EDUCATION COUNCIL

Nebraska Information Technology Commission
Friday, March 21, 2003 @ 10:30AM CT
Midland Lutheran College-Fremont, NE
Dining Hall-President’s Room
(EC task groups met from 9:00-10:30am in a non-public setting to further their work)

APPROVED MINUTES

VOTING MEMBERS/ALTERNATES PRESENT:
Mr. Dennis Baack, alt.-Nebraska Community College Association
Ms. Linda Engel, Nebraska City Public Schools
Dr. Jerry Harnisch, alt.-Midland Lutheran College
Mr. Kent Hendrickson, alt.-UNL
Dr. Yvette Holly, alt.-UNMC
Mr. Jeff Johnson, Centennial Public Schools
Mr. Dennis Linster, alt.-Wayne State College
Dr. Jerry Moskus, Metropolitan Community College
Dr. Ed Rastovski, Wahoo Public Schools
Mr. Alan Wibbels, ESU 10

LIAISONS PRESENT:
Mr. Bob Huber, Nebraska Education Telecommunications Commission
Dr. Dean Bergman, Nebraska Department of Education
Mr. Wayne Fisher, alt.-Nebraska Department of Education

MEMBERS AND LIAISONS NOT PRESENT:
Mr. Keith Bartels, Nebraska Association of School Boards; Mr. Terry Haack, Elkhorn High School; Dr. Jack Huck, Southeast Community College; Dr. Tom Krepel, Chadron State College; Mr. Joe LeDuc, Catholic Diocese of Lincoln; Mr. Thomas O’Neill, Jr., Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Nebraska; Mr. Al Schneider, ESU 5; Ms. Brenda Decker, DAS-Division of Communications; Dr. David Powers, Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education.

GUESTS PRESENT:
John Fiene, UNO; Travis Wagner, Qwest.

CALL TO ORDER, ELECTRONIC POSTING, ROLL CALL AND INTRODUCTIONS
Co-Chair, Mr. Alan Wibbels called the meeting to order at 10:35 a.m. There were 10 voting members present at the time of roll call. A quorum existed to conduct official business. Mr. Wibbels stated that the meeting notice was posted to the NITC and the Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar Web sites on February 24, 2003 and March 6, 2003 and that the meeting agenda was posted to the NITC Web site on March 18, 2003.

The members and guests introduced themselves.

Mr. Jerry Harnisch left the meeting at 9:15am.

APPROVAL OF THE MORNING’S AGENDA
Mr. Dennis Linster moved to approve the March 21, 2003 agenda. Dr. Jerry Moskus seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Holly—yes; Engel-yes; Baack—yes; Johnson—yes; Moskus—yes; Hendrickson—yes; Rastovski—yes; Linster—yes; Wibbels—yes. All were in favor, motion carried.

APPROVAL OF THE February 21, 2003 Minutes
Mr. Dennis Linster moved to approve the February 21, 2003 minutes as presented. Mr. Jeff Johnson seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Holly—yes; Engel-yes; Baack—yes; Johnson—yes; Moskus—yes; Hendrickson—yes; Rastovski—yes; Linster—yes; Wibbels—yes. All were in favor, motion carried.

PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.

WORKGROUP/COMMITTEE REPORTS

Training Advisory Workgroup – No report.

NET Distance Learning Report (Excel 119k) - Mr. Bob Huber referred to the February, 2003 DLS report, linked to the agenda. February Network 2 hours increased to 728 hours, up from 628 the previous year. February Network 3 hours decreased to 1507, down from 1745 hours the previous year. February NVCN hours dropped to 478 hours, down from 600 the previous year. Mr. Rolfes asked about the effect of the course cancellation penalty fee and whether it is having the desired effect. Mr. Huber responded that the budget impact has made that assessment very complex.

NEBRASKA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION REPORT

Education Council members requested at the February 21 meeting that someone give a presentation showing the structure of the NITC and how its various work groups interrelate. Mr. Rolfes distributed a handout showing the structure of the NITC, listing its various work groups. He narrated the work of the various councils and Technical Panel, elaborating on the Collaborative Aggregation Partnership and its relationship with the Network Policy Work Group and the Network Architecture Work Group. Mr. Rolfes ended with an explanation of the newly formed Statewide Synchronous Video Work Group. There were several questions and discussion from the members or alternates. Mr. Rolfes mentioned that the NITC would be meeting on Monday, March 24 in a strategic planning mode to review its goals, vision, mission, and the progress made toward an efficient infrastructure.

The discussion prompted the Education Council members to consider a resolution asking the Commission to respond to several concerns and challenges faced by the Council en route to achieving its goals. Their concerns fell into three areas: 1) The Council lacks any funding or real authority to enact change. Some members suggested the need for a grant fund similar to the Community Technology Fund and the Government Technology Collaboration Fund. 2) The Education Council expected that the biennial budget review process would help projects that achieved a high ranking. Instead, identifying projects and putting them through the process actually seemed to be a detriment in terms of funding from the Legislature and that education-related agencies have learned not to go through the NITC prioritization process. 3) The Education Council is impatient with the slow progress in developing a statewide education network and the lack of any real funding commitment from the state. Every other state with a statewide education network started out with a substantial amount of seed money. The NITC should perform the role of advocate.

UPDATE: PSC WORKSHOP FOR INVESTIGATION OF DISTANCE LEARNING SERVICES

Mr. Rolfes reported that the Nebraska Public Service Commission held its workshop to investigate distance learning services on March 18 from 2-5pm CT at 11 NVCN sites across Nebraska. Besides the Education Council resolution and the Technical Panel written comments, 22 other entities submitted written comments and 12 education-related entities opted to share verbal comments during that afternoon workshop. Although the Public Service Commission will assist in the immediate implementation of the Distance Education Network Completion Grant schools, it became evident that a medium to long-range planning group needs to be formed to help with setting goals and making recommendations. Michael Beach, NET and NITC Technical Panel, offered the Statewide Synchronous Video Work Group as the group best equipped to make the technical and non-technical recommendations necessary to achieve a statewide synchronous video system. The Public Service Commission welcomed the offer and asked that it receive periodic updates from this work group over the next 12-24 months.

EDUCATION COUNCIL ACTION ITEMS

Task Group Reports:

Due to the length of time to address the main agenda items, the Task Group reports were deferred until the April meeting. Mr. Rolfes encouraged each task group to come up with at least one detailed deliverable that can be accomplished prior to the June NITC meeting.

OTHER BUSINESS

Mr. Rolfes related that the NETCOM RFP was scheduled for release by State of Nebraska Purchasing on March 24, 2003. The opening date of bids will be May 1, 2003.

CONFIRMATION OF LOCATIONS

Mr. Dennis Linster reminded the Council that Wayne State College would still host the Council on April 18. Mr. Kent Hendrickson reminded the Council that he will be hosting one or two presenters from Kansas for the May 16 Education Council meeting. Mr. Alan Wibbels suggested that the April 18 Education Council meeting be moved to April 17 since most K-12 districts would not be in session on April 18, two days before Easter. The Council agreed and asked Mr. Rolfes to make the necessary arrangements.

ADJOURNMENT

Mr. Wibbels adjourned the meeting at 12:14 PM.

Minutes were taken by Tom Rolfes, Education IT Manager.

Meeting Minutes