Meeting Minutes

May 2, 2000, 10:00 a.m.

UroCor Office Building, 3rd Floor Conference Room

800 Research Parkway, Suite 350

PARTICIPANTS

OAC Members Present:  J.L. Albert, R.L. Beaty, James Beavers, Jon Walker, Don Davis, Michael Lapolla, and Susan McVey.

OAC Members Absent:  Terry Laster, Don Dale, Kevin King, Steve Shiever, Gene Thaxton, James West and Lee Williams.

Others Present:  Phil Moss, Bill Shafer, Bill Johnson, Ned Bastow, James Deaton, Laura Callahan, Kurt Snodgrass, Eric Hileman, Travis Monroe, Rusty Muns and Tony Zodrow.

WELCOME

The Chair, Susan McVey, welcomed all OAC members and guests to the meeting.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

OAC members approved minutes of the February 2000 meeting.

OMNIPLEX SCIENCE MENTORING CENTER INITIATIVE

Tony Zodrow, Deputy Director – External Affairs for the Omniplex, presented an overview of a Science Mentoring Center (SMC) proposal being submitted by the Omniplex to Lucent Technologies Foundation.

The Omniplex is seeking a multi-year funding for the SMC, a new program designed to establish meaningful mentoring relationships between middle school and high school students (ages 11-18) and scientists, engineers and other professionals working in science-based fields throughout Oklahoma.

Mr. Zodrow indicated that the planning grant has been very successful and resulted in the formation of a broad coalition of community partners that consisted of Oklahoma corporations, universities, research institutions and the Department of Education.  The partners worked as a planning committee and were substantially informed and influenced by a significant research component that included a survey administered to Oklahoma science teacher statewide.

He indicated that the work of the committee resulted in a master plan for the SMC and guided the overall development of the grant proposal.  Mr. Zodrow felt that overall, the SMC would establish an educational infrastructure that would provide unprecedented opportunities for professionals to effectively mentor talented and motivated Oklahoma students in the areas of science, math and technology.

In addition, Mr. Zodrow related that the Lucent Foundation came for a site visit on April 19^th.  From the feedback provided by the Lucent representative, Mr. Zodrow felt confident that it would be accepted and that the final date for submission of the proposal was June 23^rd.   Several Council members indicated that it would be advantageous to have Mr. Zodrow come back to the next meeting and report on the status of the grant application.

WORKING GROUPS

The chair led in a discussion concerning the establishment of Working Groups to address specific issues within the council.  Objectives, membership, organizational design, and processes were discussed.  Breakout sessions followed with three Working Groups – Applications, Budget and Finance, and Communications.  

The Applications Working Group elected Don Davis as its chair, and included Travis Monroe (OETA), Jim Beavers, Phil Moss, and Bill Johnson.  The group agreed that its initial focus should be on learning more about various technologies and applications being used within OneNet.

The Budget and Finance Working Group included J. L. Albert (chair), Susan McVey, and Bill Shafer.  The group discussed the current fiscal arrangements, fee structures, revenue sources and related issues.

The Communications Working Group included Mike Lapolla (chair) and Kurt Snodgrass.  This focused on targeted communications efforts that would increase OneNet’s visibility in the media – in Oklahoma and throughout the nation.  It was agreed that it would be advantageous to work to secure a spot in the Tulsa Focus periodical.

Each group reported on its initial discussions and plans for subsequent meetings.

ONENET OPERATIONS REPORT

a) Communications Update – Kurt Snodgrass

Kurt Snodgrass discussed the OneNet Open House that was held on February 29, 2000.  In preparation for the Open House, OneNet distributed approximately 300 invitations to existing clients, state agency heads and legislators.  In addition, it promoted the event on the OneNet Listserv.  He indicated that OneNet and Regents’ staffs were all very pleased with the attendance of over 100 individuals.

In an effort to demonstrate the capabilities of the network and telecommunications equipment, OneNet worked with Mr. Steve Shievers and Mr. Joe Kitchens to provide demonstrations of H.323 technologies.  They and their students illustrated their unique applications of the technology. 

In addition to the H.323 technologies, the MPEG video platform was highlighted through a performance of the Oklahoma Brass Quintet of the University of Oklahoma.  Mr. Snodgrass related that Dr. Brian Shepard, a faculty member at OU and a strong proponent of Internet 2, was instrumental in making this demonstration happen.  Interest was very high related to the technology and most guests were amazed by the quality of the video and audio.  At the conclusion of the performance Dr. Shepard also stayed online to field questions from the open house guests.

He also indicated that OneNet participated in the Lt. Governor’s Telecommunications Day at the capitol that was held on April 27^th.  OneNet and the Oklahoma State Department of Vocational-Technical Education collaborated to demonstrate the network and actual applications.  Rusty Muns and Rose Bonjour of the State Department of Vo-Tech coordinated a demonstration of the teacher training initiative established under HB 1815.  Mr. Snodgrass indicated that the collaboration has proven to be useful in that it provides viewers with actual applications over our network.  He also pointed out that they are planning on continuing the collaboration at the ODLA and OSSBA conferences in the summer.

Mike Lapolla indicated that the OneNet web site should incorporate a real-time, network map that depicts the activity of the network – much like the Internet2 site.  Mr. Snodgrass indicated that he would work with James Deaton to accomplish this.

b) Network Update – James Deaton

James Deaton indicated that the OC-3 from Sprint would be implemented to resolve network congestion.  He indicated that OneNet is exploring and implementing network services such as content delivery via Akamai and bandwidth savings via caching.  In addition, several companies have begun presenting filtering options that would be made available to OneNet clients. 

NEW BUSINESS/COUNCIL DISCUSSION

Steve Shiever related that the joint ODLA/OTA conference would be held June 1-3, 2000 in downtown Oklahoma City and encouraged the OAC membership to attend the event.

NEXT MEETING

The date for the next meeting was not set by the OAC prior to the conclusion of the meeting.  The Chair stated that the OneNet staff would work on the minutes of the meeting and provide them to the OAC via the Listserv.  In addition to the minutes, the Chair would work with staff to establish the next meeting date and location and provide the information on the Listserv.   

 ADJOURN

The meeting adjourned at approximately 12:00 pm. 

 

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