Security
EDUCAUSE 2025: Inside the CIO Playbook – Trust, AI and Incident Response Readiness
When cybersecurity threats surge, higher education IT teams must navigate shifting tides with calm, coordination and confidence.
Jamie Spradlin, CISO at Maricopa Community College District, and Michael Browning, senior director of security engineering and operations at Vanderbilt University, shared their best practices in the EDUCAUSE 2025 session “Defending the Digital Campus: Mastering Incident Response in Higher Education” in the spirit of higher education IT collaboration. They discussed how universities are strengthening their incident response playbooks, fostering cross-department collaboration and building resilience through preparation instead of panic.
WATCH: Higher ed leaders discuss ‘future embracing” AI, disruption and digital transformation.
From tabletop exercises to real-time communication plans, the two speakers revealed how institutions are translating lessons learned into sustainable, campuswide security cultures. Supported by CDW’s expertise, their experiences highlight what it truly means to navigate disruption and come out stronger on the other side.
Participants
Michael Browning, Senior Director of Security Engineering and Operations, Vanderbilt University
Jamie Spradlin, CISO, Maricopa Community Colleges
Video Highlights
- University IT leaders from Maricopa Community College District and Vanderbilt University share what it takes to respond fast and recover smarter from cyberthreats.
- The two speakers shared how collaboration between IT, legal and risk teams can help universities strengthen their response plans and meet new regulatory demands.
- Even as AI and automation are changing incident response, focusing on the fundamentals is still essential, they said.
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