Excelsior emails
| Submitted | Oct. 9, 2017 |
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Communications
From: Luke Stoddard Nathan
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the New York State Freedom of Information Law (1977 N.Y. Laws ch. 933), I hereby request the following records:
(a) all emails, from June 1, 2017 to the date this request is processed, received by excelsior@hesc.ny.gov. You may exclude from responsive documents any spam or computer-generated messages, and you may redact social security numbers and other information that, if disclosed, would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
(b) all emails, from June 1, 2017 to the date this request is processed, received by scholarships@hesc.ny.gov that contain the term “excelsior” or "free tuition" or "free college". You may exclude from responsive documents any spam or computer-generated messages, and you may redact social security numbers and other information that, if disclosed, would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
If my request is too broad or does not adequately describe the Records, please contact me so that I may clarify my request, and when appropriate inform me of the manner in which Records are filed, retrieved or generated.
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 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Luke Stoddard Nathan
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 9, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Fraser, John (HESC)
Mr. Nathan,
This is to acknowledge receipt by HESC of your FOIL request (attached below) concerning Excelsior Scholarship Program emails.
As you can imagine, the volume of emails you are requesting is very large. We have begun to review the documents you have requested access to and we will be in contact with you concerning them.
Pursuant to FOIL (NYS Public Officer’s Law – Article 6), State agencies have 5 business days to acknowledge receipt of a FOIL request and an additional 20 business days to respond to FOIL requests, measured from the date the 5 day acknowledgement is sent.
If you have any questions or concerns in the meantime, you are welcome to contact me directly. I suggest a reply email to this one as the best way to reach me, but my other contact information is shown below as well.
Sincerely,
John W. Fraser
Senior Attorney
Records Access Officer
Office of Counsel
New York State Higher Education Services Corp.
Direct Line (518) 408-3700
Counsel Reception (518) 473-1581
Office Fax (518) 486-6515
john.fraser@hesc.ny.gov
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 9, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Higher Education Services Corporation
Dear Mr. Nathan,
Due to the very large number of emails that you have requested access to, HESC is not yet able to have a response ready to your FOIL request dated October 9, 2017, a copy of which request is attached below.
Pursuant to FOIL §89(3)(a), this is to inform you that the date certain by which HESC will have a response ready for you is Monday, November 27, 2017.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
John W. Fraser
Senior Attorney
Records Access Officer
Office of Counsel
New York State Higher Education Services Corp.
Direct Line (518) 408-3700
Counsel Fax (518) 486-6515
john.fraser@hesc.ny.gov
From: Luke Stoddard Nathan
Thank you.
From: Higher Education Services Corporation
Mr. Nathan,
Attached please find HESC’s response to your FOIL request concerning emails received by HESC concerning the Excelsior Scholarship Program. A copy of your original request is attached below.
As with the FOIL log response, since this scan isn’t the best quality either, I am forwarding a hard copy of this response to you through the regular mail as well.
Again, your patience throughout this matter is appreciated.
If you have any questions you are welcome to contact me.
Sincerely,
John W. Fraser
Senior Attorney
Records Access Officer
Office of Counsel
New York State Higher Education Services Corp.
Direct Line (518) 408-3700
Counsel Fax (518) 486-6515
john.fraser@hesc.ny.gov
-
~WRD001
From: Luke Stoddard Nathan
John, when you say “the mailboxes are used to communicate with HESC,” are you saying that agency staff use the email address to communicate with other agency staff? Just trying to understand that 40,000 figure a little better...
From: Higher Education Services Corporation
The request has been rejected by the agency.
From: Higher Education Services Corporation
Mr. Nathan,
I checked with the Scholarship Unit and they confirmed that all of the emails that come in to HESC through those two mailboxes are from outside of our agency.
Further, while HESC staff may use those mailboxes to respond to inquiries received through them, agency staff do not communicate with each other through those mailboxes.
John W. Fraser
Senior Attorney
Records Access Officer
Office of Counsel
New York State Higher Education Services Corp.
Direct Line (518) 408-3700
Counsel Fax (518) 486-6515
john.fraser@hesc.ny.gov
-
~WRD000
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