Starship delivery robot reports (University of Wisconsin)

The University of Wisconsin-Madison receives a high volume of public records requests. Your request has been placed in queue and we will process it as soon as possible.  Thank you for your patience.

Dear Requester:

We have received your public records request and the university will respond as required by the Wisconsin public records law, Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31-19.39

Your request was received on October 30, 2023 and given the reference number P003144-103023 for tracking purposes.

Records requested:

Request: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Wisconsin Open Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Public reports show that the robotic delivery company Starship is operating at your university: https://www.starship.xyz/starship-food-delivery-app/

- Starship is listed here as an official partner of University of Madison Wisconsin. I do not intimately know specifically which portion of the University made this agreement. I would assume Housing / dining: https://www.housing.wisc.edu/dining/order/

Therefore, I hereby request the following records:

1) All presentations and presentation materials (including recorded video and audio, PowerPoint files, prepared remarks, and slides formats), and other information presented to the housing department and/or University Police Department about Starship/Starship robots.

2) A copy of any incident reports relating to Starship delivery robots, including attachments and media.

3) Any emails between employees of housing about or mentioning Starship delivery robots, including attachments and media. Use the search term "Starship"

4) Any emails between employees of housing and employees of Starship.

5) Any resident /student complaints about Starship robots or other delivery robots made to housing

6) Any requests for evidence, subpoenas, or other legal requests about Starship.

7) Any video footage or audio given to the university or university police department by Starship. Please ask Housing about this.

Please search between August 1, 2022 and the time this request is processed.

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 10 business days.

Sincerely,

Jason Koebler

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Sincerely,
UW-Madison Records Custodian
(608) 890-4881

--- Please respond above this line ---
Public Records Request: P003144-103023



RE: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of October 30, 2023 Reference # P003144-103023 Dear Requester, I am writing in response to your public records request of October 30, 2023, in which you requested the following: Please search between August 1, 2022, and [the date on which the request was submitted, October 30, 2023].
* All presentations and presentation materials (including recorded video and audio, PowerPoint files, prepared remarks, and slides formats), and other information presented to the housing department and/or University Police Department about Starship/Starship robots.
* A copy of any incident reports relating to Starship delivery robots, including attachments and media.
* Any emails between employees of housing about or mentioning Starship delivery robots, including attachments and media. Use the search term "Starship"
* Any emails between employees of housing and employees of Starship.
* Any resident /student complaints about Starship robots or other delivery robots made to housing
* Any requests for evidence, subpoenas, or other legal requests about Starship. Any video footage or audio given to the university or university police department by Starship. Please ask Housing about this. As it relates to #1 and #7 of your request, any records related to UW Police Department will need to submitted directly to them at https://uwpd.wisc.edu/data-policies-resources/records-request/. (https://u8387795.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=nZGH0ylxadMp5hTpNkeAFlUkngYZmAJsaIqpx1nt6IVsSe5E8RbbiiA0PpjGDIQu5YMCYxq5g2se9O488SBHbaj9Oq-2B0-2FQqplBko3DcCs40-3D_Sh7_2QvsQX7MmH2LiaE8ZIdXvwLZxKOUgVeEFFCDin7XgnA2DuXlH51t-2F7xyk0DMbQvhFL03osigccMra9jfWqCnF5MZ3cyKd-2B66VfOAHzjbL9HHbDH1LVCrf-2B5liAcOjk9ySXGcXBTFaX3iHpi8mchiFmpfB-2FJWUvVC0dzffcpVpYqfSbvBPF5xv6aa6a-2FAqfhSSRA0U-2BHt-2FQf2tdMoNd1OjS5GLnXJTZLdayRZhjMclZCyPp9gGYIPKMOQFo4wZixEE-2FwXu2uIA4-2FDkXJShZc4vlio5BoZVc-2B7ipiqJ5msVZHiz1xQCYwKGa4-2BL1vRqX6mY6ZrV0W2GKPFFym-2FpekgthZXQJ5sjdjZKDALyDp-2Fe4SFocSCAWd2spT9Tws7wvsex-2FmB5wA3fF-2BRlylPrmKUdA-3D-3D) There are no records responsive from Housing for #1, #2, #5, #6 or #7 of your request. The university denies #3 and #4 of your request as insufficient under the public records law because they do not clearly identify or reasonably limit the records you are requesting. To be sufficient, a request must have “a reasonable limitation as to subject matter or length of time” and must reasonably describe the records you are requesting. Wis. Stat. §19.35(1)(h). This is intended to prevent the records custodian from having to guess at what records a requester desires, and to avoid imposition of undue burdens on the university that would impair the functioning of the offices necessary to process the request. As identified to you in an email dated October 24, 2023, in response to your previous request, P3088-100323, requests for emails need to be specific about whose accounts you would like searched. We cannot conduct a search for responsive records for the entire university. Housing employees hundreds of individuals. Without more information from you on whose emails you would like searched, the university cannot conduct a search for responsive records. You are welcome to submit a new request that identifies particular employees you would like searched. Under Wisconsin’s public records law, records custodians are not required to guess at what records a requester desires. Seifert , 2007 WI App 207, 305 Wis. 2d 582, ¶42, 740 N.W.2d 177. While Wisconsin law favors a policy of broad access to records, it does not create a system that would so burden a records custodian that the normal functioning of an office would be severely impaired. v. School District of Sheboygan Falls Schopper v. Gehring, 210 Wis. 2d 208, 213 (Ct. App. 1997). Further, the Wisconsin public records law does not impose unlimited burdens on authorities and records custodians, see, e.g., State ex rel. Gehl v. Connors, 2007 WI App 238 ¶¶23, 24, and must be construed consistent with the conduct of government business. Wis. Stat. § 19.31. The university is not required to spend the excessive amounts of time and resources that it would take to try to respond to these portions of your request. The university is required to inform you that to the extent this amounts to a denial of your request it is subject to review by mandamus under Wis. Stat. § 19.37(1)(a) or by application to the attorney general or district attorney pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 19.37(1)(b). The university has responded to your request and it is now closed. Sincerely, Elizabeth Wilkerson Assistant Public Records Custodian Office of Compliance University of Wisconsin-Madison




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