2026 RMUG Sessions

Student Services
Ghosts in the Machine: Navigating the Fine Line Between Fraudulent Apps and Real Students (50 minutes)Explore the sophisticated tactics used by “ghost students” to infiltrate institutional systems and the digital red flags—from suspicious IP patterns to “Financial Aid First” behavior—that can help you spot them. This session also examines the “false positive” trap, sharing real-world examples where legitimate non-traditional students were mistakenly flagged as bots. Attendees will walk away with a balanced framework for strengthening identity verification protocols without creating unnecessary barriers for real students. Olivia Wickman, Hathaway and Compliance Coordinator  & Ryan Moelling, IT Enterprise Software Administrator and Systems Programmer

IT

Leveraging the Experience Arsenal (50 minutes) with a subtitle “Examining NWC’s Pre-Registration Process Combining Ethos, Data Connect, and Custom APIs.” The content would be a description of the Experience tools available to create Experience Extensions including Ethos Extend, Ethos APIs, Data Connect Serverless APIs, and using custom APIs with the Experience JWT.  Lucas Shaw ❘ DBA / Computing Services Coordinator – Northwest College Powell Wyoming

Ethos Extend 101 (50 minutes) and would discuss how to Extend Ethos APIs using examples from NWC’s catalog of extensions with examples of their usage in Experience and with our Element 451 integration. Lucas Shaw ❘ DBA / Computing Services Coordinator – Northwest College Powell Wyoming

Colleague Maintenance Best Practices Discussion of practical, actionable strategies to declutter the Ellucian Colleague system and implement routine procedures to maintain optimal performance and stability.  Rocky Harting,  Central Wyoming College

Financial Aid
Set It and Forget It-Automating Loan Disbursement Notification (50 minutes)  Send loan disbursement notifications to students and parents (for PLUS) when Direct Loans are disbursed, increased, or a new loan award is added. Retain record of notifications for auditor. No customizations required. Julie Wilson Dynamic Campus

IR Institutional Research
IR From Black Box to Blueprint: Automating Documentation in Business Objects (50 minutes)  Institutions rely on years of accumulated BusinessObjects (CROA) reports that few people fully understand. This creates real risk when planning migrations to a new reporting tool, onboarding new staff, or strengthening governance. In this session, you’ll see a practical, automated framework for extracting and cataloging the full scope of your BusinessObjects system – every report, query, universe, field, and filter. The result is a clear inventory that transforms your BusinessObjects “black box” into a blueprint you can actually see, analyze, and act on. Adam Lange 

One Source of Truth, Zero New Tools: Robust Reporting from Our Central Data Warehouse(50 minutes)  Andy and Adam will discuss the Laramie County Community College path to a local data warehouse and their development of a student at risk dashboard using tools and technology already available.   Andy Corbin & Adam Lange

Troubleshooting Issues in Reporting Tools with AI (CROA, Colleague, Tableau, (50 minutes) In the rapidly evolving landscape of Institutional Research, the ability to pivot from data errors to actionable insights is critical. This session explores how Northwest College is leveraging Artificial Intelligence to streamline the troubleshooting process within key reporting environments, including CROA (BusinessObjects), Ellucian Colleague, and Tableau. Lisa Smith Institutional Research Northwest College.

AI track Tuesday (June 16) 

AI-Enabled to AI-Native: Leading the Inflection in Higher Education (50 minutes) Higher education stands at a defining inflection point. Just as the automobile didn’t simply make carriages faster—it fundamentally transformed society—generative AI isn’t just another tool to bolt onto existing practices. It’s a paradigm shift that demands we rethink the very operating system of our institutions. France Hoang, CEO and Founder of BoodleBox

Turning the Tide: From Inbox Risk to Controlled Quarantine (50 minutes) Brian Clark, Network Coordinator, and Nick Mescher, IT Systems Security Analyst, will showcase the Google Workspace Dashboard developed by their team with AI assistance. This customized tool is specifically designed to improve environmental security. They will also discuss how their strategy on proactive email security has flipped the workflow from pulling emails from inboxes to releasing emails from quarantine. Brian Clark, Network Coordinator, and Nick Mescher, IT Systems Security Analyst, 

Leadership and Culture Change in the Age of AI  (½ day afternoon )Higher education has become a dynamic place thanks to a rapidly evolving technology landscape, digital transformation, and integration of AI. Technology leaders who use the opportunity to reposition teams for a strategic role in supporting, enhancing, and leading their institutions must develop tools to understand the levers of change and expand their influence across the institution. The opportunity to do things differently – engage students, close graduation gaps, meet workforce needs – come down to the effective identification & utilization of technology. Engage in the conversation from a former CIO who has led these efforts at The University of California.  Tom Andriola, Chief AI Executive, Public Sector, Dynatrace & Former CIO, University of California System and Chief Digital Officer, UC Irvine

RMUG Post Conference Power BI Workshop   Wednesday June 17 Special Request Registration.

Mastering Power BI  (full day) This workshop begins with Power BI  fundamentals and then moves beyond basic bar charts to help you unlock the full potential of your data. This session guides you through the advanced strategies required to transform raw information into sophisticated, interactive narratives. Adam Lange Alcove Insights