Right up there with utilities, insurance companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers, some of the biggest spenders on lobbying state legislatures are colleges and universities.For public institutions, the reasons are pretty obvious.
Tag: Transparency Tuesday
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Bankruptcy Court records are like a financial colonoscopy, polyps and all
Nightclub impresario Marc Barnes became legendary on the Washington, D.C., party circuit with his exclusive A-list events catering to NBA stars and chart-topping entertainers.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Illinois ruling may restore balance between secrecy and accountability in schools
When a government agency gets a request for public records that contains confidential information about private citizens, most state laws enable the agency to engage in a common-sense balancing of interests.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: “Oh, you don’t have that document? Well, maybe you should.”
Journalists' requests for public records are met at times with Clinton-esque exercises of sophistry.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Payday for university employees can pay off in newsworthy stories
Let's face it, we're all curious to know who's got the biggest one on campus.Salary, of course. What employees are paid at state colleges and universities is a matter of public record, and obtaining the information today often is as easy as an online search.As blogger Dan Reimold of College Media Matters reports, the University of Illinois' student newspaper, the Daily Illini, markedly increased its online traffic by adding the feature of an employee salary guide where, by depressing one button, debt-burdened students can depress themselves over football coach Ron Zook's $1.06 million salary.Many professional news websites offer state salary data searchable by the employee's name, title or function.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Are regents mixing public duty with private profit?
Almost every state has a board of regents (sometimes called a board of governors) that enacts rules and coordinates policy for its public universities.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Public records can open doors — and show you who’s opening which doors
State law makes government "records" subject to public inspection, and for most people that conjures up the image of stacks of manila-filed paper documents.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Campus discipline that’s something to write home about
College disciplinary records are where the rubber meets the road for student privacy law. They are the confidential records that journalists most want -- and that colleges most want to withhold.While journalists have very little need for grades, attendance sheets and other academic records, they often are legitimately interested in how campus judicial bodies do (or don't) mete out punishment for disciplinary infractions.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: An end-run around NCAA information roadblocks
Despite its deep entanglement with institutions of state government, the National Collegiate Athletics Association has managed to convince the courts that it is not subject to the same disclosure laws that apply to its state-college members.
TRANSPARENCY TUESDAY: Cracking the case of campus crime
Logically, records of crime on campus ought to be the easiest records for any journalist to obtain. Crime reports are among the only documents that are specifically subject to disclosure under both federal and state statutes.And yet, year after year, college journalists tell the SPLC that campus police departments are among the most recalcitrant when it comes to honoring requests for public records.Among the recurring obstacles reported by college journalists is the widespread misperception that police records can be withheld, or identifying information blacked out, because of student confidentiality laws.