Media and Virginia General Assembly communications
| Tracking # |
25-34 |
| Submitted | Feb. 19, 2025 |
| Due | Feb. 27, 2025 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Anonymous
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
1. Records of any communication between the VMI Communications Office and any member(s) of the media or media organizations within the last 30 days limited to just the subjects of The Cadet newspaper or The Cadet Foundation.
2. Records of all communications including, without limitation, text, phone call records (including list of phone numbers called and received and identification of the caller or person(s)/Offices calls received from), Instant messages, etc. including private communications devices and email used for this purpose) between any member of the VMI Administration or the Board of Visitors and any member of the Virginia House or Senate, or their staff/representatives, on the subject of the VMI budget, Maj. Gen. Win's contract or employment, removal of Mr. Foster and Mr. Elliott from the VMI BOV, or any related issues specifically including the statments received by VMI BOV Members to withold or limit VMI funding if the BOV does not take certain actions as addressed by Mr. Teddy Gottwald (a BOV Member) in the recent BOV meeting.
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 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Tom Nash, a citizen of Virginia, in coordination with Anonymous.
From: Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
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From: Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
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Record request #25-34 has been published and is now available for public view.
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From: Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
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A message was sent to you regarding record request #25-34:
The Virginia Freedom of Information Act § 2.2-3704 B. requires that "a request for public records shall identify the requested records with reasonable specificity." In order to estimate the cost of fulfilling your request, please specify who is included among the "VMI Administration."
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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at Virginia Military Institute.<br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href="https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/hc/en-us/categories/17720084172567-Requesters">help page</a>
From: Anonymous
That is an interesting request considering that in numerous previous requests we reviewed never asked anyoen to define "administration." while I protest this as an attempt to improperly narrow the scope of the FOIA so as to possibly exclude responsive documents VMI may not desire to have see the light of day for the public, we provide the following as who is initially among the "administration" subject to modification when we receive your response containing the records:
VMI itself defines "the adinistration" as "The senior leadership team at VMI" and your own defination includes the Superintendent and his staff, Dean of the Faculty and his staff, Deputy Superintendent for Finance and Support and his staff, the Commandant and his staff, and the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and his staff. Governance documents also include the Board of Visitors and its support staff.
I will initially define the scope of this, therefore, to the Superintendent and his staff (including without limitation the supporting principles and their staffs such as the Executive Officer, Communications, Director, Chief of Staff, etc.), Support staff (Senior Advisors) per the VMI Organization chart (Sergeant Major, Chief Diversity Officer, Inspector General, General Counsel, Director communications and Marketing), the Board of Visitors Members themselves and the BOV's supporting staff.
From: Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
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A message was sent to you regarding record request #25-34:
After consultation with the individuals responsible for the information you requested, I have determined that the estimated cost of fulfilling your request is $699.41. As you may be aware, § 2.2-3704. F. of the Code of Virginia allows public bodies to charge for accessing, duplicating, supplying, redacting or searching for the requested records. This estimate reflects 14 hours of staff time as follows:
* 6 hours (IT search)@ $48.65/hr.
* 3 hours (FOIA coordination) @ $25.67/hr.
* 5 hours (FOIA review / redaction) @ $66.10/hr.
Please let us know if you agree to the estimated cost. If you do, we will send you an invoice and, once we receive payment, will begin to process your request.
In accordance with Code of Virginia § 2.2-3704 (4.), it is not practically possible to provide the requested records or to determine whether they are available within the five-work-day period due volume of request. As such, VMI will require up to an additional seven business days to respond to your request.
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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at Virginia Military Institute.<br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href="https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/hc/en-us/categories/17720084172567-Requesters">help page</a>
From: Anonymous
It has now been 7 DAYS since I responded and answered your question.
Under the FOIA there is a 5 day response time and even if you start the clock from when I responded to your question VMI is 2 days after that deadline.
What is the status of my request?
I now want to extend the END DATE of my request until 2 March 2025.
With all the negative publicity on this I hope I'm not being stalled in my request and you intend to delay if further by suddenly comming back with a "search and cost" delay. These records should be readily available given the ongoing controversy.
From: Virginia Military Institute
Virginia Military Institute
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A message was sent to you regarding record request #25-34:
Your original request was submitted on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Va. Code § 2.2-3704.(B.) allows a public body five working days to respond to a request. In this case, five working days would be Friday, Feb. 28, 2025 (VMI administrative offices are closed on weekends, and therefore Saturdays and Sundays are not counted as working days).
On Friday, Feb. 28 (five working days from your original request and, hence, within the time allowed by law), you were provided a cost estimate for fulfilling your request. You were also notified the Institute will require an additional seven working days to fulfill your request (§ 2.2-3704.(B.)(4.)). In accordance with Va. Code § 2.2-3704.(F.) and § 2.2-3704.(H.), those seven working days will resume once a deposit of the estimate is received by the Institute.
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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at Virginia Military Institute.<br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href="https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/hc/en-us/categories/17720084172567-Requesters">help page</a>