FOIA requests to Ohio State University
I just sent off a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request to Ohio State's University Office of Compliance and Integrity (not sure how Ohio State and those words go hand in hand but...) requesting the documents related to Urban Meyer's alleged following of "reporting protocols and procedures" in reporting Zach Smith to his superiors. I also asked for his superior's acknowledgement and receipt of said reporting. Mine was a simple request and it will be interesting to see how they respond. My guess is others who are so inclined will dig much deeper with their requests.
I hope you didnt use a Michigan return address.
I did think about signing it "Go Blue" at the end.
LOL.
nice work. they will claim privilege now b/c of litigation, which is not a valid exemption for what you asked for but you'll have to fight them for it.
I'm at the point that I hope they don't can him and this becomes a bigger sh!t show as more info comes out thus further damaging him and tOSU.
I completely agree with you. I live in Ohio and I have never seen a fanbase that is so arrogant and has a belief that they are invincible. For the past decade or so, I would constantly catch myself saying when are they going to have their low moment. I thought it was the Tressel tattoo circus. Here’s to hoping this humbles them in a way I could never imagine anything would.
..." I have never seen a fanbase that is so arrogant and has a belief that they are invincible"
Really!? I can think of one.
Not me, I would prefer him gone. We can say he is not a great tactician, but he took Bama to the woodshed in the title game...gtfo Urb!
Did you ask if he reported to Title IX office?
I asked to see a copy of what Meyer reported regarding Smith in 2015 and the acknowledgement that his report was filed. Seems simple. Probably won't get a copy until somebody at Ohio State makes one up on Monday though!
You didn’t file a request to see if Warinner contacted the compliance office? If Warinner knew and didn’t report it to the compliance office, he simply told his boss, isn’t that a problem?
Warinner was not the highest ranking official at OSU. The head football coach at OSU is. Warinner did not have hiring and firing power. The head football coach at OSU does. The head football coach at OSU can basically do anything he wants short of firing the school president, and even that is debatable. Anyone remember when E. Gordon Gee said, "Let me be very clear. I'm just hoping the coach doesn't dismiss me."? The head football coach at OSU does not need to wait for his "boss" to get rid of a bad dude on his staff. He has the power to do that on his own. The idea that Meyer was powerless to do anything about Smith other than make a report to his boss is ludicrous.
August 4th, 2018 at 11:05 PM ^
I'm getting the sense that tOSU's response, carefully crafted by its Office of Legal Affairs, is going to be that Title IX is not applicable since Courtney Smith was not an OSU student or staff member, and that Shelley Meyer was also not on the hook to report since she was not in a supervisory position.
Also, now that Urban Meyer in his statement has admitted knowledge of the 2015 domestic violence acts committed by Zach Smith, it seems that the line of bunk that's about to pass will be something like "Urban reported it, and some TBD higher-up fall guy failed to follow through on it," thus acquitting Meyer of all culpability, while said TBD fall guy is probably someone no longer employed... case closed.
This might be a bit excessive
Why? Meyer claims he filed the proper report. Why shouldn’t somebody check that claim through FOIA? Seems perfectly legit and reasonable.
When your opponent is digging a hole, hand him a shovel.
I have no problem with the concept or process of requesting this type of information, so I’m not really harshing on what you did.
Just that, many people are doing this anyway. Many people who’s job is to do so. I assume you are requesting it for your own amusement, without much thought of what do to if you ever did get the info. And in the context of you being a Michigan fan, it just comes off a bit excessive. Just my opinion, I have nothing really wrong with it.
I used to write a regular column in Southern California when I lived there so there is still some interest in that type of thing.
Ok. Then I stand corrected. Carry on!
The longer this plays out, the bigger the distraction, the more it affects their on-field performance & makes recruits question going there. We all hope Meyer gets canned, but realistically he's a top 3 coach in the country. But, even if he doesn't this is all good for UM's chances to beat OSU and get a little leverage on recruits that are deciding between OSU & UM.
I don't hope he gets canned unless he really knew about all of it. I'd prefer he be there so that it didn't feel like Michigan could never beat him, if Michigan ever does. OSU fans will never care that he got fired for appropriate reasons, he'll always be some sort of hero to them. I'd rather tarnish that love by beating him, preferably at home this year.
IMO: Michigan 1 : OSU 2 is how it ALWAYS should be.
"I don't hope he gets canned unless he really knew about all of it. "
Bravo! A fan who actually hasn't already decided that Urban is guilty.
You are the MAN (or WOMAN)!
A couple of notes on FOIA.
1) the farther you get removed from a large federal agency (and even these often don't understand the rules), the more likely you are for timelines to be passed processors to not understand what's required, your request to not be fully filled, and for your request to be completely ignored.
2) it helps if you are able to nail down what's actually a document. Asking for everything related to Meyer's reporting of potential violations, etc. is great and all, but I don't 100% know that he had to put it in writing. It's a tough situation and if you can call someone at the AD in this case and ask how things are usually done, it can really nail down what SHOULD be there.
3) none of this really matters for the first request. It's really up to the FOIA processor, usually someone paid less than 50k a year, maybe with a reviewer, to interpret your request and give whatever they have/are allowed to give. Your original wording really makes a difference for a) any reviewer who actually knows the act and might realize you've asked for exactly what they have and if they don't produce it they could get slammed in court, and b) that court thing, if you appeal it. (often this is after their own internal appeal process).
In short, I really applaud your effort here, but as a personal requestor I'm pretty sure you will most likely be ignored or given some sort of crap response/thanks for playing document release. Please let us know if this is not the case.
Alternatively, if OSU really wants to do the right thing, they will hold on to all the (likely) related FOIA requests on this subject, and simply publish all the docs online, and send a mass letter to everyone saying where its at, + no charge. If they do that, well, that's actually a fairly good indication that they have some decent oversight and internal compliance over there, and maybe we should'nt be so hard on them. If not? play balllllllllllllll.:)
That’s a really insightful post, it seems like you may have used this process before, good stuff. I don’t care how they release the information, but it d@mn sure needs to be released. Put it all on the table, be as transparent as possible and let the chips fall.
Appreciate the comments! Here is what I asked for.
Sent to
[email protected] and [email protected]
Mr. Moorman & Mr. Hainer:
Friday afternoon Urban Meyer released the following as part of his response to the firing of Coach Zach Smith from Ohio State:
"Here is the truth: While at the University of Florida, and now at The Ohio State University, I have always followed proper reporting protocols and procedures when I have learned of an incident involving a student-athlete, coach or member of our staff by elevating the issues to the proper channels. And, I did so regarding the Zach Smith incident in 2015. I take that responsibility very seriously and any suggestion to the contrary is simply false."
I would like to request a copy of the "reporting protocol and procedures" utilized by Meyer whether it be in email, handwritten, or other format. In addition I would like to request an acknowledgement of said "reporting protocol and procedures" from Meyer's superior to whom he made this report.
Please feel free to contact me via email with any questions or other procedures I need to follow to obtain such information.
I am sure they'll tell you that'll cost 70 thousand dollars.
August 5th, 2018 at 12:03 AM ^
Doesn’t Brian have experience with FOIA when WDs friend’s aunt got the email from Dave Brandon ?
I actually know a little bit about the Ohio Public Records Act, and I would be shocked if you received a responsive reply back. You would have a much better chance if you added a request for all written communications (email or otherwise) between Urban Meyer and Gene Smith dated X through Y.