ANALYSIS: The University Public Records Office claims there is an “unprecedented queue,” and calls have doubled since 2014.  ,
More than six weeks after The College Fix requested a course, the University of Michigan has yet to produce a curriculum for the fall of 2024 course taught by past Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
The Fix initially requested a response on September 30th, and the public university immediately promised to respond by October 22. For her three-credit graduate degree course on public services, The Fix requested Lightfoot’s school curriculum and other papers related to a job.
The school’s Freedom of Information Act Office has since sent a number of emails frequently delaying the request according to an “unprecedented backlog.”
An April 11 message to The Fix stated that” we are working through an extraordinary delay of FOIA requests for which payments have been paid, and we are still working on the response to your request.”
The company apologized for the “unexpected delay” by writing,” At this time, we anticipate that we will be able to update you regarding the response to your request on or before May 9, 2025.”
The Fix was contacted by the office on October 22 to request a$ 50 deposit “due to the amount of time estimated” to fulfill the request after the initial request was made.
The email stated,” We estimate that we will complete the response to your request within 30 business days from the date of receipt of your deposit,” adding that it is” a nonbinding good faith estimate.”
The Fix has as paid the loan in October, but the business has since sent five more e-mail informing it that the delivery had been delayed once more.
According to an expert on open information rules, these repeated delays” clearly” reach the deadlines set forth in Michigan rules.
If you requested that information in the fall of last year, they ought to have already provided you with details. When contacted about the situation, David Cuillier, chairman of the University of Florida’s Brechner Freedom of Information Project, responded that it was at the very least the syllabus.
Previous journalist Cuillier has testified before Congress on the subject and is regarded as a leading authority on open information. He is the original head of the National Freedom of Information Coalition and the former head of the Federal FOIA Advisory Committee, which advises the National Archivist.
According to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Michigan law mandates a response to public documents calls within five business days, but it also permits a one 10-day expansion in some cases.
Over the past ten years, the school has seen a significant rise in requests for public records. It has also been subject to increasing scrutiny over its richness, equity, and inclusion initiatives, including the number of staff members working in DEI-related positions, over the same time period.
According to its most recent annual report, its FOIA office handled 1, 068 requests in 2023, a 14 % increase from 2022. In 2014, the college received 555 demands.
According to school spokesman Kay Jarvis,” These included all the document demands for the three campuses and Michigan Medicine.” ” Of these, members of the news media submitted 27 % of all requests. More than 99 percent of the time, U-M was able to react in 15 business days.
In 2024, the department received 1, 230 demands, according to Jarvis in an email sent on Tuesday.
Additionally, Jarvis noted that” an initial response is no late, per the regulation, until after 15 company days have passed.”
She and other media relations personnel did not respond to The Fix‘s inquiry regarding plans to reduce the delay, such as adding more workers.
The Fix’s knowledge is not unusual. Another journalist at The Chronicle of Higher Education just shared information about similar disruptions caused by college demands for open records.
I sent 20 big public universities across the nation a request for open records last week asking for some essentially simple and specific records. Only one record has begun to come in with a fee:” @UMich wants$ 367 and will do their best to get it to me within 60 time,” senior writer David Jesse wrote on X.
He claimed that in contrast, he claimed that he received “detailed information” from the University of North Carolina” a few days after the request and for free of charge.”
” I’ve covered them for more than 15 years, and they’ve always been the worst school I’ve dealt with in terms of getting documents,” Jesse wrote.
Cuillier at the Brechner Freedom of Information Project stated to The Fix that FOIA difficulties are not uncommon.
“… companies across the country frequently violate their mandated legal reaction times. The typical response time for MuckRock‘s 71 calls to the University of Michigan was 25 weeks. Not very good, but it still moves 65 % more quickly than peers ‘ institutions.
It might be cruel to say that they are generally worse than other companies, but they are still doing their jobs, he said.
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Another factor that may contribute to the delay might be how long a company needs to process a demand.
It doesn’t take more than a few days if it’s just the course. Easy-peasy,” Cuillier said,” However, it might take longer if you included a demand for numerous emails or other files.
The Fix requested information from the University of Michigan regarding the course materials and course descriptions for the courses Lightfoot was instructing, as well as documents and/or messages about the” societal impact not-for-profit companies in Chicago and Michigan” that Lightfoot’s group will be working with, as well as the details of these alliances.
The university contacted The Fix in mid-March to inquire if it could move the request within a reasonable time frame.
Sarah Hubbard, a university rector, responded to a request for comment in an April 21 email, telling The Fix that she “asked the FOIA office for a follow-up.” The office has not yet responded, though.
According to previous reports from The Fix, the university paid Lightfoot$ 60,000 to teach a three-credit graduate course on “public service” with sociology professor Jeff Morenoff in the fall.
According to the university news release,” The course will pair graduate students with social impact not-for-profit organizations in Chicago and Michigan to solve issues that those groups are facing in the delivery of services in their respective communities.”
In the release, Lightfoot claimed that she has just started one of her own nonprofits to” support” neighborhood vibrancy and assist community-based organizations in creating the internal infrastructure they need to stay viable for their communities.
The University’s media relations office at the time did not respond to The Fix’s inquiries regarding whether Lightfoot’s nonprofit is one of the organizations her students would be working with.
Additionally, Lightfoot has stonewalled journalists. She once received criticism for denying white journalists interviews during Black History Month.
Since winning re-election in 2023, she has found work in higher education, lecturing at Harvard, the University of Chicago, and most recently, the University of Michigan.
MORE: U. Michigan’s research indicates that there are more than 1,100 DEI-related positions.
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Former mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, is a visiting professor at the University of Michigan. University of Michigan
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