May Statistics

1. Public Access Sessions

Location   Total Users Total Hrs. Avg. Session
La Plaza        903       758        .84
Penasco         295       286        .97
Questa          303       166        .55

Of the 903 visits to the Taos lab, 117 were from registered users
2. Classes

Title           # Classes  # Participants
Public Orientation     2   12
Intro to Email         2   23
Intro to WWW           3   25
Follow-up to Email     1    4
Follow-up to WWW       1    4
Easy Wed Design        1    4
Managing Mailing Lists 1    3
Totals                11   75

3. New Registrations for May 99

Primary Accounts    104
Secondary Accounts   16
Reactivated          03
Scholarships         02
Total               125

4. Closed Accounts

Closed due to past due balances of >50 days
                     48

141 past due notices sent - 93 responded with payment

Closed Accounts Per User Request
 User moving         23
 User Moving          2
 Unable to access     6
 Computer not wking   8
 No reason given      4
 Using other ISP      3
 Closed secondary     2
 Miscellaneous        8
Total Per Request    56

Total Closed        104
Net Change          +21

5. Telephone Stats

Tech Support Calls   60
Billing              20
New Accounts         10
Hours                09
Classes              05
Web Site             04
Other                75
Total               183

The May stats are not accurate due to staff absence with family death. There was an influx of tech support calls due to connection problem cause by faulty phone lines and USWest software problems.
6. La Plaza Dial in Stats for May 99

TOTAL # USERS:      2164
TOTAL # DIAL-IN:    1771 (81% of TOTAL USERS)
TOTAL CONNECT:     54502.62 (hours)

AVG NUM SESSIONS:     60
AVG SES LENGTH:       30.64 (minutes)
AVG TOTAL CONNECT:    30.78 (hours)

PENASCO # USERS:      79
PENASCO # SESSIONS: 3619
PENASCO TOTAL TIME: 3595.85 hours

QUESTA # USERS:      118
QUESTA # SESSIONS:  4601
QUESTA TOTAL TIME:  5488.22 hours

TAOS # USERS:       1617
TAOS # SESSIONS:   98499
TAOS TOTAL TIME:   45418.55 hours

Current Projects

1. W.K. Kellogg Foundation Teacher Training Project (May 98 - May 99) This project was an addendum to the original 3-year grant from Kellogg and it addressed information technology training to designated teachers in Taos, Penasco, and Questa. Nancy Montano coordinated the project and is completing the evaluation to submit to Kellogg. I will submit in July the evaluation for the Board's reference.

 
2. Benton Foundation Open Studio: Arts Online project: The Advisory Committee, comprised of community artists, read the 40 applications and chose 30 artists to participate in the project. Taos, Questa, and Penasco communities are represented and training will begin in the next week. Nancy Montano is planning a reception for the artists, La Plaza staff and board for Thursday, June 24 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM at the Hispanic Arts Council at the TCECD. An invitation is forthcoming.

 
3. La Plaza purchased a bundled courseware from Cheltenham Computer Training Center. This course ware will provide training curriculum from basic computer training to intermediate training on Windows 98, Access 97, Excel 97, PowerPoint 97, Word 97, and many more such training. The normal course delivery time is 8 hours and the staff is proposing a fee of $100 per person for each class. A certificate of completion will be given to each participant at the end of each class.
   
   Through the program of the Cheltenham Computer Training Center, La Plaza has applied to become a certified computer training center using the following modules, rather than just a certificate of completion we will be able a certificate of training:
   
   
• Module 1 - Basic Concepts of Information Technology (IT)
• Module 2 - Using the Computer and Managing Files
• Module 3 - Word Processing
• Module 4 - Spreadsheets
• Module 5 - Databases/Filing Systems
• Module 6 - Presentation and Drawing
• Module 7 - Information Network Services

Pending Projects

1. National Cancer Institute: the institute has begun reading the proposals submitted for funding and will notify the host agency, American Medical Center in Denver, in August or September.

 
2. Los Alamos National Lab Foundation: we were awarded the full request of $22,597 to replace La Plaza system equipment with Year 2000 compliant hardware and software! ( I just found out today, Monday June 7!!!)

 
3. W.K.Kellogg Foundation - MIRA Community Support Organization RFP: Pending decision from Kellogg.

New Grant Initiatives

1. Department of Education, Community Technology Center Initiative: We are developing this 3 year proposal to respond to the larger range of information technology needs in Northern New Mexico by developing more diverse and structured array of services in the Learning Center and the public access sites in Questa and Penasco. The total grant is $1,662,689, ($842,236 requested from Depart of Ed and $820,453 in matching dollars from La Plaza.) As the grant must be postmarked June 14, I have been extremely focused in the development and preparation of the proposal.
   
   We will use the new curriculum discussed in II.C. to train clients receiving services from partnering Community Based Organizations; i.e. WESST Corp, Community Wellness Council, Rocky Mountain Youth Corp, Adult Learning Center, Siete del North, etc. Also, we will conduct survey's with the comminutes at large, Taos, Questa, Penasco, Embudo, Costilla, Dixon, etc and offer training as the needs are revealed.
   
   La Plaza will continue the free public access, free introduction classes to the Internet and email; however, this initiative provides the vehicle to expand into a community technology center.

Board Considerations

1. Secondary Accounts under business primary accounts: We have approximately 200 secondary accounts under primary accounts with different businesses; i.e. Town of Taos, Taos School District, Questa School District, Holy Cross Hospital, several real estate business, etc. These accounts were developed so the employees could conduct business online and have a business email account. Over time it has become apparent to La Plaza that these 200+ secondary accounts are also being used by the employees at home for personal email.
   
   These secondary accounts are basically costing La Plaza $3000 each month (200 accts x $15.00 = $3000 x 12 = $36,000 per year), and they are being used as primary accounts away from the employers business.
   
   The Systems Administrator can isolate these secondary accounts and deactivate their ability to dial in anywhere - home, office, etc. They would then activate business email and online business through the primary accounts. Thus, these existing secondary accounts would not be able to dial in from home and would be required to purchase an account to conduct their personal business.
   
   If the Board will approve this change, Loretta Suazo and I will schedule appointments and discuss the new policy with the business owners and/or directors and provide them with a 30-day policy change.
   
   Consider $36,000 in the revenue which could purchase new technology infrastructure, a comprehensive benefits package for La Plaza employees, and any other expense item the staff and Board recommends.

Fiscal Management

1. Nesbit Haygood, CPA, and 3 of his accountants swooped down on La Plaza Tuesday, June 1 and June 2 and began the 1998 audit. Mr. Haygood hopes to have it completed for presentation at the July Board meeting.

Judith Pepper, Executive Director, La Plaza Telecommunity