Open Records Assistance in Academic Settings

If you are in an academic setting (faculty, staff, student or administrator) in either Georgia or California, and wish to have assistance with formulating an Open Records Act* request, we can help you! Depending upon the nature of your request, we provide services that range from purely consultative to a full project plan that may include any or all of the following:

  • Composing and editing one or more requests
  • Confidential filing of requests for documents on behalf of client
  • Assistance with interpretation of results
  • Posting Open Records Act documents on the web

*Note that in California, the term is Public Records Act.


We have over 10 years experience (see History) with:

  • University bureaucracies (including Campus Grievance Committee, Campus Affirmative Action Office, Campus Internal Auditor, University Ombuds Office, University Office of Legal Affairs);
  • Government agencies (including Board of Regents (grievance appeals), State Equal Opportunity Office, State Attorney General, State Auditor, State Inspector General, State Alternative Dispute Resolution Program);
  • Open Records and Freedom of Information Acts
  • The media (Fulton County Daily Report, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Chronicle of Higher Education, Wall Street Journal, WSB-TV Channel 2);
  • Basic rights groups (American Association of University Professors; and American Civil Liberties Union); and
  • Courts ( defamation, whistleblower, Free Speech lawsuits).

Fees are based on services required and number of documents, and may also be pro-rated according to the individual circumstances of the client. These fees do not include costs that are mandated by the Open Records Act itself (such fees will be separately quoted and discussed with the client before completion of the transaction). Our fees are applicable regardless of whether the request is successful in obtaining documents or not.

Disclaimer

Please note that the MF staff is not legally trained and does not currently utilize any legal firm for the services it provides. Our expertise comes from over 10 years of experience of activism in an academic setting, with over 600 requests for Open Records documents. We feel that our understanding of the academic organizational structure, the particular role of the university's Office of Legal Affairs, and the relationships between campus and state officials, may be of benefit to our academic colleagues in their quest for obtaining information. We will maintain our clients' confidentiality to our utmost ability.


For a free quotation, please fill out the MF Services Information Request Form and mail to: losososresearch AT gmail.com. Our staff will respond as quickly as possible. All bonafide service inquiries are kept strictly confidential.

Academic Activism Resources (free)

  • Posting links, articles, anecdotes, and case studies on our website
  • Providing resources for Open Records Act usage and other democratic tools