EDUCATION COUNCIL

Nebraska Information Technology Commission

Friday, July 16, 2004, 9:00 a.m.

Southeast Community College-Continuing Education Center

301 S 68th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska

MINUTES

VOTING MEMBERS/ALTERNATES PRESENT:

Mr. Arnold Bateman, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Dr. Wayne Bell, (Alt. for Al Schneider)
Dr. Michael Chipps, Mid-Plains Community College

Ms. Yvette Holly, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Dr. Jack Huck, Southeast Community College
Mr. Jeff Johnson, Centennial Public Schools
Mr. Joe LeDuc, Catholic Diocese of Lincoln
Mr. Dennis Linster, Wayne State College;
Mr. Tip O’Neill, (Alt. representing Independent Colleges)
Mr. Alan Wibbels, Educational Service Unit 10

LIAISON MEMBERS PRESENT:

Mr. Mike Beach, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission
Mr. Wayne Fisher, Department of Education

MEMBERS/LIAISONS ABSENT: Ms. Brenda Decker, Division of Communications; Ms. Linda Engel, Nebraska City Public Schools; Dr. Terry Haack, Bennington Public Schools; Dr. Tom Krepel, Chadron State College; Mr. Chuck Lenosky, Creighton University; Mr. Michael Pate, Millard Public Schools; Dr. David Powers, Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education; and Dr. Ed Rastovski, Wahoo Public Schools

CALL TO ORDER, ELECTRONIC POSTING, ROLL CALL

Dr. Huck called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. It was stated that the meeting notice was posted to the NITC and Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar Web sites on May 21, 2004 and that the meeting agenda was posted to the NITC Web site on July 12, 2004. There were nine voting members present at the time of roll call. A quorum existed to conduct official business.

APPROVAL OF THE JULY 16, 2004 AGENDA

Mr. O’Neill moved to approve the July 16th agenda as presented. Mr. Bateman seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Bateman-Yes, Chipps-Yes, Holly-Yes, Huck-Yes, Johnson-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Linster-Yes, O'Neill-Yes, and Bell-Yes. Results: 9-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

APPROVAL OF MAY 21, 2004 MINUTES

Mr. LeDuc moved to approve the May 21st minutes as presented. Mr. Johnson seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Bell-Yes, O'Neill-Yes, Linster-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Johnson-Yes, Huck-Yes, Holly-Yes, Chipps-Yes, and Bateman-Yes. Results: 9-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

PRESENTATION: JUVENILE DATA SHARING STRATEGIC PLAN
Mike Overton, Crime Commission

The project seeks to develop a comprehensive strategic plan for the improvement of juvenile data sharing. The resulting plan will provide a comprehensive strategic approach as well as basic tactical initiatives that can be usef to provide short and long term improvements. It is a joint project sponsorship between the NITC State Government Council and the CJIS Advisory Committee. The Nebraska Coalition for Juvenile Justice will provide federal funds for the project. An RFP was released to hire a consult to assist with the strategic plan. MTG Management Consultants of Seattle were awarded the contract. A steering committee will guide the project. It is anticipated that the project will be completed by January 2005. Becky Wild, Lincoln Public Schools, will be involved in the steering committee. Mr. Overton entertained questions.

VIDEO STANDARDS RECOMMENDATIONS AND BACKGROUND REPORT (PDF 323k)
Michael Beach, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission

Mr. Beach provided a brief review of the Report: A Video and Audio Compression Standard for Synchronous Distance Learning and Videoconferencing in the State of Nebraska and highlighted the following charts: Community Representation on page 30, Signal Aspect Ratings Online Survey on page 32, Video Rating on page 46, and Video Quality on page 47. The report included results of objective and subjective testing. The NITC Technical Panel approved this for the 30-day comment period. Mr. Beach encouraged members to provide input. The Technical Panel will meet again on August 10th to review comments for recommendation to the NITC. The NITC will meet in September to take action on the recommended video standards. Discussion followed as to the period for future review of the Standards. Mr. Beach entertained questions.

NEBRASKA INTERNET2 K-20 INITIATIVE SEGP ACTIVITIES
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

Mr. Rolfes distributed copies of the press release announcing Internet2 and the press conference held in Kearney, July 14, 2004. The SEGP application was approved July 9, 2004. The membership is valid for a one year. The University of Nebraska has paid for the first year. The Council will need to address funding options for continued membership. Any school on Network Nebraska can participate in I2. The Lt. Governor has helped to champion this effort. Nebraska is the 34th state in the country that is participating. Efforts will now focus on communication and awareness so that educational institutions utilize this service. Presentations at conferences will be conducted. An article will be published in NITC News and the NETA newsletter. Members were asked to send Mr. Rolfes any other ideas to help build awareness. Dr. Bell stated that ESU 10 was very pleased with the press conference and felt that it was well attended. Twenty-five teachers were in attendance as they were part of a distance learning workshop taught by John Stritt, part of the Nebraska K-20 Initiative Steering Committee.

The Education Council meeting recessed for a break and a tour of Southeast Community College Continuing Education Center.

NITC STRATEGIC INITIATIVES – NETWORK NEBRASKA
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

On June 3rd, the NITC held their meeting in Columbus, Nebraska and tentatively approved eight strategic initiatives. The Education Council had recommended three of the initiatives: Network Nebraska, Statewide Synchronous Video Network, and the Nebraska eLearning Initiative as being critical for the development of Nebraska education in the next biennium. The initiatives will guide the Statewide Technology Plan, as well as help with the budget process. Staff will be working on a gap analysis of these initiatives to determine the current status, future state, and the missing components.

As a related topic, budget requests are due on September 15th. The Education Council will need to prioritize any educational I.T. project proposals that may be submitted. A joint committee consisting of representatives from Education, State Government councils, and Technical Panel will meet to recommend a single prioritized list to the NITC. The NITC will review the prioritized list and submit their recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature.

Mr. Linster announced that on Monday, July 12th, Wayne State will go live on Network Nebraska and will serve as a Tier II community for Network Nebraska.

Mr. Golden announced that bids had been submitted for Network Nebraska Internet1 service provision and the pricing is considerably less than anticipated.

CAP will be meeting on July 21st. One of the agenda items is to vote on a logo for Network Nebraska. There are plans to establish a toll-free number.

NITC STRATEGIC INITIATIVES – eLEARNING
Jim Zemke, University of Nebraska

Mr. Zemke reported that eLearning presentations had been made at NETA and the NITC and contacts have been made at other conferences. Mr. Zemke reported that the Nebraska Web-based Staff Development Affiliated Consortium (NWSDAC) had recently endured a contractual misunderstanding regarding the use of Blackboard. The contract was for professional development usage and not for classroom usage, content management or course management. NWSDAC had released an RFP for 2004-05 service and CyberLearning Lab's Angel software was awarded the contract. It is anticipated that it will be ready for use by K-12 classrooms in Fall, 2004. Three workshops are being planned around the State to inform the educational community about the eLearning initiative and to gather input. Tentative dates will be planned for the weeks of August 16th, September 6th, or September 13th. Prior to conducting the workshops, documents and information regarding the initiative will be distributed electronically so that the agenda will affiord more work product and less literacy building. Locations for the workshops will likely be higher education institutions. Southeast Community College and Wayne State College volunteered to host the Nebraska eLearning planning workshops, once they're decided. Mr. Zemke entertained questions.

NITC STRATEGIC INITIATIVES – STATEWIDE SYNCHRONOUS VIDEO NETWORK
Mike Beach, Educational Telecommunications Commission

The Statewide Synchronous Video Work Group's task force on JPEG upgrade issues is addressing migration and implementation. Congressman Osborne’s staff is assisting by exploring options for federal funding of additional e-rate dollars. Scheduling software will be the next focus of the SSVWG. The high bandwidth, wide area networking service recently communicated by the telecommunications industry has generated a considerable amount of debate, especially among K-12 entities.

OTHER BUSINESS

Mr. Linster announced that the Midwest Higher Education Consortium (www.mhec.org) now has a contract to purchase Xerox printers and copiers for institutions at a lower cost.

NEXT MEETING DATES, TIMES, AND LOCATIONS

The next meeting of the NITC Education Council will be at 9:00 a.m. on the following dates and locations:

September 17th – University of Nebraska Medical Center

October 15th – Lincoln location to be determined (if needed to address the I.T project proposals)

With no further business, Dr. Huck adjourned the meeting at 11:45 a.m.

Meeting minutes were taken by Lori Lopez Urdiales and reviewed by Tom Rolfes of the Office of the CIO/NITC.

Meeting Minutes