The chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville has appointed a task force to examine how the university can better respond to requests made under the state’s Freedom of Information Act, according to an email sent to journalists Tuesday.
Chancellor G. David Gearhart wants the task force to explore ways the university can make access to public documents easier and reduce administrative burden, according to the email.
Gearhart said in a text message that he appointed the task force to ensure UA provides “transparency in all we do.”
“That is a very important tenet of a public university. The task force will work diligently to suggest ways we can fulfill our obligation to the public and our constituencies,” he wrote.
Laura Jacobs, UA associate vice chancellor of university relations, is chairman of the task force. She sent the email to 207 people who work in Arkansas media, inviting them to participate in an hour-long meeting Feb. 28.
“To be clear, this isn’t an interview opportunity, or a news conference, but a conversation to help inform our next steps from an operational standpoint,” Jacobs wrote. “We hope you will be doing the talking, and we will be doing the listening.”
Gearhart said he looks forward to getting media input on ways the university can improve transparency. Gearhart isn’t a member of the task force, but Associate Vice Chancellor Judy Schwab, who works in Gearhart’s office, is a member, along with 10 other UA employees.
Jacobs said the task force is being formed in response to a new public-records policy enacted by the UA System board of trustees Jan. 24. But the timing is good, Jacobs said, because she’s been at her current job for three weeks, and when there’s a change in leadership, it’s a good opportunity to re-examine policies.
The UA System’s new freedom of information policy, No. 270.1, calls for compliance with “the letter and the spirit” of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act, which is Arkansas Code Annotated 25-19-101 et. seq.
In part, the law states, “All public records shall be open to inspection and copying by any citizen of the State of Arkansas during the regular business hours of the custodian of the records.”
“My immediate thought was they just need to read the law,” said Dennis Byrd, a board member of the Arkansas Press Association and advocate of the state’s freedom of information law. “It’s very simple. The law is very specific about how FOI requests are to be handled.”
Under the UA System’s new policy, presidents, chancellors, and heads of divisions and other units must designate an official to coordinate requests to inspect and copy public records.
Mark Rushing, who has handled public-records requests for the university’s Advancement Division since the fall, has been named coordinator of such requests for the Fayetteville campus, Jacobs said.That doesn’t mean Rushing will fulfill all the requests himself, Jacobs said, but he’ll oversee coordination across the campus to ensure that requests are fulfilled.
The new policy came after a year of intense media scrutiny into a multimillion-dollar deficit in the Advancement Division. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette filed a lawsuit against the university to get access to an investigative report by Treasurer Jean Schook into the deficit. University administrators claimed the report was part of two employees’ personnel records, but UA officials made it available after the lawsuit was filed.
Tensions were further heightened at a legislative hearing in which a former spokesman for UA accused the chancellor of violating the state’s Freedom of Information Act.
At a Sept. 13 meeting of the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee, former UA spokesman John Diamond said Gearhart ordered public documents to be destroyed during a Jan. 14, 2013, meeting to keep them from public view. Gearhart said he has never ordered documents to be destroyed that were subject to a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Diamond was fired Aug. 23 after he said he differed with UA leaders about compliance with the act. University officials said it was because he was insubordinate in dealing with his supervisor, Vice Chancellor for Advancement Chris Wyrick.
Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley is reviewing Diamond’s and Gearhart’s testimonies to determine whether a perjury investigation is warranted. Both men were under oath when they gave what appeared to be conflicting testimony at the meeting.
At that Sept. 13 hearing, legislators were attempting to learn more about a $4.2 million cumulative deficit in the Advancement Division at the end of fiscal 2012, which was June 30, 2012.
Auditors have said the division’s former vice chancellor for advancement, Brad Choate, wasn’t monitoring the budget at the same time he added about two dozen employees to the division’s staff.
Further, they found that the division’s budget officer, Joy Sharp, also failed to monitor the budget and flag the overspending. Both lost their jobs over the deficit, but prosecutors, so far, have found no evidence of criminal activity.
Jacobs said she hopes the task force will be a way to begin fostering a more cooperative relationship with the media
“Our goal is to create an environment on campus of cooperation and understanding because ultimately we want to continue transparency and accountability to the people of Arkansas,” she said.
She said the current system “may not be broken at all, but there may be some things we can improve upon.”
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 02/21/2014