Tambellini Higher Education Summit Series

Inspire. Collaborate. Rise.

Higher Education Summit Series: Student Systems
May 2022

Session Details

Only 5% of institutions have chosen a student platform since 2015, but a wave of technology selections is on the horizon. With an increase of 100% in technology selections from 2020 to 2021, Tambellini Group recognizes the need for institutions to learn about the product development and investment strategies of the top student system vendors. 

Now, more than ever, it is critical that institutional leaders hear how the leading student solution providers define student success and plan to support their institutions in meaningful ways.  

Part 1: Defining Student Success
  • Within the scope of your organization, how do you define student success, and how is that definition driving innovations and product development to meet that need?
  • How have market factors shifted your organization’s definition of student success, and how is your strategy aligned to assist?

Part 2: What Institutions Want to Know

Hear how product leaders answer the one question that institutions most frequently ask about each solution provider’s student product and strategy.

There is no cost to attend this event.

Higher Education Summit Series: Student Systems Panelists

Raymond Blackwood: Vice President of Product Management at Anthology
Raymond Blackwood
Vice President, Product Management
Anthology
Mariam Tariq: Senior Vice President of Product Management at Ellucian
Mariam Tariq
Senior Vice President, Product Management
Ellucian
Les Zimmerman: Vice President of Product Development at Jenzabar
Les Zimmerman
Vice President, Product Development
Jenzabar
Nicole Engelbert: Vice President, Product Strategy, Oracle
Nicole Engelbert
Vice President, Higher Education Development
Oracle
Cynthia Hitchens: Vice President of Product Management at Thesis
Cynthia Hitchens
Vice President, Product Management
Thesis
Michael Bisson: Vice President of Student Product Strategy at Workday
Michael Bisson
Vice President, Student Product Strategy
Workday

Higher Education Summit Series: Student Systems Panelists

Higher Education Institutions

peertelligent

Solution Providers & Investors

market insights
Cynthia Hitchens: Vice President of Product Management at Thesis
Cynthia Hitchens
Vice President, Product Management
Thesis logo

Cynthia is a visionary product management executive with 20 years’ experience leading cross-functional teams to plan, build, launch, and manage world-class global higher education student management systems. She has a history of blending her technology skills with extensive agile experience, market orientation, and analytics to evolve/differentiate product strategy and increase market share for organizations in highly competitive markets. Cynthia prides herself in her commitment to developing diverse, geographically distributed teams and inspiring staff to work to their strengths, grow their skills, embrace a forward-thinking mentality, envision their future, find their passion, and support/complement one another to achieve shared organizational goals.

As VP of Product Management, Cynthia is accountable for the adoption and growth of the Thesis student management products. Previously she served as Global Head of Product, HE at Unit4 where she crafted product strategy, innovation, and creative direction for their student systems. Cynthia holds an MBA from Augusta University where she concentrated in information system technology, a BBA in Accounting from Augusta University, Product Owner and Scrum Master certification through Scrum Alliance, and is a Pragmatic certified Product Manager.

Nicole Engelbert: Vice President, Product Strategy, Oracle
Nicole Engelbert
Vice President, Higher Education Development
Oracle logo

Nicole Engelbert is vice president of higher education development at Oracle. She is responsible for engaging the industry ecosystem to develop thought leadership and best practice with cloud technology and to use those insights to guide the development of Oracle’s higher education solutions including its Student Cloud product suite.

Prior to Oracle, Nicole served as the Director of Research & Analysis at Ovum where she spent the last decade advising institutions globally on critical areas such as cloud migration, legacy modernization, emerging technologies, and student experience.

A sought after presenter on the higher education technology conference circuit, Nicole is also regularly quoted in publications such as the NY Times, University Business, Campus Technology, and the Wall Street Journal. Nicole holds a BA in classics from Union College and an MEd in educational administration & policy analysis from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Les Zimmerman: Vice President of Product Development at Jenzabar
Les Zimmerman
Vice President, Product Development
Jenzabar logo

Les is a product leader and visionary with a record of successfully delivering solutions for higher education success.  He started his software development career at Jenzabar as a programmer analyst and has moved up through the company over the last twenty-five years as an application architect/developer, database administrator, and director of product of development.

Before joining Jenzabar, Zimmerman worked as a software engineer at a property-casualty insurance company.  He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science from Bridgewater College.

Mariam Tariq: Senior Vice President of Product Management at Ellucian
Mariam Tariq
Senior Vice President, Product Management

As Senior Vice President of Product Management at Ellucian, Mariam Tariq leads Product, Program Management, and User Experience teams in the delivery of product roadmaps and product strategy across Ellucian’s portfolio. Mariam’s organization maintains close collaboration across Ellucian teams, Partners, and Customers to ensure bringing the highest value products to market.

Prior to Ellucian, Mariam held leadership roles in R&D, Product Management, Customer Support, and Marketing at MicroStrategy, Oracle, Zenprise, and Interwoven delivering Enterprise Software products and services covering Digital Experience technology, Enterprise Mobility, and Data and Analytics. In addition to product focus, Mariam has launched to market new cloud-based solutions, developed offers and strategies to move customers from on-premise to Cloud in support of modernization, and driven strategic M&A and Partnerships.

Mariam has a strong empathetic mindset coupled with strategic focus. Mariam is passionate about working with customers in enabling organizations to realize their vision to deliver modern, data-driven engagement across multiple channels.

Mariam holds BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley.

Raymond Blackwood: Vice President of Product Management at Anthology
Raymond Blackwood
Vice President, Product Management
Anthology logo

As Vice President of Product Management at Anthology, Raymond Blackwood is responsible for setting product vision for Anthology’s SIS and ERP solutions, including Anthology Student, Anthology Finance & HCM, and Anthology Payroll. He joined Campus Management more than ten years ago and has taken on progressive roles within the organization through its evolution to become the largest EdTech ecosystem on a global scale for education.

Prior to Anthology, Raymond was the Director of Technology for the University of Advancing Technology, focused primarily on the implementation of technology projects to ensure the success of institutions’ strategic plans.

Raymond is passionate about solving problems in higher education through technology and seeking to ensure institutions of all sizes have the right tools and processes to efficiently manage their student lifecycles.

Michael Bisson: Vice President of Student Product Strategy at Workday
Michael Bisson
Vice President, Student Product Strategy
Workday logo

Michael joined Workday in 2013 seeding the Student project team and contributing to its initial architecture and design. Michael led the Product Management team as they designed the core student product and facilitated a three-year customer design partner program. Today, Michael leads the Product Strategy team responsible for determining market fit, competitive market intelligence, and overall product direction. Prior to joining Workday, Michael worked 16 years at Peoplesoft and Oracle in support of the Campus Solutions product in Product Management, Development, and Support. Michael has committed his professional career to the improvement of higher education management through the design and development of Student Information Systems.

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