OARnet’s fall 2025 Member Meeting addressed several opportunities and challenges for higher education IT operations, including the management of artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity initiatives as well as new developments in quantum networking and the expansion of broadband service in north-central Ohio.
The Member Meeting was held in conjunction with the meetings of the Inter-University Council of Ohio Chief Information Officers (IUC-CIO), Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio (AICUO), and the Ohio Two-Year Colleges Technology Council (OTCTC). Overall, representatives from more than 48 colleges and universities attended the combined meetings on Nov. 13, 2025, at the Ohio Technology Consortium facility in Columbus.
OARnet leadership discussed available member services, cybersecurity initiatives, and infrastructure updates:
Cybersecurity: OARnet will pilot a threat intelligence security service in conjunction with the Black Lotus Labs offering from Lumen at its Network Operations Center over the next year. It has identified five clients in higher education, K-12 education, and state government to test the service. In addition, OARnet continues to offer higher education members subscriptions to the Tenable vulnerability management tool at substantial savings off the list price.
Client Services: In addition to Tenable, OARnet highlighted available subscriptions for VMware by Broadcom, Omnissa desktop and app virtualization services, and Esri/ArcGIS.
OARnet also shared an important opportunity for eligible Ohio colleges and universities to participate in a national consortium led by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). The consortium enables institutions to receive reimbursement for certain technology expenditures through the FCC’s Rural Health Care Program, which provides more than $700 million annually to support connectivity and technology for health care-related education and services. This program can significantly reduce costs for qualifying technology investments by reimbursing up to 65% of eligible expenses.
UAMS will host an informational session on Dec. 4 for Ohio colleges and universities. This session will provide an overview of the program and details about eligibility criteria and the application process.
Infrastructure: OARnet engineering continues to roll out new sites for the state emergency communications network. The team also reported that OARnet customers are on track to exceed last year’s data traffic volume by close to 10%.
In addition to OARnet updates on infrastructure and services, the Member Meeting featured presentations by members and partners on major new initiatives of interest to the OARnet community:
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U.S. Route 30 broadband extension project: Peter Voderberg, chief, BroadbandOhio, discussed a new $20 million project that will develop middle-mile infrastructure along U.S. Route 30, which extends from Lima to Mansfield to Akron across north-central Ohio. OARnet will serve as the technical lead on the project, which will provide greater connectivity options to many community anchor institutions—including higher education institutions, K-12 districts, libraries, health care facilities, and local government entities—located along the route. A Request for Proposals was issued on Nov. 19 for the project. Tim Hawes, director of IT for North Central State College in Mansfield, spoke at the meeting about the positive impact the project will have on college students.
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Campus-wide AI initiative at Cedarville University: Micah Cooper, associate vice president for technology and chief information officer, and Robert McDole, director of the Center for Teaching & Learning, highlighted Cedarville University’s swift implementation of ChatGPT for institutional usage this school year. After selecting the well-known OpenAI product for the initiative, the IT professionals rapidly set up training sessions and workshops for faculty and students to learn how to incorporate ChatGPT into their educational work. Faculty already have reported that the tool has helped them significantly reduce the time required to prepare academic quizzes for courses.
- IUC-CISO cybersecurity: John Virden, assistant vice president for security, compliance, and risk management and chief information security officer, Miami University, discussed the establishment of a new IUC-CIO subcommittee that provides expert advice and recommendations to the broader group on information security issues. The subcommittee, which meets regularly with OARnet’s cybersecurity staff, is focused on risk management, security baselines, incident response, compliance, awareness and training, and cybersecurity insurance.
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Quantum networking testbed at The Ohio State University: Ronald Reano, professor and co-director of Ohio State’s Center for Quantum Information Science and Engineering (CQISE), highlighted a partnership with OARnet, supported by $1.75 million in state and federal funds, that has developed a testbed for quantum networking technologies. Earlier in 2025, the project successfully demonstrated quantum key distribution between two Columbus locations, OARnet and Ohio State’s ElectroScience Lab. The team now is working on connecting two Ohio cities. The long-term goal of the project is to implement quantum networking solutions to strengthen cybersecurity across the state.
Mike Duffey, chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education, concluded the Member Meeting by encouraging higher education institutions to embrace statewide shared services such as OARnet to strengthen their ability to develop a highly educated and skilled Ohio workforce.
“Shared services are the future, and OARnet is the epitome of that,” Chancellor Duffey said. “The best thing we can do is come together and collaborate.”
OARnet’s next Member Meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, in conjunction with the Ohio Higher Education Computing Council (OHECC) conference at The University of Toledo.
Members can contact their Business Relationship Manager with any follow-up questions or comments about the content of the meeting.
Photo gallery
Written by Andrea Gibson
Photos by Lexi Biasi
Since 1987, OARnet has delivered technology-based solutions that reduce costs, increase productivity and improve customer service. As a division of the Ohio Department of Higher Education's Ohio Technology Consortium, OARnet serves Ohio's education, health care, public broadcasting and government communities. Other members of the consortium include the Ohio Supercomputer Center and OhioLINK.
