Meeting notes, August 31, 2005

Present: Bill Kramer, Ivy Tech, Chair; Patrick Alles, ICI; Karen Bonnell, USI; Dave Jent, IU; Don Kaufman, VU; Ed Kinley, ISU; Vic Lechtenberg, PU; Lee Lewellen, CICP; Kathy Ross, IUK; O’Neal Smitherman, BSU; Dave King, Tim Fisher, Rauf Khalid, Tim Ping, Susan Scott, Kevin Siminski, and Lynn Ward, IHETS staff

Kramer called the meeting to order at 10 a.m. with introductions.

Key discussion points:

Purpose. For purposes of framing the work of the review, Kramer noted the rich history of IHETS in growing to be recognized nation-wide for effective collaboration. The timing is right for strategic review and planning for the organization, and recent legislative concerns emphasize the need to look at what IHETS does and how costs are shared. In addition, the IHETS Board of Directors has expressed an interest that governance and structure of the organization be reviewed.

Process. Though staff has necessarily worked aggressively on plans for the overall review, those plans are subject to modification by the team. There will be space on the IHETS Web site to help all interested stakeholders track the progress of the review, and the major products—the self-study document, subcommittee reports, and final team report and recommendations at least—will be publicly available. In addition to the group email distribution list, there will be a Web-based workspace for the internal review team to communicate more easily and to share documents for comment.

Charges. There was considerable discussion to clarify the charge to the internal review team established by the IHETS Board as well as the relationship of the internal and external teams. The external review team advises the internal review team, which needs to create the charge for the former. The list of questions that concludes the purpose and focus document illustrates, as a starting point, areas for the team and its subcommittees to consider.

Schedule. Kramer noted that some dates are fixed: the due date for the final report to the Board as well as dates for the external review team visit. During that visit, the internal team will be scheduled for an opening meeting with the external team at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, October 24; members are encouraged to participate if at all possible, and video conferencing will be available.

The exit meeting will be planned for 3 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, and may be made available via video conferencing beyond the internal team membership. The next meeting of the internal review team will be September 30 at 10 a.m. to review the nearly final draft of the self-study document. The internal team will plan to meet on Mondays at 4 p.m. beginning November 7 through December 19. (Staff will work with members and their IT staff as needed to assure that team members have desktop video conferencing available to facilitate regular participation.) The IHETS Board meeting has been scheduled for January 20 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., so the report and recommendations will need to be circulated by January 13. The final internal team meeting is thus planned for January 12 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. to complete the report.

Subcommittees. Two subcommittees—one on structure and governance, the other on services—will help focus the work of the team, which will be considered a committee of the whole. Though the report of the services subcommittee may need to be completed earlier than that of the one on structure and governance, the two groups can largely work in parallel, with regular updates at the weekly full team meetings. Kramer asked members to let him know within the next few days which subcommittee they would prefer; though adjustments may be necessary for balance, he will try to honor primary interests. Workplans from each subcommittee will be needed shortly so that work can commence to meet the deadline for subcommittee reports of December 8. The subcommittees can work to background themselves in their respective areas and should feel free to call for additional videoconference consultations or documentation toward that end.

Online survey. There being little time for discussion during the meeting, members were encouraged to send any suggestions regarding the survey process and questions to Lynn Ward by Friday, September 2, so that the survey link can be distributed to all who work with IHETS in some capacity by the middle of the following week.

Other. One comment noted for future discussion was the matter of establishing metrics for measuring success.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 p.m.

Follow-up actions:

• Staff will forward meeting notes and revised schedule to members by Friday, Sept. 2.
• Members send Kramer their preferences for subcommittee assignment by Friday, Sept. 2 (to wkramer@ivytech.edu).
• Members send Ward suggestions regarding on-line survey questions by Friday, Sept. 2 (to lward@ihets.org).
• Staff will be in touch with members regarding needs for help with desktop video conferencing within the week.
• Kramer and staff will meet with subcommittee chairs regarding workplans and schedules by Sept. 9.