EDUCATION COUNCIL

Nebraska Information Technology Commission

Friday, September 19, 2003

Wayne State College Connel Hall #21

with NVCN locations at Chadron State College Student Center,

Lincoln Executive Building #103, 521 S. 14th

Omaha State Office Building #207, 1313 Farnam on the Mall

MINUTES

VOTING MEMBERS/ALTERNATES PRESENT:

Ms. Linda Engel, Nebraska City Public Schools

Ms. Yvette Holly, alt. for University of Nebraska

Dr. Jack Huck, Southeast Community College

Mr. Joe LeDuc, Catholic Diocese of Lincoln

Mr. Chuck Lenosky, Creighton University

Mr. Dennis Linster, Wayne State College

Dr. Robert Manzer, alt. for Independent Colleges

Mr. Tip O’Neill, alt. for Independent Colleges and Universities

Mr. Michael Pate, Millard Public Schools

Dr. Ed Rastovski, Wahoo Public Schools

Dr. Robin Smith, alt. for State Colleges

Mr. Alan Wibbels, ESU 10

LIAISONS PRESENT: Mr. Bob Huber, Nebraska Education Telecommunications Commission

MEMBERS AND LIAISONS NOT PRESENT: Ms. Brenda Decker, DAS-Division of Communications; Mr. Jeff Johnson, Centennial Public Schools; Dr. Dean Bergman, Nebraska Department of Education; Mr. Terry Haack, Elkhorn High School; Dr. Jerry Moskus, Metropolitan Community College; Dr. Harvey Perlman, UNL; Dr. David Powers, Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education; and Mr. Al Schneider, ESU 5.

CALL TO ORDER, ELECTRONIC POSTING, AND ROLL CALL

Co-chair, Dr. Huck called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. Members introduced themselves from the videoconference locations. There were eleven 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 SEPTEMBER AGENDA

Ms. Engel moved to approve the September 19, 2003 agenda as presented. Mr. O’Neill seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Holly-Yes, Engel-Yes, Huck-Yes, Smith-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Lenosky-Yes, O’Neill-Yes, Pate-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Linster-Yes, and Wibbels-Yes. Results: 11-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

APPROVAL OF JULY MINUTES

Mr. Linster moved to approve the July 18, 2003 minutes as presented. Mr. Pate seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Wibbels-Yes, Linster-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Pate-Yes, O’Neill-Yes, Lenosky-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Smith-Yes, Huck-Yes, Engel-Yes, and Holly-Yes. Results: 11-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Mr. Linster introduced Curt Frye, Interim President for Wayne State College, as the nominee to serve as his alternate. The following visitors introduced themselves from the Omaha site: Connie Schafer, from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the MOEC organization; David Conway, from the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s College of Education; and Travis Wagner and Deb Swanson from Qwest.

MEMBERSHIP NOMINATIONS (Word 25k)

Mr. Rolfes presented the following slate of nominees for recommendation to the NITC for final approval by the NITC:

Ÿ Arnold Bateman, University of Nebraska, replacing Perlman, 2002-04

Ÿ Yvette Holly, University of Nebraska-Medical Center, filling vacancy, 2003-05

Ÿ Dennis Linster, State Colleges, replacing Stearns, 2002-04

Mr. O’Neill moved to approve the membership recommendations to the NITC for final approval. Ms. Engel seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Holly-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Engel-Yes, Linster-Yes, Huck-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Smith-Yes, Pate-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, O’Neill-Yes, and Lenosky-Yes. Results: 10-Yes, O-No. The motion carried by unanimous vote.

NETWORK POLICY WORK GROUP CHARTER

Mr. Rolfes provided a brief background on the work group. The NITC will have final approval of the charter. Each of the NITC councils will have representation on the work group. Mr. Schafer is requesting that all the councils adopt the proposed charter.

Mr. Linster moved to adopt the proposed Network Policy Work Group Charter (PDF 112k) for final approval by the NITC. Mr. Pate seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Lenosky-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Smith-Yes, Huck-Yes, Engel-Yes, Wibbels-Yes, Linster-Yes, Rastovski-Yes, Pate-Yes, and O’Neill-Yes. Results: Yes-10, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

The work group will continue making progress towards the charter’s goals. The next work group meeting is scheduled for September 24th.

Statewide Synchronous Video Work Group RECOMMENDATION

Co-chair, Alan Wibbels, presided over the rest of the meeting.

For the new council members, Mr. Rolfes provided a brief background on the work group. Round One Recommendations (Word 24k) have been presented to the Public Service Commission and the NITC Technical Panel. The Public Service Commission has been very supportive and have suggested other sources of funding. The Technical Panel agreed with all five recommendations and will be present them to the NITC at the September 30th meeting.

ACTION ITEMS TASK GROUPS

The task groups were formed to accomplish the Education Council Action Items (Word 32k) in relationship to the Statewide Technology Plan. Task groups are encouraged to meet outside the regular Education Council meetings via electronic means and/or in person depending how the task groups decision. Members were asked to sign-up for a task group (Excel 17k) as soon as possible. Action item EC1.2 did not have many members due to the work of the CAP (Collaborative Aggregation Partnership) group. Mr. Linster suggested that CAP provide an update at the next meeting.

WORK GROUP/COMMITTEE REPORTS

Training Advisory Work Group. There was no report.

NET Distance Learning Report (Excel 121k), Bob Huber. NET is continuing with a downward trend in numbers of classes and hours of usage and reviewed the data on the report with the council. The Scottsbluff hours are up. Scottsbluff is a preliminary site for new network. Help desk hours are increasing dramatically due to reduction of the work force at NET - over 200% increase for the month of July. During Hurricane Isabel, NET was in control of the PBS national satellite delivery system. NET was featured in the Government Video magazine. Mr. Huber entertained questions and comments.

UPDATE: VALUE-ADDED ENHANCEMENTS TO THE NEBRASKA EDUCATION PORTAL

The Education Portal was one of the many projects from last year’s Education Council action items. Grants to work with Nebrask@Online have been written for the following enhancements.

• Provide one on-line admissions application for all higher education institutions with ability for institutions to request additional information if needed. Currently, CIO/NITC staff is compiling the most commonly asked questions from existing admissions applications. Once this draft of questions is finished, it will be shared with the higher education admissions officers so that they can customize additional information if needed. NOL has the technology to handle online payments for students wishing to pay their admissions fee(s).
• Provide searchable online database of courses and programs. The project will include meeting with CCPE (Coordination Commission for Postsecondary Education. CCPE would not have electronic curriculum information on private institutions. The project will need to explore ways of getting their data and information.
• Provide an I.T. training calendar. NOL thought that the concept of a training calendar was a good idea. A search engine will be developed that can be used by a variety of entities and citizens statewide.

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