Management Committee 1999 meeting minutes

APPROVED

PRESENT:
Wayne Bohm, University of Southern Indiana
Ray Ewick, Indiana State Library
John Huie, Purdue University
Lou Jensen, Indiana State University
Dennis Kramer, Ball State University
Phyllis Usher, Indiana Department of Education
Brian Voss, Indiana University

STAFF:
Tim Fisher
Michael Fuller
Dave King
Nancy Millichap
Jennifer Ping
Mark Rottler
Susan Scott
Ed Stockey
Ed Tully
Julie Wheeler

Chairman Huie called the meeting to order at 10:00 and the minutes of the September 28 meeting were approved as distributed.

Independence Committee Report:

King reported that the Independence Committee is continuing discussion about the benefits and liabilities related to IHETS becoming an independent entity. The group will give a report at a future meeting.

Pending Issues:

King asked the group to hold time on their calendars for the afternoon of December 17 for a decision-makers briefing and open house.

King reported on campus visits to Ball State and University of Southern Indiana.  The goal of these visits is to get a sense of what is going on at these institutions, what they expect from IHETS, and how they can contribute.  He plans to visit Indiana State and Taylor Universities before the end of the year.

Report on New Mission and Vision from Year One:

Staff reported on progress since the broader mission and vision was established for the consortium one year ago.  Scott distributed and reviewed a document (attached) that highlighted three major items:  increase opportunities for collaboration among the full spectrum of educators; improve learners' ability to gain access to full spectrum of educational resources; and, nationally recognized

leadership and service in using technology to support education.

Integrated Technologies Committee Report:

King reported that the group met last week and the main discussion was about concerns with migrating nodes from the backbone, financial and security issues. King noted that the schedule for migration has slowed due to problems with the AT&T connections.  The ITC suggested that the Management Committee draft a letter to go to Intelenet and AT&T, regarding these significant concerns and express their desire to rectify these problems as soon as possible.

Tully reported that IHETS' application for affiliate membership to the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID) is pending.

Stockey reported on IP testing.  He noted that the main issues throughout the testing have been with support and that testing participants were not always available due to bandwidth issues.

King reported that the December ITC meeting will be a telephone and video meeting and that John Koppen, Indiana Telecommunications Association (ITA) would be invited to attend.  In addition, IHETS will attend an ITA meeting on December 8 and 9.

Working Group Report:

Jensen reported on continuing discussions on student services.  He reported that staff has developed a revised enrollment model. The major difference from the existing home institution model is that the registration process can occur via the ICN Web site; the new model would help reduce the creation and distribution of hard copy versions of the registration form and would enable simultaneous distribution to all concerned parties as identified by the university. Another difference in ISU's proposed model is that credits would be transferred back to the home institution at the end of the term. The originating institution would count the student FTE for purposes of state reimbursement.

Members agreed to have the model reviewed at their own institutions and to bring back reactions on why or it will work or questions it raises. It was agreed to include more detail about how fee amounts and percentages are set before the model is shared.

The group discussed audience analysis needs and future plans for the All Partners Conference.  In response to interest expressed recently and also last spring, in an interinstitutional course-transfer database for use both by students and advisors, staff proposed taking project requirements to a consultant for a feasibility study. Millichap will present the group with some examples from around the country and a

set of questions to answer about the scope of the proposed project via email and will use the answers in working with the consultant.

Revenue/Expense Summary:

Fisher distributed and reviewed the IHETS/AISN Revenue/Expense Summary for 7/1-10/31/99.  He stated that backbone costs are up from an expected 25% to 29% due to overlapping costs. Currently it appears that the backbone may break even in April 2000.

Announcements:

King noted that the Video Scheduling Committee will meet December 6. Ewick announced that Universal Service Funds were released this week.

Tully reported that due to the node migration issues with AT&T a special area has been designated the "war room" for staff to best deal with problems making connections.

In addition, a series of conference calls are being conducted every two weeks from 8:30-12:30.  The calls are each 30 minutes long and a broken down by node. Customers can call in to discuss status of connections and any concerns.

King and Huie proposed changing the Management Committee schedule to every other month.  The new schedule will eliminate the December meeting and convene again on January 18, 2000.

The meeting adjourned at 11:35 a.m.