Joshua Levin v. University of Massachusetts - Boston (SPR 20252328)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records August 25, 2025 SPR25/2328 DeWayne Lehman Director of Communications University of Massachusetts – Boston 100 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, MA 02125 Dear Mr. Lehman: I have received the petition of Joshua Levin, of The Mass Media, appealing the response of the University of Massachusetts – Boston (UMass) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On April 1, 2025, Mr. Levin requested “any emails, space reservation requests, budget documents and receipts relating to the ResilientMass Summit held Thursday, March 27, 2025 on the third floor of Campus Center.” On May 5, 2025, Mr. Levin modified his request as follows: [1] Please provide any emails sent or received between Dec. 1, 2024 and April 1, 2025 containing any of the following terms [:] ResilientMass[;] Pontifical Academy[;] Environmental Summit[;] Climate Resilience[;] Planetary Call to Action for Climate Change Resilience. [2] Please search for any matching emails maintained by the university sent to or received by any of the following [16 identified] individuals: [and] [a]ny individual affiliated with the source of the philanthropic funds you referred to in your previous response. On May 19, 2025, Mr. Levin further modified his request as follows: [1] Please provide an updated estimate to produce any emails sent or received between Dec. 1, 2024 and April 1, 2025 using the search criteria at the bottom of this email. Search terms: ResilientMass[;] Pontifical Academy[;] Vatican[;] Environmental Summit[;] Climate Resilience[.]” [2] Please search for any matching emails maintained by the university sent to or 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

DeWayne Lehman SPR25/2328 Page 2 August 25, 2025 received by any of the following [11 identified] individuals: [and] [a]ny individual affiliated with the source of the philanthropic funds you referred to in your previous response. Prior Appeals and Reconsideration The requested records were the subject of prior appeals and a subsequent reconsideration. See SPR25/1060 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (April 17, 2025) and SPR25/1243 Determinations of the Supervisor of Records (May 19, 2025 and June 11, 2025). In my May 19th determination, I found that the University must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee assessed is expressly provided for and consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). In my June 11th determination, I respectfully declined to reverse my findings in the May 19th determination. On May 21, 2025, UMass provided a response. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. Levin petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/2328, was opened as a result. Fee Estimate - Agencies An agency may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(i). Agencies may not assess a fee for the first 4 hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested. G. L. c. 66; § 10(d)(ii). Where appropriate, agencies may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Current appeal In his August 9th appeal, Mr. Levin stated the following: [t]he University estimates 8 hours to conduct a search for responsive records. Despite the Supervisor’s order to provide details regarding ‘the tasks involved, and what each task entails,’ the University has not provided any new information in the revised estimate. That the search “requires the assistance of University IT” was included in the University’s previous response, which the Supervisor already

DeWayne Lehman SPR25/2328 Page 3 August 25, 2025 deemed insufficient. Restating the same information here does not carry the University’s burden to justify the fees. . . .There is no plausible reason that running such a search should take any competent individual in the University’s IT department more than a few minutes. By not changing the estimated time after reducing the scope of the request from 15 mailboxes to 10, the University has shown that the estimate is also unrelated to the number of mailboxes to be searched, further blurring the relationship between the estimate and reality. UMass’ May 21st response Following modifications by Mr. Levin, UMass provided a reduced fee estimate in its May 21st response and stated following: A request to search 10 University email accounts for five (5) terms over a four (4) month period requires the assistance of University IT. Based on the expertise of University IT, the search would take eight (8) hours. Once the search is completed, all emails must be reviewed for any redactions pursuant to: the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) under exemption (a), the Statutory Exemption. UMass Boston estimates approximately 100 emails per individual, totaling 1000 such records. At this time, we have compiled a good faith cost estimate in response to your request. Search: 8 hours at $25/hour = $ 100 (no charge for first 4 hours) Review/redactions: 41.67 hours at $25/hour = $1041.67 (estimate based off one minute to review each email and 90 seconds for any redactions) Total: = $1041.67 (sic) Please note this is just a good faith estimate and no work has been performed yet. Because of the staff time required for this request - all of which would be done by employees at a rate of greater than $25 per hour - we cannot waive the fee estimate. If you would like the work to begin, please let me know and we will arrange for payment. If the time spent for searching and redacting to produce these records is less than the estimate, we will refund you the balance. If the time spent for searching and redacting to produce these records is greater than the estimate, we will notify you. In order to limit the fees associated with your request, I would suggest further narrowing your request by: Limiting the date range; Limiting the search terms; and Limiting the individuals[.] Regarding the Supervisor’s previous letter: We can confirm the rate of the ‘lowest paid employee who is capable of performing the task(s)’ is greater than $25 per hour. ‘The University must provide further details regarding its fee estimate, including the tasks involved, and what each task entails.’ All communications must be reviewed per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), ... Based on previous guidance we have received from the SOR, we estimate 1 minute per email to review and 1 minute 30 seconds per email for any redactions

DeWayne Lehman SPR25/2328 Page 4 August 25, 2025 that are necessary[.] As stated in the initial estimate and again here, a request to search 10 University email accounts for five (5) terms over a four (4) month period requires the assistance of University IT.” ‘I encourage Mr. Levin and the University to communicate further in order to facilitate producing records efficiently and affordably.’ The University communications team remains willing and accessible to address Media inquiries. Based on UMass’ response, it remains unclear how UMass requires eight (8) hours to search for the responsive records. UMass must provide additional details regarding the tasks involved in its search process. Further, I find that UMass has not met its burden to explain how the indicated amount of time of 2.5 minutes, is necessary to review and/or redact each email record. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). UMass must clarify this. I encourage Mr. Levin and UMass to communicate further in order to facilitate producing records efficiently and affordably. Mr. Levin may wish to narrow his request or provide additional factors to enable the search to be processed. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(i). UMass must use its knowledge of the records to facilitate providing any responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(vii) (an agency or municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). For the reasons discussed above, I find that UMass must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee of $1,041.67 assessed in its May 21st estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). Conclusion Accordingly, UMass is ordered to provide Mr. Levin with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Levin may appeal the substantive nature of UMass’ response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Joshua Levin