Eoin Higgins v. University of Massachusetts - Amherst (SPR 20210566)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records March 23, 2021 SPR21/0566 Christine M. Wilda Associate Chancellor for Compliance UMass Amherst 340 Whitmore Building 181 President's Drive Amherst, MA 01003 Dear Ms. Wilda: I have received the petition of Eoin Higgins, appealing the response of UMass Amherst (UMass) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On November 23, 2020, Mr. Higgins requested “… personal college emails of two individuals and identified emails addresses sent to or from 13 identified custodians with identified names or topic matters from July 22, 2019 to September 8, 2020.” Based upon a conversation between a Public Records Division staff attorney and a UMass representative, it is my understanding that UMass intends on providing a subsequent response to Mr. Higgins. Accordingly, UMass is ordered to provide Mr. Higgins with a response to his request in a manner consistent with the Public Records Law and its Access Regulations within 10 business days. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Higgins may appeal the substantive nature of UMass’ response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Eoin Higgins One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us