Higher Education Summit
The NEDCamp Higher Education Summit brings together people working at the intersection of Drupal, the web, and higher education for a full day of learning, conversation, and connection.
For 2026, we're trying something different.
Instead of a traditional day of keynotes and presentations, this year's summit will be a collaborative working day built around the experience and expertise of the people in the room. Attendees will discuss the real challenges their institutions are working through, compare approaches with peers, and work together on practical ideas and solutions.
Whether you work in development, UX and design, content and communications, digital strategy, accessibility, web management, or another part of a higher-ed web team, you'll have an opportunity to contribute your perspective and learn from people facing many of the same challenges.
Register for the Higher Education Summit
A Summit Built Around the People in the Room
Higher-ed web teams are navigating a lot of change: AI and automation, accessibility, evolving search and content discovery, distributed publishing, design systems, technical debt, changing expectations for editors, limited resources, and the continued evolution of Drupal itself.
No single institution has all the answers.
Throughout the day, we'll use facilitated small-group conversations and working sessions to explore these challenges together. Topics will be shaped in part by attendees before the summit and by the interests of the room that morning.
The goal isn't to find one "right" Drupal answer. It's to learn how different institutions are approaching similar problems, understand the tradeoffs involved, and leave better prepared to make decisions at our own institutions.
What to Expect
The day will include:
- Peer roundtables focused on the topics attendees most want to explore, with opportunities to compare experiences, approaches, tools, and lessons learned.
- Short field notes from higher-ed peers sharing something their institution has tried and what they learned from the experience.
- Peer problem clinics where groups will dig into real challenges brought by attendees, understand the context, and work together on possible approaches.
- Collaborative problem-solving that considers technology alongside people, process, governance, accessibility, user experience, and institutional constraints.
- Plenty of opportunities to connect with other people working on higher-ed Drupal and web teams.
You do not need to prepare a presentation or arrive with all the answers. Come ready to share what you're working on, ask questions, and learn from your peers.
What You'll Take Away
Our goal is for everyone to leave the summit with more than notes from a series of presentations. By the end of the day, we hope you'll have:
- Practical ideas you can bring back to your team.
- A better understanding of how other institutions are approaching similar challenges.
- New perspectives from developers, designers, content professionals, strategists, managers, and other higher-ed web practitioners.
- Connections with peers you can continue learning from after NEDCamp.
- Concrete next steps for something your institution is working through.
When
November 13, 2026 Rhode Island College, Providence RI. - Gaige Hall 200
Agenda
| TIME | ACTIVITY |
|---|---|
| 9:00 AM - 9:15 AM | Check-in, Breakfast & Networking |
| 9:15 AM - 9:20 AM | Opening Remarks An introduction to the day |
| 9:20 AM - 9:40 AM | Meet Your Peers Getting to know the people at the table |
| 9:40 AM - 10:10 AM | What Are We Working On? Sharing the challenges your institution is currently navigating |
| 10:10 AM - 10:25 AM | COFFEE BREAK |
| 10:25 AM - 11:00 AM | Peer Roundtables: Round 1 Facilitated discussions around attendee-selected topics |
| 11:00 AM - 11:05 AM | Transition |
| 11:05 AM - 11:40 AM | Peer Roundtables: Round 2 Another conversation and building on what the first group discovered. |
| 11:40 PM - 12:00 PM | What We're Hearing Surfacing interesting ideas, disagreements, and questions from the morning. |
| 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Lunch & Networking |
| 1:00 PM - 1:15 PM | Higher-Ed Field Notes Short, practical stories from peers about something their institution has tried and what they learned. |
| 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM | Peer Problem Clinics Working in small groups on real challenges facing institutions in the room. |
| 2:15 PM - 2:30 PM | COFFEE BREAK |
| 2:30 PM - 3:15 PM | Problem Lab Turning the afternoon's conversations into practical approaches |
| 3:15 PM - 3:35 PM | Ideas Exchange Exploring what the other groups developed |
| 3:35 PM - 3:50 PM | Take It Home Identifying the ideas, connections, and next steps to bring back to institutions. |
| 3:50 PM - 4:00 PM | Closing Remarks |
Who Should Attend?
The Higher Education Summit is for anyone involved in building, managing, designing, supporting, or creating content for higher-ed websites and digital platforms.
Developers and Drupal specialists are welcome, but this is not a developer-only event. We encourage participation from UX and design professionals, content and communications teams, digital strategists, accessibility practitioners, web managers, technical leaders, and others working on higher-ed digital experiences.
Drupal is our shared technical context. The challenges we work on together will often extend beyond Drupal into the people, processes, policies, and decisions required to make higher-ed websites successful.
Come Ready to Participate
This is an interactive summit, but that doesn't mean you need to be an experienced speaker or facilitator. The day is designed to make it easy to participate through individual reflection, conversations with a few peers, and small-group discussions before we bring ideas back to the larger room.
Bring a challenge you're working through, something your team has learned, and your own perspective on higher-ed web work. We'll provide the structure. Together, we'll provide the expertise.
Register for the Higher Education Summit
Additional Questions
Check out the FAQ page for additional information.