Hauff, Bret v. University of Massachusetts - Boston (SPR 20150777)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords December 8, 2015 SPRlS/626, SPRlS/646, SPRlS/647, SPRlS/678, SPRlS/777 Ms. Deirdre Heatwole, Esq. General Counsel University of Massachusetts Office of the General Counsel One Beacon Street, 31st Floor Boston, MA 02108 Dear Attorney Heatwole: I have received the petition ofBret Hauff, of the New England Center for Investigative Reporting appealing the written estimates that were received in response to requests made to all five campuses ofthe University of Massachusetts (UMass), including UMass Amherst (Amherst) (SPR15/626), UMass Boston (Boston) (SPR15/777), UMass Dartmouth (Dartmouth) (SPR15/646), UMass Lowell (Lowell) (SPR15/678) and UMass Medical School (Medical School) (SPR15/647). G. L. c. 66, § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Whereas the requests are identical and the responses from each campus are substantially similar, I have combined the appeals into one administrative order. Specifically, Mr. Hauff requested access to and copies of: 1. Current employment contracts outlining benefits and pay, including severance pay for the President, Provost or Chief Academic Officer, all Vice Presidents or Executive Vice Presidents, Chief Business Officer, All Chief of Development and/o r Advancement Officers and all Athletic Directors, 2. All employment contracts with the spouse ofthe institution's Chief Executive Officer, and 3. All records listing reimbursed expenses paid to the institution's Chief Executive Officer from July 1, 2012-June 30, 2015. Initially, each campus provided a written estimate in response to Mr. Hauff's public records request. The estimates ranged in costs of$90.00 :from Boston to $192.00 from Lowell. The basis for Mr. Hauff's appeals is the lack of complete fee waivers and that the inconsistency between these estimates and estimates he received from other universities and colleges regarding the same request. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/pre

Ms. Deirdre Heatwole, Esq. SPR15/626, SPR15/646, Page Two SPR15/647, SPR15/678, SPR15/777 December 8, 2015 Fees A custodian of records may assess a reasonable fee for complying with a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2) (where cost of complying with a request for public records is expected to exceed ten dollars ($1 0. 00), custodian of records shall provide written good faith estimate). Absent specific statutory authority to the contrary, the fees to be charged for complying with requests for public records are established by the Public Records Access Regulations (Regulations). See 950 C.M.R. 32.06 (fees for public records). The Regulations provide that in cases where search or segregation time is necessary a custodian of records may charge a pro-rated fee based on the hourly rate of the lowest paid employee who is capable of performing the task. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(1)(c). The Regulations define "search time" as the time needed to locate, pull from the file, copy andre-file public records, and "segregation time" as the time used to redact data that is exempt from non-exempt material. 950 C.M.R. 32.03. The search and segregation fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(a). Fee Waiver This office encourages custodians to waive fees in providing public records; however the Supervisor of Records has no authority to mandate that a custodian do so. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06. Nor, does this office have the authority to mandate that all custodians waive fees because another custodian has done so. Prior to opening this appeal, Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell and the Medical School waived the fees for a copy of the employment contract(s) and only assessed fees for a copy ofthe expense reimbursement records. Subsequently, due to the intervention of an attorney on my staff and your assistance as General Counsel, Boston and the Medical School have completely waived the fees for copies of all the records. I wish to thank you for your cooperation in waiving portions of the fees for the records responsive to Mr. Hauffs requests. You did explain, however, that Amherst, Dartmouth, and Lowell do not intend to waive remaining fees. Dartmouth fee estimate The August 2015 estimate provided by Dartmouth assessed three (3) hours of search time (which includes time for copying) at $30.00 for the lowest paid person capable of searching for the records. I find this revised estimate to be reasonable. Amherst estimate Amherst assessed the rate of the Controller at $61.29 per hour. With the intervention of an attorney on my staff and the assistance of UMass Legal Counsel, Brian Burke, Amherst revised its estimate on November 18 from two (2) hours at $61.29 to one (1) hour at $41.87, reducing the total cost from $122.58 to $41.87. I find this revised estimate to be reasonable.

Ms. Deirdre Heatwole, Esq. SPR15/626, SPR15/646, Page Three SPR15/647, SPR15/678, SPR15/777 December 8, 2015 Lowell estimate Lowell assessed the rate of a Senior Executive Assistant at $48.00 per hour. To date, Lowell has declined to revise its number of hours for search time and hourly rate. I find this estimate is unreasonable and not in compliance with the Regulations. Order I find that the estimate from Lowell is unreasonable and must be revised. Lowell is hereby ordered to provide Mr. Hauff with a revised estimate for his public records request within ten (1 0) days, to be prepared in a manner consistent with this order and the Public Records Law and its Regulations. A copy of the revised estimate must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Once Mr. Hauff pays the fees he must be provided with there r cords. s, a pervisor of Records cc: Mr. Bret Hauff Mr. Brian Burke, Esq.