Minerva Initiative Budget

Matthew Guariglia filed this request with the Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense of the United States of America.
Tracking #

15-F-1329

Est. Completion None
Status
Fix Required

Communications

From: Matthew Guariglia

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

The monetary budget of, and any documents relating to the allocation of money to the Minerva Initiative for the fiscal year of 2014.

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 fees cannot be waived, 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,

Matthew Guariglia

From: Williams, Reynaldo I CIV (US)

Mr. Michael Lewis
London, Greater London, United Kingdom

Sent electronic mail to: requests@muckrock.com

Dear Mr. Guariglia:

This is an interim response to your attached Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated June 17, 2015 and received in this office on the same day. Your request has been assigned case number 15-F-1329 and we ask that you use that number when referring to your request.

With regard to your request for a waiver of any applicable fees, a fee waiver is appropriate when "disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester." 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(iii) In making a determination, six factors are considered as to whether your request satisfies this statutory standard: (1) whether the subject of the requested records concerns the operations or activities of the government; (2) whether the disclosure is likely to contribute to an understanding of government operations or activities; (3) whether disclosure of the requested information will contribute to the understanding of the general public; (4) whether the disclosure is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations and activities; (5) whether the requester has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure; and, (6) whether any such commercial interest outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

While the requested information does concern the operations and activities of the government and does not appear to be intended for a commercial interest, it is not clear how the responsive documents - should they exist - would significantly contribute to the public understanding of the operations and activities of the government. After carefully reviewing your request I am denying your fee waiver request because the information stated does not support how the documents will significantly contribute to the public's increased understanding of the operations and activities of government. Please be aware that we reserve the right to grant a fee waiver should a search find documents that meet the criterion of a public interest fee waiver as described in the previous paragraph.

Based on the information in your request, you presently qualify for the "other" fee category which provides you with two free hours of search and 100 pages of duplication free of charge. Subsequent processing will be assessed at the established Department of Defense (DoD) fee rates of professional search time at $44 per hour. You have stated that you are willing to fees in case your fee waiver is denied. If you wish this Office to extend your processing beyond your two free hours, please provide a written commitment to pay additional fees NLT July 1, 2015.

We will be unable to respond to your request within the FOIA's 20 day statutory time period as there are unusual circumstances which impact on our ability to quickly process your request. These unusual circumstances are: (a) the need to search for and collect records from a facility geographically separated from this Office; (b) the potential volume of records responsive to your request; and (c) the need for consultation with one or more other agencies or DoD components having a substantial interest in either the determination or the subject matter of the records. For these reasons, your request has been placed in our complex processing queue and will be worked in the order the request was received. Our current administrative workload is 1472 open requests.

If you are not satisfied with this action, you may petition the Appellate Authority, the Director of Administration, Office of the Secretary of Defense, by writing directly to the OSD/Joint Staff Freedom of Information, ATTN: Appeals Office, 1155 Defense Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 20301-1155; you may also submit your appeal electronically at the following link: http://pal.whs.mil/palMain.aspx. Your appeal should be postmarked within 60 calendar days of the date of this mail, should cite case number 15-F-1329 and should be clearly marked "Freedom of Information Act Appeal."

Sincerely,

Reynaldo I. L. Williams, Government Information Specialist
For Adrienne Santos on behalf of
Stephanie L. Carr Chief, Office of Freedom of Information
Office of the Secretary of Defense and Joint Staff FOIA Requester Service Center
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1155

From: Williams, Reynaldo I CIV (US)

Mr. Matthew Guariglia
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 18830
PO BOX 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819

Sent electronic mail to: requests@muckrock.com

Dear Mr. Guariglia:

This is a follow up on this previous Interim Response of June 24, 2015. Are you still interested in this request.

This is an interim response to your attached Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated June 17, 2015 and received in this office on the same day. Your request has been assigned case number 15-F-1329 and we ask that you use that number when referring to your request.

With regard to your request for a waiver of any applicable fees, a fee waiver is appropriate when "disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester." 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(iii) In making a determination, six factors are considered as to whether your request satisfies this statutory standard: (1) whether the subject of the requested records concerns the operations or activities of the government; (2) whether the disclosure is likely to contribute to an understanding of government operations or activities; (3) whether disclosure of the requested information will contribute to the understanding of the general public; (4) whether the disclosure is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations and activities; (5) whether the requester has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure; and, (6) whether any such commercial interest outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

While the requested information does concern the operations and activities of the government and does not appear to be intended for a commercial interest, it is not clear how the responsive documents - should they exist - would significantly contribute to the public understanding of the operations and activities of the government. After carefully reviewing your request I am denying your fee waiver request because the information stated does not support how the documents will significantly contribute to the public's increased understanding of the operations and activities of government. Please be aware that we reserve the right to grant a fee waiver should a search find documents that meet the criterion of a public interest fee waiver as described in the previous paragraph.

Based on the information in your request, you presently qualify for the "other" fee category which provides you with two free hours of search and 100 pages of duplication free of charge. Subsequent processing will be assessed at the established Department of Defense (DoD) fee rates of professional search time at $44 per hour. You have stated that you are willing to fees in case your fee waiver is denied. If you wish this Office to extend your processing beyond your two free hours, please provide a written commitment to pay additional fees NLT July 1, 2015.

We will be unable to respond to your request within the FOIA's 20 day statutory time period as there are unusual circumstances which impact on our ability to quickly process your request. These unusual circumstances are: (a) the need to search for and collect records from a facility geographically separated from this Office; (b) the potential volume of records responsive to your request; and (c) the need for consultation with one or more other agencies or DoD components having a substantial interest in either the determination or the subject matter of the records. For these reasons, your request has been placed in our complex processing queue and will be worked in the order the request was received. Our current administrative workload is 1472 open requests.

If you are not satisfied with this action, you may petition the Appellate Authority, the Director of Administration, Office of the Secretary of Defense, by writing directly to the OSD/Joint Staff Freedom of Information, ATTN: Appeals Office, 1155 Defense Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 20301-1155; you may also submit your appeal electronically at the following link: http://pal.whs.mil/palMain.aspx. Your appeal should be postmarked within 60 calendar days of the date of this mail, should cite case number 15-F-1329 and should be clearly marked "Freedom of Information Act Appeal."

Sincerely,

Reynaldo I. L. Williams, Government Information Specialist
For Adrienne Santos on behalf of
Stephanie L. Carr Chief, Office of Freedom of Information
Office of the Secretary of Defense and Joint Staff FOIA Requester Service Center
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1155

From: Matthew Guariglia

Reynaldo I. L. Williams,

I am still interested in receiving these documents, files, or information. In regards to my fee waiver, as an scholar working in the academy, learning who funds research and where that money is coming from is vital in peer reviewing scholarship and to knowing where our academic work is going. By learning the extent to which the Minerva Initiative is able to fund projects, the scholarly community at large can understand both the opportunities available, but also what type of research is considered valuable by the department of defense.

Regards,

Matthew Guariglia

From: Williams, Reynaldo I CIV (US)

Mr. Guariglia,

Please direct your attention to the fourth paragraph. I need your answer before I can proceed with your request.

Sincerely,

Reynaldo I. L. Williams, Government Information Specialist
For Adrienne Santos on behalf of
Stephanie L. Carr Chief, Office of Freedom of Information
Office of the Secretary of Defense and Joint Staff FOIA Requester Service Center
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1155
(571) 372-0439

From: Matthew Guariglia

Mr Williams,

I am willing to pay any fee accrued during the course of searching for the file.

Sincerely,
Matthew Guariglia

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 June 17, 2015. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #15-F-1329.

Thank you for your help.

From: Gibbens, Curtis A CIV WHS ESD (US)

Dear Mr. Guariglia,

This is in regard to your attached Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for, "the monetary budget of, and any documents relating to the allocation of money to the Minerva Initiative for the fiscal year of 2014." Please note that Reynaldo Williams is the Action Officer for your request, but I am contacting you in his absence.

Before our component office can further process your FOIA request, please clarify if you are seeking information on the funding the DoD allocates to the Minerva Initiative, or information on how the Minerva Initiative then allocates its funds in grants, or both items?

Please reply by August 25, 2015 with your clarification. If we do not hear from you by this time, we will assume you are no longer interested and will administratively close your request.

Sincerely,

Curtis Gibbens
OSD/JS FOIA Office
571-372-0412

From: Matthew Guariglia

Mr. Gibbens,

I am requesting both items, the DoD's funding of Minerva, and internally how Minerva allocates those funds.

Best,

Matthew Guariglia

From: Gibbens, Curtis A CIV WHS ESD (US)

Mr. Guariglia,

Thank you for your reply, I will forward your response.

Sincerely,

Curtis Gibbens
OSD/JS FOIA Office
571-372-0412

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 June 17, 2015. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed. You had assigned it reference number #15-F-1329.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

From: Williams, Reynaldo I CIV (US)

Dear Mr. Guariglia,

This email is in response to your request for an update on the processing of your FOIA request, case number 15-F-1329. Please know that our office processes all incoming FOIA requests on a first-in, first-out, basis. This means that your request was placed in a queue once it was received in our office. It also means it will be placed in a queue by the office that is tasked to search for responsive records. We already have initiated just such a search for responsive records, but the timing of the results to be provided to our office will depend on the place in the queue that your request was assigned. It is conceivable that all processing could be completed and the results provided to you at an early date, but it is also possible that more time will be required. In any case, all releasable records, if any, cannot be provided to you until all processing is completed. As soon as that occurs, we will send a formal letter to you.

We have a large backlog, our current administrative workload is 1,549 open requests. Included among these open cases are requests which are less complex than others, such as your request. As the results for those less complex cases are provided to our office, we take those requests from that queue and complete our action on them, and then send them out to the requesters. This will be the way your request, too, will be handled.

We appreciate your patience and understanding in this matter.

Sincerely,

Reynaldo I. L. Williams, Government Information Specialist
For Adrienne Santos on behalf of
Stephanie L. Carr Chief, Office of Freedom of Information
Office of the Secretary of Defense and Joint Staff FOIA Requester Service Center
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1155
(571) 372-0439

From: Williams, Reynaldo I CIV (US)

Dear Mr. Guariglia,

This email is in response to your request for an update on the processing of your FOIA request, case number 15-F-1329. Please know that our office processes all incoming FOIA requests on a first-in, first-out, basis. This means that your request was placed in a queue once it was received in our office. It also means it will be placed in a queue by the office that is tasked to search for responsive records. We already have initiated just such a search for responsive records, but the timing of the results to be provided to our office will depend on the place in the queue that your request was assigned. It is conceivable that all processing could be completed and the results provided to you at an early date, but it is also possible that more time will be required. In any case, all releasable records, if any, cannot be provided to you until all processing is completed. As soon as that occurs, we will send a formal letter to you.

We have a large backlog, our current administrative workload is 1,564 open requests. Included among these open cases are requests which are less complex than others, such as your request. As the results for those less complex cases are provided to our office, we take those requests from that queue and complete our action on them, and then send them out to the requesters. This will be the way your request, too, will be handled.

We appreciate your patience and understanding in this matter.

Respectfully,

Reynaldo I. L. Williams, Government Information Specialist
For Adrienne Santos on behalf of
Stephanie L. Carr Chief, Office of Freedom of Information
Office of the Secretary of Defense and Joint Staff FOIA Requester Service Center
1155 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1155
(571) 372-0439

From: Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense

A fix is required to perfect the request.

From: Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense

Good Afternoon,

Do you have a few minutes this week to discuss your FOIA request (attached)? I am reviewing older requests and wanted a quick minute to discuss. If so, you can reach me at 502 827 9207.

v/r

Michael Coen

Government Information Specialist

Freedom of Information Division

OSD/JS FOIA Requester Service Center

Office: (571) 372-0413

NIPR: michael.e.coen2.civ@mail.mil <mailto:michael.e.coen2.civ@mail.mil>

SIPR: Michael.e.coen2.civ@mail.smil.mil <mailto:Michael.e.coen2.civ@mail.smil.mil>

Comments: https://ice.disa.mil/index.cfm?fa=card <https://ice.disa.mil/index.cfm?fa=card&sp=125562> &sp=125562

From: Department of Defense, Office of the Secretary of Defense

A fix is required to perfect the request.

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