K-20 Network Technical Steering Committee

Meeting Minutes – August 13, 2008

1:30 – 2:30 PM

Voting Members present:

·  SBCTC - Michael Scroggins, Chair

·  Council of Presidents – Terry Teale

·  ESD Representative - Jeff Andrews

·  OSPI – Peter Tamayo

·  DIS – Michael Martel (proxy for Roland Rivera)

·  HEC Board - David Mitchell

·  Industry Representative – Frank Leeds

Voting Members absent:

·  None

Others Present:

·  WSU – Don Peters, Dave Ostrom

·  CIS – Geiler Hidalgo, Anthony Morrow

·  OSPI – Dennis Small

·  SPU – David Tindall

·  TRL – Gwen Culp

·  WSL – Gary Bortel

·  UW – Clare Donahue, Geoff Lakeman, Steve Paulson

·  DIS – Doug Mah, Wendy Cloutier

·  K-20 Staff – Tom Carroll, Susan Tenkhoff, Bob Wherrett, Michael Evans

1. Call to Order and Welcome. Chairman Michael Scroggins called the meeting to order at 1:30 PM.

2. Adoption of Consent Agenda. The consent agenda included the regular meeting minutes from the May 14, 2008 NTSC meeting and approval of the following new K-20 circuits:

·  Peninsula College to Jefferson Education Center; Port Hadlock, WA - CTC

·  Green River CC to Kent Center; Kent, WA - CTC

·  Skagit Valley College to ECEAP; Mt. Vernon, WA – CTC Site

·  Sno-Isle Library System – State Library

·  Chewelah Public Library – State Library

It was moved and seconded that the consent agenda be adopted by the NTSC. Approved unanimously.

3. KOCO Staff Changes. Tom Carroll explained that Patty Yates decided to terminate her contract with NCI and Bob Wherrett has been chosen to fill the vacated position. Tom added that Bob previously worked for DIS in the Technical Services Division and is very familiar with K-20 circuits and the network in general. Tom mentioned that Bob was employed by Qwest before he worked for TSD. Bob told the group he has been doing network project management for about 10 years and initially worked at Qwest as a Service Delivery Coordinator for data projects. He added that he later worked for the Network Control Center at DIS and eventually began handling K-20 accounts for DIS and TSD. Mike Scroggins welcomed Bob to the group and asked the rest of the meeting participants to introduce themselves.

4. Impact of Governor’s Announcement Regarding Budget Issues. Michael Scroggins explained the Governor’s office announced freezes on hiring and other spending the week of August 4th and added that the community and technical colleges have been working to determine the impact and do what they can to hold positions open, reduce travel, and use more video conferencing to help manage costs. Doug Mah commented that the Governor’s directive freezes FTEs so vacancies will not be filled without approval from OFM and DOP. Doug explained that the directive also freezes spending related to personal service contracts, out of state travel, and equipment. Doug added that the directive was issued based on recent reports showing state revenues are well below forecast, in addition to an already anticipated budget shortfall in the next biennium. Doug explained that the Governor also asked entities including higher education institutions to do their best to follow the directive. Mike Scroggins asked Tom Carroll if any analysis had been done to evaluate the impact of the directive on K-20, and Tom provided an overview of the current equipment procurement process for K-20, adding that he is looking for direction from K-20 stakeholders regarding any changes in how equipment, such as MCU components, are procured. Tom added that, in some cases, not acquiring such parts and equipment may negatively impact services for K-20 customers. Clare Donahue suggested the creation of a prioritized equipment purchasing list for the next twelve months so an appropriate plan can be developed and brought back to the NTSC with purchasing recommendations for the next six to twelve months. David Mitchell commented that because network resources including video conferencing may be more heavily utilized in the current climate, K-20 may need to actually increase capacity to meet increased demand for those resources. Terry Teale pointed out that it is important to continue to be good stewards of the network while considering cost cutting measures so that the quality of the network is not jeopardized. The group agreed that the plan needed to be developed within a week or so in order to ensure that essential purchasing activity will not be adversely impacted. Mike Scoggins commented that he thought a risk assessment should be a component of the plan as well. The group discussed the issue of K-20 video conferencing resource usage in light of the Governor’s directive, and agreed there are numerous scheduling, policy, and resource considerations related to that discussion. Tom Carroll and Clare Donahue pointed out that case-by-case handling of one-off video conferencing needs has occurred in the past and might serve as a stop-gap measure in response to the current budget challenges. Terry Teale pointed out that it would be helpful if those events had some sort of educational tie-in as well.

5. Desktop IP Video Conferencing Pilot Project. Michael Evans told the group the Codian 4220 MCU has been online for several months and has remained stable during that period of time. He added that the SBCTC has distributed 34 copies of Polycom PVX desktop video conferencing software and setup instructions to end-users in the CTC sector. Michael commented that he has been seeing some activity on the MCU from CTC users, although most of the activity so far has involved ESD participants. Michael mentioned that a variety of connection and call management options available on the Codian MCU continue to be explored and documented. Michael explained that the process of gathering and processing call statistics from the MCU has gone well so far and continues to be refined.

6. KOCO Report. Steve Paulson told the group that K-20 engineering is in the process of implementing a new GigE connection between the Spokane and Westin node sites to provide increased capacity and resiliency on the network in accordance with architectural guidelines in the Next Generation Network document. Steve also mentioned that a renumbering of the core infrastructure within the K-20 network is underway. The changes affect the links among the core routers and between the core routers and the institutional routers. Steve noted that the changes to the institutional routers will cause a brief 5 to 10 minute outage that will occur at night unless other arrangements have been made with the institution prior to making the changes. Steve also mentioned that the Polycom MGC100 MCUs are receiving software upgrades prior to the start of the fall quarter. Tom Carroll informed the group that DIS led a Polycom RFP to replace the existing Polycom equipment convenience contract that expires in October of 2008, and added that K-20 staff participated in that process. He explained that both state agencies and educational institutions will be able to buy both MCUs and endpoint devices through the contract at significant discounts, and remarked that an Apparently Successful Vendor announcement was expected within a few days. Susan Tenkhoff told the group K-20 recently received the E-rate funding commitment decision letter for the current funding year and also submitted the documentation for the reimbursement for funding year July 2006 through June 2007.

7. Chair’s Report. Mike Scroggins mentioned that he has been spending a lot of time in Bellevue at CIS over the past few months, and explained that his additional duties and absence have in no way diminished his views about the importance of the K-20 network.

8. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned at 2:30 PM.

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