Logs of UNC-Chapel Hill Public Records Requests

Gavin Young
Senior Director for Public Records
Public Records Office
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Campus Box #6205
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-9050

June 18, 2021

Dear Mr. Young,

Under the North Carolina Public Records Law, G.S. §132-1, we are requesting copies of the following:

* All lists, databases, spreadsheets or other similar documents related to the recording, tracking, and handling, and fulfillment of any and all public records requests made to UNC-Chapel Hill on or after April 26, 2021, including the details (“body”) of each request, date received, requestor’s name and contact information, and all subsequent communications to and from your office in relation to aforementioned requests. Please include records related to requests generated via online submission through the UNC Systems web form at https://nextrequest.unc.edu/requests/new.

Because North Carolina law specifies requesters can obtain public documents "in any and all media in which the public agency is capable of providing them," please send the information in electronic form, and specifically in CSV or delimited text format where possible.

As the law requires, please release all reasonably segregable nonexempt portions of documents.

If any portion of this request can be fulfilled prior to the entire request being fulfilled, send us your reply and/or responsive documents as soon as they are available.

We prefer to receive these digital public records via download, email attachment or via digital storage medium that we will provide at our own cost. Please let us know what is the most timely method.

We request a waiver of all fees for this request because this request is made as part of the process of news gathering and not for commercial use. Disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of government, namely the University of North Carolina.

State law requires that you respond to and fulfill this request "as promptly as possible." If you expect a significant delay of over three working business days in responding to and fulfilling this request, please contact us with information about when we might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested records. Please provide records as they are processed.

If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific statutory exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify us of the appeal procedures available to us under the law.

If you have any questions regarding this request, please contact us at 336-278-5506 or reply to this email address.

Thank you in advance for your facilitation of this request.

Best,

Brooks Fuller, Director, N.C. Open Government Coalition, Elon University

Shannan Bowen, Executive Director, N.C. Local News Workshop, Elon University

Neal Caren, Associate Professor of Sociology, UNC-Chapel Hill

Paul Cuadros, Associate Professor, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Victoria Smith Ekstrand, Associate Professor & Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster Distinguished Professor for Graduate Education, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Jordan Green, adjunct faculty, Journalism Program, Wake Forest University and staff reporter at Raw Story

Calvin L. Hall, Department Chair & Associate Professor, North Carolina Central University Department of Mass Communication

Pam Kelley, freelance journalist and former higher education reporter, The Charlotte Observer

Daniel Kreiss, Edgar Thomas Cato Distinguished Associate Professor, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and Principal Researcher, Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life; Faculty Affiliate,
Information Society Project at Yale Law School

Mandy Locke, adjunct faculty, Journalism Program, Wake Forest University

Trevy A. McDonald, Julian W. Scheer Term Associate Professor, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Erin Siegal McIntyre, Assistant Professor, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Kate Murphy, Higher Education Reporter, The News & Observer

Kate Sheppard, Senior National Editor, HuffPost, and Teaching Associate Professor, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Melanie Sill, founder, N.C. Local News Lab and former executive editor of The News & Observer

Praveena Somasundaram, Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Tar Heel

David Squires, Adjunct Lecturer, Journalism, N.C. A&T University

Ryan Thornburg, Associate Professor, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Kyle Villemain, Editor-in-Chief, The Assembly

Barry Yeoman, freelance journalist, Adjunct Instructor of Journalism and Public Policy at Duke University and Adjunct Instructor of Journalism, Wake Forest University

Phoebe Zerwick, Director of the Journalism Program, Wake Forest University

Dear Mr. Young,

Thank you for your prompt reply.

We would appreciate a clarification around your statement that all public records requests must be filed at https://nextrequest.unc.edu.

The reason for our confusion is that your assertion that all public records requests must be filed at https://nextrequest.unc.edu is not grounded in North Carolina law.

This requirement introduces an unnecessary step in the records request process that, in our view, prevents government agencies from producing records "as promptly as possible” (see NCGS §132-6).

In 1999, a superior court in North Carolina found that state law does not permit “the interposition of a ‘gatehouse’ or ‘overseer’ between members of the public who desire access to public records and the custodians of public records.” (Dawes v. Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, 99 CVS 03497)

Although North Carolina law does not require citizens to make public records requests through a public agency’s preferred platform or medium (see NCGS §132-6.2(a)), we're happy to follow this process for the sake of expediently receiving the records.

So that we understand what will happen to our request after we submit it via the UNC NextRequest portal, would you be willing to describe to us your process for fulfilling this request after it appears in the portal system?

Thank you again for your quick reply, and for helping us understand your response.

(This request is being redirected through the portal)

Gavin Young
Senior Director for Public Records
Public Records Office
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Campus Box #6205
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-9050

June 18, 2021

Dear Mr. Young,

Under the North Carolina Public Records Law, G.S. §132-1, we are requesting copies of the following:

* All lists, databases, spreadsheets or other similar documents related to the recording, tracking, and handling, and fulfillment of any and all public records requests made to UNC-Chapel Hill on or after April 26, 2021, including the details (“body”) of each request, date received, requestor’s name and contact information, and all subsequent communications to and from your office in relation to aforementioned requests. Please include records related to requests generated via online submission through the UNC Systems web form at https://nextrequest.unc.edu/requests/new.

Because North Carolina law specifies requesters can obtain public documents "in any and all media in which the public agency is capable of providing them," please send the information in electronic form, and specifically in CSV or delimited text format where possible.

As the law requires, please release all reasonably segregable nonexempt portions of documents.

If any portion of this request can be fulfilled prior to the entire request being fulfilled, send us your reply and/or responsive documents as soon as they are available.

We prefer to receive these digital public records via download, email attachment or via digital storage medium that we will provide at our own cost. Please let us know what is the most timely method.

We request a waiver of all fees for this request because this request is made as part of the process of news gathering and not for commercial use. Disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of government, namely the University of North Carolina.

State law requires that you respond to and fulfill this request "as promptly as possible." If you expect a significant delay of over three working business days in responding to and fulfilling this request, please contact us with information about when we might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested records. Please provide records as they are processed.

If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific statutory exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify us of the appeal procedures available to us under the law.

If you have any questions regarding this request, please contact us at 336-278-5506 or reply to this email address.

Thank you in advance for your facilitation of this request.

Best,

Brooks Fuller, Director, N.C. Open Government Coalition, Elon University

Shannan Bowen, Executive Director, N.C. Local News Workshop, Elon University

Neal Caren, Associate Professor of Sociology, UNC-Chapel Hill

Paul Cuadros, Associate Professor, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Victoria Smith Ekstrand, Associate Professor & Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster Distinguished Professor for Graduate Education, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Jordan Green, adjunct faculty, Journalism Program, Wake Forest University and staff reporter at Raw Story

Calvin L. Hall, Department Chair & Associate Professor, North Carolina Central University Department of Mass Communication

Pam Kelley, freelance journalist and former higher education reporter, The Charlotte Observer

Daniel Kreiss, Edgar Thomas Cato Distinguished Associate Professor, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and Principal Researcher, Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life; Faculty Affiliate,
Information Society Project at Yale Law School

Mandy Locke, adjunct faculty, Journalism Program, Wake Forest University

Trevy A. McDonald, Julian W. Scheer Term Associate Professor, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Erin Siegal McIntyre, Assistant Professor, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Kate Murphy, Higher Education Reporter, The News & Observer

Kate Sheppard, Senior National Editor, HuffPost, and Teaching Associate Professor, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Melanie Sill, founder, N.C. Local News Lab and former executive editor of The News & Observer

Praveena Somasundaram, Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Tar Heel

David Squires, Adjunct Lecturer, Journalism, N.C. A&T University

Ryan Thornburg, Associate Professor, UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media

Kyle Villemain, Editor-in-Chief, The Assembly

Barry Yeoman, freelance journalist, Adjunct Instructor of Journalism and Public Policy at Duke University and Adjunct Instructor of Journalism, Wake Forest University

Phoebe Zerwick, Director of the Journalism Program, Wake Forest University

Dear Public Records Office,

In your reply to our records request #21-334 you assert that there are no responsive documents because "Since January 2017, the University has tracked requests using NextRequest." You then indicate that all public records related to all public records requests since that time are available at https://nextrequest.unc.edu/.

However, the University Policy on Public Records and this very request indicate that this assertion is not accurate and request #21-334 was closed in error. We renew our request with additional detail.

The University Policy on Public Records is published at https://policies.unc.edu/TDClient/2833/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=132130. It provides the mandate: "UNC-Chapel Hill employees who receive a public records request from an individual should forward the request to the appropriate contact and respond to the requester with the appropriate contact information. University employees unsure of the appropriate office or contact should forward the request to the Public Records Office."

It is possible that public records requests directly received by your office may never become part of the NextRequest system, hence our request for “any and all lists, databases, spreadsheets or other similar documents related to the recording, tracking, handling, and fulfillment of such requests.”

On this very request, we note your July 2 response indicating that our request was received on that date. You then indicated that the request "is currently unpublished and is not available for the general public to view." That statement that our request is "unpublished and is not available for the general public to view" contradicts your assertion that all records requests are publicly available on the NextRequest site.

The Public Records Office chose to publish this very request on your site on July 7. Much of this time is accounted for by the long holiday weekend, but it also includes a full working business day and it indicates that the Public Records Office withholds information from public view before choosing to publish it. We request records related to the recording, tracking, handling, and fulfillment of public records requests from the moment they are filed with UNC.

These unpublished requests sit in a database of which you are the custodian. Based on our understanding of the software used to publish nextrequest.unc.edu, we understand that the system generates logs that may be accessible via NextRequest's "API end-points for raw data access" or exported as a file or files in CSV or delimited text format. Instructions for retrieving these public records out of the NextRequest database are available at https://nextrequest.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/235979347-Downloading-a-Requests-Report
We are requesting all records in this database, regardless of whether they have been published on the NextRequest site or not. We seek these records and any and all lists, databases, spreadsheets or other similar documents related to the recording, tracking, and handling, and fulfillment of such requests that the university receives. “Other similar documents” includes all documents that reflect actions taken by the Public Records Office to process public records requests, whether through NextRequest or some other manner. Even requests that never get entered into NextRequest are still valid requests and we anticipate that your office tracks the status of these requests.

We are not asking your agency "to respond to a request for a copy of a public record by creating or compiling a record that does not exist" § 132-6.2(e). Rather, we are asking you to comply with § 132-6.2(a) that states "Persons requesting copies of public records may elect to obtain them in any and all media in which the public agency is capable of providing them. No request for copies of public records in a particular medium shall be denied on the grounds that the custodian has made or prefers to make the public records available in another medium."

As previously stated, we would prefer to receive records in CSV or delimited text format. We expect that these public records have been "maintained in a manner that does not impair or impede the public agency's ability to permit the public inspection and examination of public records and provides a means of obtaining copies of such records," as required by N.C.G.S. 132-6.1.

If the database or database tables are not available in CSV or delimited text format, we would like to know in what formats the records are available and work with you to tailor our request so that you can fulfill it as promptly as possible.

We note with great interest that many of the records requests your agency publishes are redacted without citing the legal authority for these redactions. Just one of many examples would be request https://nextrequest.unc.edu/requests/21-14, which states:
"All notes [information redacted] took during phone calls, virtual meetings, and meetings with Adams School of Dentistry faculty, staff, students, and alumni after the announcement of the resignation of [information redacted] on November 24, 2020.
"A list, including date, time, and name(s), of every phone call, virtual meeting, and meeting that [information redacted] had with Adams School of Dentistry faculty, staff, students, and alumni after the announcement of the resignation of [information redacted] on November 24, 2020."
We interpret the redaction to be a partial denial to produce a responsive record. We are seeking all information in this database for which there is no legal authority to redact. The North Carolina public records law provides that any “denial shall be accompanied by an explanation of the basis for the denial. If asked to do so, the person denying the request shall, as promptly as possible, reduce the explanation for the denial to writing.” If you claim that a record, in whole or in part, is confidential or privileged, please provide an explanation for the denial of the record or information as required by NCGS 132-6.2(c).

Sincerely.

Brooks Fuller
Director, NC Open Government Coalition