March 6, 2024 at 11:00 AM - Information Services Committee Meeting

Discussion:  Meeting call to order at 11:00 AM.  

Staff:  Kraig Lofquist, Deb Hericks, Prsicilla Quintana, Scott Isaacson, Andrew Easton, Rhonda Eis

Discussion:  The Technology Director shared updates:  We received the reimbursement of $100,548.24 for the last robotics item purchased. We received word on February 13, 2024, that the payment was cleared and should be received by us shortly.

Discussion: 

We have received updated counts from ESUs and schools for their participation in the Proofpoint and Duo projects, and will be sending billing in March:

• Duo Security: 48 school districts and ESUs are participating, with 8,631 licenses purchased. 1,369 licenses remain available at the subsidized price of $5 per license for this contract year.
• Proofpoint Security Awareness Training: 140 school districts and ESUs are participating, with 22,256 licenses registered. The cost is $1.23 per license for this contract year

The updated Canvas consortium usage is 82,369 user licenses across 190 school districts and ESUs participating. Canvas "road show" sessions around the state for teachers and administrators will be held this spring and summer to promote and teach beginning and advanced topics for a range of experience levels.

Tammy Cheatum (Canvas specialist) has announced her retirement effective May 31, 2024. Following an interview process, Bill Schroeder of Clarkson College accepted an offer to join the Canvas team in April. His expertise in Canvas administration and instructional design will be a great addition to the Canvas team.

Discussion: 

We (ESUCC) have completed the latest National Cyber Security Review (NCSR). This is a self-assessment which is required for recipients of the federal State and Local Cyber Security (SLCG/IIJA) grant funds. 

The Technology Director have been conservative in my answers to these questions and they show that we have improvements to make in many areas. While we are informally doing many of the right things for our cybersecurity, the scores are low when processes aren't documented and/or formalized. The improvement from last year represents mostly documentation work and improved processes. We will continue that improvement process.

The ESUCC SLCG year 1 project includes 0.4 FTE funding for additional support for ESUs and schools using Proofpoint, Duo Security and the NOC-led security assessment tools. ESUs 7 and 1 have offered assistance to the ESUCC to staff these needs. I am grateful for the help and will be utilizing these resources as needed to keep these projects moving forward.

The application window for SLCG year 2 projects closed on February 4th, 2024. 62 project proposals were received, totaling $5.1 million, which is greater than the $4.3 million in funds available to award. The state committee has begun to review the proposals and will be scoring them likely during March, 2024. We anticipate the Notice of Funding Opportunity for year 3 funds will be released in May or June, 2024 and the state committee intends to open our application window earlier to keep the process and funding flowing as quickly as possible.

$500,000 of remaining ESSER III state level funds have been allocated to the ESUCC for cybersecurity projects and a contract is in development. I visited with the NOC members at their February meeting and am working to finalize project plans, including cybersecurity training, workshops with ESUs and schools to develop and improve cyber incident response plans, and trials of security operations center (SOC) and penetration testing services. All work must be completed with these funds by September 30, 2024.

Discussion:  ESU 2 Administrator shared the notes from the NITC meeting.  

Discussion:  The Executive Director gave updates on the MSA for 2024-2025.

Discussion:  Review and approve NOC Budget for 2024-2025.

Discussion:  Reviewed and approved the TLT budget requests for 2024-2025.  

Discussion:  The Executive Director shared information on Rule 58: Safety and Security update.  

Discussion: 

The SRS team is upgrading the software to keep it on current versions and has two new forms being reviewed by our legal counsel, along with other fixes and enhancements for release this spring. We are reaching out to ESUs and SRS districts to ask for feedback on the system and which future needs and enhancements they would like to see.

The software development team has released a testing version of the new NVIS site and made it available to all distance learning coordinators for their testing and feedback. We are working with that group to determine the best process and timeline for launching the new system.

The ESUCC will be taking on more responsibility (and funding) for the Project Para system. Our Canvas team is working on improving the registration process and access for paras taking the training, and improvements to the course content.

Discussion:  The Digital Learning Coordinator gave updates on his work this past month.  

Discussion:  The Project Coordinator for Instructional Materials gave updates on OER and the digital library resources that are available. 

Discussion:  The meeting adjourned at 12:08 PM.