NUMBER:   HR 1.00
SECTION:  Human Resources     

SUBJECT:  Freedom of Information Policy                           
   

DATE:     July 1, 1995
                     
Policy for:     All Campuses
Procedure for:  All Campuses
Authorized by:  Jane M. Jameson
Issued by:      Division of Human Resources
________________________________________________________________

I.   Policy

     A.   This document sets forth policies and procedures of the
University of South Carolina regarding the provisions of the
South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.   

     B.   Responsibility for Administration
          The Division of Human Resources, the Legal Department,
the Department of Public Affairs, the Division of Business and
Finance, and the Office of the Secretary to the Board of Trustees
shall normally be the only departments to release information
under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.   
          1.   The Division of Human Resources, acting in concert
with the individual who received the request and the department
or individual who is the custodian of the record(s), shall be
responsible for responding to all employee-related non-media
Freedom of Information Act requests.    
          2.   The Department of Public Affairs, acting in
concert with the individual who received the request and the
department or individual who is the custodian of the record(s),
shall be responsible for responding to all Freedom of Information
Act requests made by the media.    
          3.   The Office of the Secretary to the Board of
Trustees shall be responsible for responding to all Freedom of
Information Act requests pertaining to the Board. 
          4.   Individuals receiving Freedom of Information Act
requests shall forward the requests in a timely manner to the
appropriate office as described above.  A final determination as
to the release of the information must be made within 15 work
days of the date the University receives the request.  

     C.   Public Body
          The Board of Trustees and/or any committee,
subcommittee or advisory committee of the Board of Trustees shall
be considered a public body.
     

     D.   Public Record
          All books, papers, maps, photographs, cards, tapes,
recordings or other documentary materials, regardless of physical
form or characteristics, prepared, owned, used, in the possession
of or retained by a public body shall be considered a public
record except those records which by law are required to be
closed to the public, or are otherwise exempted by the provisions
of the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.
          1.   Matters exempt from disclosure include, but are
not limited to, the following:
               a.   scholastic records;
               b.   library circulation and registration records;
               c.   medical records;
               d.   trade secrets, work products and paid
subscriber information as defined in the Act;
               e.   information of a personal nature where the
public disclosure thereof would constitute unreasonable invasion
of personal privacy;
               f.   records of law enforcement and public safety
activities as defined in the Act;
               g.   documents of and documents incidental to
proposed contractual arrangements and documents of and documents
incidental to proposed sales or purchases of property;
               h.   correspondence or work products of legal
counsel for a public body and any other material that would
violate attorney-client relationships;
               I.   memoranda, correspondence, documents and
working papers relative to efforts or activities of a public body
to attract business or industry to invest within South Carolina;
               j.   information relative to the identity of the
maker of a gift to the University as a public institution if the
maker specifies that his or her making of the gift must be
anonymous and that his or her identity must not be revealed as a
condition of making the gift.  With respect to gifts, only
information which identifies the maker may be exempt from
disclosure.  If the maker of any gift or any member of his or her
immediate family has any business transaction with the recipient
of the gift within three years before or after the gift is made,
the identity of the maker is not exempt from disclosure;
               k.   certain salary information as noted in
Section I. D. 3 of this policy pertaining to compensation;
               l.   matters specifically exempted from disclosure
by statute or law.  
          2.   Matters subject to disclosure under the Freedom of
Information Act include, but are not limited to, the following:
               a.   the names, sex, race, title and dates of
employment of all employees and officers of public bodies;
               b.   administrative staff manuals and instructions
to staff that affect a member of the public;
               c.   final opinions, including concurring and
dissenting opinions, as well as orders, made in the adjudication
of cases;
               d.   those statements of policy and
interpretations of policy, statute and the Constitution which
have been adopted by the public body;
               e.   written planning policies and goals and final
planning decisions;
               f.   information in or taken from any account,
voucher or contract dealing with the receipt or expenditure of
public or other funds by public bodies;
               g.   the minutes of all proceedings of all public
bodies and all votes at such proceedings, with the exception of
all such minutes and votes taken at meetings closed to the public
pursuant to the Act.     
               h.   incident reports which disclose the nature,
substance and location of any crime or alleged crime reported as
having been committed.  Where an incident report contains
information exempt as otherwise provided by law, the law
enforcement agency may delete that information from the incident
report.   
               i.   statistical and other empirical finding
considered by the Legislative Audit Council in the development of
an audit report.
               j.   certain salary information as noted in
Section I. D. 3 of this policy pertaining to compensation.  
          3.   No information contained in a police incident
report or in an employee salary schedule revealed in response to
a request pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act may be
utilized for commercial solicitation. The home addresses and home
telephone numbers of employees and officers of public bodies
revealed in response to a request pursuant to the Freedom of
Information Act may not be utilized for commercial solicitation. 
However, this provision must not be interpreted to restrict
access by the public and press to information contained in public
records.
          4.   Compensation of University of South Carolina
employees shall be considered a public record as described below:
               a.   exact compensation for those persons
receiving compensation of $50,000 or more annually, for all
part-time employees, for any other persons paid honoraria or
other compensation for special appearances, performances or the
like, and for employees at the level of agency or department
head;
               b.   compensation in increments of $4,000 for
classified and unclassified employees, including contract
instructional employees not subject to Section a. above who
receive compensation between, but not including $30,000 and
$50,000 annually;
               c.   the compensation range, including longevity
steps, for classified employees not subject to Section a. above
who receive compensation at $30,000 or less annually;
               d.   compensation in increments of $4,000 for
unclassified employees, including contract instructional
employees not subject to Section a. above who receive
compensation of $30,000 or less annually.
               e.   A complete salary listing of all permanent
University employees, pursuant to the provisions of the Freedom
of Information Act, is available in the library of each campus of
the University.  The information is updated each quarter.
     
     E.   Establishment and Collection of Fees
          The University of South Carolina shall establish and
collect fees not to exceed the actual cost of searching for and
making copies of the record.  The establishment of fees is
subject to change without notice as required by the actual cost
of the search and/or the record.   

II.  Procedure
     A.   Upon written request for records considered to be
public information, the University shall make a determination
with reasons therefor as to the release or non-release of
information within 15 days excepting Saturdays, Sundays and
University holidays.     

     B.   Non-media requests for information must be made in
writing.

     C.   To the extent practicable, media requests for
information shall be made in writing; however, at the discretion
of the Department of Public Affairs, certain media requests may
be made in person or by telephone in the interest of time.  

     D.   Individuals about whom requests have been made may be
notified of the requests and of the information released, as may
appropriate administrative officials.  

     E.   Fee Schedule
          1.   The individual or organization making the request
shall be charged the total expense incurred for searching
records, computer usage and making copies of requested
information based on the per hour cost of staff time, including
fringe benefits and ten cents per page copied.    
          2.   The University reserves the right to require a
reasonable deposit for costs expected to be incurred in searching
for or making copies of the record(s).  If a deposit is required,
the search for records will not be initiated until the deposit
has been received.  
          3.   To the extent possible, fees for expenses incurred
will be collected at the time the information is released.  Fees
not collected at the time the information is released will be
billed to the individual or organization and shall be subject to
University policies and procedures regarding collection of fees.      
          4.   If a fee is outstanding on a previous request and
the requestor makes a subsequent request, the response to the
subsequent request shall not be released to the requestor until
all outstanding fees pertaining to the previous request(s) have
been collected.     




To obtain an official copy of this policy please contact the USC
Division of Human Resources.

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URL http://www.sc.edu/policies/hr100.html