VOTING MEMBERS/ALTERNATES PRESENT:
Mr. Ed Hoffman, Nebraska State College System
Mr. Clark Chandler, Nebraska Wesleyan University
Mr. Jeff Johnson, Centennial Public Schools
Dr. Michael Chipps, Mid-Plains Community College
Dr. Randy Schmaizl, Alt. for Dr. Eileen Ely, Western Nebraska Community College
Dr. Terry Haack, Bennington Public Schools
Mr. Stephen Hamersky, Daniel J. Gross Catholic High School
Ms. Yvette Holly, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Mr. Chuck Lenosky, Creighton University
Mr. Jeff Stanley, Alt. for Mr. Kent Gydesen, Lexington Public Schools
Mr. Craig Pease, Ashland-Greenwood Public Schools
Dr. Bob Uhing, Educational Service Unit 1
LIAISONS/ALTERNATE MEMBERS PRESENT: Dr. Kathleen Fimple, Alt. for Dr. Marshall Hill, CCPE and Ms. SuAnn Witt, Alt. Mr. for Mike Kozak, NDE
MEMBERS/LIAISONS ABSENT: Mr. Arnold Bateman, University of Nebraska; Mr. Ron Cone, ESU 10; Mr. Leonard Hartman, Alliance Public Schools; Mr. Dennis Linster, Wayne State College; Ms. Brenda Decker, DAS-CIO; and Mr. Gary Targoff, NET
CALL TO ORDER, ELECTRONIC POSTING, LOCATION OF OPEN MEETING LAW DOCUMENTS, ROLL CALL, INTRODUCTIONS
Dr. Chipps called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m. There were 10 voting members present at the time of roll call. A quorum existed to conduct official business. The meeting notice was posted to the Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar June 4, 2010 and the agenda posted to the NITC Web site June 4, 2010. A copy of the Nebraska Open Meetings Act was available on the front table.
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA FOR THE JULY 6, 2010 MEETING
Dr. Uhing moved to approve the July 6, 2010 agenda as presented. Mr. Hamersky seconded. Roll call vote: Hoffman-Yes, Chandler-Yes, Johnson-Yes, Chipps-Yes, Haack-Yes, Hamersky-Yes, Holly-Yes, Stanley-Yes, Schmailzl-Yes, and Uhing-Yes. Results: Yes-10, No-0, Abstain-0. Motion carried.
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE APRIL 9, 2010 MEETING
Mr. Hoffman moved to approve the April 9, 2010 minutes as presented. Ms. Holly seconded. Roll call vote: Chandler-Yes, Johnson-Yes, Chipps-Yes, Haack-Yes, Hamersky-Yes, Holly-Yes, Stanley-Yes, Schmailzl-Yes, Uhing-Yes, and Hoffman-Yes. Results: Yes-10, No-0, Abstain-0. Motion carried.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
MEMBERSHIP - CONSIDER A MOTION TO FORWARD THE EDUCATION COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP NOMINATIONS TO THE NITC FOR THEIR APPROVAL
Mr. Hamersky moved to forward the slate of new and renewing members to the NITC for approval. Mr. Johnson seconded. Roll call vote: Chandler-Abstain, Johnson-Yes, Chipps-Yes, Haack-Yes, Hamersky-Yes, Holly-Yes, Stanley-Abstain, Uhing-Abstain, and Hoffman-Yes. Results: Yes-7, No-0, Abstain-3. Motion carried.
The Education Council Co-chairs recognized Dr. Ely and Mr. Gydesen for their dedicated service on the Education Council.
NETWORK NEBRASKA UPDATE
Mr. Lenosky arrived at the meeting.
Mr. Rolfes provided an update on several items and issues affecting Network Nebraska.
FCC Order 10-33. Allows for members of the public and community use of K-12 telecommunication facilities without charge or loss of funding to schools. This opens the door for community college education courses and/or community organizations to use videoconferencing. This order is temporary through June 30, 2011 but most likely it will become a permanent order. For the upcoming fall, entities will need to plan for this use.
2010-11 Participation Fees. Mr. Rolfes shared a copy of the fee memo that was sent to all Network Nebraska participants from Brenda Decker, State CIO. ESUs forwarded this to superintendents and colleges were e-mailed directly. New services in the Participation Fee include network management software and traffic shaper technology. More detailed information about each service’s implementation will be shared at a future meeting. A service level agreement for Network Nebraska and all participants is still being developed. Once in final draft, it will come back to the Education Council and Network Nebraska Advisory Group for review and approval.
2010-11 Interregional Transport Fees. Page 2 of the Fee memo provided a historical listing of backbone fees since the start of the project.
Internet Access Migration. The conversion from Qwest to Windstream Internet occurred on July 1. Most entities’ conversions went well. The northeast region was postponed to July 6 due to some Windstream routing issues. Over 2Gbps of commodity Internet was transitioned without any problems.
Mr. Pease arrived at the meeting.
Traffic Shaper Implementation. Two new devices will be installed and will allow larger regional consortia to manage their traffic.
Network Management Software. The cost is already built into the Network Nebraska participation fee budget as an enterprise licensed service.
Mr. Chandler asked if Network Nebraska would ever be considering the development and hosting of an enterprise learning management system for all members. Mr. Rolfes shared that members of the CIO’s office had been invited to earlier discussions about just such an initiative. Dr. Uhing shared that K-12 has been discussing this type of initiative because of the Race to the Top application. Some of the higher education representatives expressed interest in participating in further discussions. Matt Blomstedt, Executive Director of the ESU Coordinating Council has been taking the lead and will be organizing further meetings. A question was asked whether it would be an enterprise solution or web-based application – both options have been discussed. Members agreed that an enterprise license with all education entities involved would be more cost effective. K-12 is very aware of the need to involve higher education due to dual credit courses, in addition to technology. Members asked if a concept paper was available. Dr. Uhing thought that one existed in connection with the Race to the Top grant application. Members asked whether the NITC was involved. At this point, the OCIO has been asked to be part of the discussion for the technical aspect. Members asked about the status of the Angel implementation in K-12. Mr. Rolfes shared some statistics from a recent report. The Co-Chairs asked that statewide learning management and statewide content management be added as topics for the next Education Council meeting, with Matt Blomstedt invited to report.
NETWORK NEBRASKA ADVISORY GROUP - May 6, 2010 Meeting Notes
Tom Rolfes
Mr. Rolfes provided an overview of the May 6 meeting of the NNAG as well as their recommendation to the CIO to modify the cost recovery model for Participation and Interregional Transport. The Network Nebraska Advisory Group recently discussed the cost recovery model for Network Nebraska. It examined the “one circuit—one fee” approach versus the “one entity—one fee” approach and decided to recommend the “one entity—one fee” approach to offset the additional costs that six small rural districts were experiencing who were unable to sub-aggregate their infrastructure after district consolidation. The total effect on Network Nebraska was eight fewer K-12 entities, five new higher education entities for a net decrease of three entities and an increase of about $6.22/month/entity for Participation for 2010-11.
The NNAG met via phone conference to discuss and make recommendations. The group regularly holds their meetings via videoconference. They want to encourage the state legislature to revise the Open Meetings Act to allow for more videoconferencing by public meetings.
TASK GROUP REPORTS
Dr. Haack assumed control of the agenda.
Funding/Erate. Mr. Hamersky reported that the group has not met recently and there was not much to report.
Services Task Group Report. No report.
Governance Task Group. Ms. Holly reported that the Governance Task Group has had conference calls and proposed next steps to evaluate the Network Nebraska Advisory Group. Tasks included:
Co-Chair Haack asked Mr. Rolfes to develop a document that clearly explains each group, their responsibilities, and their reporting structure. Mr. Rolfes acknowledged.
Marketing Task Group. Ms. Witt reported that the Marketing group has not met to address action plans but there have been discussions of potential overlap of the Marketing task group with the NNAG marketing subcommittee. A new marketing survey will be administered in December and the Education Council needs to determine how this will be conducted. At the last NITC meeting the survey data was shared. The Marketing task group would like to explore how to progress from stated needs to provided services.
Members suggested that we need clarification about all three groups – CAP, Education Council, NNAG – and how they all work towards providing improved service. Mr. Henderson, Project/Planning Administrator for the OCIO clarified that the CIO actually works for the network members rather than vice versa.
As newcomer, Mr. Stanley said that he views the NNAG as a group that should address operational issues and if there is a recommendation for network enhancements, direction or vision, that that be the recommendations of the Education Council. The Education Council and NNAG members need to remember that the CIO’s responsibilities serves many entities outside of education.
Co-Chair Haack asked that the groups’ responsibilities be on the next meeting’s agenda as a discussion item. Mr. Rolfes was asked to send a link to the Education Council charter, the NNAG charter, the Distance Education Council, the ESU Coordinating Council, and any formational documents relating to the Collaborative Aggregation Partnership. Mr. Rolfes acknowledged.
STATEWIDE TECHNOLOGY PLAN
Reformulate Task Group Table of membership and assignments to work on the NITC Action Items - Action Item listing
Matrix – Mr. Rolfes distributed copies of the Action Items, Task Group Table, and matrix of Action Item assignments.
Co-Chair Haack took the Education Council members through a thorough review of all three documents and reconciled and updated the member participation and assignments.
OTHER/ANNOUNCEMENTS
Update: Nebraska-specific Round 2 BTOP applications. Mr. Rolfes reported that none of the six Nebraska BTOP applications have been funded. Iowa did get some funding for their ICN network. All six Nebraska applicants are still being considered and three are in due diligence stages
Co-Chairs Haack and Chipps congratulated Steve Henderson on his new position as the City of Lincoln’s CIO beginning August 1st.
AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE 09/02/2010, 1:00PM MEETING & CONSIDER LOCATION FOR THE 09/02/2010 MEETING
Suggested agenda items:
The CIO/NITC staff will find a suitable location in or near Lincoln, Nebraska, with the possibility of videoconferencing.
ADJOURNMENT
Dr. Uhing moved, and Mr. Pease seconded, to adjourn the meeting. All were in favor. Meeting adjourned at 3:20 p.m.
Minutes were recorded by Lori Lopez Urdiales and reviewed by Tom Rolfes.