Nebraska Information Technology Commission: Meeting Minutes

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EDUCATION COUNCIL

Nebraska Information Technology Commission
Friday, August 11th, 2000, 9:00 a.m. (MDT)
Video Conference Sites:
Chadron State College, Student Center, Scottsbluff Room
Kearney Public Library, 2020 1st Avenue, 2nd Floor
Executive Building, 521 S 14th Street, 1st Floor
State Office Building, 1313 Farnam, Room 134
Wayne State College, Garden Hall, Room 105

APPROVED MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT - CHADRON SITE, CHADRON STATE COLLEGE

Wayne Fisher, (Alt. for Dean Bergman); Alan Wibbels, ESU 10; and Dr. Don King, (Alt. for Dr. Tom Krepel)

MEMBERS PRESENT - KEARNEY SITE, PUBLIC LIBRARY

Wayne Bell, (Alt. for Dr. Dave Myers); and Dr. Joseph Pruesser, Central Community College

MEMBERS PRESENT - LINCOLN SITE, EXECUTIVE BUILDING

Keith Bartels, Lincoln Public Schools; Bruce Sandhorst, UNL (Representing Kent Hendrickson-Non Voting); Dr. Jack Huck, Southeast Community College; Joe LeDuc, (Alt. for Tom Korta); Mike Beach, NET; and Brenda Decker, Division of Communications.

MEMBERS PRESENT - OMAHA SITE, STATE OFFICE BUILDING

Yvette Holly, (Alt. for Dr. William Berndt); Larry Bock, Blair Public Schools; Con Dietz, Creighton University; and Dr. Roger Koehler, Nebraska Methodist College.

MEMBERS PRESENT - WAYNE SITE, WAYNE STATE COLLEGE

Art Tanderup, Tekamah-Herman Public Schools; and Dr. Robert Ziegler, Madison Public Schools

MEMBERS ABSENT

Jeff Johnson, Centennial Public Schools; Dr. David Powers, CCPE; and Dr. Sheila Stearns, Wayne State College

OTHERS PRESENT

CHADRON SITE: Ann Burk, Chadron State College; and Tom Rolfes, Michael Winkle and Lori Lopez Urdiales, Office of the CIO/NITC
KEARNEY SITE: Bob Hayes, ESU 11; and Myrta Hansen, FutureKids Nebraska
LINCOLN SITE: Kathy Tenopir, Leg. Fiscal Office; and Anne Byers, Office of the CIO/NITC
OMAHA SITE: Cindy Grady, AIM Institute; and Roger Hahn, NE Information Network

CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING:

Co-chair, Alan Wibbels, called the meeting to order at 9:07 a.m (MDT). Mr. Wibbels stated that the meeting notice was posted to the NITC and Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar Web sites on August 3, 2000 and that the agenda was posted to those same Web sites on August 7, 2000. Roll call was taken. There were eleven (11) voting members present at the time of roll call.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

The agenda was approved by group consensus.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

There was no public comment.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES:

There was a correction to the minutes under the committee report for the Training Advisory Work Group that first sentence should read, "A summer retreat was held on June 7th to discuss the mini-grants process and to determine what will be done with carryover funds of approximately $50,000".

Dr. King moved to approve the minutes as corrected. Dr. Preusser seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Wibbels-Yes, King-Yes, Bell-Yes, Pruesser-Yes, Bartels-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Holly-Yes, Bock-Yes, Dietz-Yes, Koehler-Yes, Tanderup-Yes, and Ziegler-Yes. Motion was carried.

TINA and WIRELESS PROJECT STUDY UPDATE:
Brenda Decker, Director, Division of Communications, State of Nebraska

Ms. Decker reported that Sid McCartney had a family obligation and was not available to report to the Council. Mr. McCartney has been attempting to collect bandwidth information for the K-12 sector. All but two ESU's have their information submitted. Mr. Wibbels reported that one of them had just submitted their information so now there is only one outstanding. There are still two community colleges that have not submitted their information. Mr. Dietz will work with staff to get the independent colleges information submitted. The data being collected will reflect information that will help identify local exchange carriers. The TINA Technical Advisory Committee will focus on two areas:

Build the business case. A subgroup has been formed to have this done by late October. The committee will provide reports to the Councils, Technical Panel and the NITC.
RFP Development. Another subgroup has been formed to explore issues such as the management and technical aspects for an inclusive transport layer. It is projected that the RFP will be ready for release in late November or early December.

LB446 provided funding to the Division of Communications to conduct a study on Nebraska's emergency service and management systems. The final report is due in November. Dependent upon the Governor and the Legislature, $21 million for the next 10 years will be requested for funding. The TINA study recommendations will play a major role in the implementation of the plan.

Dr. Jack Huck joined the meeting at 9:17AM MDT.

EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 2010 WHITE PAPERS:
Co-Chair Wibbels shared navigational page numbers for each member's agenda to facilitate discussion.

Suggestions provided by the members were as follows:

Achieving Nebraska's Future Educational Telecommunication Infrastructure.

Overview section "allowance for emerging technologies" - somehow include wording that would address protocol; and, include stronger wording for inclusion of a statewide IP system. Consider multiple protocol layers when describing the ideal network.
Recommendations section - Modify funding points #2 and #4 to be congruent with each other and use the TINA business case specifics instead of "more money is not the answer".
National Background section - include costs analysis from the "National Profile of Statewide Education Networks" report; and, analyze and investigate the 90% figure in the report from the Center for Digital Government because educational institutions may or may not be included in some states.

Providing Diverse Training Opportunities for Students, Teachers, and Administrators.

Recommendations section. Statement A appendix needs to be inserted in the back of the white paper. Statements B, I, J, and K need to be stated more clearly. The ratio in sentence G is not clear and should be clarified. Sentences B and C need to be more inclusive of higher education.
Integrating technology with curriculum is a strong need.
There is an important need for more technology to be infused into higher education.
Members were interested in exploring how to implement these regulatory recommendations.
Current sources of funding appendix must be inserted in the back of the white papers.
Nebraska Background. The acronym for S.T.E.P. should be spelled out.

Ensuring Life-cycle Funding for the Acquisition of Network Hardware and Personal Computers, PreK-16.

Recommendations section. Include a statement regarding the need for all sources of grants to work collaboratively and with community entities.
Include a statement that other education entities (as well as ESUs) should be able to provide technical training and support.

Using Technology Appropriately to Address the Need of Diverse Learners.

Recommendations section. Statements E and F should be changed to F and G.
National background charts must be inserted in the white paper.

Coordination of Cross-Agency Planning and Public/Private Partnerships.

Recommendations section. For sentence 2 use terms such as leading edge partnership instead of I.T. development and clarify software/hardware to mean only modern or current software/hardware.
Statement #2 should also include personnel assistance and the tax break (with accountability) should not simply substitute for legislative appropriations; which may shift the tax burden from businesses to individuals..

Implementing Leading Edge Technology Applications in K-12 and Higher Education.

In the overview section, clarify "lack of sufficient access to modern connectivity".
Recommendations section. Clarify the 30% ratio in sentence number 2 to mean an equivalent 30% of the hardware/software budget should be spent on technology training.
In the Nebraska Background section, clarify statement #8 about the infrastructure deficiencies.

Mr. Rolfes will continue to received feedback from council members. He will continue to work on the document. It will be published electronically and in hard copy. The NITC will also receive a copy for their review.

OTHER:

Copies of the 2000-2001 NEB*SAT Report had been sent to members electronically. Mr. Beach was available to entertain questions. He also reported that the NET 3 expansion to 30 channels was nearly complete and would be ready to accommodate Fall classes.

Yvette Holly and Joe LeDuc were recognized and welcomed as new Alternates to the Education Council.

NEXT MEETING:

The next meeting of the Educational Council will be held on Friday, September 15th, 9:00 a.m. at Energy Square, 1111 O Street, in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:58 AM MDT.

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

Meeting Minutes