EDUCATION COUNCIL

NEBRASKA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION
November 16, 1998
Southeast Community College Campus - Energy Square
11th & O Streets, Lincoln, Nebraska

MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT
Keith Bartels Board Member, Lincoln	Dr. Jack Huck Southeast Community College
Dr. William Berndt UNO Medical Center	Jeff Johnson Teacher, Centennial Public School
Dr. Richard Flynn Peru State College	Art Tanderup Teacher, Tekamah-Herman Public School
Susan Fees Teacher, Christ the King School	Alan Wibbels Media Technology Director, ESU 10
Dr. Ken Halsey Peru State College	Dr. Kristine Wolzen Superintendent, Arlington Public Schools
Kent Hendrickson, UNL (Proxy for Dr. James Moeser)	Woody Ziegler Co-Principal, York Elementary School
Dr. Christine Beischel, Bellevue University (Proxy for Dr. John Muller)
MEMBERS ABSENT
Dr. Uma Gupta Creighton University	Terry Miller Administrator, ESU 13
Dr. Richard Gilliland Metro Community College
EX-OFFICIO PRESENT
Dr. Dean Bergman Administrator, Technology Center, Department of Education	Dr. David Powers Executive Director, Post Secondary Coordinating Commission
OTHERS PRESENT
Mike Winkle, NITC Executive Director	Lori Lopez Urdiales, Office of the CIO/NITC
Tom Rolfes, Office of the CIO/NITC	Mr. Jay Jacobsen, Wayne State College

CALL TO ORDER AND MINUTES:

The meeting of the Education Council of the Nebraska Information Technology Commission was called to order at approximately 9:10 a.m. by co-chair Dr. Huck. Corrections/additions to the October 9th minutes included adding Mr. Al Schneider from ESU 5 to "Others Present" and correcting the statement on page three "Proposal that did fall within the domain of the Education Council:" to "Proposals that did not fall within the domain of the Education Council:". Kent Hendrickson moved and it was seconded by Art Tanderup to approve the October minutes as corrected. All were in favor. October minutes were approved.

Additions/corrections to the August 13th minutes included clarification of the sentence regarding NEB*SAT mini-grants. The sentence should read, "The group awards mini-grants at a maximum value of $10,000 to public schools and colleges totaling approximately $110,000 per year." The first sentence in the next paragraph should read, "Membership of the NEB*SAT Coordinating Council was a concern by some members due to the K-12 sector not being equally represented." Mr. Hendrickson moved and it was seconded by Dr. Berndt to approve the August minutes as corrected. All were in favor. August minutes were approved.

Co-chair Dr. Huck asked that agenda item #4 Review of the Council Membership and Sector Representation be moved to the top of the agenda since official membership and representation could affect the remainder of the agenda. The Council agreed by consensus.

REVIEW OF COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP AND SECTOR REPRESENTATION:

Clarify and define sector representation: Originally, the make-up of the council consisted of eight K-12 (2 public school teachers, 1 private school teacher, 2 administrators, 2 ESU's and 1 school board member) and 8 post-secondary (2-private, 2-community, 2-state and 2-university) education members. When the council was first organized, Dr. Bergman and Dr. Powers were asked to serve as ex-officio (non-voting) members in lieu of not having staffed hired. Council discussed whether the ex-officio members should become voting members and have a council of nine members per sector or remain ex-officio. Dr. Bartels moved and it was seconded by Ms. Fees that ex-officio members become voting members and have a council of nine members per sector. Motion was put to a vote. The vote was 7-Yes and 6-No. Motion was carried.

Member resignation and change of status: After discussion and input from the members, Dr. Berndt moved and it was seconded by Dr. Bergman that should a resignation or change of status occur, the sector should notify the council (with a copy to sector members), and the sector would then designate the replacement. All were in favor. Motion was carried. Dr. Huck read a letter from Carol Krause, State College Systems, informing the council of their representative replacements: Dr. Ken Halsey, Wayne State College (replacing Dr. Don Mash) and Dr. Richard Flynn, Peru State College (replacing Dr. Robert Burns) Dr. Berndt moved and it was seconded by Dr. Bergman to approve the State College representatives. All were in favor. Motion was carried.

Proxies, substitutes, voting privileges: It was by group consensus that each member must designate an official alternate to serve as their proxy. The alternate would have voting privileges at the meetings. If the alternate is unavailable, that member would not have a vote in business matters that meeting. Members are to get the name, address, etc of their alternate to Mr. Rolfes prior to the next meeting. Alternates will receive all correspondences sent to council members so that they are well informed.

Members' term of office: By group consensus, it was decided to have members serve until July 1, 2001 according to statute. The feasibility of continuing the council and its membership will be revisited at that time.

Co-Chairs: After discussion and input from the members, Dr. Bergman moved and it was seconded by Dr. Powers that the current co-chairs, Dr. Huck and Mr. Wibbels, serve until July 1, 2001. All were in favor. Motion carried. 

Dr. Huck reminded members to communicate to their respective sectors and keep them up-to-date with what is happening with technology and Education Council.

NITC REPORT:

Mr. Wibbels and Mr. Rolfes reported that the NITC approved the Education Council's prioritization of the 25 proposals and made additional recommendations/requests for information on three proposals. Staff will be contacting the three institutions affected by the NITC recommendations and sending a letter and summary sheet to each of the 25 project directors. The NITC also accepted the following recommendations forwarded by the Education Council: 1) to expand the Skjei study to include a needs assessment and 2) formation of a Tri-Council subcommittee of the three councils to make recommendations on statewide backbone, infrastructure and technology plan.

NEB*SAT TRANSITION COMMITTEE REPORT:

Mr. Rolfes reported that the committee held their first meeting on November 6th at the Executive Building, 2nd floor Conference Room in Lincoln, Nebraska. Dr. Bergman and Dr. Ziegler are the Education Council's representatives. Dr. Bergman was not able to attend. In attendance were: Max Thacker, NET; Gwen Nugent, NET; Reba Benschoter, UNMC; Dennis Baack, NCCA; Woody Ziegler, Education Council; Thomas O'Neill, AICUN; Michael Winkle, NITC; and Tom Rolfes, CIO/NITC.

A majority of the time was spent sharing information about NEB*SAT's structure and history. There are three areas the council would like to see continue in some form: Training, Operations, and Program/Appropriations. Mr. Winkle commented that to continue these would be beneficial and reminded the representatives that transition and change should be the focus of the committee. Dr. Wolzen would like to have the committee develop a written document for K-12 that would explain how the process works, what funding sources are available, and application deadlines. The next meeting is scheduled for December 1st, 9:00 a.m., Executive Building, Lower Level Conference Room, 521 South 14th Street. Council members are invited.

REVIEW OF EDUCATION FUNDING PROPOSAL PROCESS:

Further discussion is needed and will occur in the near future regarding the funding proposal process. To assist the council with this topic, Mr. Rolfes gathered information via meetings, conversations and the review process and circulated a half page brief:

1. The Technical Review panel should be enlarged and broadened by the NITC to include more K-12 representation and different technical backgrounds.
2. The review process should include some opportunity for the project directors to speak.
3. It would be helpful to assess each proposal against a statewide IT plan, with money going first to areas of greatest need according to the plan.
4. The NITC asked for collaboration and an internal review from Community Colleges (and possibly all education subgroups) before applying.
5. Evaluating funding requests arising from Technology Plans and Proposals is difficult.
6. The timeline for submission and evaluation must be made reasonable to allow for staff review, technical review, and Education Council prioritization.
7. The NITC would have preferred a 1, 2, 3 prioritization schedule with a numeric assessment score.
8. The NITC requested more supportive documentation from the project directors in the way of needs assessments, etc. before applying.

In order to expand the Technical Review Panel to include a broader technical background, it as agreed that Council members would suggest areas of expertise and nominees from their respective sectors by the December meeting.

A subcommittee of Dr. Berndt and Dr. Gilliland for postsecondary and Dr. Wolzen and Dr. Bergman for K-12 was named to review and improve the education funding proposal process.

JOINT PROPOSAL FROM COMMUNITY COUNCIL TO AMEND LAW GOVERNING ESU'S:

Mr. Wibbels distributed copies of proposal language change to R.R.S. 79-1233. The Community Council and the Education Council of the NITC plan to jointly sponsor and amendment to current statute. The new language would read, "The telecomputing training resources defined in R.R.S. 79-1233 may also be accessed on-site by the entities defined in R.R.S. 79-1204 (5)(a-d): nonmember public school districts, nonpublic school systems, other educational service units, and other political subdivisions. A fee may be assessed for access to these resources provided by an ESU." Mr. Wibbels reported that other ESU's have reviewed the document and are in support. Dr. Berndt moved and it was seconded by Mr. Bartels to support the joint proposal. All were in favor. Motion was carried.

JOINT SUBCOMMITTEE FORMATION TO DISCUSS STATEWIDE BACKBONE ISSUE, INFRASTRUCTURE AND TECHNOLOGY PLAN:

At the November NITC meeting, the Commissioners voted to move forward with the formation of a Tri-Council subcommittee. Four members from each of the councils will serve on the subcommittee. Volunteers were solicited. Mr. Wibbels and Dr. Ziegler will represent the K-12 sector and Dr. Hendrickson and Dr. Huck will represent the post-secondary sector. Notification of the meeting will be sent via e-mail, written correspondence and will be posted on the web.

OTHER:

Dr. Powers distributed four handouts for council members to take with them and read at their convenience: Western Governors University, "Frequently Asked Questions - Governors Open University System"; Western Governors University news release, "Western Governors University and the Open University Create Unprecedented New Distance Learning Organization"; Major Initiatives - Internet 2 and Great Plains Networking; and the Postsecondary Education Operating Budget Recommendations.

NEXT MEETING DATE AND TIME:

The next meeting will be held December 14th, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Staff will look at the possibility of hosting it at Mahoney Park. Dr. Hendrickson moved and it was seconded by Dr. Ziegler to adjourn. All were in favor. Motion was carried. Meeting adjourned at 12:00 noon.

Minutes taken by Lori Lopez Urdiales, Administrative Assistant, and Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager, Office of the Chief Information Officer.

Meeting Minutes