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TexasSEGP MOU

Memorandum of Understanding
Organizing a University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development (UCAID) Sponsored Education Group Participation (SEGP) for Texas

This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is entered into by The University of Texas at Austin, an authorized representative of the Southeast Texas GigaPop, an authorized representative of the North Texas GigaPop, and the undersigned Internet2 member institutions in Texas that are Abilene Participants and Abilene Connectors. The Effective Date of this MOU is September 1, 2002 with revisions here-included that take effect on September 1, 2004.

WHEREAS, the size of the State of Texas and the existence of multiple Internet2 member institutions that are mature Abilene Connectors require cooperation in the implementation of a UCAID SEGP for the State of Texas; and

WHEREAS, UCAID has prohibited the existing Texas Internet2 members that are Abilene Participants, listed in Exhibit 1, from utilizing the SEGP; and

WHEREAS, UCAID has offered the Internet2 members in Texas an exception to provide for a single SEGP Annual Fee ($94,000) for the broader K-20 community in Texas so long as this Interagency Cooperation MOU is approved by The University of Texas at Austin, the Southeast Texas GigaPop, and the North Texas GigaPop, any or all of whom may elect to act as SEGP Connectors providing Internet2 connectivity to SEGP-eligible K-20 institutions in Texas; and

WHEREAS, UCAID is requiring that the Texas SEGP include The University of Texas at El Paso and Texas Tech University as SEGP Connectors in the event that UTEP and Texas Tech wish to provide Internet2 connectivity to SEGP-eligible K-20 institutions in their regions; and

WHEREAS, UCAID is requiring that a single SEGP Connector be responsible for paying the SEGP fee; and

WHEREAS, UCAID is requiring that one of the SEGP Connectors function as the technical coordination point of contact to UCAID for the Texas SEGP; and

WHEREAS, UCAID is requiring that no intra-Texas traffic belonging to Texas SEGP institutions would transit the Abilene backbone (however, traffic between Internet2 members in Texas would continue to do so); and

WHEREAS, UCAID is requiring a pointer to a web site that lists the individual educational institutions and organizations to be connected to Abilene via the Texas SEGP, including locations of the institutions and connection bandwidths;

NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises above, the undersigned acknowledge the following:

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ARTICLE I. SEGP Connectors, SEGP Annual Fee, and Recovery of Operating Costs

1. The following five entities have been authorized by UCAID to act as SEGP Connectors in Texas, should they elect to do so: The University of Texas at Austin, the Southeast Texas GigaPop via its authorized representative, the North Texas GigaPop via its authorized representative, Texas Tech University, and The University of Texas at El Paso. Each entity electing to act as a SEGP Connector (hereinafter called a participating UCAID connector) will be responsible for a share of the UCAID SEGP Annual Fee ($94,000) based on the cost allocation as set forth in appendix A for SEGP-eligible institutions it connects. The payments will be made to The University of Texas at Austin, which will make a single full payment of the SEGP fee to UCAID.
2. The participating UCAID connectors will agree to a new apportioning of the UCAID SEGP Annual Fee prior to each anniversary of this MOU, and at each instance of increase or decrease in the number of SEGP Connectors. The participating UCAID connectors must be in unanimous agreement prior to each re-apportionment.
3. Each participating UCAID connector that elects to act as a SEGP Connector shall publish a description of any mechanism, e.g. connection fees charged to SEGP-eligible institutions, to recover the operating costs of its SEGP connection service.
4. Each participating UCAID connector is solely responsible for all equipment costs required to implement its SEGP connection service.
5. SEGP access in Texas is only available through participation in the arrangements provided for in this MOU.

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ARTICLE II. Reporting Requirements

1. The University of Texas at Austin will publish a web page with links to pages maintained by each SEGP Connector.
2. The web pages maintained by each SEGP Connector will identify the individual SEGP-eligible institutions that use the Connector's SEGP connection service, including locations of the institutions and their connection bandwidths.
3. Each SEGP Connector will modify its reporting in response to any change in UCAID reporting requirements.

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ARTICLE III. SEGP Routing Requirements

The participating UCAID connectors will prohibit intra-Texas SEGP K-20 traffic from transiting Abilene, but with the understanding that traffic between Internet2 members in Texas will continue to be permitted to transit Abilene. The SEGP Technical Contact (Article IV) will verify Connector compliance with these requirements.

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ARTICLE IV. Technical Contact

The role of SEGP Technical Contact will be the responsibility of one single participating UCAID connector for a two-year rotating period. The University of Texas at Austin will serve as the single SEGP Technical Contact for the first two years and for the follow-on two-year period (September 1, 2004 through August 31, 2006). The Technical Contact for each subsequent two-year period will be determined by the participating UCAID connectors prior to every even-numbered anniversary of this MOU.

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ARTICLE V. Expansion

1. Any of the five UCAID-authorized entities that do not initially elect to act as SEGP Connectors may commence to do so at a later time following (1) notification of such intent to all undersigned institutions, in particular the current participating UCAID connectors, and (2) stated compliance with all Articles of this MOU including verified compliance of their connection operations with Article III, SEGP Routing Requirements.
2. The State of Texas Department of Information Resources will be invited to participate in any discussions regarding the organization and expansion of the Texas SEGP.
3. All UCAID requirements (payment of SEGP Annual Fee, number and identity of authorized SEGP Connectors, single Technical Contact, routing requirements, reporting requirements) that are reflected in this MOU must be upheld without regard to the number or affiliation of future participants in the operation of the Texas SEGP, and without regard to future forms of organization and governance.

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ARTICLE VI. Meetings

1. The UCAID SEGP Technical Contact will host an annual meeting to include representatives of the other four UCAID-authorized entities. Internet2 member institutions in Texas K-12 institutions and Education Service Centers (ESCs), Community Colleges, and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) will be invited to ask questions and provide input.
2. The State of Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) will be invited to every meeting as an observer.
3. Annual meetings will produce any modifications to this MOU and any changes to the nature and governance of the Texas SEGP.

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EXHIBIT 1

UCAID Internet2 members at the execution of the SEGP for Texas

The University of Texas at Austin Texas Tech University The University of Texas at Arlington The University of Houston Rice University Southern Methodist University Stephen F. Austin University The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Texas A&M University The University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at Dallas Baylor College of Medicine Texas Christian University The University of North Texas Southwest Research Institute

Signatory Connectors

The North Texas GigaPop in Dallas The Southeast Texas GigaPop in Houston The Texas Tech University in Lubbock The University of Texas at Austin in Austin The University of Texas at El Paso in El Paso

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Appendix A - Allocation of SEGP fee for Sept. 1, 2004 through August 31, 2005

Texas SEGP Fee Allocation

Connecting customer shares of the state SEGP fee will be calculated in March for the academic year starting the following September 1 and payable before September 30 of the calendar year.

The calculation will be based on the number of SEGP customer institutions actually connected at the time of the calculation. The calculation will yield a dollar amount per SEGP institution, based on the allocation method set forth below, as well as a dollar amount which each SEGP Connector commits to collect toward the settlement of the $94,000 annual UCAID SEGP fee for Texas.

All SEGP customer institutions connecting before August 31 will pay the calculated fee. As this is a cost-recovery mechanism, any amount collected in excess of the total state fee will be used to reduce the next year's fee.

To calculate fees, every connected SEGP-eligible institution will be counted in one of the following categories:

1. Small Connector — a library, a museum or an ISD smaller than 50,000 in student population.
2. Large Connector — all other SEGP-eligible sites.
3. ESC Aggregator — Education Service Center (ESC) sites that bring in more than one SEGP-eligible site and provide a single connection to Internet2. ESCs can choose to accept the Aggregator status or pay the sum of the computed total of all the individual SEGP-eligible sites.

Organizations aggregating traffic from SEGP institutions do not pay an additional SEGP fee. A commerical ISP may act as an aggregator by appropriate peering with a SEGP Connector so that Internet2 traffic (only) from their SEGP-eligible customers is passed through the connector to and from Internet2. The ISP is not charged a SEGP fee, but it must still provide information for the Large or Small connector as described above.

The fees for 2004/2005 academic year are:

1. Small Connector — $730 annual
2. Large Connector — $2,900 annual
3. ESC Aggregator — $4,000 annual

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Signatures

for the North Texas GigaPop David E. Edmondson Chair, North Texas GigaPop Texas Christian University for Texas Tech University Sam Segran Chief Information Officer Texas Tech University for The University of Texas at El Paso Stephen Riter Vice President for Information Resources and Planning The University of Texas at El Paso

for the Southeast Texas GigaPop Kamran Khan Vice Provost Information Technology Rice University for The University of Texas at Austin Dan Updegrove Vice President Information Technology The University of Texas at Austin

May 2004

View a PDF of the signed TexasSEGP MOU