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EDUCATION COUNCIL

NEBRASKA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION
Monday, August 19, 1999, 9:00 a.m.
Club Room, W.H. Thompson Alumni Center
UNO Campus, 67th & Dodge Streets, Omaha, Nebraska

APPROVED MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT

Mr. Keith Bartels
Lincoln Public Schools
Dr. Richard Gilliland
Metro Community College
Ms. Carna Pfiel (Non Voting)
CCPE
Dr. William Berndt
UN Medical Center
Dr. Uma Gupta
Creighton University
Mr. Art Tanderup Tekamah-Herman Public Schools
Dr. Dean Bergman (Non Voting)
Department of Education
Dr. Jack Huck
Southeast Community College
Mr. Alan Wibbels
ESU 10
Mr. Larry Bock
Blair Public Schools
Dr. Don King
Chadron State College (Via Phone)
Dr. Woody Ziegler
York Elementary School
Mr. Rick Koch (Non voting rep)
Bellevue University
Dennis Linster
Wayne State College
Ms. Brenda Decker (Non Voting)
Division of Communications
Dr. David Myers
ESU 18

MEMBERS ABSENT

Mr. Jeff Johnson, Dr. James Moeser

CALL TO ORDER: The meeting of the Education Council of the Nebraska Information Technology Commission was called to order at approximately 9:00 a.m. by co-chair Dr. Huck. Roll call was taken - nine of sixteen members were present at time of roll call. A quorum was present in order to conduct official business. Dr. Huck announced that notice of the public meeting was given by electronic means. The meeting date, time and location was posted to the NITC web site on August 6th.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA: There were no additions or corrections to the agenda. Dr. Myers moved and it was seconded by Mr. Tanderup to approve the agenda as presented. Roll Call Vote: Bock-Yes, Gupta-Yes, Huck-Yes, King-Yes, Linster-Yes, Myers-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Ziegler-Yes. Motion carried.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Dr. Myers moved and it was seconded by Mr. Bock to approve the July 15th minutes as presented. Roll Call Vote: Bock-Yes, Gupta-Yes, Huck-Yes, King-Yes, Linster-Yes, Myers-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Ziegler-Yes. Motion carried.

Mr. Bartels arrived at the meeting at 9:06 a.m.

PUBLIC COMMENT: There was no public comment.

PRESENTATION - MIDWEST HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION DISTRIBUTED LEARNING WORKSHOPS, Dr. Roger Wess, Chadron State College:

Dr. Wess provided information on the distributed learning workshop modules design and implementation. The Commission is comprised of 850 private and public institutions from Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin. The target audience is general education courses with large enrollments. Dr. Wess entertained questions from the council members.

Dr. Berndt arrived at the meeting at 9:22 a.m. Dr. Gilliland arrived at the meeting at 9:30 a.m.

PRESENTATION - HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SKILLS AND CAREERS, Dr. Uma Gupta, Creighton University:

A total of 23 schools (public, private and parochial) participated in the study with a total of 1005 respondents. If members are interested in receiving copies of the full study, members can contact Dr. Gupta. Some of the findings included:

  • Females in coed settings are more interested in IT careers
  • Elementary school age children can be influenced toward IT careers
  • Middle school age had a significant drop of interest
  • Hispanics had more interest in IT that any other cultural groups
  • Female respondents stated there is little or no career counseling toward IT careers

Dr. Huck acknowledged the members not present at the time of introductions and asked them to introduce themselves.

STATEWIDE TECHNOLOGY PLAN:

On August 1st, the subcommittee met to begin work on Sector Priorities, Barriers and the Action Plan. Dr. Huck acknowledged the facilitator, Phyllis Gilliland, and her expertise in assisting the subcommittee with their task. Mr. Rolfes was also acknowledged for his work. A document was distributed to members for their review and input. Within 60 days, the Education Council's Action Plan for the Statewide Technology Plan must be completed for approval by the NITC.

Dr. Huck recommended that members take the document for review and to be ready for discussion and adoption at the next meeting. Members are to send comments to Mr. Rolfes within the next two weeks. Mr. Rolfes will facilitate the communication among the subcommittee and council members electronically.

PRESENTATION - TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS ASSESSMENT (TINA) STUDY, Tim Erickson, Intergovernmental Data Services:

The TINA Study has incorporated all of the NITC Councils' Sector Priorities as its goals. The objectives include the following:

  • Prepare a comprehensive inventory and assessment of the current telecommunications infrastructure
  • Identify new telecommunications and information technologies and plan for the future public and private development.
  • Identify current and future information applications requirements for communities of interest: 1) state and local government, higher education, K-12, libraries, tribal governments, community networks, etc. and 2) providers
  • Identify policy issues for consideration by appropriate policy making entities
  • Identify the implication that a proper network design would have on economic development
  • Engage communities of interest in preparing telecommunications strategies recommendations with a business case, budget and timeline
  • Recommend an on-going process to implement, review and revise to meet needs
  • Provide dialog with communities of interest
  • Inform Nebraska public officials about strategies

The TINA study fits with the statewide plan as follows:

  • Provides a portion of the inventory for the technology information clearinghouse
  • Helps to identify definitions and components of the technical infrastructure
  • Augmenting portions of the strategic directions for the technical infrastructure
  • Draft plan will be available for implementation in conjunction with State Plan and operational aspects will continue until the final plan is adopted.

Mr. Erickson informed the members that there will be a web site developed to inform the public about the progress of the project. Members suggested working with the ESU's to get input from the schools, utilizing the Department of Education's schools' technology plans as a resource, and involving independent colleges and universities in the study also.

EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEES - Dr. Jack Huck:

The document for Proposed Educational Telecommunications Committees was distributed to members. It was by group consensus to add a liaison from CCPE to serve on all committees. It was also by group consensus to include a liaison from the Division of Communications to serve on the Operations Committee.

Dr. Ziegler moved and it was seconded by Mr. Bartels to approve the Educational Telecommunications Committees structure as revised. Roll Call Vote: Bartels-Yes, Berndt-Yes, Bock-Yes, Gilliland-Yes, Gupta-Yes, Huck-Yes, King-Yes, Linster-Yes, Myers-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Ziegler-Yes. Motion carried.

The document for Proposed Committees Membership was distributed to members. Members were asked at the last meeting to submit nominations (self or others) to Mr. Rolfes to serve on the telecommunications committees prior to the August meeting. Individuals listed on the sheet for considered membership were taken from submitted nominations. It was recommended for the Higher Education sector that there should be two higher education representatives per sub-sector. The members broke up into two groups, K-12 and postsecondary, to make their selections. The results are listed below:

OPERATIONS:

The eight K-12 Representatives are Nigel Buss, Shirley Schall, B.J. Peters, John Horvath, Chris Petroff, Diane Wolfe, Al Schneider, and Lief Rassmussen. The eight Higher Education Representatives are Neil Henning, Craig Carlson, Steve Johnson, Reba Benschoter, Chuck Lenosky, Rick Koch, and 2 State College Representatives to be determined by the State College Office. The liaisons are Max Thacker, Bob Huber or Glen Felt, Carna Pfeil, and Brenda Decker.

POLICIES, PROCEDURES AND PLANNING:

The four K-12 representatives are Keith Bartels, Woody Ziegler, Art Tanderup, and Alan Wibbels. The four higher education representatives are Bill Berndt, Jack Huck, John Muller and 1 State College Representative to be determined. The liaisons are Brenda Decker, Dean Bergman, Max Thacker or Gwen Nugent, and David Powers.

TRAINING ADVISORY:

The four K-12 representatives are Sandy Blankenship, Michael Cunning, Bill Menovsek, and Burma Kroger. The four higher education representatives are Sara Cunningham, Collette Hanson, Arnold Bateman, and 1 State College representative to be determined. The liaisons are Dean Bergman, Gwen Nugent, and Tracie Klosterman.

Dr. Gupta moved and it was seconded by Mr. Linster to accept the slate of nominated members for the Telecommunications Committees of the Education Council. Roll Call Vote: Bartels-Yes, Berndt-Yes, Bock-Yes, Gilliland-Yes, Gupta-Yes, Huck-Yes, King-Yes, Linster-Yes, Myers-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Ziegler-Yes. Motion carried.

Committees are to meet as soon as possible. Committees will determine length and rotation of membership.

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 2010:

Mr. Wibbels distributed information on the upcoming conference to be held February 24-25th. There are financial corporate sponsors for the conference. Mr. Wibbels asked if the Education Council would like to be an endorsing sponsor in name only.

Mr. Bock moved and it was seconded by Dr. Myers that the Education Council endorse the conference. Roll Call Vote: Bartels-Yes, Berndt-Yes, Bock-Yes, Gilliland-Yes, Gupta-Yes, Huck-Yes, King-Yes, Linster-Yes, Myers-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Ziegler-Yes. Motion carried.

OTHER:

Dr. Bergman distributed an updated report entitled "Nebraska School Technology Ranked at Top in the Nation.

Dr. Gupta distributed brochures on the "Information Technology in the Workplace: Opportunities, Challenges, and Solutions" conference to be held, September 13-14 in Omaha.

Mr. Rolfes distributed the schedule of public forums to be held on the Secretary of State's Imaging. Information was also distributed regarding the Secretary of State's, Governor's Office, and the NITC's E-Government Conference to be held September 30th and October lst.

NEXT MEETING DATE/TIME AND ADJOURNMENT:

It was decided to schedule regular meetings every third Friday of the month in the mornings. The next meeting dates are September 17th in Bellevue, October 15th in Wayne, and November 19th at Creighton in Omaha.

Minutes taken by Lori Lopez Urdiales, Administrative Assistant, and Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager, Office of the CIO/NITC.

Meeting Minutes