Next Wave Conference
“I always take away valuable insights, learn many new things, and leave inspired.”
– 2025 Next Wave attendee
Leaders at our partner organizations are invited to join us at The Next Wave, our annual invitational event where we gather to understand the landscape, develop strategies, and find ways to collaborate and to thrive. For questions about this event, please reach out to Heidi McGregor, ITHAKA’s VP, Communications.
The Next Wave 2026
Trust is Everything
February 24, 2026, New York City
Economic, political, technological, and cultural shifts are disrupting higher education institutions in the United States and changing the broader post-secondary landscape. Leading organizations through this period can feel challenging at best, intractable at worst. Fundamental to our ability to navigate change successfully is trust. Trust in individuals, institutions, and our systems.
At Next Wave 2026, we will learn from leaders’ experiences taking the need to earn and sustain trust head on. We’ll explore trust and decision-making through significant leadership events—whether bringing our communities along as we weigh and respond to political demands, developing mechanisms to ensure research integrity in the age of AI, or seeing and responding to public perceptions of the value of higher education and research.
We hope you’ll leave Next Wave 2026 with new insights and ideas for how to lead and navigate change at your own organizations and as part of the higher education and scholarly communications ecosystems. We look forward to an immersive day of conversation, learning, and new intellectual and interpersonal connections.
Note: We will host our annual JSTOR Publisher Meeting the following day, February 25, 2026.
Past events
The Next Wave 2025
The Next Wave 2021
The Next Wave 2019
How will big changes in tech and society impact research and teaching?
The Next Wave 2018
Will we recognize higher ed in 10 years?
The Next Wave 2017
Can universities and colleges adapt to today’s challenges?