EDUCATION COUNCIL

Friday, January 18, 2002, 9:00 a.m.
Videoconference Sites:
Lincoln Host Site – 521 South 14th Street, Suite 103
Omaha Site- UNMC, Biomedical Communications, Room 4203
Chadron – Chadron State College, Student Center-Scottsbluff Room

APPROVED MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT-Lincoln: Keith Bartels, Boards of Education; Linda Engel, Nebraska City Schools; Dr. Kent Hendrickson, (alt. for Dr. Harvey Perlman, UNL); Dr. Jack Huck, Southeast Community College; Joe LeDuc, Lincoln Diocese Catholic Schools; Dennis Linster, (alt. for Dr. Sheila Stearns, Wayne State College); Tip O'Neill, (alt. for Dr. Roger Koehler; Nebraska Methodist College); Dr. Joe Preusser, Central Community College; Dr. Ed Rastovski, Wahoo Public Schools; Alan Wibbels, ESU 10; and Dr. Rob Ziegler, Madison Public Schools

MEMBERS PRESENT-Omaha: Con Dietz, Creighton University and Yvette Holly, (alt. for Dr. Bill Berndt, UNMC)

MEMBERS PRESENT-Chadron: Dr. Robin Smith, (alt. for Dr. Tom Krepel, Chadron State College)

LIAISONS PRESENT-Lincoln: Bob Huber (Alt. for Mike Beach, Nebraska Education Telecommunications Commission and Dr. Dean Bergman, Nebraska Department of Education

MEMBERS AND LIAISONS NOT PRESENT: Jeff Johnson, Centennial Public Schools; Mr. Al Schneider, ESU 5; Dr. David Powers, Coordinating Commission for PostSecondary Education; and Brenda Decker, Division of Communications

CALL TO ORDER, ELECTRONIC POSTING, ROLL CALL AND INTRODUCTIONS

Co-Chair, Allan Wibbels, called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. There were ten voting-members present at the time of Roll Call. A quorum existed to conduct official business. Dr. Wibbels stated that the meeting notice was posted to the N.I.T.C. and Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar Web sites on December 10, 2001, The meeting agenda was posted to the N.I.T.C. Web site on January 11, 2002.

APPROVAL OF JANUARY 18, 2002 MEETING AGENDA

Dr. Preusser moved to approve the January 18, 2002 meeting agenda as presented. Ms. Engel seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Bartels-Yes, Holly-Yes, Engel-Yes, Huck-Yes, Smith-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Linster-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, and Ziegler-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

APPROVAL OF NOVEMBER 30, 2001 MINUTES

Dr. Preusser moved to approve the November 30, 2001 meeting minutes as presented. Mr. Linster seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Ziegler-Yes, Wibbels-Abstained, Linster-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, Smith-Yes, Huck-Yes, Engel-Yes, Dietz-Yes, Holly-Yes, and Bartels-Yes. The motion was carried by majority vote: 10-yes and 1-Abstained.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

Dr. Rastovski and Mr. LeDuc arrived at the Lincoln video conference site at 9:05 a.m.

REMARKS FROM LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR DAVE HEINEMAN

The Lieutenant Governor described himself as aggressive in the use of information technology in his prior role as the State Treasurer. He would like to take this same approach as Lieutenant Governor. Technology is important in education, as well as in the productivity, efficiency and services of State Government. He has met with the private sector regarding their use of I.T. Discussions with state agency administrators have been occurring regarding what 10-15 things or issues are important for our immediate future. Lieutenant Governor Heineman strongly believes in doing things today and in collaborative approaches in meeting the best interest of the state. There are NETCOM issues that need to be addressed (costs, cost savings, subsidizing, and commitment from all entities, etc.) Meetings have been scheduled with President Smith of the University of Nebraska and Dr. Christensen of the Nebraska Department of Education. Once these issues have been addressed, the State can move forward with the NETCOM project. Lieutenant Governor Heineman thanked the Council for the work it is doing and offered his assistance.

Questions were entertained regarding the following: privacy issues; legislative support of I.T.; state aid formula and NETCOM; efficiency and collaboration within state government; collaboration among private schools and independent schools; bandwidth versus internet access for schools; use of Universal Service Fund E-rate for K-12; and funding for school districts to maintain I.T.

TASK GROUP/COMMITTEE REPORTS

Mr. Rolfes asked if the web site discussions have been beneficial. Members felt that it has been but made the following recommendations: 1) it would be helpful if members added their name and the date of their comments; 2) invite other task group members to provide input; 3) include face to face meetings of the task groups in the future; and 4) enforce a deadline for discussions and comments to report back to the group.

Staff will develop and/or revise action plans according to the Councils' recommendations. The Statewide Plan update must be completed by June for approval by the N.I.T.C. Members were instructed to continue with discussions.

None of the Task Groups had further progress to report.

TASK GROUP/COMMITTEE REPORTS – NET DISTANCE LEARNING REPORT
Bob Huber…….

Mr. Huber reviewed the statistical report. Some of the highlights included the following:

• Network2 year-to-date hours increased by 24% and classes by 25%.
• DS3 circuit has been terminated-budget cuts.
• NVCN hours remained the same as this time last year with the highest use in Scottsbluff. Scottsbluff also had the highest number of attendees.
• IP report. Wayne State hours are probably not accurate due to level of switch activation. Actual number of hours should be more than chart indicates.

Mr. O’Neill arrived at the Lincoln site at 10:05 a.m.

Dr. Huck indicated that if the SECC NVCN site could be better utilized elsewhere, it would not be a problem for Southeast Community College.

APPROVAL OF MEMBER VACANCY ON TRAINING ADVISORY WORK GROUP
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

Ed W. Webster, Director of Information Technology Development, Nebraska Indian Community College, was introduced as a new nominee to serve on the Training Advisory Workgroup. Mr. Webster is currently working toward a Masters in Technology, and has written and been awarded a grant to develop a Community Learning Center. Mr. Webster gave his remarks to the Council and expressed that he felt honored and privileged to be part of the Work Group. He also invited the Council visit the college and reservation.

Mr. Linster moved to approve Ed Webster as a new member of the Education Council's Training Advisory Work Group. Dr. Rastovski seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Bartels-Yes, Holly-Yes, Dietz-Yes, Engel-Yes, Huck-Yes, O’Neill-Yes, Smith-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Linster-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, and Ziegler-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

RECOMMENDATION OF PRIVATE/INDEPENDENT HIGHER EDUCATION MEMBER TO N.I.T.C.
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

Dr. Roger Koehler has resigned. Tip O’Neill, currently the alternate, would become the official member. An alternate will need to be determined.

Mr. Linster moved to approve Tip O’Neill as a new member on the Education Council representing private and independent colleges. Dr. Preusser seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Ziegler-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Linster-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Smith-Yes, O’Neill-Abstained, Huck-Yes, Engel-Yes, Dietz-Yes, Holly-Yes, and Bartels-Yes. The motion was carried by majority vote: 13-yes and 1-Abstained.

LB833 UPDATE (PDF 98k)
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

Mr. Fisher was not available to provide a report. Mr. Rolfes provided a brief overview of the statistical charts indicating the DENC applicants by school district, consortium, and install request year. All work is proceeding on schedule.

NEBRASKA NETWORK WORKGROUP (PDF 133k) UPDATE
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

The first meeting of the Nebraska Network Workgroup will be held on February 11th at the Nebraska Center for Continuing Education. The Lieutenant Governor has approved the first meeting of the group prior to official approval of the charter and membership by the N.I.T.C. This was to occur at the January N.I.T.C.meeting. The January meeting was postponed due to the Lieutenant Governor being called to Washington, D.C. for a national Homeland Security meeting.

VIDEO STANDARDS DRAFT DOCUMENT (PDF 139k)
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

The Technical Panel adopted the Video Standards recommendation for final approval by the N.I.T.C. at their February meeting.

PROJECTS – HIGHER EDUCATION NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR LISTSERVE
Dennis Linster, Chief Information Officer, Wayne State

A couple of years ago, NEHEIT (Nebraska Higher Education Information Technology) was organized. Anyone in higher education who was an information technology administrator could belong to the organization. The group has a good listserve (NEHEIT@creighton.edu).

Mr. Linster proposed the development of a similar listserve for any higher education technology staff. The purpose would be to share information regarding information technology issues, for example aggregation purchases. Mr. Linster offered to host it at Wayne State. Members asked if it could be a collaborative effort and involve K-12 institutions. Mr. Wibbels will take the proposed concept to the Education Service Unit administrator’s meeting for discussion. Members were asked to consider this concept for further discussion. Mr. Dietz will make the membership list available to the N.I.T.C. office.

PROJECTS – STATEWIDE I.T. TRAINING CALENDAR
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

T.A.N. (Technologies Across Nebraska) posed the question as to how citizens find out about available I.T. training. Mr. Rolfes has been developing the concept of a web site similar to the public meeting calendar that would include searchable fields. Nebraska Online indicated that such a web site would not be difficult to host or maintain. Members discussed the quality of training that would be listed and that a disclaimer would need to included. The Council made two recommendations: 1) start with listing public, private and independent educational institutions training opportunities, and 2) forward this idea to the Training Advisory Workgroup for further development and follow through. Mr. Rolfes will report at the February meeting.

PROJECTS – DISTANCE LEARNING CLASSROOM INVENTORY
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

The State of Iowa has a DLD (Distance Learning Database) that citizens can access to determine the locations of distance learning classrooms. Mr. Rolfes asked the Council if this would be a worthwhile project to undertake. Members offered suggestions for resource entities such as NET, the Nebraska Distance Learning Association, the N.I.T.C., or the Nebraska Digital Network Workgroup. The topic was tabled for discussion at a future meeting.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

The Office of the NITC/CIO is hosting a website regarding legislation that would affect the councils and information technology. Members were encouraged to visit the web site periodically through the legislative session: http://www.nitc.state.ne.us/itc/sg/legislation.html

OTHER

Dr. Bergman had a question as to the role of the Education Council to review funding requests. The N.I.T.C. staff have been developing timelines and will get to the members as soon as they are determined. Fall meetings may need to be changed to meet the NITC’s deadlines for recommendation to the legislature.

Dr. Rastovski reminded the Council that the Nebraska Council of School Administrators of Nebraska and the Nebraska Department of Education have received a Gates grant to train school administrators in Nebraska in the use of information technology. This will occur over a three-year period and is available to private and public school administrators. Dr. Rastovski said that the training is bringing about a profound change.

Mr. Hahn asked if any of the Council members has any information on the $2 million grant awarded to AIM regarding I.T careers. Dr. Hendrickson serves on their board and informed the group that the grant’s focus was private industry in the Omaha area and some out state. Mr. Rolfes said that he has been in e-mail contact and that the grant is for workforce development.

Mr. Rolfes announce that notification about the N.E.T.C. training grants will go out on February 1st. Grant application deadline is April 2nd. As recommended by the Education Council, eight or nine $10,000 grants and two $25,000 collaborative grants will be awarded. The Office of the C.I.O./N.I.T.C. will host the application forms on their web site.

NEXT MEETING DATE AND LOCATIONS AND ADJOURNMENT

The next meeting dates and locations for the Education Council meetings are as follows (all meetings begin at 9 a.m.):

February 15th – Creighton University
March 15th – Video conference sites
April 19th – Norfolk, possibly

Ed Webster invited members to the reservation and the Nebraska Indian Community College for one of the meetings possibly this summer. Mr. Wibbels adjourned the meeting at 11:30 a.m.

Minutes were taken by Lori Lopez Urdiales and reviewed by Tom Rolfes, Office of the C.I.O./N.I.T.C.

Meeting Minutes