By Jeff Letourneau, Cyberinfrastructure Technical Lead at the American Indian Higher Education Consortium
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
A 2025 Internet2 Technology Exchange Session Sneak Peek
Learn the ins and outs of federated identity at tribal colleges and universities through real stories and use cases.
Smaller institutions are familiar with the struggle. Limited budget, smaller staff — we know the drill. They may think that identity federations are unattainable, only for the big leagues with the resources to afford them. Why is that, and what needs to happen to change that perception?
The Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU) Facilitation Project is examining the technical and financial challenges of implementing identity federation at small, or even micro-sized, institutions. It also examines what it takes to overcome those challenges and how to realize immediate benefits to incentivize the investment of already oversubscribed resources.
Learn how five TCUs have, or are attempting to, deploy federated identity services at their campuses at the Internet2 2025 Technology Exchange (TechEX25).
In Federated Identity Use at Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), discover how the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) cyberinfrastructure (CI) team and North Dakota State University (NDSU) are piloting the implementation of Federated identity systems in an attempt to bring the TCUs access to high-tech resources and deliver premier learning experiences through the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Moderated by Marc Wallman, chief information officer at NDSU, this session’s panel includes:
- Jeff Letourneau, cyberinfrastructure technical lead at AIHEC
- Matthew McCowan, system administrator at Cankdeska Cikana Community College
- Steve Sobiech, assistant vice president for enterprise computing and infrastructure at NDSU
During the session, the AIHEC CI team, along with representatives from NDSU and the TCUs, will share strategies for deploying federated identity at TCUs, achieving scalable identity and access management solutions, and providing insight into day-to-day challenges, even with limited resources.
Session attendees can expect to:
- Understand the barriers to implementing federated identity in unique, smaller campus environments
- Gain insight into the challenges of federated identity and gaining access to CI resources at smaller institutions through real use cases.
- Learn how to support federated identity and access management at smaller institutions
Attend Federated Identity Use at Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) to explore how partnerships and innovation are shaping the digital future of TCUs and discuss opportunities to support this initiative. This session takes place on Wednesday, Dec. 10, from 9 to 9:50 a.m. MT at the Internet2 TechEX25.
Interested in more TechEX25 sessions like this one?
Check out this session and other related presentations in the Identity & Access Management Track by checking out our full program.
Other topics in the Identity & Access Management track include streamlining identity, data breaches, best practices for federation, and a host of lightning talks.
The Internet2 TechEX25 is also the perfect event to explore both familiar and new topics. Take full advantage of this experience to unlock your fullest learning potential at this year’s event.
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