Workforce Network of Kansas

Workforce Network of Kansas
Leadership Team
May 2, 2003

Board members in attendance were Ken Bell, Ed Berger, Maureen Toll (representing Gerald Cook), Jim Garner, Alicia Salisbury, and Dwayne Peaslee. Staff members Barb Reavis and Konnie Leffler.

Guests present included Anne Gallagher, Wichita State University/CEDBR; Mike Walker, Fort Hays State University/Docking Institute; Bill Layes and David McGee, KDHR/LMIS; Dave McEachern, KDHR/KansasJobLink.com; Marc Lowe, Shawn Gregory and Mike Randall, America's Job Link Alliance/Technical Support; and Kris Kitchen and David Brennan, Heartland Works/Local Area II.

Bell called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Following self-introductions, minutes from the February 21, 2003 Leadership Team meeting were approved following a Peaslee/Berger motion.

Layes reported that the contract for Phases I and III of the research project is in the process of being signed. McGee then distributed a Request for Information Progress Report and went over the status of the various phases of the project for the group. Walker then gave a brief background of the Docking Institute and its qualifications to do this research. He explained that the original bid the Institute made was based on sample sizes of 400 respondents per labor basin and needs to be increased to 600 respondents per labor basin with a corresponding increase in the cost of the study. McGee distributed a memo from Brett Zollinger of the Docking Institute explaining the necessity for these changes. Following a brief discussion the reassignment of $20,690 to increase the sample size was approved.

In response to the Board's request for information about the fitness of Kansasjoblink.com to fulfill the web-based requirements of the research project, McEachern gave a presentation on Kansasjoblink.com. He first covered the history and institutional structure of the site, with Lowe explaining how Kansasjoblink.com fits into America's Job Link Alliance. McEachern then reported on the types of surveys being conducted on Kansasjoblink.com users followed by demonstrations of how the job search and employee search functions operated.

Following lunch, Reavis asked the group to consider a variety of configurations and functions offered on a few other Web sites for future reference. Cutting her presentation short because of time constraints, Reavis said that she would send the addresses of these Web sites out to the group.

Some discussion followed about whether to proceed with choosing Kansasjoblink.com as the Web entity for the research project. McEachern, citing the possibility that some of the costs might be borne by the existing U.S. DOL grant to the consortium, felt the amount previously approved by the WNK Board, $58,822, would be more than adequate. If the grant money is not available, he said the cost would be approximately $40,000-45,000. Bell recommended going ahead with using Kansasjoblink.com and the other Board members agreed.

Bell asked for input on the agenda for the June 27, 2003 board meeting and told the group that a note to that effect would be sent out. Following a brief discussion of the importance of soliciting Local Area Administrative entities and Local Workforce Investment Board Chairs as central focus groups, the meeting was adjourned at 1:00.