edACCESS

Peer Conference for IT Staff at Independent Schools Since 1992

edACCESS is a peer conference that provides support and networking for information technology staff and academic technologists at secondary schools and small colleges. Most conference attendees come from schools with under 1,000 students. 

Our goals are to:

  • Provide professional development opportunities in education-related information technology.
  • Engage our members in the discussion and interchange of topical ideas and resources.
  • Provide forums for discussion and the development of policies regarding the use of information technology in education.
  • Offer support to our members through conferences, publications and other activities.

Our History

edACCESS traces its roots back to 1991, when three computing directors at two small colleges in Vermont met to discuss the growing gap between the administrative computing solutions used by their institutions and those available at larger schools. It’s not uncommon for larger schools to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single piece of administrative software—a cost that is out of reach for most edACCESS attendees.

Out of this meeting grew “ACCESS”: Administrative and Campus Computing Environments at Small Schools. Initially, ACCESS was conceived as a forum for small colleges, but secondary schools expressed such interest that the organization was quickly expanded to include them. In 2000, the organization changed its name to edACCESS (to avoid confusion with a certain well-known database product).

Our Organization

edACCESS is a volunteer run and governed 501(c)6 organization. Apart from the facilitator of our annual conference, we have no paid staff. Anyone is welcome to join our steering committee, which is responsible for organizing edACCESS conferences, services, programs, and special events.

EDUCAUSE Constituent Group

edACCESS is a constituent group of EDUCAUSE. EDUCAUSE is an international, nonprofit association whose mission is to help shape and enable transformational change in higher education through the introduction, use, and management of information resources and technologies in teaching, learning, scholarship, research, and institutional management. 

Steering Committee

edACCESS is run by a steering committee, which any edACCESS member is welcome to join. Steering committee members volunteer their time to plan and operate the conference and in return they receive reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses, pre-conference meals, a reduced conference fee, and other inducements and perks.

Our steering committee members are:

Email Listserve

edACCESS offers an email listserve, supported by EDUCAUSE, that provides its members with a useful communication tool. Members use it to communicate with each other on topics related to educational technology.

Join the edACCESS listserve.

An archive of past conversations can be found here: Listserve Archives