulting, OpenCampus, and ChainGuard, and to welcome DatEcosystems as an official member of the Apereo family. These collaborations strengthen our ecosystem and expand opportunities for shared growth and innovation.

This year has also brought 11 months of exceptional MicroConference content with 1,398 registrants joining us from 376 colleges, universities, academic libraries, and research institutes from 46 countries. The launch of Apereo’s LinkedIn OSS in HigherEd newsletter and the release of Apereo’s preliminary findings from the Open Source Software in Higher Education report both highlight the–often underappreciated–influence of open source in higher education (i.e., administrative IT, education technology, and research computing).

Our 12th and final Apereo Microconference of 2025 will focus on the outcomes of our collaboration with ITHAKA S+R on the Sustaining Open Source Software in the Research Enterprise workshop. Attendees will hear key takeaways from this important event and explore ideas to inspire researchers and universities to champion open source software in their projects.

Apereo has enthusiastically represented open source and our community of projects and practitioners at All Things Open, EDUCAUSE, FOSSY, OW2, and UN Open Source Week, while deepening relationships with allies such as AXIES, Open Source Initiative, Software Freedom Conservancy, the Python Foundation, and peer foundations represented at the Open Source Congress 2025 in Brussels, Belgium.

This year also marked significant progress in grant-funded initiatives that are strengthening both Apereo projects and the broader open source ecosystem. In a first-of-its-kind partnership for Apereo, we collaborated with the University of Minnesota on the NSF POSE Phase I award supporting the DOENET project, securing $30,000 to advance sustainable open source learning tools. We also partnered with ITHAKA S+R in the NSF–Sloan Foundation–Chan Zuckerberg Initiative–funded Sustaining Open Source Software in the Research Enterprise workshop, a major effort supported at $105,000 to examine national-level strategies for supporting OSS in research. In addition, Apereo provided OSPO research consulting to ITHAKA S+R through our OSPO as a Service  initiative, with $2,500 supporting this exploratory ecosystem analysis. Most recently, the CAS project was awarded a grant of 49,000 Euros from the NLNet Foundation (more on that below).  Looking ahead, we are actively pursuing new funding opportunities for DatEcosystems and broader Apereo Foundation support through the Sovereign Tech Fund, positioning 2026 as a promising year for growth and investment in open source infrastructure.

As we look back on 2025, we are filled with gratitude for the passion, expertise, and collaboration of our community. Let’s celebrate our collective achievements and carry this momentum into a new year of opportunity, innovation, and open collaboration.

How do you turn students into contributors, innovators, and future developers for open projects? Apereo Board Chair Joshua Wilson talks with Bryan Ollendyke, lead of the HAX The Web project, about his unique approach to growing an open source community through classes, student clubs, and paid internships. From rethinking web publishing to exploring AI-assisted tools, Bryan shares how HAX is shaping the next generation of open-source talent.

Bryan Ollendyke: It's a three-legged stool that creates this really nice feedback loop. I teach a 200-level web programming class where students learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript—the requirements of the course. HAX runs in the background as the tooling we use. The class isn't specifically about HAX, but it uses HAX as the staging ground. Students learn vanilla web components, thinking in terms of blocks, and they publish their work to static hosting. Around week eight, students realize, "Oh, this is what you do for a living." At that point, some of them get interested and want to do more.

That's where the HAX Club comes in. It meets every Monday, and students can participate for course credit or just show up. We typically have students working on two tracks. Some are installing the CLI, creating sites, and doing mini UX studies—they're getting into our issue queues, finding bugs, giving us feedback on what works and what doesn't. Others are actually working on the club website itself, building their own promotional home while learning component-based development by doing. They're learning by doing real work, and we're dogfooding our own tools while promoting what the organization does.

Then the best students get internships through HAX Lab, where they're actually contributing to building the platform. For example, we didn't have a CLI (command line interface) two years ago—one of my students, Winston, took it to the nth degree, and now it's the basis of the course. He teaches other people how to use it in the club, they contribute bugs, and the spiral keeps spinning outward. I'm getting contributors who turn into interns, and when grants come in, there's this obvious batch of people who understand the technology and can be funded for student work.

Apereo is excited to have our collaborators from ITHAKA S+R joining us to share key findings and lessons from the national workshop we held together in August.  On December 10th at 11am we welcome Dylan Ruediger, Principal for the research enterprise at Ithaka S+R and Chelsea McCracken, Researcher on Ithaka S+R’s Libraries, Scholarly Communication, and Museums team, for what is sure to be a fascinating discussion with our own Patrick Masson as Moderator. 

Now is the time to plan, request travel support, and secure your spot!

The first half of 2026 is shaping up to be an extraordinary moment for open source collaboration, community-building, and global engagement. Apereo will be actively participating in three major international conferences, and we want our members, contributors, and project communities to be there with us.

Brussels, Belgium — 31 January and 1 February, 2026
FOSDEM remains one of the world’s most influential free and open source software events, drawing thousands of contributors and advocates from around the globe. With Apereo invited to participate in the FOSDEM-Edu Dev Room, this is a perfect opportunity to highlight the importance of open source innovation in teaching, learning, and campus infrastructure.

Pasadena, California, USA — 5–8 March, 2026
Apereo is co-organizing the new Open Source in Higher Education content at SCaLE 23x, North America’s largest community-run FOSS conference. This is an ideal venue for showing how Apereo’s open source tools and practices power real institutional workflows—from identity management and learning platforms to research software, community governance, and curriculum innovation.

Brussels, Belgium — 21–23 April, 2026
The Open Community Experience (OCX) will bring together developers, researchers, open source leaders, government advocates, and industry partners for a deep exploration of open collaboration across research and technology. Apereo is co-presenting the Open Community for Research co-located event and looks forward to showcasing the sustainability, impact, and community stewardship of higher education open source projects.

UniTime’s Thomáš Müller will be giving a 15-minute lightning talk entitled "UniTime Overview: From Research to Practice" in the OCX research track. Be sure to give him your support!

If you’re considering attending one or more of these events, start planning now:

• Request travel stipends or professional development support from your institution
  
  
• Check visa requirements early—processing times vary by region
  
  
• Book flights and accommodations while prices are still favorable
  
  
• Connect with your project community to coordinate meetups or co-presentations
  
  
• Notify Apereo staff if you’ll be attending—we’d love to highlight your participation

These conferences are invaluable opportunities to share your work, gain visibility, and strengthen the networks that sustain open source software in higher education. We hope you’ll join us—and help represent the powerful, globally connected community that makes Apereo possible.

Let’s show up, support each other, and make 2026 our strongest year yet.

Apereo is planning some pop-up social events aligning with our conference attendance. If you would like to join us please fill out the events form.

We’re excited to welcome Chainguard as the newest Commercial Member of the Apereo Foundation! Known for their leadership in software supply chain security and open source innovation, Chainguard brings valuable expertise to our growing community of organizations committed to open collaboration and digital trust.

This partnership reinforces our shared mission to support secure, sustainable, and community-driven open source solutions for education and beyond. We look forward to the insights and contributions Chainguard will bring to the Apereo ecosystem!

Learn more about Apereo’s Commercial Memberships at apereo.org

We are excited to share that CAS (Central Authentication Service) has received a grant from the NLnet Foundation through its August 2025 NGI0 Commons Fund. The funding will support Multitenant CAS, a scalable, enterprise-grade single sign-on platform designed to serve complex institutions with multiple user groups. This grant strengthens CAS’s mission to advance secure, flexible authentication across education, research, and public sector organizations.

Big congratulations and thanks to Jérôme LELEU and Misagh Moayyed from the CAS community for leading the proposal work. Kudos to Josh Baron, Michelle Hall, and Patrick Masson from the Apereo Staff for providing grant services to all of our projects!

Event by Punch Tape Consulting

When: Tue, Jan 13, 2026, 12:00 PM

Where: Virtual

What: This fast-paced virtual event explores core initiatives in the open source community in 2026.

Who: Sessions and speakers include:

• OSI's Public Policy Program (Open Source Initiative)
• Building Self-Sustaining Foundations (Apereo Foundation)
• Modernizing Apache Projects for Secure, Compliant Releases (Apache Software Foundation)
• Funding Python's Future (Python Software Foundation)
• TBD (Rust Foundation) 

Contact: Rachel Roumeliotis (rachel@punch-tape.com), Principal at Punch Tape Consulting

Apereo has released early findings from the Open Source Software in Higher Education (OSSHE) Preliminary Report, the most comprehensive snapshot in years of how open source is used—and understood—across higher education. Drawing on EDUCAUSE survey data, a 5,259-domain BuiltWith scan, and comparative research, the study confirms what many in our community experience daily: OSS is everywhere, practitioner influence is rising, and institutions increasingly view OSS as strategically essential. Yet despite this momentum, two-thirds of campuses still lack a formal OSS strategy—highlighting a significant opportunity for coordinated, sector-wide research and planning.

To build a fuller picture of the challenges and opportunities ahead, Apereo is preparing the next phase of this study and invites the community to take part. Your expertise and networks can help shape a stronger, more representative understanding of OSS across higher ed.

Ways Apereo Members Can Participate

• Join the research team: co-author, contribute expertise in survey design, data analysis, or qualitative methods.
• Expand participation: help distribute the next survey across IT, OSPOs, libraries, academic units, and research communities.
• Share the findings: promote the preliminary insights within campus groups, professional networks, and conferences.
• Support the project by exploring sponsorships or partnerships to expand data collection and analysis.
• Offer feedback: your questions, critiques, and ideas will help shape the study's subsequent stages.

Read the full article and preliminary findings on the Apereo news feed and find the full report in the Community Resources section.

Reach out to Patrick directly to join the effort! ed@apereo.org

Time to rest and recharge!

After a year full of growth, new partnerships, and amazing microconferences, the wonderfully kooky Apereo staff are taking a well-deserved break! Our offices will be closed December 22nd through January 2nd as we step away from email, meetings, and perhaps attempt the daring feat of not working for two whole weeks. 

To all our members, contributors, and global open source friends: thank you for making 2025 such a remarkable year. We wish you warmth, joy, and a bright start to 2026!

We’ll be back January 5th, recharged and ready for another year of open source magic.

Apereo’s LinkedIn community has grown by 246 followers over the past year—sweet progress! If we hit 1,001 followers by the end of July 2026, Patrick must pay the ice cream penalty and treat Michelle, our Communications Manager, to a celebratory pint of ice cream (she’s already dreaming of stracciatella dark chocolate).

Help us scoop up those extra followers! Follow Apereo on LinkedIn and invite a few friends!

Let’s churn our way to 1,000 together! Your participation is greatly appreciated! (Warning: Failure to reach the goal may result in Patrick eating the ice cream alone… and no one wants that.)

CAS selected for NLnet Foundation grant.

CAS Releases

• 7.3.1
• 7.2.7
• 7.1.6.2

OARS Model Course

2025 Opencast Virtual Summit - December 9th

Opencast releases

• Release 18.2
• Release 18.1
• Release 17.7

Edalexpo 2025 Videos Available Now!

Wonder from down under! Our friends at Edalex held the annual virtual Edalexpo in November, bringing together nearly 100 openEQUELLA enthusiasts. Sad to miss it? You can catch up by watching the event videos!

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJMypkYYXwvdQEaYNC4i7fNGdYGK1gmjp&si=o6sZzEp7phx-feNR

 Release 25.1

Join Thomáš Müller at his 15-minute lightning talk entitled "UniTime Overview: From Research to Practice" in the OCX research track.

UniTime Releases

• Release 4.9

 v3.14 Release

Contact our newsletter editorial team at newsletter@apereo.org or contact Michelle Hall, Apereo Communications Manager, at michelle.hall@apereo.org.

Follow Apereo on LinkedIn for the latest news and updates!