Background on Freedom of Information act (FOIA) Request
On January 29, 2021, United Academics sent a request to Gary Derr, UVM’s VP of Operations and Public Safety:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, United Academics is requesting the following information.
Please provide a list and copies of all contracts and agreements entered into between the University of Vermont and Huron Consulting 2016 to date. Please include the following details:
· Dates and length of contract(s)
· Nature and purpose of the work Huron was hired to perform
· Amounts and schedules of payments to Huron
· All reports provided by Huron to UVM
· All emails between UVM staff and Huron staff related to Huron agreements, reports, and work
Timeline of FOIA request and Response
Gary Derr requested an initial extension of time until 2/12/21 to respond to the records request pursuant to 1 VSA 318(a)(5). That date came and went with no communication. United Academics’ attorney then wrote on our behalf, requesting a response by 2/24/21. Gary Derr indicated that a response would be provided by 2/26/21, which then passed with no communication. Our attorney followed up again and received a response that thet contract between Huron and UVM required UVM to notify Huron of any request for documents involving Huron so that they could redact information. Gary Derr indicated a response would be provided by 3/8/21, which then passed with no communication from him.
Following a final letter from our attorney, Gary Derr provided the documents below on 3/12/21, with much of the content (including cost/payment information) redacted. According to Derr’s response, “The redactions reflect Huron’s proprietary, confidential and trade secret information.”
Following continued requests by UA’s attorney, on 4/12/21the UVM administration shared that the total payments from UVM to Huron Consulting Group Inc. from 1/1/2016 to 2/11/2021 was $3,933.488.63