This Integrated Cloud Email Security (ICES) application is a cloud-based email security solution that supplements the native security of cloud email providers (such as Microsoft 365) using advanced detection techniques to identify malicious emails and suspicious activity.
ICES empowers organizations to identify and address email security vulnerabilities to better defend against today’s threats, such as Business Email Compromise, AI-crafted Phishes, Deepfake media, and more. For partners, this solution provides a valuable addition to their offerings, enhancing their ability to deliver comprehensive security solutions to customers.
Integrated Email Security Solution
The VIPRE Integrated Email Security Solution offers organizations a powerful, all-in-one defense system against today’s most persistent email-based threats. Combining advanced AI-powered detection, comprehensive protection of internal emails, real-time threat intelligence, automated policy enforcement, and seamless Microsoft 365 integration, this comprehensive solution helps businesses protect sensitive communications, block malicious content, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
“We are proud to deliver a fully integrated email security solution that empowers organizations to stay protected against the ever-evolving email threat landscape, without sacrificing simplicity,” said Oliver Paterson, director, product management, at VIPRE Security Group. “In a time when email remains the number one attack vector, this solution ensures our customers have the layered, adaptive protection needed to outpace evolving threats.”
The VIPRE Integrated Email Security Solution is available as a standalone service or as part of VIPRE’s broader suite of cybersecurity offerings. Its flexible deployment and integration capabilities support organizations in building a unified, layered security strategy tailored to their evolving business needs.
Yuba City Unified School District announced end-of-year results from its tutoring partnership with Fullmind, showing students identified as needing additional support consistently outperformed their non-tutored peers across nearly 200 participants.
The program expanded from 24 to 194 students while maintaining effectiveness. English Language Arts participants achieved 16 points of growth compared to 10.63 points among non-participants, a 50% advantage. Mathematics participants gained 8 points versus 7.93 points for non-participants.
“When students identified as at-risk of underperformance outperform the general population, we know we’ve found an approach that truly accelerates learning,” said Dr. Nicholas Richter, the program lead.
Exceptional Individual Results
Twelve ELA students gained 50 or more points between mid-year and end-of-year assessments, with one student achieving over 100 points of growth in a single semester. Students completed 93,349 minutes of tutoring with a 71% attendance rate.
Scale Without Compromise
The eightfold expansion maintained program quality and student engagement. ELA participants averaged 9 hours each while math students averaged 7 hours, aligning with research on effective tutoring dosage.
2025 Expansion Plans
Based on strong results, the district plans to expand ELA participation to 250-plus students and expand math tutoring to over 100 students. The program will extend beyond lowest-performing students to include those just below grade level.
“We’ve proven this model works at scale,” said Richter. “Now we’re expanding access to reach even more students who can benefit from this intensive support.”
The partnership represents a commitment to evidence-based interventions that address achievement gaps through high-quality tutoring services, using continuous monitoring to maintain effectiveness as it scales.
There’s a myth that school buildings go quiet during summer. Walk the halls in July, and you’ll hear the click of keyboards, the hum of laptops updating en masse, and the buzz of tech teams scrambling to patch systems, reset devices, and prepare for the digital demands of another school year.
For school district IT leaders, summer is less a break and more a deadline. It’s the one narrow window to assess, upgrade, secure, and strategize before the onslaught of helpdesk tickets, classroom rollouts, and surprise crises hit like a storm on the first day of school.
As we look toward the 2025–2026 academic year, here’s what’s top of mind for these unsung heroes and why the work they do now may define how smoothly (or chaotically) the year ahead unfolds.
The Cybersecurity Time Bomb
In recent years, K–12 schools have become ransomware ground zero. Attackers aren’t guessing anymore—they know schools often run aging infrastructure, have limited security staff, and store goldmines of sensitive student data. And they’re exploiting that knowledge.
Overworked IT directors are spending their summers asking hard questions: Have we patched every exposed system? Can we trust our third-party vendors? What happens if our SIS goes down the first week of school?
Some districts are making real progress adopting Zero Trust models, running phishing simulations, building incident response plans—but for many, it still feels like putting duct tape on a submarine. Funding is thin, awareness is spotty, and the stakes have never been higher.
The Chromebook Cliff
Remember the great rush to 1:1 device programs during the pandemic? Well, those devices—millions of them—are aging out. Batteries are failing. Screens are cracked. Charging carts are breaking down.
Summer is when IT departments try to get ahead of it all. They’re running diagnostics, triaging broken units, and scrambling to figure out how to replace entire fleets when budgets are stretched thin.
For many, it’s a sobering realization: the quick fixes of 2020 are now long-term operational burdens. And unless they make smart decisions now standardizing device types, implementing MDM tools, tracking asset lifecycle—they’ll be trapped in a repair-and-replace cycle for years to come.
The EdTech Hangover
If you ever thought your school was using too many apps, you’re probably right. On average, districts use more than 1,400 digital tools each year. Many of them do the same things. Few of them talk to each other.
Educators are overwhelmed. Students are confused. And IT departments? They’re spending hours troubleshooting login issues and fielding support calls for tools no one really needed in the first place.
This summer, more districts are taking stock. They’re auditing usage, sunsetting underperforming tools, and trying to simplify the learning experience. It’s less about cutting costs (though that helps) and more about cutting the noise. Because when every tool claims to be “the future of learning,” it’s hard to know what’s actually helping.
Wi-Fi Woes and Connectivity Gaps
For most schools, Wi-Fi has become as critical as plumbing. And yet, network infrastructure often goes untouched for years, only getting attention when something breaks.
Summer gives IT teams the chance to breathe and look at the bigger picture: Are access points where they need to be? Can the network handle a hallway full of AI-enabled learning apps? What about those students at home who still can’t get online?
Upgrades to Wi-Fi 6, bandwidth increases, and expanded mesh networks are top of the to-do list. So is partnering with local ISPs to keep students connected off campus. Because in 2025, learning doesn’t stop at the school gate and neither should connectivity.
Student Data, Privacy, and the Compliance Tightrope
With each new app, platform, or analytics dashboard comes a fresh load of student data. Grades, attendance, behavior, even biometrics in some cases. And districts are under more pressure than ever to safeguard it all.
IT leaders are spending these weeks re-reading vendor contracts, updating privacy policies, and working with legal teams to stay compliant with laws like FERPA and COPPA. They’re building guardrails—who can access what data, for how long, and under what conditions.
It’s tedious work. But with parents increasingly tuned in to digital privacy—and regulators watching closely; it’s no longer optional. If schools want trust, they have to earn it, and transparency about data practices is where that starts.
The AI Question No One Has Answered Yet
Every superintendent is asking about AI. Should we use it in classrooms? Can it reduce administrative burden? How do we prevent cheating? What about bias? What about the data?
Some districts are experimenting with mixed results. Others are standing back, watching carefully. What’s clear is that IT leaders need to be part of these conversations, not pulled in after the fact to clean up the mess.
This summer, a few are drafting AI use policies, conducting risk assessments, and exploring partnerships with ethical AI vendors. It’s early days, but one thing’s certain: AI is coming to education whether we’re ready or not.
The Human Challenge: Burnout and Brain Drain
Technology isn’t the only thing under strain. The people managing it are, too.
Districts are struggling to recruit and retain qualified IT staff. The work is hard, the pay often lags behind the private sector, and the burnout is real. One person managing thousands of devices, users, and tickets? It’s not sustainable.
Forward-thinking districts are investing in automation, cross-training, and shared service models across regions. They’re advocating for better staffing ratios. Because even the best systems crumble without the people to maintain them.
A Narrow Window for Real Change
The clock is ticking. In a few short weeks, teachers will return. Students will log in. And any cracks in the system will widen under pressure.
Summer isn’t just a time to fix what’s broken—it’s a chance to reset. To rethink what’s necessary, what’s working, and what no longer fits. For school district IT leaders, it’s not just about avoiding disaster. It’s about building infrastructure that supports every learner, teacher, and admin not just for this year, but for years to come.
Because education is changing. And the technology behind it has to keep up.
Knowing which cybersecurity threats pose the biggest danger to your business can be a tricky task. Even the smallest security incidents involving critical systems can result in large-scale disruptions and costly expenses when trying to resume normal operations.
One form of cybercrime that businesses encounter on a regular basis that has the capability of crippling critical systems and applications is ransomware. These cyberattacks are highly sophisticated in both their design and their orchestration. The simple act of visiting a webpage or opening an infected file can quickly bring a business to a standstill.
To mitigate the impact of ransomware threats, proactive security planning is essential. Below are some important best practices you can follow to reduce your attack surface and lower your chances of becoming a target.
Minimizing Vulnerabilities at the User Level
Every device used to access your company’s systems or networks is known as an “endpoint.” While every organization has several endpoints that require management, companies with remote employees tend to have a much higher volume that requires regular monitoring and protection.
With fully remote and hybrid working arrangements increasing the average number of endpoints businesses have to manage, the potential for bad actors to exploit these connections also increases.
To mitigate these risks, the organization’s perimeter security needs to be thoroughly evaluated to identify and protect any potential entry points. After this is accomplished, companies can use a combination of Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) systems and access control measures to reduce the chances of unauthorized individuals posing as legitimate users.
Additionally, enforcing personal device usage policies is also essential to improving cybersecurity posture. These policies outline specific measures that employees should follow while using personal devices to conduct company business. This may include avoiding open public internet connections, locking devices when unattended, and updating software and firmware regularly.
Teachers know that giving students more freedom — by enabling greater choice and agency — unlocks engagement and better outcomes. Decades of research backs this idea up. Still, there’s value to structure in a classroom.
How then, can teachers balance maintaining a level of control that steers productive learning with giving students the freedom they need to thrive? Setting clear boundaries and leveraging technology effectively are the keys.
The Value of Limiting Choice
Technology is often thought of as a tool that can help open more choice for students. Whether it’s choosing research topics that fit their interests, providing options to engage in educational content to meet different learning styles, or even giving students ways to master topics at their own pace.
Research on choice, however, shows that too many options can be counterproductive. People are more likely to make decisions, and avoid “analysis paralysis,” when there are fewer options. The magic number, the reports say, is to offer less than six choices.
As teachers continue to embrace allowing students more classroom freedom, using technology to offer a set of choices rather than limitless options can be effective.
Adding Alternatives for Answering Questions
Class participation is an easy way to add greater freedom for students without overwhelming them with choices, especially by using technology. For example, if teachers want all students to participate in a classroom discussion they can ask for responses to questions using a computer-based poll and then ask students who feel comfortable to share their answers out loud.
An alternative option is to adopt a platform with a classroom chat feature. Teachers who use classroom.cloud report that using the solution’s chat feature allows students who might be more self-conscious or shy to speak up. By typing their response, or even discreetly asking a question, students can engage more fully in classroom activities.
By Austin Anderson, a certified network engineer and IT professional, who travels around Wisconsin helping school districts secure and optimize their networks.
Schools are prime targets for cybercriminals not because their data is pricelessly valuable, but because criminals know school IT teams are chronically overworked, understaffed, and working within a tight budget.
While it’s important to invest in purposefully built and trustworthy software solutions, that’s just the beginning. Invest in your school’s cyberculture instead of isolating data security practices to IT teams alone, and soon keeping data safe becomes everyone’s job. A holistic approach to cybersecurity might be one of the strongest school CTOs and their teams can employ.
What does holistic cybersecurity look like?
Network security can conjure up images of a firewall that keeps bad guys out and only lets certain things in. It might be antivirus software installed, a network security plan, or some other high-level strategy. All these solutions are crucial, but there’s still more work to be done.
Just like you or I listen to the expert advice of doctors, we also partake in everyday practices to keep ourselves healthy. It’s the same concept with cybersecurity. A holistic approach invites everyone to learn more to scrutinize their own cyberspace habits. Training programs like KnowBe4 help users shift their mindset from passive trust of software to a proactive use of services including applications, social media, and other systems. The information employees share on personal social media is regularly mined by bad actors to gather intelligence they can use to infiltrate networks. Holistic cybersecurity strategies teach folks how to protect both personal and professional networks. Anyone can learn how to be more mindful in online spaces, and every little bit of practice helps secure district networks.
Though we tend to imagine computer networks as cloud formations, they also need very practical care. Physical security for data centers, hardware, and network devices all help keep systems out of harm’s way. Ensure doors lock and that data centers aren’t doing double-duty storing liquids or other items that might pose a physical threat.
Above all, this holistic approach (physical, software, and human firewall working together) is designed to work proactively to protect private data and minimize downtime. There’s no better time to improve than when you’re already feeling confident.
Get your leaders on board
Leading by example pays dividends for many reasons. It will help to roll out security changes to administrators, business managers, and leaders first. These folks have the largest share of responsibility in systems, and they’re most likely to be targeted in a phishing or other type of cyberattack. They should be the first people to be secured and the first to understand the stakes—that way, their training can trickle down to their peers, teams, and students. Understanding the “why” behind increased security measures is a worthwhile investment. That way, rather than advocating for IT to “ease up,” leaders can emphasize the importance of constant vigilance, even when users complain about using multi-factor authentication or other extra-secure steps.
Time spent recovering from an attack takes exponentially longer than strengthening your defense. A recent U.S. Government Accountability Office study found that learning time lost post-attack ranged from three days to three weeks (!) while total recovery time took up to nine months.
In the ever-evolving landscape of higher education, innovation isn’t confined to classrooms and research labs—it extends to how universities manage their operations, resources, and technology.
At the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering, Terrapin Works stands as a shining example of how adopting cutting-edge solutions can transform not just processes, but outcomes.
Terrapin Works, a hub of rapid prototyping, advanced manufacturing, and digital design, operates a sprawling network of more than 200 machines across 17 campus locations. This state-of-the-art enterprise isn’t just a facility; it’s a mission-driven ecosystem enabling students, faculty, and researchers to turn ideas into reality.
But with complexity comes challenges, and the need to streamline its job request system became a pivotal moment for this operation.
The Challenge: Streamlining Complexity in Innovation
Managing job requests for hundreds of machines servicing diverse users—from students designing prototypes to researchers creating precision parts—was no small feat. Terrapin Works initially relied on a help desk ticketing system that, while functional for IT issues, fell short as a workflow solution.
The system lacked a user-friendly process for submitting, tracking, and managing requests. Email threads became the backbone of communication, resulting in inefficiencies, delays, and an inconsistent user experience. Technicians, often students themselves, faced a cumbersome workflow that detracted from their ability to focus on the innovative work at hand.
As we step into the mid-way point in 2024, the higher education industry is bracing for a wave of transformative changes. Below, several experts from higher education tech company Modern Campus collectively paint a future where traditional educational models are rapidly evolving. The burgeoning adoption of microcredentials promises a more flexible and competency-based learning landscape, tailored to meet the ever-changing needs of the workforce. Higher education institutions are expected to pivot significantly, focusing more on aligning their offerings with industry requirements and enhancing the overall student experience.
Peter DeVries, CEO
AI will continue to be a hot topic with a disconnect between the institution’s hesitancy and intent to drive efficiency versus student’s usage whenever an opportunity exists.
Microcredentials and stackable credentials will continue to be held up as a key area of innovation with slow demonstration of how it can be readily utilized by students due to institution inertia.
Students will continue to look for institutions that provide a modern engagement experience with personalization and value add services available seamlessly through online services.
Amrit Ahluwalia, Senior Director of Strategic Insights
Microcredential adoption will continue to accelerate: More colleges and universities will offer a wider range of microcredentials to provide alternatives for people to engage in meaningful learning without forcing them to enroll in a full degree program. This will also drive increased adoption of competency-based learning models.
Higher ed will align more closely with the workforce: Colleges and universities will work to align offerings more closely to workforce needs, creating pathways for adults to engage in professional development to keep pace with industry changes while also streamlining the learner-to-earner pathway for degree-seeking students.
Colleges and universities will prioritize the student experience: To stem growing stop-out and drop-out numbers, higher ed institutions will begin to invest in mechanisms to improve student belonging and communication and will look for approaches to accelerate degree completion.
IT leaders will play a more strategic role: Historically, institutional IT leaders have played a largely operational role. But as technology plays an increasingly central role in the management of the modern postsecondary institution, these leaders will be asked to have a larger influence on the strategy and direction of their respective institutions. This will have a significant impact on higher education’s approach to customer/student engagement, leveraging/securing data, and software management.
Institutional IT leaders will be looking to address the “Digital Jungle” of software and vendors operating on their campuses. During the pandemic, colleges invested in massive numbers of disconnected and overlapping technology tools to deliver on specific needs through a challenging time. But now that we’re on the other side, CIOs and CISOs will be looking for ways to reduce the risk associated with having so many tech vendors operating simultaneously on campus, improving data security and simplifying the institutional tech infrastructure.
Keith Renneker, VP Sales for Modern Campus Connected Curriculum and Modern Campus CMS
AI will continue to be a hot button topic – how to leverage in education delivery, impact on research, recruitment and engagement of students – essentially the whole education ecosystem.
Financial survival – while some schools have been able to thrive, others continue to struggle, with Birmingham Southern the most recent example of a school trying to avoid closure. What will be the impact on affordability for students? Will campuses close or merge? Budget scrutiny will continue to slow and formalize more procurement processes.
A more politicized environment with government seemingly more engaged from the K-12 environment into higher ed – a leading example is loan forgiveness. Schools will be challenged with strong public views on political topics, creating risks for schools and including impact to donors.
Greater efforts on campuses for increased efficiency – platform solutions vs multi-vendor. Continued call for services – for school and students. Modernizing the experience for the learner. Stronger tools to integrate different campus solutions from different providers.
David Cashwell, VP Sales for Modern Campus Lifelong Learning
More centralization of CE programs in universities. For example, School of Education, School of Business, etc. They are sharing resources more, and that includes software.
Defining microcredential quality standards – this has become a more important issue with the American Council of Education, who oversees accreditation.
The Definition of FTE has become problematic because such a high percentage of full-time students are on financial aid and many “part time” students are paying in full. The question remains as to whether Pell dollars will be usable for students seeking a short-term job training program.
The higher ed institutions that are not well-endowed and who struggle with enrollments will be more deliberate about creating career pathways for their students. This will not be an issue for the most prestigious R1 universities who have 20% and below acceptance rates.
Institutions will be more focused on programs and marketing that focus on the stop out population through degree and non-degree programs. They will look to these populations as a supplement to the shortage in traditional demographics.
CIOs will continue to prefer purpose-built platforms that will play nicely within ecosystems. This shift in purpose-built solutions will be great for those that provide them assuming they can seamlessly integrate into “main campus” systems.
LMS providers will continue their momentum on combining with other solutions or building extensions of their LMS systems (see Instructure, Anthology (bB) and D2L). This will allow them to differentiate from each other outside of traditional “bake off” differentiators.
Institutions will continue to tighten up their security requirements. Universities have no regulations so it’s a big chance for cybersecurity in organizations.
Andy Gould, VP Sales for Modern Campus Student Engagement Suite
Retention efforts/funding will redirect to enrollment support in the face of continued enrollment decline, which will put effective student engagement at further risk.
Students will continue to demand more mobile-focused, interconnected, and personalized technologies be a part of their experience.
Soft skill development/articulation demand will increase as employers reduce forces, putting pressure on recruiting high quality new graduates.
Academic support will receive increased pressure and existing technologies are in need of modernization. Products like TEDU will see quick adoption.
Centralized student platforms like Pathify will gain increased traction as institutions and students alike face technology overload and more demand for a personalized experience.
Chad Rowe, VP Product for Modern Campus Lifelong Learning
Continuation of the rise and adoption of alternative credentials including digital badges.
Tighter integration of CE focused student information systems with customer relationship management systems to promote student engagement throughout their journey and lifetime.
Adoption of new tools and integration connectors to improve the student experience; tighter integrations between the CE-focused student information systems and the main campus SIS for more engaging catalog display.
Cautious exploration of AI use cases in the administration, reporting and predictive analytics or CE programs.
Kim Prieto, SVP Product
As enrollments continue to decline, and budgets are stretched, institutions will work to meet students where they are at:
Continued and growing focus on micro-credentialing
Support of online and hybrid programs
Communicating clear paths to post school employment
As the costs of education rises, community colleges will see higher growth than 4-year institutions, increasing the need for clear and easy transfer paths.
Campuses will look to gain efficiencies in their vendor management – looking more for platform vendors who can fulfill multiple needs.
From the accelerated adoption of microcredentials to the strategic role of IT leaders, and from the integration of AI to the focus on student engagement, these changes reflect a broader shift in educational priorities and methodologies. Higher education institutions must adapt to these changes, balancing innovation with the enduring values of accessibility and quality education. In doing so, they will not only meet the evolving needs of students and the workforce but also lead the way in shaping a future where education is more adaptable, inclusive, and aligned with the ever-changing global landscape.
Students in high school now have already lived through two global economic crises, and live in a world that is literally burning at a record rate. They must handle all of this while also coping with the normal chaotic ups and downs of adolescence can be overwhelming. Into this maelstrom, students are supposed to shuttle from Geometry to Social Studies and maintain focus on their studies.
The chaos of the post-pandemic world only adds to difficulties, as it has seen an increase in an already rising percentage of students dealing with mental health problems.
Some of these problems arose in part due to the remote and hybrid learning necessitated by the global pandemic. While undoubtedly better than no learning, students are still recovering from that ‘learning loss.’ Furthermore, the social cost of such extended isolation cannot be fully understood as it has no modern point of comparison. In order to put students back on track, and best position them to succeed in the future, any solution must take into account both the mental and the educational barriers our students face.
Fortunately, just as remote learning software mitigated the damage, proper investment in and uptake of available technology can put student learning back where it needs to be.
After the pandemic many school districts transitioned into hybrid learning systems, and educators had access to information about different learning styles previously unavailable. During and after the pandemic, Artificial intelligence (AI) enabled learning allowed educators to create personalized and inclusive learning for their students, progress that we must continue to build on.
Elements of the remote and hybrid learning implemented during the pandemic must be replicated because without embracing the available technological resources, we are not giving our students the learning opportunities they deserve. Effective teaching must include any and all available resources to support students dealing with ADHD and other mental health issues, or anything else that may impact their learning experience. The increased use of educational technology (EdTech) has a long way to go to meet the need, with 71% of students strongly agreeing that EdTech helps them engage with course materials. Greater access to EdTech helps broaden access and equalize student learning, while AI-enabled platforms can maximize the benefit those students receive.
By Tim Bristol, director of strategic planning, NurseThink, Wolters Kluwer Health.
The ever-worsening nursing shortage is taking the United States by storm, with nearly 800,000 nurses planning to leave their roles or retire by 2027. Unfortunately, nursing education is not immune to this crisis.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) reports that 8.8% of faculty positions are vacant at U.S. nursing schools and additional positions would need to be created to meet student demand. Without enough faculty, this has a serious impact on the capacity and effectiveness of nursing education programs as nursing schools are already being forced to turn away qualified applicants. Fortunately, while faculty shortages won’t be solved overnight, advancements in instructional technology can help fill the gap.
One key challenge facing nursing education is that the curriculum is not set up to teach students in a way that mirrors real-world practice. While new nurses today will often face greater challenges – and often higher caseloads – than ever before, nursing students are not being adequately trained to face this reality. In many ways, today’s nursing classrooms look no different than the classrooms students may have encountered in 1993. But a lecture hall looks very different than the chaotic hospital setting new nurses will actually experience. To help ensure students build skills and engage in clinical judgement, even if faculty numbers are limited, incorporating electronic health records and virtual simulation into their daily education can make a major difference.
Electronic health records are not optional
While electronic health record (EHR) systems are a highly discussed technology across the healthcare landscape, they have been shown to reduce errors and lower medical costs. Needless to say, EHRs are here to stay across healthcare and something that care teams need to use, every day. However, they can only positively impact healthcare as a whole if nurses are trained to use them effectively and efficiently before they encounter them in clinical practice.
It’s important for faculty to understand how easy it is to implement EHRs into the daily classroom experience. Students could simply login to a basic, blank EHR and enter data based on a case study or challenge given by their instructor. For example, students could be tasked with entering a blood pressure reading that would indicate that they should hold (not give) a patient medication to lower their blood pressure. When faculty allow students to experience this type of activity, they are learning in the same way in which they will be using EHRs in practice. This is something that could easily be incorporated into nursing classrooms, even in a lecture hall of 100+ students.
VIPRE Security Group, a global leader and award-winning cybersecurity, privacy, and data protection company, today announced the launch of its new VIPRE Integrated Email Security (IES) Solution. 
Yuba City Unified School District announced end-of-year results from its tutoring partnership with 
