Records: Confidentiality/Privacy and Access
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Perspective: A Real World Illustration
A November 2005 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper article reported on the dean of a public university located in Wisconsin seeking to block release of an audit of his spending on the grounds that it would harm the public's interest in diversity on campus.
The dean argued that the harm that would be caused to the public's interest in diversity "substantially outweighs the public's interest in the release of the contents of the record." His attorney said the harm would spring from inaccurate information contained in the report.
But the university's vice chancellor for administrative affairs, said the findings were accurate and that they should be released. He hinted that the dean may end up facing disciplinary action. "The audit and the potential negative consequences shouldn't be mixed up with diversity efforts," he said. "Everyone should be held equally accountable."
The vice chancellor said the university launched an audit of the dean last spring after noting "some travel activity and procurement activity that raised questions." He said the university sought help from several auditors at the university's system-wide office when it became apparent that the audit would be "large."
As required by state law, the auditors shared a draft of their findings with the dean after their review was complete. The dean complained that the report contained inaccuracies, and the auditors made some adjustments.
When the auditors presented a final report to the dean and the university's top three administrators, the dean filed a lawsuit. There is no merit to a lawsuit filed by the African-American dean of graduate studies and continuing education, a top administrator at the university said.
"Some concerns were factored into the final draft, but not a lot of them," the dean's attorney said. He would not comment on the diversity argument made in the lawsuit, saying only that "the university does not have an interest in releasing to the public a document that's inaccurate and would be misleading."
The state attorney general's office, which represents the university system in court, expects to respond to the lawsuit soon said a spokesperson with the attorney general's office. The judge has 30 days to rule.
A state representative, who filed an open records request for the audit's findings along with news outlets, including the Journal Sentinel, said he is following the case carefully. The representative said he received several complaints about the dean from officials at the university who were worried that the audit would be buried. "It could be a very serious incident involving taxpayers' dollars," he said. "There needs to be accountability."
Last Revised 5/23/2006