Thursday, March 6, 2008, 9:00-11:30am CT
Videoconferencing
Host site: NET Board Room, 1800 N. 33rd Street, Lincoln
Remote 1: Public Library, 2020 First Avenue, Kearney, Nebraska
Remote 2: Wayne State College Library, 1111 Main Street, Wayne, Nebraska
MINUTES
VOTING MEMBERS/ALTERNATES PRESENT:
Mr. Arnold Bateman, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Mr. Clark Chandler, Nebraska Wesleyan University
Dr. Michael Chipps, Mid-Plains Community College
Mr. Ron Cone, Educational Service Unit 10 (Kearney)
Mr. John Dunning, Alt. for Dennis Linster, Wayne State College (Wayne)
Dr. Eileen Ely, Western Nebraska Community College
Mr. Kent Gydesen, Lexington Public Schools, Alt. for Linda Richards, Ralston Public Schools (Kearney)
Dr. Terry Haack, Bennington Public Schools
Mr. Steven Hamersky,Daniel J. Gross Catholic High School
Mr. Ed Hoffman, Alt. for Stan Carpenter, State College System
Ms. Yvette Holly, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Mr. Jeff Johnson, Centennial Public Schools
Mr. Chuck Lenosky, Creighton University
Mr. Craig Pease, Ashland-Greenwood Public Schools
Mr. Art Tanderup, Tekamah-Herman Community Schools
Dr. Bob Uhing, Educational Service Unit 1 (Wayne)
LIAISON/ALTERNATE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mr. William Scheideler, DAS Budget Division, Alt. for Brenda Decker; Mr. Mike Kozak, Nebraska Department of Education; Mr. Terry Dugas, NETC, Alt. for Michael Winkle; Ms. SuAnn Witt, Nebraska Department of Education, Alt. for Mike Kozak.
MEMBERS/LIAISONS ABSENT: Dr. Marshall Hill, Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education
CALL TO ORDER, ELECTRONIC POSTING, LOCATION OF OPEN MEETING LAW DOCUMENTS, ROLL CALL, INTRODUCTIONS
Dr. Chipps called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. There were 12 voting members present at the time of roll call. A quorum existed to conduct official business. It was stated that the meeting notice was posted to the NITC and Public Meeting Calendars Web sites on February 12, 2008 and the meeting agenda was posted to the NITC Web site on March 4, 2008. A copy of the Open Meetings Law was available on the wall of the Board Room as well as each of the remote sites.
Mr. Cone, Mr. Gydesen and Mr. Pease joined the meeting at 9:05 a.m.
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA FOR THE MARCH 6, 2008 MEETING
Mr. Bateman moved approval of the March 6, 2008 meeting agenda. Ms. Holly seconded. Rollcall vote: Bateman-Yes, Chandler-Yes, Chipps-Yes, Cone-Abstain, Ely-Yes, Gydesen-Yes, Hamersky-Yes, Hoffman-Yes, Holly-Yes, Johnson-Yes, Lenosky-Yes, Pease-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, and Uhing-Yes. Results: Yes-13, No-0, Abstain-1. Motion passed by majority.
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE JANUARY 31, 2008 MEETING
Mr. Tanderup moved approval of the minutes of the January 31, 2008 meeting. Mr. Hamersky seconded. Rollcall vote: Uhing-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, Gydesen-Yes, Pease-Yes, Lenosky-Yes, Johnson-Yes, Holly-Yes, Hamersky-Yes, Ely-Yes, Cone-Yes, Chipps-Yes, Chandler-Yes, Hoffman-Yes, Bateman-Yes, Results: Yes-14, No-0. Motion passed unanimously.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
Mr. Dunning joined the meeting at 9:15 a.m. via videoconference from Wayne State College.
MEMBERSHIP: NDE LIAISON ALTERNATE
Mr. Kozak introduced Ms. SuAnn Witt as the alternate liaison from the Nebraska Department of Education. Ms. Witt is the new State Erate Coordinator and Infrastructure Specialist. Ms. Witt provided an overview of her background as having worked for Omaha Public Schools for the past 36 years, 24 of which were in Information Management Services, and having worked with the Federal Universal Service Fund Program since its inception in 1998. Ms. Witt was welcomed by the other Council members.
LB 1208 UPDATE
Mr. Rolfes provided an update to the LB 1208 project. Approximately 88 K-12 and higher education entities plan to join Network Nebraska in the summer of 2008. In addition, approximately 46 entities will have their network upgrades postponed until August 2009 due to unsatisfactory pricing or delayed contract terms or negotiations. The Office of the CIO is reviewing costs and revenue of the Network Nebraska Participation Fee and will be contacting Phase I entities by mid-March with the revised fee amount to finish the performance year until June 30, 2008. Also, Network Nebraska staff are developing an budget for 2008-09 including both Network Nebraska costs and Interregional Transport costs on the backbone and should be able to communicate those rates by April.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Mr. Rolfes distributed a handout listing legislative bills affecting educational technology. The Legislature passed LB 823 on Tuesday morning. LB 823 includes the recommendations of the Legislature’s Performance Audit Study Committee and was that committee’s priority bill. LB 823 will create a new NITC council called the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Council. Other bills mentioned in the handout affected the oversight of the Public Service Commission, recycled electronics, state aid formula, and distance education. Arnold Bateman and Yvette Holly asked that a legislative update be given at the next Education Council meeting.
Terry Haack joined the meeting at 9:45am.
NITC REPORT AND 2008 ACTION PLANS
Mr. Rolfes gave a brief summary of the NITC 3/4/08 meeting agenda. Mr. Rolfes reported that the NITC approved the entire slate of action items without changes. The NITC also passed four new standards and policies. One policy dealt with the content that an agency might include when seeking a waiver or exemption from a particular state standard. All standards and guidelines are posted to the NITC website: http://www.nitc.state.ne.us/standards/ .
Dr. Chipps gave a brief overview of the NITC action items belonging to the Network Nebraska and Digital Education strategic initiatives. Rather than work through each action item one by one, the Co-Chairs suggested that the Council members/alternates divide themselves up into themed task groups devoted to the accomplishment of the action items. After much discussion, the following task groups were named:
The Council members and alternates identified and numbered the 15 action items arising from the Network Nebraska and Digital Education strategic initiatives that involved the Education Council and divided them among the four task groups as follows (with some overlap of action items between task groups). Prioritization of the action items was determined by each task group.
Governance:
1) N4h Review the Network Nebraska governance and leadership structure.
2) N4g Create a Network Advisory Group and meeting structure for education entities to provide input to Network Nebraska (CAP).
3) D1 Set a deadline, and establish standard(s) related to the administration and maintenance of learning management systems and content management systems by K-12 schools.
4) N2a The Network Nebraska network design/support team will develop a memorandum of agreement with local and regional education entities in order to develop a cooperative support system for the statewide network that will mitigate data transport and synchronous video problems.
Marketing:
1) N3 The CAP will accept new orders for Internet service and continue to aggregate purchasing demand to secure a more economical price for statewide Internet service.
2) N4a Develop an appropriate catalog of services and bandwidth thresholds for Network Nebraska to serve all education entities.
3) D4 Encourage higher education entities to list all dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment course opportunities on the statewide clearinghouse and scheduling software system.
4) D2 Promote the availability, distribution, and use of digital media throughout the Nebraska educational community.
Funding/Erate:
1) D3 Develop an affordable plan to provide access to learning management system software for every teacher and learner who uses synchronous video distance learning and to also train teachers in effective instructional design to integrate synchronous and asynchronous technologies.
2) N4f Work to change the federal E-rate policies that create impediments and financial disincentives for collaborative usage of networks and videoconferencing by ineligible populations (preK, adults, telehealth, etc…).
3) N4d Develop a formula for E-rate cost allocation that allows affordable fees for adult education and other ineligible population services to take place in K-12 settings.
4) N4e Work to amend Nebraska Department of Education policies to include PreK as an eligible population for Universal Service Fund (Erate) purposes.
Services:
1) N4a Develop an appropriate catalog of services and bandwidth thresholds for Network Nebraska to serve all education entities.
2) N4b Charter a work group to research advanced network services for Network Nebraska customers.
3) N4c Implement a statewide on-line presentation and meeting software solution.
4) D3 Develop an affordable plan to provide access to learning management system software for every teacher and learner who uses synchronous video distance learning and to also train teachers in effective instructional design to integrate synchronous and asynchronous technologies.
5) D4 Encourage higher education entities to list all dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment course opportunities on the statewide clearinghouse and scheduling software system.
The four task groups each met for a few minutes to determine their next steps and how to make progress over the next 30-60 days.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
There were no announcements.
AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE 5/1/08 MEETING
Agenda items for the 5/1/08 meeting included a Legislative update and brief reports from the four task groups.
CONSIDER LOCATION FOR THE 5/1/08 MEETING
Tom Rolfes was charged with finding a suitable location for the 5/1/08 meeting. The meeting will begin at 1:00pm.
ADJOURNMENT
Chuck Lenosky moved, and Ed Hoffman seconded, to adjourn the meeting. All were in favor by voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 11:29am.
Meeting minutes were recorded by Tom Rolfes, Education I.T. Manager of the NITC.