EDUCATION
COUNCIL
of the
NEBRASKA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION
Wednesday,
February 20, 2013; 1:30PM CT
Host site:
Varner Lower Level Board Room, 3835 Holdrege Street, Lincoln, Nebraska
Remote site 1: Alliance High School, Room 405, 100 W 14th, Alliance
Remote site 2: Metro Community College, Bldg 30, Room 238, 31st & Fort
Streets, Omaha
Remote site 3: ESU 9, 1117 East South Street, Hastings
Remote site 4: WSC Campus Services IVC, 750 Lindahl Dr, Wayne
MINUTES
VOTING MEMBERS/ALTERNATES PRESENT:
Mr. Ed Hoffman, Nebraska State
College System, Co-Chair (Lincoln site)
Mr. Greg Maschman,
Alt. for Clark Chandler, Nebraska Wesleyan University (Lincoln site)
Mr. Stephen Hamersky, Daniel J. Gross Catholic High School (Omaha
site)
Mr. Leonard Hartman, Alliance Public
Schools (Alliance site)
Ms. Yvette Holly, UNL-Medical Center
(Omaha site)
Mr. Gary Needham, ESU 9 (Hastings site)
Ms. Mary Niemiec,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Lincoln site)
Mr. Randy Schmailzl,
Metropolitan Community College (Omaha)
Dr. Bob Uhing, Educational Service
Unit 1, Wakefield (Wayne site)
LIAISONS/ALTERNATE MEMBERS PRESENT
Steven Stortz, Norfolk Lutheran
School (Wayne site); Dr. Kathleen Fimple, Alt. for Dr. Marshall Hill,
Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education (Lincoln site)
MEMBERS/LIAISONS ABSENT: Dr. Terry Haack,
Bennington Public Schools; Mike
Carpenter, Doane College; John Dunning, Wayne State College; Jeff Johnson,
Centennial Public Schools; Dr. Mike Lucas, York Public Schools; Lyle Neal,
Southeast Community College; Jeff Stanley, Conestoga Public Schools; Brenda
Decker, Office of the CIO; Gary Targoff, Nebraska Educational
Telecommunications Commission; Brent Gaswick, Nebraska Department of Education
CALL
TO ORDER, ELECTRONIC POSTING, LOCATION OF OPEN MEETING LAW DOCUMENTS, ROLL
CALL, INTRODUCTIONS
Co-Chair, Ed Hoffman, called the
meeting to order at 1:35 p.m. The
meeting notice was posted to the NITC and Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar web sites on
January 25, 2013. The agenda was posted to
the NITC Web site February 18, 2013. The
Open Meeting Law was posted on the south wall.
Roll call was taken. There were 9
voting members present. A quorum existed
to conduct official business.
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA FOR
THE FEBRUARY 20, 2013 MEETING
Ms.
Niemiec moved to approve the February 20, 2013
meeting agenda as presented. Dr. Uhing
seconded. Uhing-Yes, Schmailzl-Yes,
Niemiec-Yes, Needham-Yes, Holly-Yes, Hartman-Yes,
Hamersky-Yes, Maschman-Yes, Hoffman-Yes. 9
Yes, 0 No. Motion passes.
CONSIDER APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
FROM THE JANUARY 16, 2013 MEETING
Ms.
Niemiec moved to approve the January 16, 2013 meeting
minutes as presented. Mr. Hamersky seconded. Gary Needham corrected his
attendance site as Hastings ESU 9. Uhing-Yes, Schmailzl-Yes, Niemiec-Yes, Needham-Yes, Holly-Yes, Hartman-Yes,
Hamersky-Yes, Maschman-Yes, Hoffman-Yes. 9
Yes, 0 No. Motion passes and the minutes were approved with the minor
correction.
PUBLIC
COMMENT
There was no public comment.
NETWORK
NEBRASKA UPDATE
2013-14 Participation. Union College may be joining the
network. At least half a dozen non-public
entities across the state have expressed interest. Due to the lottery equipment reimbursement
dollars expiring on 7/1/2013, some southeast Nebraska schools are also
expressing interest in Network Nebraska participation. If wishing to commit,
the Office of the CIO would like to hear from new entities by March 1 in order
to properly prepare the E-rate filings.
2013-14 Interregional
Transport (projected). A draft spreadsheet with NebraskaLink/Qwest/Charter
Business DL Backbone Costs, July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014 and Unite Private
Network Internet Costs Jyly 1, 2013-June 30, 2014 was
reviewed with the council. The trend has
been that the costs have been decreasing with increased bandwidth.
2013-14 Internet Access (projected). A chart titled Statewide Internet Contract
Purchases, Contract 51026 (04) was reviewed. The spreadsheet indicates the running
total of internet access use. It is
anticipated that internet use will increase by 75%. Due to increased demand beyond the contracted
capacity, a bid may need to be released in a year rather than wait until the
contract is up.
Memorandum of Agreement (DRAFT). The Office of the CIO would like
the Council’s input and recommendation of the draft Network Nebraska Memorandum
of Agreement. The CIO will approve the
final document. Once approved, all participants will need to sign a
memorandum. The Authorized Agent would
be the superintendent for K-12 institutions or a designee. An Authorized Agent for higher institutions
has not been determined. The Office of the
CIO would like input from higher education council members input. Per the agreement, the University of Nebraska
Computing Services Network Technical Staff would provide specific technical support
services for services that are contracted by the State of Nebraska. Entities
are also free to contract with UNCSN technical support for LAN issues and pay
them directly.
The MoA provides historical information about the monthly costs
to entities and is a good tool for both K-12 and Higher Education. It brought the two sectors together working
collaboratively. It is a document that
clearly lays out expectations and is informative so that all can understand. Council members were encouraged to forward
the MoA on to their sector representatives for
feedback.
The document
asks for two points of technical contact.
For smaller schools, an ESU staff member can be counted as a contact person
but it is really up to the entity to indicate the two points of contacts. It was recommended that the Governance Task
Group and Network Nebraska Advisory Group review the document for their input by
the April 17th meeting. Mr. Rolfes will send a follow-up email to
members. The OCIO would like to have the MoA
finalized, distributed and signed by July 1, 2013.
Network Nebraska
Advisory Group Report (1/31/2013 meeting notes). There are vacancies on the advisory
group. Rob Hanger is now part of NNAG
and is a K-12 administrator from the southeast part of the state. The group still needs representation from the
western part of the state.
The meeting lost
its connection with the Alliance site so it re-connected to Mr. Hartman via a phone
conference.
LEGISLATIVE
UPDATE
I.T. related Legislation. Mr. Rolfes provided a brief
description of the proposed legislation as of today.
LB 195 Introduced
by Speaker Adams; Appropriate funds for state government expenses
Annotation: The
Governor’s budget bill proposes a reinstatement of $1.7 million per year from
the Education Innovation Fund for early childhood education projects and $3.25
million per year for distance education. Status: Referred to the Appropriations
Committee
LB 262 Introduced
by Senator Cook; Provide duties relating to sharing of student information
Annotation: LB 262
reinforces the sharing of student data between and among education entities and
validates the FERPA guidelines for Nebraska student data.
Status: Referred
to the Education Committee, Hearing on 2/5/2013
LB 366 Introduced
by Senator Cook Adopt the Remedial Adult Education Innovation Act
Annotation: LB 366
appropriates $XXX from the Education Innovation Fund for the new Remedial Adult
Education Innovation Act. Status: Referred to the Education Committee, Hearing
on 2/4/2013
LB 495 Introduced
by Senator Sullivan; Change provisions relating to the Education Innovation
Fund and early childhood grant reporting
Annotation: LB 495
provides funding for early childhood education, and eliminates other programs
from the Education Innovation Fund. Status: Referred to the Education Committee
LB 497 Introduced
by Senator Sullivan; Change distribution and provide for a study of the
Education Innovation Fund
Annotation: LB 497
returns all of the education lottery funds to the Education Innovation Fund
after 7/1/2016 and conducts a study for use of said funds. Status: Referred to
the Education Committee
LB 511 Introduced
by Senator Scheer; Change allocation provisions
relating to the Education Innovation Fund
Annotation: LB 511
allocates the Education Innovation Fund to the NDE Educational Technology
Center for use on statewide education technology projects from 2016-17 through
2019-20, with at least one-half of the funding going to grants for local school
districts. Status: Referred to the
Education Committee
LB 566 Introduced
by Senator Karpisek; Create the Educational
Technology Infrastructure Grant Program
Annotation: LB 566
appropriates all of the Education Innovation Fund to the Nebraska Department of
Education starting in 2016 to carry out the Educational Technology
Infrastructure Grant program to local public school systems. Status: Referred
to the Education Committee
Council
members asked Mr. Rolfes to check into LB 25 and LB 467. LB 467 deals with reciprocity agreements
and the charging of fees connected with postsecondary distance education. If the
bill passes, members predicted that it will save postsecondary institutions
thousands of dollars to provide distance education.
Mr. Rolfes
encouraged the council members to check out the NITC webpage for an
updated list for all IT related legislation and/or register themselves
for “Bill Tracker”, a free service described on the Unicam
website.
TASK GROUP
REPORTS
Emerging Technologies Task Group, Steven Hamersky.
The Work Group submitted a written report to the Council. In the report, the task group posed several
questions about future technologies and use of Network Nebraska. The Task Group would like the council to
discuss these issues in the near future.
Mr. Rolfes reminded the Council that Network Nebraska is member-driven
and self-funded when it comes to originating new services. It was suggested that perhaps Network
Nebraska needs a research and development team to consider future service on
the network.
Services Task Group. Gary Needham. The Task
Group has not met since the last EC meeting.
In the interim, Mr. Needham has been focusing on the overlap of the EC
Emerging Technologies Task Group and the Network Nebraska Services Task Group
overlap. After hearing the questions posed
by the Emerging Technologies Task Group, he will bring the task groups
together. He would also like the Council
to discuss Network Nebraska Services versus Centers of Excellence Services but
needs to be part of the process for requesting services.
Governance Task Group. Randy Schmailzl. The Task Group will be working with Mr. Rolfes
regarding the MoA.
All members were asked to review the MoA and
get comments in by April10th.
Marketing Task Group, SuAnn Witt. Ms.
Witt was not available to provide a report.
The Task Group has not met since the last Council meeting.
SUBSECTOR
UPDATES
State Colleges.
CIOs from the three state colleges met at Wayne State College. A representative from the Minnesota State
Colleges was in attendance. For the past
24 months, he has been creating a shared services agreement among their state
college system. In the near future, state
colleges will be looking at how to best utilize their existing IT staff.
Community Colleges.
Mr. Schmailzl stated that one of the topics
the sector has been discussing is state authorization and accreditation. He attended the Midwest Higher Education
Compact (MHEC) meeting recently. A big
item of discussion was the use of MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses). Dr. Marshall Hill of the Coordinating
Commission for Postsecondary Education (CPPE) is part of MHEC. Dr. Hill has sent all Nebraska institutions
information about the introduction of LB 467 that was being introduced by Senator
Greg Adams. Ms. Niemiec
stated the University of Nebraska has been doing some research on this issue. The University is currently accredited in
approximately 30+ states and are working on accreditation in the remaining
other states. The University of Nebraska
would be willing to organize a meeting to share information regarding state
accreditation.
Independent colleges.
There was no report.
University of Nebraska. Ms. Holly informed the Council that UNMC is looking at MOOC’s curriculum and making changes. UNMC is considering utilizing recorded lectures for class preparation and then use class time for learning experiences but clinical hours and internships are under scrutiny. UNMC is also looking at health care reform and how this will affect business processes. MOOC can lower the cost for the students.
Mary Niemiec shared the University of Nebraska’s work in compliance with requirements to be authorized to deliver distance programs in states outside of Nebraska. She also shared that a national group (involving Marshall Hill of CCPE) is working to create a compact for state reciprocity through the regional compacts. Due to state law, some states may not be able to join state compacts. However, the costs associated with compliance make a reciprocity agreement appealing to many institutions and states.
K-12 Public & Private. Mr. Rolfes had sent out a BlendEd
Initiative flyer as an informational item to members. Safari Montage is the
vendor that has been selected for the learning object repository bid. NET and NDE have been approached and involved
in discussions. LDAP single login is a
feature still being sought. There is a statewide
ESUCC committee that is working on the BlendEd Initiative. Technology coordinators’ time is a
factor when doing this outside work. Area
code 308 ESU’s have a structure in place for authentication. A federated identity management system would
allow systems to authenticate. BlendEd recognizes that the transport component needs to be
addressed, as well as security and privacy invasion.
AGENDA ITEMS
FOR THE 04/17/2013 MEETING & CONSIDER
LOCATION FOR THE 04/17/2013 MEETING
The Network
Nebraska Memorandum of Agreement will be an agenda item for April 17th
meeting. Members were asked to send Mr.
Rolfes any other agenda items.
The next
meeting will be a face-to-face meeting.
Ms. Niemic will check into a meeting room at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
ADJOURNMENT
Ms. Niemiec moved to adjourn.
Mr. Hartman seconded. All were in
favor. Motion carried by voice vote.
The meeting
was adjourned at 3:21 p.m.
Meeting
minutes were taken by Lori Lopez Urdiales and reviewed by Tom Rolfes of the
Office of the CIO/NITC.