As part of our monthly Heroes of Higher Ed series, we highlight leaders whose work is transforming the future of education. This month, we had the privilege of speaking with Rupa Saran, Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Technology Officer, Coast Community College District.
In the world of higher ed technology, Rupa is nothing short of a force—a dynamic blend of insight, passion, and purpose. She leads with both heart and strategy, grounded in a deep commitment to students and a belief in technology’s power to open doors, create equity, and change lives. Her impact extends well beyond her own district, inspiring innovation and raising the bar for what’s possible across community colleges throughout California.
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Technology Officer for the Coast Community College District in Southern California. Our district comprises three colleges, Coastline College, Golden West College, and Orange Coast College, which together serve a little over 40,000 students. We are a big district!
In addition to my role at Coast, I serve as President of the Chief Information Systems Officer Association (CISOA) for California Community Colleges. We have an Association for Technology, and I also lead the statewide Common Cloud Data Platform Initiative that is a partnership with the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office.
For me, my work is all about driving IT strategy, innovation, and governance, both for our district and the entire state system for the California Community Colleges. I'm very passionate about connecting technology and institutional leadership to position IT as a strategic force that empowers colleges and advances student success.
What inspired you to pursue a career in higher education and IT?
I've always believed education is one of the most powerful forces for change. For me, technology is the key that can make learning more accessible, personal, and effective.
Higher education offers a unique opportunity to uplift the communities by helping students succeed and prepare for the workforce. That's what keeps me passionate and motivated every single day.
Was there a pivotal moment in your career that stands out?
That is something that is happening right now, and I'm really, really excited about it. To me, it's a major milestone. And, as I mentioned a little bit in the beginning, I am the one who is leading the Common Cloud Data Platform initiative for California Community Colleges. We're the largest education system in the country, with 2.1 million students across 116 colleges. One big challenge is to create a shared and near real data, real-time data platform so that colleges can collaborate more effectively and better support students.
What we have today is semester-old data for our enrollment, our student counts, and other data. We can't tell our state chancellor or governor’s office what the enrollment is today because it's not real-time data. This initiative is building a unified cloud infrastructure with strong data governance, which will give us near real time data with actionable analytics.
It’s also helping students with transfers from a two-year to four-year university with their transcripts that we can combine. A lot of our students go to multiple colleges. Having near real-time data and a unified cloud infrastructure from the back end helps students get a combined transcript. We're also battling fraudulent applications for financial aid, and this infrastructure will help us reduce that as well.
We’re bringing in more tools to improve our student services and program planning. It's really exciting and it's a transformational effort designed to drive equity, innovation, and better outcomes on a huge scale.
Having standardization and coming together as a system, is really helpful to our students. That's not just for colleges, faculty members, or administrators. We're here to serve our students, and make their life better, easier, and accessible. That's important for me personally.
If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your work?
I would accelerate the pace of equitable technology adoption across all institutions. Sometimes there are disparities in resources. Some colleges benefit from innovations really early on and for others it can take a long time. I want to close that gap so everyone gets equal access, and ensure every student has equal access to digital tools that can support their success. Especially these days, everything is digital. So, this is connected with initiatives that I'm involved in to scale it up to the entire system so we're not leaving any student behind.
What do you think is a roadblock when it comes to adoption?
It varies. We have three colleges in the CCCD. It’s a good size with a good amount of resources. From the technology perspective, we have a team. Whereas at a small school or in a rural area, it is more difficult. Even though we're driving initiatives, those schools don’t necessarily have the resources to take part in a particular initiative. That's what slows it down and where the roadblocks come in.
The Common Cloud Project is a very light lift, and we want to lessen the burden on the districts.
What do you love about what you do?
That my work is impacting students. I've been in the education system for a long time. I was in K-12 and transitioned into community colleges. I firmly believe that bringing the technology up front is going to help our students.
With our district, we have this deep culture of collaboration, and most importantly, commitment to student-centered innovation. That's really my driving factor. I get to work in an institution that is also in alignment with my personal goals and the district goals. So that's something that I love. Of course, teamwork and working together to bring this work to our students is my passion.
What advice would you give to someone aspiring to follow your career path?
It's really simple — stay mission-driven and collaborative. For me, the real impact in higher ed comes from aligning your own work with the institution's goal, building strong partnership, and always keeping students at the center of every decision you make. When you keep students in the center, your decisions become very easy and clear.
Also, be adaptable. With so many changes happening with technology by the minute, we must be adaptable. Stay curious and remember that the change that you create goes far beyond technology. That's really important. Technology can truly transform lives and communities.
How do you define student success?
Student success is when they come to our institution, and we are able to help them. Whether it's their mission is to transfer to a four-year university or upskill in Career and Technical Education (CTE), we provide everything for them and make it accessible so that they get to go where they need to go.
There is no hard rule that you have to go to college for X or Y. Everyone has different ways of doing what they want to do. If we're able to provide them with classes they want and able to help them with their career, that's what student success is all about.
What keeps you motivated?
It's all about focusing on students and the difference technology can make in their educational journey. I also celebrate small wins, work very closely with passionate colleagues, and just keep pushing for innovation. Challenges are always going to be there, and for me, I see them as a reminder that resilience and creativity are what drive lasting progress.
