Student Predictive Analytics Services docs

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request records related to student predictive analytics services used by the university.

For the purpose of this request, the term "student predictive analytics services" means software or computer code that employ machine learning models to generate predictions about individual students or groups of students for one or more of the following purposes:

a) To generate predictions about which prospective student names/contact information to buy from vendors such as the College Board, ACT, Cappex, etc. for advertising and recruiting.
b) To generate predictions about prospective students' likelihood to apply to, be admitted to, and/or enroll at the university.
c) To generate predictions about prospective students' financial aid needs and/or likely response to different financial aid packages.
d) To generate predictions about prospective students' likelihood of passing a class, re-enrolling for another term (retention), and/or graduation.

My request applies to all student predictive analytics services used by the university during the 2022-23 academic year, including those developed in-house by the university or purchased by the university from a vendor.

I request:

1) All contracts and statements of work between the university and outside parties for student predictive analytics services that the university used during the 2022-23 academic year.

2) Records defining the input variables and their weights/relative power for each student predictive analytics service the university used during the 2022-23 academic year (In other words, records defining each data point fed into each machine learning model and its respective impact on the model's output).

3) Records documenting the accuracy (AUC, true/false positive, lift, etc.) of each student predictive analytics service the university used during the 2022-23 academic year.

4) Validation studies, disparate impact studies, or other records comparing how each student predictive analytics service used by the university during the 2022-23 academic year performs for different student groups (e.g. Black students vs. White students, male students vs. female students).

I ask that all fees be waived as I am a journalist and intend to use the requested records to publish articles in the public interest about the operations of a government agency. If you choose to impose fees, I ask that you provide an explanation of the fees, including the hourly wage of the lowest-paid employee capable of fulfilling the request.

If you choose to reject this request or redact portions of responsive documents, I ask that you cite the statutory exemptions and associated case law underlying your decision to withhold each portion from public review.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, and is not made for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Todd Feathers