The mission of HighEdWeb is to educate digital professionals who work at higher education institutions. We provide educational materials and opportunities that develop knowledge, skills and abilities. As a result, we advance higher education.
Our approach
With a focus on the digital issues facing colleges and universities, we help your school achieve its goals with:
Professional development
We provide opportunities to learn and grow through in-person conferences, online summits and our Professional Development Library.
Community
We offer various ways to connect with others through our Slack workspace, community group discussions and networking events.
Access for all
Regardless of where you work in higher education — IT, marketing, admissions, advancement or academics — we welcome you and offer resources and opportunities that benefit your institutions.
Our values
Our core values provide the foundation for how HighEdWeb operates.
Trustworthy
We are ethical in our decision-making. We strive for transparency in our actions.
Open
We embrace open access to knowledge and resources. We value and respect the contributions and feedback of our members. We seek diversity and promote inclusion.
Collaborative
We encourage collaboration over competitiveness. We foster a culture of service within the organization.
Membership
HighEdWeb membership connects a community of professionals to share knowledge, resources and experiences. We welcome everyone involved in the digital efforts at a college or university. Membership options include individual and institutional pricing. There is also a free option for faculty and staff. Membership numbers as of Dec. 31, 2023:
3,997
Total members
85
Institutional members
College and university members
HighEdWeb has institutional members from the United States, its territories and Canada. Faculty, staff and students of these institutions receive paid member benefits at no cost. This is a list of our member institutions from 2022-23 by state:
From our members
The value of individual membership:
The value of institutional membership:
Events
HighEdWeb continues to offer quality events annually that provide professional development and networking opportunities. The events include an annual conference, one-day summits and community group discussions.
8
events hosted in 2022 and 2023
3,248
total number of
attendees
From the evaluations
Professional Development Library
Paid members of HighEdWeb have on-demand access to professional development resources. This includes recordings of conference sessions.
289
Sessions added in 2022 and 2023
Volunteering
HighEdWeb operates on volunteer power. We value and appreciate our volunteers, who share their expertise and knowledge as presenters, committee members, session moderators and more.
434
total volunteers
6,628
hours volunteered
From our volunteers
New initiatives
HighEdWeb continually seeks to grow and improve the resources and opportunities we offer.
Strategic plan completed for 2021-23
The board approved a strategic plan to guide the association through 2023. In everything that we do, HighEdWeb considers diversity, equity and inclusion as well as financial responsibility. With that in mind, our goals include increasing membership and access to member resources, ensuring community awareness of offerings and providing meaningful opportunities for engagement.
Increased professional-premium members by 25%
HighEdWeb increased professional-premium members 760 to 2,855 (276%) between January 2021 and December 2023. The increase was largely due to the increase in institutional memberships (up over 500%) during the same time period.
Institutional membership provides benefits to both individuals and their institutions. It is the most cost-effective way to share the benefits of HighEdWeb with employees and students across an entire organization.
Evaluated the HighEdWeb brand and created recommendations for addressing brand challenges
In February 2022, the HighEdWeb Branding Evaluation Task Force assembled to evaluate the HighEdWeb brand. The goals were to conduct a brand audit, evaluating the strengths and challenges of the brand and make recommendations for moving forward to address any challenges.
HighEdWeb engaged The Melior Group, a Philadelphia-based marketing research firm, to assist in assessing our audience and brand reputation. A final report from the Brand Evaluation Task Force was issued in March 2023. In November 2023, the brand agency, Ethos, was contracted to assist with delivering the rebranding plan.
Increased total sponsorship revenue
Sponsorship revenue increased by 132% between 2021 and 2023, largely due to the return of the in-person Annual Conference in 2022 and the hiring of an additional employee to manage the program.
Increasing the number of events and the year-round Association-wide sponsorship packages were also contributors to the increase.
Leadership
Board of Directors
Aaron Knight, president
(2018-25)
Supervisor of information systems development for SUNY ESF
Elected president in 2022
Josh Charles, vice president
(2022-25)
Rutgers Business School
Secretary in 2022; elected vice president in 2023
Robert Heyser, treasurer
(2021-27)
Tarrant County College
Elected treasurer in 2022
Janice Cheng, secretary
(2023-26)
Syracuse University; eCornell
Elected secretary in 2023
Chris D’Orso
(2021-24)
SUNY College at Brockport; Rochester Institute of Technology
Elected parliamentarian in 2022
Waylon Baumgardner
(2017-22)
California Baptist University; Matterport
Nikki Massaro
(2017-23)
Penn State University; Red Hat
President in 2022
Beth Miller
(2023-26)
University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
Lisa Nguyen
(2021-22)
University of California, Davis
Brian Piper
(2021-27)
University of Rochester
Ben Rapin
(2019-22)
Grand Valley State University
Christian Santillo
(2021-24)
College of the Holy Cross; EAB
Eric Sembrat
(2023-26)
Georgia Tech
Brenden Sparks
(2022-26)
San Jose State University
Lindsey Sneed
(2022-25)
University of Mississippi; Pearson Education
Jackie Vetrano
(2019-24)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Sara Clark
Executive director for HighEdWeb Association
Financials
HighEdWeb has a strong financial foundation and is in a good position to continue meeting the learning needs of our community.
Sponsors
HighEdWeb truly appreciates the support of our sponsors and our association partners. Their support allows us to continue offering resources and events that are affordable for our members. These organizations provided support for our 2022-23 events and activities.