WVU Request
| Submitted | July 22, 2020 |
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Communications
From: Matt Brown
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Emails and text messages sent and received since June 2, 2020 by head coach Neal Brown which contain the search terms “Vic”, “Koenning”, “administrative leave”, Kerry”, “Martin”, KJ”, “Carpenter”, “Carp”, “racism”, “race”, “BLM”, “Black Lives Matter”, “protest”, “changes”, or “tweet”.
Emails and text messages sent and received since June 2, 2020 by defensive coordinator Vic Koenning which contain the search terms “administrative leave”, Kerry”, “Martin”, KJ”, “Carpenter”, “Carp”, “racist”, “race”, “BLM”, “Hispanic”, “Trump”, “Black Lives Matter”, “protest”, “changes”, or “tweet”.
Emails and text messages sent and received since June 22, 2020 by assistant coach Jahmile Addae containing the terms “Vic”, “Koenning”, “administrative leave”, “Kerry”, “Martin”, “KJ”, “racism”, “race”, “Trump”, “BLM”, “Black Lives Matter”, “protest”, “changes”, or “tweet”.
Emails and text messages sent and received since June 2, 2020 by AD Shane Lyons containing the terms “Vic”, “Koenning”, “administrative leave”, “Kerry”, “Martin”, “KJ”, “racism”, “race”, “Trump”, “BLM”, “Black Lives Matter”, “protest”, “changes”, or “tweet”.
Emails and text messages sent and received since June 2, 2020 by President Gordon Gee containing the terms “Vic”, “Koenning”, “administrative leave”, “Kerry”, “Martin”, “KJ”, “racism”, “race”, “Trump”, “BLM”, “Black Lives Matter”, “protest”, “changes”, or “tweet”.
Please exclude any emails that are mass or listserv mailings. Please provide any responsive documents in their native electronic form.
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,
Matt Brown
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following West Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 22, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: West Virginia University
Matt Brown:
This email is an initial response concerning your multipart West Virginia Freedom of Information Act request received on July 22, 2020, requesting the following:
1. “Emails and text messages sent and received since June 2, 2020 by head coach Neal Brown which contain the search terms ‘Vic’, ‘Koenning’, ‘administrative leave’, Kerry’, ‘Martin’, KJ’, ‘Carpenter’, ‘Carp’, ‘racism’, ‘race’, ‘BLM’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘protest’, ‘changes’, or ‘tweet’.”
2. “Emails and text messages sent and received since June 2, 2020 by defensive coordinator Vic Koenning which contain the search terms ‘administrative leave’, Kerry’, ‘Martin’, KJ’, ‘Carpenter’, ‘Carp’, ‘racist’, ‘race’, ‘BLM’, ‘Hispanic’, ‘Trump’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘protest’, ‘changes’, or ‘tweet’.”
3. “Emails and text messages sent and received since June 22, 2020 by assistant coach Jahmile Addae containing the terms ‘Vic’, ‘Koenning’, ‘administrative leave’, ‘Kerry’, ‘Martin’, ‘KJ’, ‘racism’, ‘race’, ‘Trump’, ‘BLM’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘protest’, ‘changes’, or ‘tweet’.”
4. “Emails and text messages sent and received since June 2, 2020 by AD Shane Lyons containing the terms ‘Vic’, ‘Koenning’, ‘administrative leave’, ‘Kerry’, ‘Martin’, ‘KJ’, ‘racism’, ‘race’, ‘Trump’, ‘BLM’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘protest’, ‘changes’, or ‘tweet’.”
5. “Emails and text messages sent and received since June 2, 2020 by President Gordon Gee containing the terms ‘Vic’, ‘Koenning’, ‘administrative leave’, ‘Kerry’, ‘Martin’, ‘KJ’, ‘racism’, ‘race’, ‘Trump’, ‘BLM’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘protest’, ‘changes’, or ‘tweet’.”
Due to the fact that the University is presently processing an atypical number of other previously filed records requests that will likely yield a significant number of responsive documents, additional time is needed to search for, identify, gather, review, and process this request for records. Accordingly, a final response and any nonexempt documents responsive to your request will be provided to you via electronic correspondence on or before Tuesday, September 15, 2020. In the event that this production date or the means of production needs to be modified, you will be notified. W. Va. Code § 29B-1-3(d)(2) (stating that the custodian may advise the person making the request of the time and place at which he or she may inspect and copy the materials). WVFOIA Procedure; Farley v. Worley, 215 W. Va. 412, 422, 425 n.14, 16, 599 S.E.2d 835, 846, 848 n.14, 16 (2004); John Doe Agency v. John Doe Corp., 493 U.S. 146, 157 (1989). Thank you for your patience as the University processes this and a significant number of previously filed requests for records while simultaneously responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
West Virginia University reserves its right to exercise any and all applicable exemptions under W. Va. Code § 29B-1-4, defenses, or privileges, as appropriate.
Thank you.
FOIA OFFICER
West Virginia University
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~WRD000
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following West Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 22, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following West Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 22, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: West Virginia University
Matt Brown:
This email is a final response concerning your multipart West Virginia Freedom of Information Act request received on July 22, 2020, requesting the following:
1. “Emails and text messages sent and received since June 2, 2020 by head coach Neal Brown which contain the search terms ‘Vic’, ‘Koenning’, ‘administrative leave’, Kerry’, ‘Martin’, KJ’, ‘Carpenter’, ‘Carp’, ‘racism’, ‘race’, ‘BLM’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘protest’, ‘changes’, or ‘tweet’.”
2. “Emails and text messages sent and received since June 2, 2020 by defensive coordinator Vic Koenning which contain the search terms ‘administrative leave’, Kerry’, ‘Martin’, KJ’, ‘Carpenter’, ‘Carp’, ‘racist’, ‘race’, ‘BLM’, ‘Hispanic’, ‘Trump’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘protest’, ‘changes’, or ‘tweet’.”
3. “Emails and text messages sent and received since June 22, 2020 by assistant coach Jahmile Addae containing the terms ‘Vic’, ‘Koenning’, ‘administrative leave’, ‘Kerry’, ‘Martin’, ‘KJ’, ‘racism’, ‘race’, ‘Trump’, ‘BLM’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘protest’, ‘changes’, or ‘tweet’.”
4. “Emails and text messages sent and received since June 2, 2020 by AD Shane Lyons containing the terms ‘Vic’, ‘Koenning’, ‘administrative leave’, ‘Kerry’, ‘Martin’, ‘KJ’, ‘racism’, ‘race’, ‘Trump’, ‘BLM’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘protest’, ‘changes’, or ‘tweet’.”
5. “Emails and text messages sent and received since June 2, 2020 by President Gordon Gee containing the terms ‘Vic’, ‘Koenning’, ‘administrative leave’, ‘Kerry’, ‘Martin’, ‘KJ’, ‘racism’, ‘race’, ‘Trump’, ‘BLM’, ‘Black Lives Matter’, ‘protest’, ‘changes’, or ‘tweet’.”
In final response your request, it is denied for lacking specificity and for being too broad and burdensome. W. Va. Code § 29B-1-3(d) requires that “[a]ll [W. Va. FOIA] requests for information must state with reasonable specificity the information sought.” This is important as it limits the time and expense associated with processing these requests. A preliminary search of the e-mails of the individuals identified above by the Office of Information Technology Services, using the provided parameters, yielded approximately 4,000+ potentially responsive e-mails, which most likely contain multiple pages and, in some cases, large attachments resulting in thousands of pages of documents. Further, to aid in the identification of potentially responsive records, you provided 15 unique terms or phrases with search terms such as “tweet” or “changes” which most likely would encompass thousands of documents unrelated to the subject matter of the request that would still have to be reviewed.
Further, the University is a unique entity and given your request for these specific individuals, the e-mails could contain medical information, student information, and other items that are highly personal or exempt under the W. Va. FOIA. The process of reviewing each of the potentially responsive documents and, as necessary, redacting or segregating the responsive documents would impose an unreasonably high burden or expense to the University. Again, e-mails of this nature typically contain, inter alia, protected medical information, protected student information, and personal/personnel information and as such it will take an inordinate amount of time to review and redact the material. See Appalachian Mountain Advocates, Inc., v. W. Va. Univ., No. 19-0266 (W. Va. June 18, 2020) (memorandum opinion) (affirming the circuit court’s holding that a W. Va. FOIA request for thousands of documents is unduly burdensome). That said, please do not hesitate to file a new request in the future using more unique search terms, a smaller time period, or less individuals for a search. Further, if you are looking for a specific document or type of document please do not hesitate to file a request asking for a specific contract, agreement, plan, etc. Limiting the request to a specific document or documents would aid in the production of records.
West Virginia University reserves its right to exercise any and all applicable exemptions under W. Va. Code § 29B-1-4, defenses, or privileges, as appropriate. Further, as required by W. Va. Code § 29B-1-3(d)<http://www.wvlegislature.gov/wvcode/ChapterEntire.cfm?chap=29B&art=1§ion=3>, please be advised that this request is now at an end.
Thank you.
FOIA OFFICER
West Virginia University
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