EDUCATION COUNCIL MEETING
Nebraska Information Technology Commission
Friday, July 20, 2001, 9:00 a.m.
Kauffman Academic Residential Center
14th & U Streets, UNL City Camus
Lincoln, Nebraska
APPROVED MINUTES
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Keith Bartels, Boards of Education
Dr. William Berndt, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Con Dietz, Creighton University
Renee Bose, Syracuse Elementary School (alt. for Linda Engel)
Dr. Kent Hendrickson, University of Nebraska (alt. for Dr. Perlman)
Jeff Johnson, Centennial Public School
Dr. Roger Koehler, Nebraska Methodist College
Joe LeDuc, Catholic Diocese of Lincoln
Dr. Don King, Chadron State College (alt. for Dr. Krepel)
Dr. Sarah Cunningham, Central Community College, representing Dr. Joseph Pruesser
Dennis Linster, Wayne State College
Alan Wibbels, ESU 10
Dr. Robert Ziegler, Madison Public Schools
LIAISON NON-VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mike Beach, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications
Dr. Dean Bergman, Department of Education
Brenda Decker, Division of Communication
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Dr. Jack Huck, Southeast Community College; Al Schneider, ESU 5; Dr. Ed Rastovski, Wahoo Public Schools; and Dr. David Powers, Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education
OTHERS PRESENT:
Roger Hahn, Nebraska Information Network; Jean Jones, Department of Education; Kathy Tenopir, Legislative Fiscal Office; Tip O'Neill, Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Nebraska; Wayne Fisher, Department of Education; Dave Wagaman, Budget Office
CALL TO ORDER, ELECTRONIC POSTING, ROLL CALL, INTRODUCTIONS
The Co-chair, Alan Wibbels, called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. Roll call was taken. There were 11 members present. A quorum existed to conduct official business. Mr. Wibbels stated that the meeting notice and agenda were posted to the NITC and Public Meeting Calendar web site on May 18th and the meeting agenda was posted to those same web sites on July 17th.
Mr. Johnson arrived at 9:07 a.m.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA FOR THE JULY 20, 2001 MEETING
Due to another time conflict, Mr. Linster requested that his presentation be moved
Ms. Cunningham moved to approve the minutes with the recommended change of moving Item 8 after approval of the minutes. Dr. Koehler seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Berndt-Yes, Dietz-Yes, Bose-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, Johnson-Yes, Koehler-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, King-Yes, Cunningham-Yes, Linster-Yes, and Wibbels-Yes. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.
APPROVAL OF MAY 16, 2001 MINUTES
Dr. Koehler moved to approve the May 16th minutes as presented. Mr. Dietz seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Wibbels-Yes, Linster-Yes, Cunningham-Yes, King-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Koehler-Yes, Johnson-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, Bose-Yes, Dietz-Yes, and Berndt-Yes. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.
Mr. Bartels arrived at 9:10 a.m.
MIDWEST HIGHER EDUCATION CONSORTIUM (MHEC) HARDWARE PURCHASE
Dennis Linster, Chief Information Officer, Wayne State College
Mr. Linster provided background information and history on MHEC-TECH (Midwest Higher Education Consortium Technology Purchase Program). Mr. Linster serves on the Computer Resource Task Force Committee. MHEC is allowed to enter into agreements with a variety of vendors and can sign contracts that provide favorable pricing opportunities. The Committee wanted to make sure that K-12 and private schools would be able to purchase off this agreement for purchases of over 100 units. An agreement has been signed with Gateway and negotiations are occurring with Dell and IBM. Faculty, staff and alumni will soon be able to purchase thru the contract and save 5% off the Gateway web price. Once 1000 units have been sold, Gateway will provide a 7% discount. For more information on MHEC and computer purchases go to http://www.mhectech.org or members can call Mr. Linster at (402) 375-7286 or contact the counsel of the Computer Resource Task Force 612-266-8288. Letters have been sent to all the Presidents, CIO’s, Computer Technicians and Vice Chancellors of Business Affairs of the higher education institutions in all 10 states who are members of MHEC. The information was also sent to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Dr. Ziegler arrived at 9:30 a.m.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
COMMITTEE REPORT – OPERATIONS WORK GROUP
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager, Office of the CIO/NITC
Mr. Rolfes reported that the Work Group met in early May to finalize the NEB*SAT fees structure. Their recommendations have been forwarded to the NETC and were approved at the May NETC meeting. The next meeting is tentatively set to occur in September or October.
COMMITTEE REPORT – POLICIES, PROCEDURES AND PLANNING WORK GROUP
No report was given.
COMMITTEE REPORT – TRAINING ADVISORY WORK GROUP
Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager, CIO/NITC
The Work Group met on July 11 to discuss the criteria for the Telecommunications Training grants. Tracy Klosterman will be forwarding this information to members at a future meeting.
At the May 16th Education Council meeting, the Council took under advisement the request of its private/parochial K-12 representative, Joe LeDuc, to become a member of the Training Advisory Work Group (TAWG). The TAWG discussed this issue at its July 11th retreat and are making the following recommendation to the Education Council to maintain a balance among the respective higher education sub-sectors:
“The Training Advisory Work Group recommends expansion of the TAWG to include two new members, one from K-12 private/parochial education and one from the Tribal Colleges of Nebraska.”
Dr. Hendrickson moved to approve the expansion recommendation for membership for the TAWG. Mr. Dietz seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Johnson-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, Bose-Yes, Dietz-Yes, Berndt-Yes, Bartels-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Cunningham-Yes, King-Yes, LeDuc-Abstained, and Koehler-Yes. Motion was carried by majority vote.
The staff of the Office of the CIO/NITC will, in concert with the NETC liaison to the TAWG, solicit a delegate from the Nebraska Tribal colleges to be a member of the TAWG.
Committee Charge and Charter. Mr. Rolfes reported that the Work Group will be expanding its role to address one of the six priorities of Education Council: “Identifying and facilitating diverse training opportunities”. The Council suggested that the Work Group discuss the funding level for the Telecommunications Training grants and to discuss the possibility of increasing the funding.
COMMITTEE REPORT – NET DISTANCE LEARNING
Bob Huber, Assistant Director of Engineering, NET Engineering
Mr. Huber distributed copies of a statistical report on NVCN, Net 2 and Net 3 usage and courses. Questions and comments from the Council were entertained.
VIDEO STANDARDS UPDATE
Mike Beach, Assistant General Manager, NET Engineering
Mr. Beach distributed a handout "Video Standards Work Group" identifying the work group members, approximate timeline, and criteria values. The Video Standards Work Group of the NITC Technical Panel will be meeting again on 7-20-01. Research and testing of standards is continuing. There are two more standards to receive a criteria study and the Work Group will be ready to make their recommendation to the Technical Panel within the next month or two. Mr. Beach entertained questions regarding costs, point-to-point and multi-point connections.
John Horvath, Director of the Tri-Valley Distance Learning Consortium, retired from his position at ESU 10 and has also resigned from his duties with the NITC Technical Panel’s Video Standards Work Group. A replacement must be found for the Work Group to finish the standards study and help with the development of the migration path.
The K-12 sector nominated John Stritt, the new Director for the Tri-Valley Distance Learning Consortium to replace John Horvath on the Video Standards Work Group.
Dr. Hendrickson moved to approve the K-12 sector nomination of John Stritt to replace John Horvath on the Video Standards Work Group. Dr. Berndt seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Koehler-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, King-Yes, Cunningham-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Berndt-Yes, Dietz-Yes, Bose-Yes, Hendrickson-Yes, and Johnson-Yes. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.
LB 833 IMPLEMENTATION
Wayne Fisher, Nebraska Department of Education
LB 833 funds ($3 million over three years) were appropriated to provide engineering equipment to high schools that don’t have distance learning capabilities. A list of such schools was distributed to members. It is anticipated that many classrooms will be in place by next summer. An Amendment to Rule 89 authorizing Excellence in Education distance education funding should be approved by the State Board of Education by November or December. The Education Council can review the rules once they have been developed. Mr. Fisher entertained questions and comments from the Council members concerning funding level, connectivity for statewide sharing of resources, cart options, and the distribution of dollars for upfront costs.
Dr. Koehler left the meeting at 10:58 a.m.
A meeting will be scheduled in August with stakeholders to review the draft amendment of rules and regulations for Rule 89.
BILL & MELINDA GATES GRANT FOR SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
Dr. Dean Bergman, Department of Education
The Nebraska Department of Education has received $1.3 million from the Gates Foundation to provide training to almost 900 principals and superintendents in leadership and technology. The focus is to introduce the use of technology to carry out leadership functions and to show what is taking place in the area of effective use of technology in the classroom. Dr. Woody Ziegler and Mr. Darrell Kile are co-directors of the project. There will be a kick-off event on August 1st. A training session is scheduled for September 5th-6th in Kearney. The Department of Education is exploring options and other opportunities to fill the void of providing this type of training to new and incoming administrators.
OTHER
There was no other business.
ADJOURNMENT AND NEXT MEETING
Mr. Wibbels adjourned the meeting at 11:30 a.m. The next meeting of the Education Council will be held on Friday, August 17th, 9 a.m. at Creighton University in Omaha.
Following the meeting, members were invited to stay for an information session on the J.D. Edwards Honors Program and a tour of the Kauffman Academic Center.
Minutes were taken by Lori Lopez Urdiales and reviewed by Tom Rolfes of the Office of the CIO/NITC.
Meeting Minutes