American Spaces evaluation - Korea & Thailand 2006

Thank you for filing your FOIA request online on 4/5/2021. Here is a review of your request.

The records I request can be described as follows:

To Whom It May Concern:Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:would like to request all communications regarding the evaluation of American Corners in Korea and Thailand during the period August 2005 to August 2006.The Department issued a request for proposals for the evaluation of American Corners in Thailand and Korea in/around June 2005. Proposals were evaluated in/around September 2005. The winning proposal came from ORC Macro, and their evaluation trip to Korea and Thailand was from June 9, 2006 to June 24, 2006. OCR Macro submitted a report following that evaluation trip, and IIP produced a report on OCR Macro's report in September 2006.I am requesting all materials related to this process, including but not limited to: the original request for proposals (RFP); the responses to that RFP; the Department's evaluation of those responses; the report produced by OCR Macro, and the Department's response to OCR Macro's report. In addition, I would be interested in any available records of deliberations generated by or surrounding these documents.The relevant State Department offices are: the Bureau of International Information Programs (IIP), the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), and the Office of Policy, Planning and Resources (R/PPR).The relevant State Department employees include: Jeremy Curtain, Mary Nell Bryant, Norma Williamson, and Shannon Swanson.Relevant organizations are ORC Macro.I am a retired Foreign Service Officer and a current student in a journalism course at the University of Nevada Reno. I am requesting these materials in partial fulfillment of the requirements for this course.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 20 business days, as the statute requires.Sincerely,William MiddletonUpload documents directly: https://https://www.muckrock.comhttps://www.muckrock.com/

The time period of my request is from 08/01/2005 to 08/31/2006

I am A representative of the news media seeking information as part of a news gathering effort and not for commercial use.

I am willing to pay $25 for my request.

My additional comments are as follows:

N/A

Contact Information
Mr. William Middleton
MuckRock News 411A Highland Ave
DEPT MR 110602
Somerville, Massachusetts 02144
P: (617)299-1832
F: N/A
requests@muckrock.com

**THIS EMAIL BOX IS NOT MONITORED, PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL.** Mr.Middleton: This email acknowledges receipt of your April 5, 2021, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. § 552) request received by the U.S. Department of State, Office ofInformation Programs and Services on April 5, 2021, regardingthe evaluation of American Corners in Korea and Thailand (Date Range for Record Search: From 8/1/2005 To 8/31/2006). Unless you advise otherwise, we will treat as non-responsive any compilations of publicly available news reports and any publicly available documents not created by the U.S. government, such as mass-distribution emails from news media.  This Office assigned your request the subject reference number and placed it in the complex processing track where it will beprocessed as quickly as possible. See 22 CFR § 171.11(h). This Office willnot be able to respond within the 20 days provided by the statute due to“unusual circumstances.” See 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(6)(B)(i)-(iii). In this instance,the unusual circumstances include the need to search for and collect requestedrecords from other Department offices or Foreign Service posts. If you have any questions regarding yourrequest , would like to narrow the scope or arrange analternative time frame to speed its processing, or would like an estimated dateof completion, please contact our FOIA Requester Service Center or our FOIAPublic Liaison by email at FOIAstatus@state.gov or telephone at202-261-8484. Additionally, youmay contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at theNational Archives and Records Administration to inquire about the FOIAmediation services they offer. Thecontact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government InformationServices, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS,College Park, Maryland 20740-6001, email at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769. **THIS EMAIL BOX IS NOT MONITORED, PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS EMAIL.**

Mr. William Middleton,

The Office of Information Programs and Services (IPS) is in receipt of your inquiry below regarding case number F-2021-04736. We will follow-up with you as soon as possible to provide a response.

Thank you in advance for your patience.

If you have any questions, please contact the FOIA Requester Service Center (FRSC) at (202) 261-8484 or send an e-mail to foiastatus@state.gov<mailto:foiastatus@state.gov>
Regards,
Katrina Wood
U.S. Department of State
FOIA Requester Service Center

Mr. William Middleton,

This is in response to your email below regarding FOIA Case Control Number F-2021-04736.

The Office of Information Programs and Services’ electronic records system indicates this request is in process and has a December 8, 2022, estimated date of completion (EDC). EDCs are estimates and are subject to change. Please be advised that the Department takes its FOIA responsibilities seriously and is processing this request as quickly as possible. If the request can be completed prior to the EDC, a response will be sent to you sooner.

If you have further concerns or questions regarding a FOIA-related matter, please send an e-mail to foiastatus@state.gov<mailto:foiastatus@state.gov> or contact the FOIA Requester Service Center at 202-261-8484.
Regards,

U.S. Department of State
Katrina M. Wood
FOIA Requester Service Center