RNL enrollment and financial aid models
It is a clone of this request.
| Submitted | Jan. 28, 2022 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Todd Feathers
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
1) All contracts with Ruffalo, Noel, Levitz (RNL) since Jan. 1, 2018 for enrollment management and financial aid optimization services.
2) All reports provided to the university by RNL since Jan. 1, 2018 regarding the following RNL services:
- Historical Research & Competitor Benchmarking
- Econometric Modeling
- Annual Financial Aid Plan Development
- RNL Smart View Dashboards & Reporting for Insight-Driven Response
- Retention Analysis
- Revenue Optimization & Simulation
- Four-Year Enrollment & Net Revenue Projection Model
- Enrollment Likelihood and FinAid Receptivity Scoring
3) All validation studies, differential impact studies, or comparable studies supplied by RNL or done by the university or a third party on the university's behalf regarding the accuracy of RNL's predictive models.
4) De-identified copies of all enrollment and financial aid model training datasets supplied to/received from RNL for 2021-2022 school year applicants, containing:
- All non-identifiable variables for each applicant that the university supplies to RNL for the purpose of building and training its predictive models
AND
- All output data fields (i.e., receptivity scores, lead categories, etc.) generated by RNL's predictive models for each applicant.
With regards to item 4 of my request, please note that I am asking for a de-identified data set that does not include fields that could be used to identify an individual applicant (e.g., name, address, SSN). These fields can easily be redacted by deleting those columns from the responsive spreadsheet.
I ask that all fees be waived as intend to use the requested records to further public understanding of public agencies and not for any commercial purpose. In the event you choose to impose fees, I request a detailed breakdown of the fees, including the hourly wage of each employee involved and an explanation justifying the employee hours required to fulfill the request.
Should you choose to reject this request or redact portions of responsive documents, I ask that you provide a detailed breakdown of the statutory exemptions and associated case law underlying your decision to withhold each/any portions from public review.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
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
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 28, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: University Of North Texas
Good afternoon Mr. Feathers,
Your January 28, 2021 request has been received by the University of North Texas System. We will be in touch with an update on Tuesday, February 15th.
Best,
Alice Hawes
Public Information Coordinator
_______________________________
[A close up of a logo Description automatically generated]<https://www.untsystem.edu/>
University of North Texas System<https://www.untsystem.edu/>
1155 Union Circle #310907 • Denton, TX 76201
Direct: 940.565.4118
Fax: 940.369.7026
From: University Of North Texas
Good afternoon,
Attached please correspondence related to your request and records responsive to item 1 for contract documents.
Sincerely,
Alice Hawes
Public Information Coordinator
_______________________________
[A close up of a logo Description automatically generated]<https://www.untsystem.edu/>
University of North Texas System<https://www.untsystem.edu/>
1155 Union Circle #310907 • Denton, TX 76201
Direct: 940.565.4118
Fax: 940.369.7026
-
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From: University Of North Texas
The request has been forwarded from one agency to another agency or department for further review or follow up.
From: Todd Feathers
Hello Alice,
I'm following up on this request.
On April 26, nearly three months ago, the Attorney General's office instructed the university to release all responsive documents in its possession, as of the time of my request, to me. To date, I have not received any such records.
Could you please acknowledge receipt of this message, confirm that you are processing the responsive records for release, and provide an estimated date of completion?
Thank you very much,
Todd Feathers
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 28, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 28, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 28, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 28, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 28, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 28, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 28, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 28, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Texas Public Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 28, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: University Of North Texas
Mr. Feathers,
Good morning. I am the Public Information Officer for the University of North Texas System and its component institutions, including the University of North Texas. I understand that you have inquired from our Public Information Coordinator, Alice Hawes, whether UNT has provided all of the information responsive to a public information request you made on January 28, 2022. The purpose of this message is to certify, pursuant to section 552.232 of the Texas Government Code, that the university has provided you all of the information responsive to your request.
Further, I want to clarify any confusion resulting from language in Open Record Ruling 2022-11897, specifically the ruling’s reference to our office (1) not informing the Open Records Division (the “Division”) that the university had released information to you at the time we requested the ruling; and (2) not explaining to the Division why the information we submitted in support of our request for a ruling was “not representative of all types of information to which [you sought] access.”
Your request sought access to four categories of information:
1. All contracts with UNT and Ruffalo, Noel, Levitz (RNL) for enrollment management and financial aid optimization services (“Contracts”);
2. All reports provided by RNL regarding eight specific service (“Reports”);
3. All validation studies, differential impact or comparable studies conducted by RNL, UNT or a third party regarding the accuracy of RNL’s predictive models (“Validation Studies”); and
4. De-Identified copies of all enrollment and financial aid model training data sets supplied to or received from RNL (“Model Training Data”).
On February 22, 2022, the university asked the Open Records Division for a ruling regarding your request. The same day, we provided you the Contracts and statements of work that were responsive to your request. Our request for ruling sought to protect only the Reports and Model Training Data you requested. We did not ask to withhold any Validation Studies because none existed. Unfortunately, we did not inform you or the Open Records Division of this fact. We apologize for this oversight and for any inconvenience it caused.
Feel free to contact me at 940.565.2717 if you have any questions regarding this message. Our office is closed from noon today and will reopen on January 2, 2023. However, I will be checking my email periodically over the holidays and will make every effort to respond to you should you wish to discuss this matter.
Have a happy holiday.
Renaldo L. Stowers
Senior Associate General Counsel
Office of General Counsel
_________________________________
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS SYSTEM
1155 Union Circle #310907 ● Denton, Texas 76203
Office: 940.565.2717 ● Fax: 940.369.7026
www.untsystem.edu<http://www.untsystem.edu>
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