Where do I direct a member of the public to request information from the campuses?
Direct members of the public to request information by the following methods:
Online Form:
Public Information Request Form
Email:
publicinformation@untystem.edu
Regular Mail:
University of North Texas System
Attn: Public Information Coordinator (Alice Hawes)
1155 Union Circle #310907
Denton, Texas 76203
Hand Delivery:
Attn: Alice Hawes
801 North Texas Blvd., Suite 340 Denton, Texas 76203
How do I fulfill my obligation to locate and compile information responsive to a request?
Upon receipt of a request for information, the Public Information Program notifies employees who may have information that is responsive to the request and asks them to search for the information. Each employee is individually responsible for performing a “good-faith effort” search for responsive information and providing it to the Public Information Program. This means that you must take all reasonable steps to promptly produce the information requested. Search for all electronic and physical records, regardless of how or where they are maintained.
The procedures to locate a record may not be uniform in every instance, rather, the type of information being requested may inform where you look and how you perform a search. When in doubt as to whether a record is responsive to a specific information request, provide the record to UNTS’ Public Information Coordinator for evaluation.
The following is an inexhaustive list of locations to check when performing a good-faith search for public information:
- Desk drawers
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File cabinets
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Calendars/agendas/planners
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Notebooks/journals
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Departmental files
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Files in archives
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Personally owned computer and/or laptop
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Personally owned cell phone
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Personally owned computing devices, tablets, mobile devices
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Exchange/Outlook (e-mail, calendars and contacts)
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OneDrive for Business
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Cloud storage other than OneDrive for Business (i.e. Dropbox, Google Docs)
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SharePoint sites
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File sharing
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University owned computer/workstation
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University owned laptop
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University owned cell phone
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University owned personal computing devices, tablets, mobile devices
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Hard drives
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Archived folders
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Microsoft Excel (or similar software)
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Microsoft PowerPoint (or similar software)
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Microsoft Word (or similar software)
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PDF’s
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Audio files, video files or digital images
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Voice mails
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Instant messages, text messages
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Social media (Facebook, etc.)
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Removable/portable media (i.e. CD’s, DVD’s, flash drives, USB drives, external hard drives)
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Databases and data contained in or produced by databases
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Research/Laboratory specific workstations, machines and/or computers used in research
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Information, document or records management systems/software and data
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Departmental computer systems, databases, software or applications
- Backup storage
Will I have to surrender my work or personal phone/device?
Employees do not have to surrender their personal devices. Employees must perform a thorough search of their devices.
What if I have questions about whether information on my personal device is public information?
Remember that all information that relates to official UNT System business, regardless of where it is stored is public information. When responding to a public information request, you should provide the Public information Program all information that might be responsive. The Public Information Program will review the information and determine if the information you provided must be released or, in consultation with the appropriate UNT System officials, ask the Office of the Attorney General if the information can be protected from disclosure.
How does the process of turning over text messages to the university for preservation work?
You can send the information to your university email account and maintain the records in accordance with your office's procedures to prevent inadvertent or automatic deletion. The Public Information Program is working with the Chief Compliance Officer and Records Compliance Officer to develop other options.
What if my personal practice is to “clean out” my text messages on a routine basis and I have deleted messages from my device?
It is your responsibility to check your device for messages that pertain to official UNT System business. If you accidently delete these messages, check your “trash” or “deleted” file and retrieve the messages that relate to UNT System business. You should begin a practice of routinely transferring future messages to a UNT System server or alternatively archiving public information on your device.