EDUCATION COUNCIL

NEBRASKA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION
October 9, 1998
MINUTES
Clifford Hardin Center for Continuing Education
33rd & Holdrege Streets
Lincoln, Nebraska

MEMBERS PRESENT
Arnold Bateman (for Chancellor Moeser) UNL	Terry Miller, Administrator, ESU 13
Dr. William Berndt, Chancellor, UNO Medical Center	Dennis Linster, Director of Network Services, Wayne State College
Keith Bartels, School Board Member, Lincoln Public Schools	Art Tanderup, Teacher, Tekamah-Herman Public School
Susan Fees, Teacher, Christ the King School	Alan Wibbels, Media Technology Director, ESU 10
Dr. Richard Gilliland, President, Metro Community College	Dr. Kristine Wolzen, Superintendent, Arlington Public Schools
Dr. Uma Gupta, McGraw Chair of Information Science, Creighton University	Woody Ziegler, Co-Principal, York Elementary
Dr. Jack Huck, President, Southeast Community College
MEMBERS ABSENT
Jeff Johnson, Teacher, Centennial Public Schools	Dr. John Muller, President, Bellevue University
EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS PRESENT
Dr. Dean Bergman, Administrator, Technology Center, NDE	David Powers, Executive Director, Post Secondary Coordinating Commission
OTHERS PRESENT
Tom Rolfes, Office of CIO/NITC	Lori Lopez Urdiales, Office of CIO/NITC
Don Ferneding, ESU 3	Donald Vanderheiden, NDE
Chuck Friesen, LPS	Walter Weir, UNCSN
John Horvath, SNDLC	Mike Winkle, NITC
Jay Jacobsen, Peru State College	Al Schneider, ESU 5

CALL TO ORDER, MINUTES AND FUTURE MEETING DATES:

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. Jack Huck. Dr. Huck asked for corrections, additions and/or comments to the September minutes. Dr. Berndt would like to have a salutation and last name of members used in the minutes rather than first names. On page three of the minutes under "Education Proposal and Process", Dr. Gilliland wanted it clearly stated that there were strong objections raised from some of the council members to the relative lack of adherence to the September 15th deadline agreed upon by the council. Under this same section in the discussion regarding NEB*SAT, Dr. Berndt wanted the minutes to read that he suggested as one option that NEB*SAT become a subcommittee of the Education Council and is one of many options. Mr. Wibbels wanted his title corrected to read Media Technology Director. Under "New Business", Mr. Wibbels corrected the spelling of SYSCO to Cisco and will work with the recording secretary for clarification on this section. Dr. Gilliland moved and it was seconded by Dr. Bergman to approve the minutes with the above corrections/additions. All were in favor. Minutes were approved.

REVIEW OF COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP AND SECTOR REPRESENTATION:

With the number of proposals to be reviewed at the meeting, it was by group consensus to table this discussion until the next meeting.

REVIEW OF PROPOSAL RATING PROCESS:

Prior to the council meeting, a technical panel reviewed the thirty-three proposals and rated them according to six key project proposal considerations. In addition, staff members also reviewed the proposals, using the Education Assessment Document. This information, copies of the proposals and rating sheets were shared with the council members. The Council will review each proposal and make a recommendation as to High, Medium or Low priority. Proposals will not be ranked first, second, etc. within each of these categories. The Council's recommendations will be forwarded to the NITC for final approval.

ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FUNDING PROPOSALS:

The Council worked through the noon hour to review the thirty-three proposals. Recommendations listed below were by group consensus or by a majority vote. The following recommendations will be submitted to the NITC:

High Priority Proposals
ESU Administrators Association/Dept. of Education (include 37 school districts in distance education)	ESU Administrators Association/Dept. of Education (replace .5 cent reduction in levies)
ESU Administrators Association/Dept. of Education (replace .5 cent reduction in levies)	Metropolitan Community College/UNO (High speed connectivity project)
Southeast Community College-Lincoln (Link SCC to 4 other locations to offer Surgical Technology Program)	Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission (Replace aging traffic/scheduling software)
Nebraska Dept. of Education (School Financing Reporting System Project)	Coordinating Commission on PostSecondary Education (contingent upon disapproval of Collaborative Grant)
NETC-NEB*SAT (Satellite Receiver-only Antennas Project to K-12 schools, contingent upon approval of KU-band Technology)	NETC-NEB*SAT (Ku-band Satellite System Project for educational programming, contingent upon approval of KU-band Technology)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (University-wide Technology Plan)	NETC-NEB*SAT (Network 3 System completion of modernization)
NETC-NEB*SAT (Network 3 Digital Switch Project to replace VTEL MCU-II)	Nebraska State College System (Purchase Resource 25 software for all three state college campuses)
NETC-NEB*SAT (statewide interconnection project)	University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Extended Education Project)
NETC-NEB*SAT (Digital Switch Expansion Project)
Medium Priority Proposals
Tri-Valley/Southeast Nebraska Distance Learning Consortia (High speed video/audio/data link)	Little Priest Tribal College-Winnebago (Distance learning Center to connect to AITHEC)
Low Priority Proposals
Central Community College-Grand Island (Build distance learning classrooms at 3 new locations)	Western Nebraska Community College (Distance learning link between WNCC and Sidney High School)
Western Nebraska Community College (Distance learning link between WNCC and Sidney High School)	NETC-NEB*SAT (Help Desk staff expansion project)
NETC-NEB*SAT (additional engineers/technicians)	NETC-NEB*SAT (equipment Satellite Internet Data System)
NETC-NEB*SAT (Video on Demand)	NETC-NEB*SAT (Digital Satellite MCPC Encoder Project, contingent upon approval of KU-band Technology) **
**(This rating would change to high contingent on the Skjei recommendation regarding Ku-band.)
Proposals that did not fall within the domain of the Education Council
NETC-NET*SAT (Distance Learning Formative Evaluation Project)	Nebraska Dept of Education (computer replacement & LAN upgrade)
Nebraska Dept of Education (computer replacement for distance learning lab)	Wayne State College (replacement of administrative computer)
Peru State College (request for staff person)	Peru State College (upgrading of computer lab request)
Chadron State College (request for hardware and software for "web for students")	Nebraska Dept of Education (new office computers)

Action Items that resulted from proposal discussions were as follows:

It was moved by Dr. Bergman and seconded by Dr. Gilliland that the Education Council endorse the recommendation to extend the consultant contract with Skjei Telecom to include a study of a statewide infrastructure. All were in favor. Motion carried.

It was by group consensus to submit the following recurring themes to the NITC for consideration:

• Support to NEB*SAT for requests that are different from the Educational Council's domain, for example the Help Desk Staff Expansion Project.
• State support for connectivity costs
• R&D and Video - on - Demand Project requests
• Statewide Backbone Project

Issues and items that arose for discussion at a future meeting and prior to the next round of applications were as follows:

• Clarification of proposals - fairness of availability of information all, not just some applicants
• Representation on technical review committee to include other sectors
• Provide opportunity for educational institutions to provide input on the application form and information requested
• The lack of information regarding the state's "backbone" and infrastructure plan made proposal review difficult
• What do we do in the future regarding R&D and video on demand requests?
• Technical Review Committee and Staff recommendations - how much does the Council rely on this, clarification as to why and how ratings were given to the proposals

ESTABLISH PROCEDURE FOR DISCUSSION OF STATEWIDE FIBER BACKBONE PROJECT:

Mr. Wibbels informed the Council that in September he began working with Mr. Rolfes to hold a meeting to begin discussion of this issue. As other entities got word of the meeting, more and more individuals wanted to attend. Due to the time frame and law regarding notice of public meetings, the meeting was not held. Discussion followed and it was suggested that this should be discussed by subcommittee composed of members from all NITC councils and used as a type of needs assessment. Mr. Winkle reported that the NITC wants to take the same approach. Dr. Bergman moved and it was seconded by Dr. Gilliland to endorse discussion and conduct a needs assessment survey through the NITC councils with the different sectors involved. All were in favor. Motion was carried.

OTHER:

The August minutes were in the council members' packets for their review. These will be discussed at the November meeting and will not be posted to the website until approved.

NEXT MEETING DATE, TIME AND LOCATION:

The next meeting will be held Monday, November 16th, 9:00 a.m. at the Southeast Community College-Lincoln Downtown Campus, 1111 O Street. Parking is available on the south side. Dr. Gilliland moved and it was seconded by Dr. Bergman to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.

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

Meeting Minutes