EDUCATION COUNCIL
of the
NEBRASKA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION

October 13, 2006
Lower Level Conference Room, Story Student Center
Nebraska Wesleyan University, 50th & St. Paul, Lincoln, Nebraska
MINUTES

VOTING MEMBERS/ALTERNATES PRESENT:

Mr. Arnold Bateman, University of Nebraska-Lincoln;
Mr. Stan Carpenter, State College Board
Mr. Clark Chandler, Nebraska Wesleyan University
Mr. Ron Cone, Educational Service Unit 10
Mr. Dennis Baack, Alt. for Dr. Eileen Ely, Western Nebraska Community College
Dr. Terry Haack, Bennington Public Schools
Mr. Rich Molettiere, Omaha North High School
Dr. Dan Moser, Alt. for Ms. Yvette Holly, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Mr. Joe LeDuc, Catholic Diocese of Lincoln;
Mr. Tip O'Niell, Alt. for Mr. Chuck Lenosky, Creighton University
Mr. Dennis Linster, Wayne State College
Dr. Ed Rastovski, Wahoo Public Schools

LIAISON/ALTERNATES MEMBERS PRESENT:

Mr. Terry Dugas, Alt. for Mike Winkle, NET

MEMBERS/LIAISONS ABSENT: Brenda Decker, Chief Information Officer; Dr. Jack Huck, Southeast Community College; Mr. Jeff Johnson, Centennial Public Schools; Marshall Hill, Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education; Mike Kozak, Department of Education; and Linda Richards, Ralston Public School Board;  

CALL TO ORDER, ELECTRONIC POSTING, LOCATION OF OPEN MEETING LAW DOCUMENTS, ROLL CALL, INTRODUCTIONS

Dr. Haack called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. A quorum of 10-voting members was present at the time of roll call. The meeting notice and was posted to the NITC Web site and the Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar on September 8, 2006. The meeting agenda was posted on Octboer 10, 2006. The public meeting law was posted near the entry door.

CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA FOR THE OCTOBER 13, 2006 MEETING

Mr. Linster moved to approve the October 13, 2006 agenda as presented.  Dr. Rastovski seconded. Mr. Linster seconded. Roll call vote: Bateman-Yes, Chandler-Yes, Baack-Yes, Moser-Yes, O’Neill-Yes, Cone-Yes, Haack-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Molettiere-Yes, and Rastovski-Yes. Results: Yes-10, No-0. Motion carried.

Mr. Linster arrived to the meeting

CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE SEPTEMBER 15, 2006 MEETING MINUTES

There were corrections to council member names.

Mr. Chandler moved to approve the September 15, 2006 minutes with the corrections to council members names.  Mr. Linster seconded. Roll call vote: Bateman-Yes, Chandler-Yes, Baack-Yes, Moser-Yes, O’Neill-Yes, Linster-Yes, Cone-Yes, Haack-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Molettiere-Yes, and Rastovski-Yes. Results: Yes-11, No-0. Motion carried.

Mr. Carpenter arrived to the meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

OVERVIEW OF I.T. PROJECT PROPOSAL REVIEW PROCESS
Brenda Decker, Chief Information Officer

In past years, the NITC has utilized a variety of ways to submit their recommendations of I.T. Project Requests.  The first funding cycle, projects were prioritized numerically.  The next funding cycle, they were not prioritized numerically but were grouped as Highly Recommended, Recommended, or Not Recommended.  The last funding cycle projects were recommended in tiers - Tier 1 (mandated) and Tier 2 (highly recommended).  The NITC has always relied on the recommendations and input from the Technical Panel and the NITC advisory councils.

For this funding cycle, the Office of the CIO is utilizing a project management program.  The program is customized to determine how the project fits into the NITC’s strategic plan, evaluates risk assessment of projects, budget feasibility, longevity of the project and other values and data sets.  All evaluators were given descriptors for rating purposes.  The end result will be a visual bubble chart indicating where the projects scored per the established values and data sets.

The NITC will be meeting on November 1st to finalize recommendations for submissions to the legislature which are due November 15th.  The NITC will also be reviewing the biennial report. 

Due to the implementation of LB 1208, decision-making on behalf of K-12 and higher education, and to ensure the credibility of the council, several members suggested that the Education Council resume monthly meetings. 

OVERVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF THE EDUCATION I.T. PROJECTS

Listed below are the project numbers, names of the projects, and individuals who presented each project, along with comments from the Education Council: 

13-01, NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION-NEBRASKA TRANSCRIPT PROJECT
Bob Beecham, Department of Education, Education Support Services

• Project is an initiative of the P16 council
• Establish a committee to make recommendations as to a standard data set for transcripts that go from high school to higher education.
• This is also a project of MEC that could become a national defacto standard.
•  All higher education sectors have been involved in the development of this project – the University of Nebraska, state, community and independent colleges.
• Department of Education is exploring funding options to assist local school districts with the implementation of the transcript project.

50-01 NEBRASKA STATE COLLEGE SYSTEM
Stan Carpenter and Ed Hoffman, State College Board of Trustees

• The goal is to have one common student information system – student information, financial aid and Human Resources functions.
• This project is very similar to the University of Nebraska’s SIS+ project.  Council recommended collaboration of the two projects.
• Scoring of the budget was questioned.
• If one institution would take the lead, the rollout time could be reduced significantly.

51-01 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM
Don Mihulka, University of Nebraska, Associate CIO

• Key business areas for change: New web services that need to be offered, Best practices and technology services.
• There could be cost savings (software and maintenance) if the State College System and University of Nebraska projects were joined.

PRIORITIZATION OF THE IT PROJECTS

Mr. Baack moved that the Education Council highly recommend funding of all three I.T. Education projects on an equal importance status:
13-01, Nebraska Department of Education-Nebraska Transcript Project
50-01, Nebraska State College System-Student Information Administrative System
51-01, University of Nebraska-Student Information System
Mr. Bateman seconded. Roll call vote:  Rastovski-Yes, Molettiere-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Haack-Yes, Cone-Yes, Linster-Yes, O’Neill-Yes, Moser-Yes, Baack-Yes, Chandler-Yes, Carpenter-Yes, and Bateman-Yes. Results: Yes-12, No-0. Motion carried.

Mr. Bateman moved that the Education Council append its recommendation with the following comments:

1. Both SIS projects are of equal importance for their sectors due to the discontinuation and support of the existing system.
2. The Education Council encourages collaboration and partnership between the University of Nebraska’s and the State College System’s Student Information System projects in the procurement, implementation, training and other areas that provide efficiency and cost effectiveness.
3. The concerns about the financial analysis and budget of the State College System project, by one reviewer, can be attributed to the uncertainties associated with the purchase and implementation of a robust, contemporary collegiate information system.
4. The Education Council recognizes that the Department of Education project is aligned with the goals of MHEC (Midwest Higher Education Consortium), an 11-state compact.

Mr. Rastovski seconded the motion.  Roll call vote: Bateman-Yes, Carpenter-Yes, Chandler-Yes, Baack-Yes, Moser-Yes, O’Neill-Yes, Linster-Yes, Cone-Yes, Haack-Yes, LeDuc-Yes, Molettiere-Yes, and Rastovski-Yes. Results: Yes-12, No-0. Motion carried.

NEXT MEETING DATE, LOCATION AND MEETING ADJOURNMENT

For the next meeting, members requested further discussion of I.T. budget proposal process and review of NITC's final recommendations to the Legislature as agenda items. The location for the November 17th meeting will be Southeast Community College. The January 19th meeting will be held at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Mr. LeDuc moved that the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Bateman seconded. All were in favor. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:27 p.m.

 

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

Meeting Minutes