EDUCATION COUNCIL

Nebraska Information Technology Commission

Friday, July 18, 2003, 9:00 a.m.

NVCN Sites:

Lincoln Executive Building, 521 S. 14th, Suite 103

Chadron State College Student Center, Scottsbluff Room

Wayne State College Connell Hall, Room 021

Omaha State Office Building, 2nd Floor

MINUTES

VOTING MEMBERS/ALTERNATES PRESENT:

Ms. Judi Carter, alt. for Teachers

Ms. Yvette Holly, alt. for University of Nebraska

Dr. Jack Huck, Southeast Community College

Mr. Jeff Johnson, Centennial Public Schools

Mr. Chuck Lenosky, Creighton University

Mr. Dennis Linster, alt. for State Colleges

Dr. Robert Manzer, alt. for Independent Colleges

Dr. Jerry Moskus, Metropolitan Community College

Mr. Michael Pate, Millard Public Schools

Mr. Al Schneider, ESU 5

Dr. Robin Smith, alt. for State Colleges

Dr. Sheila Stearns, Wayne State College

Mr. Alan Wibbels, ESU 10

LIAISONS PRESENT:

Ms. Brenda Decker, DAS-Division of Communications

Mr. Bob Huber, Nebraska Education Telecommunications Commission

MEMBERS AND LIAISONS NOT PRESENT: Dr. Dean Bergman, Nebraska Department of Education; Mr. Terry Haack, Elkhorn High School; Dr. Harvey Perlman, UNL; Mr. Joe LeDuc, Catholic Diocese of Lincoln; Dr. David Powers, Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education; Dr. Ed Rastovski, Wahoo Public Schools.

CALL TO ORDER, ELECTRONIC POSTING AND INTRODUCTION

Mr. Wibbels called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. Members introduced themselves from the videoconference locations. There were twelve voting members at the time of roll call. A quorum existed to conduct official business. The meeting notice was posted to the NITC and Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar Web sites on May 16, 2003. The meeting agenda was posted to the NITC Web site on July 15, 2003.

APPROVAL OF JULY 18, 2003 AGENDA

Mr. Schneider moved to approve the July 18, 2003 agenda as presented. Mr. Johnson seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Holly-Yes, Carter-Yes, Huck-Yes, Johnson-Yes, Smith-Yes, Lenosky-Yes, Moskus-Yes, Manzer-Yes, Pate-Yes, Schneider-Yes, Stearns-Yes, and Wibbels-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

APPROVAL OF MAY 16, 2003 MINUTES

Dr. Manzer moved to approve the May 16, 2003 meeting minutes as presented. Dr. Moskus seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Holly-Yes, Carter-Yes, Huck-Yes, Johnson-Yes, Smith-Yes, Lenosky-Yes, Moskus-Yes, Manzer-Yes, Pate-Yes, Schneider-Yes, Stearns-Yes, and Wibbels-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

WELCOME NEW EDUCATION COUNCIL MEMBERS AND ALTERNATES

Chuck Lenosky, Rob Manzer, and Michael Pate were welcomed as new members to the council. Alternates Bill Path and Linda Richards were not present but were also mentioned and welcomed to the council.

Ms. Carter left the meeting at 9:20 a.m.

PRESENTATION UPDATE: DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATEWIDE NETWORK (MS PowerPoint 442k)

Brenda Decker, Director, Division of Communications, State of Nebraska
Steve Schafer, Chief Information Officer, State of Nebraska

Alltel was awarded the contract for Phase I of the statewide backbone. It is a 5-year contract with periodic price reviews and includes a performance bond. A MPSL (Multi-Protocal System Layer) network will be provided. Benefits of this type of network include cost savings, scalability and support of multiple protocols. Current network costs for the state are estimated at $25,000/month and that these new segment prices and aggregation may allow a savings upwards of $5,000 per month with MPSL. A Form 470 has been filed with the Federal Universal Service Fund-School and Libraries Division to allow for e-Rate reimbursements. The RFP for Phase II was released on July 9 with an implementation date of January 2004. The Division of Communications is also in the process of filing a Form 470 for Phase II. Anne Burke, representing Chadron State College and western Nebraska, will be on the evaluation team for Phase II. Questions were entertained. Ms. Holly expressed thanks and congratulation to Mr. Schafer and Ms. Decker on their efforts. Mr. Schafer deferred congratulations to the efforts of Ms. Decker, Walter Weir and the CAP (Collaborative Aggregation Partnership) group.

NITC REPORT: JUNE 10th, 2003 MEETING

Steve Schafer, Chief Information Officer

A variety of updates were provided to the NITC Commissioners during their June 10 meeting. The main action item for the June meeting was the update and approval of the Statewide Technology Plan. There were some changes made in the organization and content of the plan. A new section serves as an introduction and explains the purpose and scope of the plan. The purpose of the Statewide Technology Plan is to set forth the vision and goals for the use of information technology in Nebraska, with a set of action items that will guide the work of the NITC and its councils. Section 2 reflects the mission and goals of the NITC. Council priorities are now included in this section. They represent specific objectives for accomplishing the four NITC goals. Section 3 is the Action Plan. It follows the same format as previous years, except that action items are organized around the four goals of the NITC, rather than being listed by the sponsoring Council. Section 4 provides effectiveness measures, including a summary of progress on last year’s action items. Content is also organized by the NITC goals.

LT. GOVERNOR’S KEARNEY PRESS CONFERENCE, JULY 15, 2003 (PDF 64k)

Steve Schafer, Chief Information Officer

Along with Mr. Schafer, President Dennis Smith, Lieutenant Governor Dave Heineman, Dean Bergman, and Alltel’s Regional President were in attendance for the press conference announcing Phase I. The Kearney newspaper did an article. A similar press conference will be scheduled when the contract has been awarded for Phase II.

INTERIM NETWORK POLICY WORK GROUP FORMATION

Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

At the September 16, 2002 NITC meeting, Commissioners requested that a Network Feasibility Study be conducted. Several Education Council members served on that work group. As a result of the study, the Collaborative Aggregation Partnership (CAP) was organized. The Interim Network Policy Work Group is a joint committee formed by the NITC Councils (State Government; Education; and Community) to develop recommendations on policy issues pertaining to the management and operation of shared networks, including policy input to the CAP. The first meeting is scheduled for August 1, followed by another meeting on Aug 13. After August 13, there will be more regular one-half day meetings. If any council members are interested on serving on the Interim Network Policy Work Group, they should inform Mr. Rolfes.

APPOINTMENT OF EDUCATION COUNCIL ACTION ITEM TASK GROUPS

All Education Council members and alternates were asked to participate in the task groups. Council members/alternates should be familiar with the action items and determine which task group would interest them. Each task group decides on their own how often to meet and how they will accomplish their objectives. A sign-up sheet was sent around at the Lincoln videoconference site and off-site members were asked for their interest. As of the close of the meeting, the following individuals expressed their preferences for the Education Council action item task groups:

EC 1.1 – Chuck Lenosky, Al Schneider, Alan Wibbels, Bob Huber

EC 1.2

EC 1.3 -- Yvette Holly

EC 2.1 – Jerry Moskus

EC 5.1 – Michael Pate

ED 5.2 -- Jeff Johnson

ED 6.1 – Rob Manzer, Robin Smith, Bob Huber

Mr. Rolfes will send an email reminder to members and alternates to sign up.

NEBRASKA APPLICATION FOR INTERNET2 K-20 INITIATIVE/SPONSORED EDUCATION GROUP (SEGP) STATUS

Mr. Rolfes shared background information with the Education Council members and alternates so they could consider approval of the resolution.

It was the recommendation of the NITC Technical Panel that the Education Council be involved in SEGP membership for Nebraska. Walter Weir, Chief Information Officer for the University of Nebraska, has offered to pay for the SEGP first year of membership. The council will need to consider how to pay for the membership after that first year. Rick Golden suggested that the costs could be divided among several agencies – K-12, ESUs, community colleges, state colleges, independent colleges and universities, zoos, libraries, and science centers. At the May 16 Education Council meeting, a presentation on Internet2 was provided to clarify questions. So far, at least twenty-eight (28) statewide education networks have been recognized as Internet2 SEGP states. Annual membership fees are determined by each State's number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives plus a level charge of $30,000. Nebraska's annual SEGP membership charge would be $36,000. The Internet2 K-20 initiative would mainly be beneficial for Nebraska education entities to exchange content and video with other states and/or institutions that are on I2. If the University of Nebraska agrees to apply on behalf of Nebraska's education community, it will take an estimate of 90 days for the application to be approved. The first year of Internet2 service would be July 1, 2004 - June 30, 2005. This would give education entities time to gauge their sector’s interest and commitment to sign up for continuing costs that would begin July 1, 2005.

Dr. Stearns left the meeting at 10:05 a.m. Dennis Linster, alternate, stayed for the remainder of the meeting.

The text of the Education Council resolution read as follows:

The Education Council of the Nebraska Information Technology Commission, directly and indirectly representing Nebraska public and private K-12 and higher education, hereby resolves to:

• Encourage the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the primary Internet 2 participant within the State of Nebraska, to make application to the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID) on behalf of the public and private educational institutions of Nebraska (K-12 school districts, Educational Service Units, Community Colleges, State Colleges, Independent Colleges and Universities) as a Sponsored Education Group Participant (SEGP) of Internet 2 in the Abilene Network;

• Encourage all of Nebraska’s educational institutions to abide by the Abilene Network Terms of Participation including the Abilene Conditions of Use, which is part of the Participation Agreement;

• Encourage the education community to name one or more advanced network applications between Nebraska formal and informal educational entities and educational entities outside of Nebraska’s borders;

• Assist in the identification and/or provision of three Internet2 K-20 Initiative Advisory Team members from Nebraska to attend regional and national meetings

• Promote the inclusion and involvement of other Nebraska educational and research entities (state agencies such as NDE, Game & Parks Commission, Library Commission; museums; zoos; hospitals; and public libraries) into SEGP status;

• Work collaboratively with the University of Nebraska and other education entities to construct a cost allocation model that will ensure sustainability of Internet 2 services and participation.

Dr. Manzer moved to adopt the resolution to support a Nebraska application for membership to the K-20 Initiative/Sponsored Education Group Participation (SEGP) of Internet 2 (Word 23k). Mr. Pate seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Lenosky-Yes, Smith-Yes, Johnson-Yes, Huck-Yes, Holly-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Linster-Yes, Schneider-Yes, Pate-Yes, Manzer-Yes, and Moskus-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

WORK GROUP/COMMITTEE REPORTS

Training Advisory Work Group. There was no report.

NET Distance Learning Report (Excel 117k), Bob Huber. At the end of the last fiscal year, there was a 10% reduction in services, and fees decreased by 50% for spring 2002 to 2003. Questions and comments were entertained.

NAMING THE NEBRASKA NETWORK (PDF 60K) (Other States Network Names)

The State of Nebraska will need to decide on a name for the network. Mr. Rolfes included a list of names that other states have used for their network, as well as the state’s partners. A request for suggested names will be included in the next NITC newsletter. Council members were asked to provide suggestions and input.

OTHER BUSINESS

There was no other business.

NEXT MEETING DATE AND TIMES

The Council members and alternates opted to cancel the August 15 meeting in order to allow time for semester start-up. The next meetings of the NITC Education Council are as follows:

Friday, September 19th, 9:00 a.m. – Dennis Linster will host at Wayne State College with possible NVCN locations.

Friday, October 17th, 9:00 a.m. – Mr. Pate will host at Millard Public Schools.

With no further business, Mr. Wibbels adjourned the meeting at 10:42 a.m.

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

Meeting Minutes