EDUCATION COUNCIL
Nebraska Information Technology Commission
Wednesday, May 16, 2001, 11 a.m.
Nebraska Wesleyan University, All-American Room, Weary Health & Fitness Center
53rd and Huntington, Lincoln, Nebraska
MINUTES
MEMBERS PRESENT |
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| Keith Bartels, Boards of Education | Dr. Don King, alternate for Chadron State College |
| Larry Bock, Blair Public Schools | Joe LeDuc, Lincoln Diocese |
| Con Dietz, Creighton University | Dr. Joe Preusser, Central Community College |
| Linda Engel, Nebraska City Public Schools | Al Schneider, ESU’s |
| Kent Hendrickson, UNL | Alan Wibbels, ESU 10 |
| Yvette Holly, alternate for UNMC | Dr. Rob Ziegler, Madison Public Schools |
| Dr. Jack Huck, Southeast Community College | Art Tanderup, Tekamah-Herman Public Schools |
LIAISON NON-VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT: Bob Huber, alternate for NETC; Dr. Dean Bergman, Department of Education; Dave Wagaman, alternate for Division of Communications |
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MEMBERS ABSENT: Dr. Roger Koehler, NE Methodist College; and Sheila Sterns, Wayne State College |
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WELCOME, CALL TO ORDER, ELECTRONIC POSTING AND INTRODUCTIONS
Brian Viets, Chief Information Officer, Nebraska Wesleyan, welcomed the Education Council and provided a brief history and update of the information technology efforts at Nebraska Wesleyan University.
The co-chair, Dr. Jack Huck, called the meeting to order at 11:09 a.m. Roll call was taken. There were eleven voting members present at time of roll call. A quorum existed to conduct official business. Dr. Huck stated that the meeting notice and agenda were posted to the NITC and Public Meeting calendar on April 24th. The agenda was posted to the NITC Web site May 15, 2001.
APPROVAL OF MAY 16, 2001 AGENDA
Mr. Bock moved to approve the May 16, 2001 agenda as presented. Dr. Preusser seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Bartels-Yes, Holly-Yes, Bock-Yes, Huck-Yes, Engel-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, King-Yes, Schneider-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, and Wibbels-Yes. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.
APPROVAL OF APRIL 20, 2001 MEETING MINUTES
Dr. Hendrickson arrived at 11:14 p.m.
Mr. Bartels had a correction to the first sentence of the fifth paragraph in the TINA/WIDEN/NETCOM Update section of the minutes. The sentence should read, “A copy of the Draft “Letter of Intent” was also distributed to members to take back to their institution and sectors.”
Mr. Bartels moved to approve the April 20, 2001 minutes as corrected. Mr. Bock seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Wibbels-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Schneider-Yes, King-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Engel-Yes, Huck-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, Bock-Yes, Holly-Yes, and Bartels-Yes. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
COMMITTEE REPORTS – OPERATIONS WORK GROUP
Mr. Rolfes reported that the Work Group met in Kearney on May 11th to review and amend the NEB*SAT fee structure proposal. The proposal is ready for the Council’s review and approval as an action item for today’s meeting. Mr. Rolfes acknowledged the Work Group members for their hard work.
COMMITTEE REPORTS – POLICIES, PROCEDURES & PLANNING
No report.
COMMITTEE REPORTS – TRAINING ADVISORY WORK GROUP
Ms. Klosterman reported that the Work Group met on May 3rd for grant reviews and selection. Nineteen (19) grants were awarded totaling $169,000. The list of awarded projects was distributed. The recommendation list will go to the NETC on Thursday for final approval. After approval by the NETC, correspondence will be sent to the grantees. The next Work Group meeting will be a summer retreat to discuss the grant format and application process.
COMMITTEE REPORTS – NET DISTANCE LEARNING REPORT
A written report was distributed to Council members. Mr. Huber reviewed the report and entertained questions from the Council members.
CONSIDER RECOMMENDATION FOR NEB*SAT COURSE CANCELLATION FEES TO NEBRASKA EDUCATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Mr. Rolfes provided a brief history of the development of the recommendations. Randy Hiatt, Southeast Community College, and Norma Patterson, UNL, presented the Operations Work Group-Users Group May 11 revised proposal for the NEB*SAT course cancellation structure.
Dr. Ziegler arrived at the meeting at 11:28 p.m.
Several members expressed concerns regarding: disincentives to distance education; monetary penalty and fairness to smaller institutions; and cancellations. Most members felt that the Work Group dedicated a lot of work and time to reach a compromise among all the interest groups. The Education Council has been asked by the Legislature to recommend some fee structure to the NETC. The NETC has final approval.
Dr. Hendrickson moved to approve the recommendations for NEB*SAT course cancellation fees to be forwarded to the NETC for final approval. Dr. Preusser seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Ziegler-Yes, Bartels-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Holly-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, Bock-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Hendrickson-No, Schneider-Yes, Huck-Yes, King-No, Engel-Yes, and LeDuc-Yes. Voting results: 11-Yes and 2-No. Motion was carried by majority vote.
Dr. Hendrickson presented copies of received letters of concerns to be part of the documentation.
CONSIDER RECOMMENDATION OF NEW MEMBERS AND TERM RENEWALS OF EXISTING MEMBERS TO THE NITC
Mr. Rolfes reviewed the following list of nominations with the Council for their recommendation to the NITC for final approval:
Higher education membership term renewals:
Dr. William Berndt, UNMC, representing public universities
Mr. Con Dietz, Creighton University, representing private and independent universities
Dr. Jack Huck, Southeast Community College, representing community colleges
Dr. Tom Krepel, Chadron State College, representing state colleges
K-12 membership term renewals:
Mr. Joe LeDuc, Lincoln Catholic Diocese, representing private/parochial K-12 teachers
Mr. Al Schneider, ESU 5, representing ESUs
K-12 membership new members:
Dr. Ed Rastovski, replacing Larry Bock, representing administrators
Ms. Linda Engel, replacing Art Tanderup, representing teachers.
Mr. Bock moved to recommend the slate of new/renewed members to be forwarded to the NITC for final approval. Mr. Bartels seconded the motion. Roll call vote: LeDuc-Yes, Engel-Yes, King-Yes, Huck-Yes, Schneider-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Bock-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, Holly-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Bartels-Yes, and Ziegler-Yes. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.
CONSIDER RECOMMENDATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CHARTER AMENDMENT TO THE NITC
Dr. Huck left the meeting. Co-Chair, Alan Wibbels, presided over the rest of the meeting.
Questions and discussion occurred regarding the definition of “information technology”.
Dr. Preusser moved to approve the recommendation of information technology charter amendment to be forwarded to the NITC for final approval. Mr. Tanderup seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Schneider-Yes, Engel-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Bock-Yes, Ziegler-Yes, Holly-Yes, King-Yes, Bartels-Yes, and LeDuc-Yes. Motion was carried by majority vote.
CONSIDER RECOMMENDATION OF EDUCATION COUNCIL ACTION ITEMS TO THE NITC
Mr. Dietz arrived at the meeting at 11:50 a.m.
Changes in wording were made to section EC 1.1 and EC 1.2 and they now read as follows:
EC 1.1
TITLE: Statewide Video Standard
DESCRIPTION: The Education Council will assist in developing and implementing the statewide video standards for distance learning including a migration path and cost analysis. A coordinated, planned deployment of technology investment across the State’s distance learning systems is needed to address interactive distance learning and new technology solutions.
LEAD: Policies, Procedures, Planning Subcommittee
TIMEFRAME: 3rd Quarter, 2001-4th Quarter, 2001
EC 1.2
TITLE: Adequate Rural Bandwidth
DESCRIPTION: The Education Council will support strategies that ensure that adequate bandwidth is being provided to the rural areas of the State so as to provide access to the same educational experiences, regardless of location. The Education Council will emphasize the needs of the rural areas, including IP-centric applications, during NETCOM transport deployment and investigate application development that supports synchronous, asynchronous distance education as well as voice/video/data transfer.
LEAD: Policies, Procedures, Planning Subcommittee
TIMEFRAME: 3rd Quarter, 2001-1st Quarter, 2002
Mr. Bock moved to approve the Education Council Action Items with the proposed changes. Mr. LeDuc seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Engel-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, King-Yes, Schneider-Yes, Preusser-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Ziegler-Yes, Bartels-Yes, Holly-Yes, Bock-Yes, Dietz-Yes, and Hendrickson-Yes. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.
DISCUSSION: POLICIES, PROCEDURES AND PLANNING STEERING COMMITTEE
There are two vacancies (one K-12 teacher and one K-12 administrator) on the Policies, Procedures, Planning Subcommittee that need to be filled. Mr. LeDuc proposed parochial/private representation on this subcommittee as well as the Training Advisory Work Group. The Council agreed to place Mr. LeDuc on the P3 subcommittee along with Kent Hendrickson, UNL. It was then suggested that additions to the Training Advisory Work Group be discussed within the work groups.
Mr. Rolfes reported that the State Government and Community Councils have gone to a different kind of meeting schedule. The full Councils would meet every other month with the Work Groups meeting more frequently. Mr. Rolfes proposed the same schedule for the Education Council. Council members felt strongly that meeting monthly was still needed for the full council.
OTHER/FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
Dr. Jim Emal provided an update on the Technologies Across Nebraska (TAN) group. The next meeting has been set for August 27, 2001 in Lincoln. TAN has formed a speakers bureau and informational Web site: http://technologiesacrossnebraska.unl.edu.
The Nebraska Summit on Distance Learning will be held from June 4-6, 2001.
Mr. Rolfes announced that the NITC will be meeting on May 23rd for the NIS review.
Mr. Winkle announced that he will not be renewing his contract as the NITC Executive Director. Mr. Winkle thanked the council for the opportunity to have worked with them. Council members also commended Mr. Winkle for all his work in information technology efforts in education.
Departing council members, Larry Bock and Art Tanderup, were recognized with Certificates of Appreciation for their service on the Council.
Dave Wagaman, Budget Office, wanted to acknowledge and express gratitude to the institutions that testified in support of LB543 which provided $75,000 for fiscal year 2003 for the NETCOM terrestrial aggregation consultant.
NEXT MEETING DATE AND ADJOURNMENT
Due to the Nebraska Summit on Distance Education to be held on June 5th-7th, the council agreed not to have a June meeting. The next meeting of the Education Council will be held on July 20th, 9 a.m. The meeting location will be determined.
Co-chair, Mr. Wibbels, adjourned the meeting at 1:30 p.m.
Minutes were taken by Lori Lopez Urdiales and reviewed by Tom Rolfes of the Office of the CIO/NITC.
Meeting Minutes