Public records request: Emails pertaining to section 117 of the higher education act of 1965

Dear Lars Schonander, Request #22-03306-F has been assigned to the request you submitted. In all future correspondence regarding this request, please reference FOIA tracking number 22-03306-F. Please refer to the FOIA tracking number to check the status of your FOIA request at the link provided below: https://foiaxpress.pal.ed.gov/app/CheckStatus.aspx (https://foiaxpress.pal.ed.gov/app/CheckStatus.aspx) For any future correspondence, status updates or questions regarding your request, please contact the FOIA Public Liaison via email to EDFOIAManager@ed.gov Regards, Department of Education, Office of the Executive Secretariat

Dear Lars Schonander,

The status of your FOIA request #22-03306-F has been updated to the following status 'On Hold - Other'. To log into the DoEd FOIA Portal click on the Application URL below.

https://foiaxpress.pal.ed.gov/

Sincerely,
Department of Education

Dear Mr. Schonander, Thank you for your FOIA request which seeks,from January 1, 2017, to January 8th 2021, emails, text messages, meetingnotes, meeting agendas, and documents to and from former Education SecretaryBetsy DeVos, any staff from the Office of the General Counsel, any staff fromthe Office of Federal Student Aid, Bucky Methfessel, Paul R. Moore, KevinSlupe, Thea Dunlevie, and any entity and individual at the Department ofEducation which mention any of the following terms: "Section 117 or "section 117" or "Section 117 of theHigher Education Act of 1965.” Staff have discussed your request and are concerned that thesearch criteria as written would result in voluminous records that are notresponsive to your request. We have placed your request on hold in order to get clarification. The following suggestions are for yourconsideration:
* Based on the custodians mentioned in your request, it appears you are interested in records from the last administration. Therefore, we suggest changing the timeframe to 1/20/2017 to 1/20/21. Please let us know if you are agreeable to this request.
* In addition to specifying Department staff, you also state “…any entity and individual at the Department of Education…” We suggest that in addition to the staff you have listed, the Department identify staff that worked on the subject of your FOIA, Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The staff identified so far include Betsy DeVos, Bucky Methfessel, Paul R. Moore, Kevin Slupe, Thea Dunlevie, Betsy DeVos, Diane Jones, Mitchel Zais, Michael Brickman, Kent Talbert, Carly Robb, Robert Eitel, Nate Bailey, Josh Venable, and Brandon Sherman. As we continue the search, we may identify additional custodians to include. Please let us know if you are agreeable to this approach.
* For the Office of Federal Student Aid, you request records from “any staff”. Can you provide a list of individuals at FSA that we can limit our search to? Alternatively, you can identify specific offices or roles (i.e. day-to-day operational level or high-level managers). FSA suggests limiting the search to the Office of Partner Participation and Oversight (PPO). Additional information about the offices at FSA can be found here: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/or/fs/fsa/home.html. (https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/or/fs/fsa/home.html) For the search terms, you have requested three phrases: "Section 117 or "section 117" or "Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965.” Functionally, we would run just one search for “section 117” because our searches are not case sensitive and the third phrase is covered entirely by the first phrase. However, we suggest using the search terms “section 117” AND “foreign source,” which would provide you with the records you are seeking and eliminate nonresponsive “false positive” records. Please let us know if you are agreeable to our suggested search terms.

Hi Ms. Davis,

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I am happy to answer each of the clarifications you have.

* Yes, I am only interested in the last administration. That date range works for me.

* Yes, I am agreeable to that approach.

* For emails, I am fine limiting my search to the PPO office at FSA. The reason I asked for FSA in the request is I know that Section 117 was handled for a time at FSA, and I am trying to figure out the exact date of the transfer of Section 117 management from FSA to the Office of the General Counsel.

* I structured the wording the way I did because I was unsure how the internal search would work. I am amenable to following that search term schema.
Best,

Lars Erik Schonander

Lars Schonander
Policy Technologist
(914)-374-5049
https://calendly.com/lars-erik-schonander

Dear Lars Schonander,

The status of your FOIA request #22-03306-F has been updated to the following status 'In Process'. To log into the DoEd FOIA Portal click on the Application URL below.

https://foiaxpress.pal.ed.gov/

Sincerely,
Department of Education

Good Afternoon,
This e-mail is in response to your request for a status onthe subject FOIA requests: # 22-03306-F
The Department receives an overwhelming amount of FOIArequests, some of which are complex and voluminous that requires a line-by-linereview of hundreds or even thousands of pages of documents.  Requests areprocessed on a first-in-first-out basis. Your request is currently with the program office(s) tasked to produce records responsive to your request. Once those records are found the FOIA Service Center (FSC) can provide a better estimated timeline for document delivery.
Please continue check on the status of your request on theDepartment’s FOIA Web page at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/foia/foiatoc.htmland click on the Requests Status Log link under “More Resources.” (http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/foia/foiatoc.html)
If you have any questions, please contact the FOIA ServiceCenter at (202) 401-8365 or via e-mail at EDFOIAManager@ed.gov. (mailto:EDFOIAManager@ed.gov)
Thank You,
FOIA Service Center
US Department of Education
(202) 401-8365

Dear Lars Schonander,

Please find attached above the 20 Day Status Notification to your FOIA request.

Thank you,

ED FOIA Manager

FOIA Service Center
US Department of Education
(202) 401-8365

Good Afternoon,

This e-mail is in response to your request for a status on the subject FOIA requests: 22-03306-F

The Department receives an overwhelming amount of FOIA requests, some of which are complex and voluminous that requires a line-by-line review of hundreds or even thousands of pages of documents. Requests are processed on a first-in-first-out basis. Your request is currently under processing review.

Please continue check on the status of your request on the Department's FOIA Web page at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/foia/foiatoc.html and click on the Requests Status Log link under "More Resources."

If you have any questions, please contact the FOIA Service Center at (202) 401-8365 or via e-mail at EDFOIAManager@ed.gov<mailto:EDFOIAManager@ed.gov>.
Thank You,

FOIA Service Center
US Department of Education
(202) 401-8365

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 3, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #22-03306-F.

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

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/

Good Morning,
This e-mail is in response to your request for a status onthe subject FOIA request: 22-03306-F. The Department receives an overwhelming amount of FOIArequests, some of which are complex and voluminous that requires a line-by-linereview of hundreds or even thousands of pages of documents.  Requests areprocessed on a first-in-first-out basis. Your request is currently underprocessing review. Please continue check on the status of your request on theDepartment’s FOIA Web page at http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/foia/foiatoc.html (http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/foia/foiatoc.html) and click on the Requests Status Log link under “More Resources.” If you have any questions, please contact the FOIA ServiceCenter at (202) 401-8365 or via e-mail at EDFOIAManager@ed.gov (mailto:EDFOIAManager@ed.gov)
Sandra Lewandowski Thank You,

FOIA Service Center
US Department of Education
(202) 401-8365