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Definitions
Labor: means the time reasonably necessary to produce the requested records and includes the time spent locating, retrieving, reviewing, redacting, and reproducing the records.
Public Record or Document: is a written or recorded matter produced or acquired in the course of University business. All public records and documents are subject to prompt disclosure upon request unless they are exempt under the provisions of the Vermont Public Records Act.
Requesting Party: is the person who requests a copy of a University record or document.
General
Pursuant to the University’s Records Request Policy and the Vermont Public Records Act, the University reserves the right to assess and collect reasonable costs associated with responding to a records request, as detailed below.
Determination of Eligibility for Cost Assessment
Upon receipt of a public records act request, the Office of Compliance and Privacy Services (OCPS) shall contact the University official who is the custodian of the requested record(s). The custodian shall provide OCPS with an estimate of the time required to identify and gather the requested record(s). If the custodian’s reasonable estimate is in excess of the University’s established labor threshold, reasonable costs may be assessed. Multiple requests within a short period of time from the same individual will be considered a single request for purposes of determining whether to charge under this section.
Copying: If the requestor asks for copies of documents, the University may charge the requestor the actual costs of those copies. The cost will be on a per- page basis in accordance with the University’s established fee schedule. To the extent the University agrees to scan paper records into an electronic format, the cost for such scanning will be charged at the same rate as copying.
Labor: If a request will require extensive use of information technology resources or extensive clerical or supervisory assistance, then the University may assess a labor service charge, in addition to the cost of duplication. The labor service charge shall be reasonable and shall be based on the actual labor cost of the personnel involved in gathering and duplicating the records. The University considers more than thirty (30) minutes to constitute an extensive use of personnel. If preparation of the response to a request will exceed thirty (30) minutes, the University will charge the amount required to recover the cost of labor involved. That amount shall be assessed in accordance with the University’s established fee schedule.
Delivery: The University may charge and collect from the requesting party the actual costs associated with mailing or transmitting public records. As a general matter, the University does not assess delivery costs for electronic transmission or use of first-class mail.
Notification of Estimated Costs
OCPS shall provide the requesting party with a time and cost estimate prior to responding to the request. The requestor shall have the option of either agreeing to pay the estimated costs or revising the request to narrow its nature or scope. Should the requesting party decide to proceed, pre-payment of the estimated costs shall be submitted to OCPS in order for the University to move forward in responding to the records request.
Tracking of Actual Costs
Once pre-payment is received, OCPS will forward the request to the appropriate University custodian to initiate compliance. The custodian must track all staff time involved in gathering and duplicating the records, and submit this information to OCPS. A page total shall also be provided to OCPS when the task is completed. OCPS shall provide this information to the requesting party, and, to the extent additional costs have been incurred, the University may require payment in full before records are disclosed. If a record of time involved in complying with a records request is not maintained, the University may not charge the requesting party for labor.
Receipt of Funds
Funds received by the University as a result of cost assessments under the Public Records Act shall be received centrally by OCPS and distributed appropriately to the unit(s) tasked with compliance.
Is there education available?
Training will be provided on an as-needed basis as determined by the Approval Authority or the Responsible Official.