TPIA Request — Metadata: communications regarding students, COVID, or scientific/public-health topics (e.g., "science", "scientific", "epidemiology", "virology", "public health") to/from Dr. Deborah L. Birx (08/13/2023–12/13/2023)¶

To the Public Information Officer,

Attached is my TPIA request seeking a metadata‑only export for emails
and Teams/SharePoint/Slack/IM/SMS that discuss or reference students,
COVID, or scientific/public-health topics (e.g., science, scientific,
epidemiology, virology, public health) (any format: email,
Teams/SharePoint, Slack, IM, SMS/text) during the date range, limited
to Dr. Deborah L. Birx (and assistants/delegates).

Thank you,

Kevin Bass PhD MS
Phone: [REDACTED – HOME-PHONE]

Good Afternoon,







Texas Tech University System (TTUS) is in receipt of your Texas Public Information Act request below/attached.  However, TTUS seeks to discuss with you how the scope of your request might be narrowed and/or clarified pursuant to Texas Government Code § 552.222(b).  TTUS requests that you narrow or clarify the scope of your request as follows:



  1.  Your request for all communications that discuss “students, COVID, or scientific/public-health topics” and the general terms you provided as examples—such as “science,” “scientific,” “epidemiology,” “virology,” and “public health” across numerous platforms (email, Teams/SharePoint/Slack/IM/SMS messages, etc.) are overly broad. These terms may appear in countless routine communications from the custodians requested. Searching for these general terms from the custodians’ accounts and multiple communication platforms could result in an extremely high volume of initial results. Manually reviewing this massive volume to find metadata specifically related to the terms provided would result in significant costs to you.

  2.  Additionally, the resulting metadata may contain personally identifiable information of other students. Because a search of this nature may involve sensitive student information, the responsive records may contain information that is confidential by law, specifically under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Releasing metadata for all emails and Teams/SharePoint/Slack/IM/SMS messages that discuss or reference students, COVID, or scientific/public-health topics (e.g., science, scientific, epidemiology, virology, public health) from August 13, 2023, through December 13, 2023, may make it possible to identify confidential student information. Consequently, the extensive information requested could require significant manual review and redaction before any information could be released. This necessary process would result in significant costs to you.

  3.  You may wish to consider narrowing the scope of your request to reduce these potential costs. For example, you could limit your request by doing the following:



  *   Refine Search Terms: Instead of general terms like “students, COVID, or scientific/public-health topics” and the general terms you provided as examples—such as “science,” “scientific,” “epidemiology,” “virology,” and “public health” please provide a more specific set of keywords related to a particular matter.

  *   Limit Platforms: Narrow your request to search university email only and exclude other collaboration and messaging platforms.







Please simply respond to this request and let us know if you are willing to narrow/clarify the scope of your request in the manner suggested or in some other manner.  Please note that we may be required to send some information to the Texas Attorney General for review prior to release.  That process could take 2-3 months.  TTUS is required to inform you that if you do not respond to this request for narrowing/clarification within 61 days from the date of this request, your request will be considered withdrawn.







Sincerely,



Brontë C. Staugaard



Assistant General Counsel



Texas Tech University System



(806) 742-2155







This communication, including any attachments, originates from an Attorney and may contain confidential information and is intended only for the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. Any review, dissemination, or copying of this communication by anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail, delete and destroy all copies of the original message.











-----Original Message-----



From: Kevin Bass <kbassphiladelphia@gmail.com<mailto:kbassphiladelphia@gmail.com>>



Sent: Friday, October 3, 2025 12:27 AM



To: Public Info <publicinfo@ttu.edu<mailto:publicinfo@ttu.edu>>



Cc: Bentley, Eric <Eric.Bentley@ttu.edu<mailto:Eric.Bentley@ttu.edu>>; Wall, Ronny <Ronny.Wall@ttu.edu<mailto:Ronny.Wall@ttu.edu>>



Subject: TPIA Request — Metadata: communications regarding students, COVID, or scientific/public-health topics (e.g., "science", "scientific", "epidemiology", "virology", "public health") to/from Dr. Deborah L. Birx (08/13/2023–12/13/2023)







[You don't often get email from kbassphiladelphia@gmail.com<mailto:kbassphiladelphia@gmail.com>. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ]







This email originated outside TTU. Please exercise caution<https://askit.ttu.edu/phishing>!











To the Public Information Officer,







Attached is my TPIA request seeking a metadata‑only export for emails and Teams/SharePoint/Slack/IM/SMS that discuss or reference students, COVID, or scientific/public-health topics (e.g., science, scientific, epidemiology, virology, public health) (any format: email, Teams/SharePoint, Slack, IM, SMS/text) during the date range, limited to Dr. Deborah L. Birx (and assistants/delegates).







Thank you,







Kevin Bass PhD MS



Phone: [REDACTED – HOME-PHONE]

Brontë,

This responds to your Oct 17, 2025 clarification under §552.222.

Narrowing (Phase-1):
Platform: University email only (exclude Teams/SharePoint/Slack/IM/SMS).
Custodians (5): Eric Bentley; Ronny Wall; William Webster; Amanda
McSween; Beverly Muñoz.
Date range: Oct 3–Oct 31, 2025.
Search focus (metadata only): From, To, Cc, Bcc, Subject,
Sent/Received date-time (UTC), Message-ID/Internet-Message-ID,
thread/conversation ID, folder path, size, attachment count +
filenames (no body text).
Terms (avoid broad “student”): “Kevin Norris Bass” OR “Kevin Bass” OR
“kbassphiladelphia” OR “Preservation Notice” OR “P3” OR “SPPCC” OR
“professionalism” OR “dismissal” OR “appeal” OR “name-clearing”.
FERPA: Redact other students’ identifiers; segregate and release the rest.
Cost control: I elect inspection where it reduces charges (§552.272).
If you believe programming/manipulation is needed, identify the
specific tasks and provide the §552.231 form/time/cost statement.
Cap & schedule: Treat this as Phase-1 ≤$100 (no deposit). Please
confirm receipt and give a date/time for the first rolling batch of
non-exempt metadata.

Kevin Bass PhD MS
Phone: [REDACTED – HOME-PHONE]

On Fri, Oct 17, 2025 at 5:01 PM Staugaard, Bronte
<Bronte.Staugaard@ttu.edu> wrote:
>
> Good Afternoon,
>
>
>
> Texas Tech University System (TTUS) is in receipt of your Texas Public Information Act request below/attached.  However, TTUS seeks to discuss with you how the scope of your request might be narrowed and/or clarified pursuant to Texas Government Code § 552.222(b).  TTUS requests that you narrow or clarify the scope of your request as follows:
>
> Your request for all communications that discuss “students, COVID, or scientific/public-health topics” and the general terms you provided as examples—such as “science,” “scientific,” “epidemiology,” “virology,” and “public health” across numerous platforms (email, Teams/SharePoint/Slack/IM/SMS messages, etc.) are overly broad. These terms may appear in countless routine communications from the custodians requested. Searching for these general terms from the custodians’ accounts and multiple communication platforms could result in an extremely high volume of initial results. Manually reviewing this massive volume to find metadata specifically related to the terms provided would result in significant costs to you.
> Additionally, the resulting metadata may contain personally identifiable information of other students. Because a search of this nature may involve sensitive student information, the responsive records may contain information that is confidential by law, specifically under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Releasing metadata for all emails and Teams/SharePoint/Slack/IM/SMS messages that discuss or reference students, COVID, or scientific/public-health topics (e.g., science, scientific, epidemiology, virology, public health) from August 13, 2023, through December 13, 2023, may make it possible to identify confidential student information. Consequently, the extensive information requested could require significant manual review and redaction before any information could be released. This necessary process would result in significant costs to you.
> You may wish to consider narrowing the scope of your request to reduce these potential costs. For example, you could limit your request by doing the following:
>
> Refine Search Terms: Instead of general terms like “students, COVID, or scientific/public-health topics” and the general terms you provided as examples—such as “science,” “scientific,” “epidemiology,” “virology,” and “public health” please provide a more specific set of keywords related to a particular matter.
> Limit Platforms: Narrow your request to search university email only and exclude other collaboration and messaging platforms.
>
>
>
> Please simply respond to this request and let us know if you are willing to narrow/clarify the scope of your request in the manner suggested or in some other manner.  Please note that we may be required to send some information to the Texas Attorney General for review prior to release.  That process could take 2-3 months.  TTUS is required to inform you that if you do not respond to this request for narrowing/clarification within 61 days from the date of this request, your request will be considered withdrawn.
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Brontë C. Staugaard
>
> Assistant General Counsel
>
> Texas Tech University System
>
> (806) 742-2155
>
>
>
> This communication, including any attachments, originates from an Attorney and may contain confidential information and is intended only for the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. Any review, dissemination, or copying of this communication by anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail, delete and destroy all copies of the original message.
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: Kevin Bass <kbassphiladelphia@gmail.com>
>
> Sent: Friday, October 3, 2025 12:27 AM
>
> To: Public Info <publicinfo@ttu.edu>
>
> Cc: Bentley, Eric <Eric.Bentley@ttu.edu>; Wall, Ronny <Ronny.Wall@ttu.edu>
>
> Subject: TPIA Request — Metadata: communications regarding students, COVID, or scientific/public-health topics (e.g., "science", "scientific", "epidemiology", "virology", "public health") to/from Dr. Deborah L. Birx (08/13/2023–12/13/2023)
>
>
>
> [You don't often get email from kbassphiladelphia@gmail.com. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ]
>
>
>
> This email originated outside TTU. Please exercise caution<https://askit.ttu.edu/phishing>!
>
>
>
>
>
> To the Public Information Officer,
>
>
>
> Attached is my TPIA request seeking a metadata‑only export for emails and Teams/SharePoint/Slack/IM/SMS that discuss or reference students, COVID, or scientific/public-health topics (e.g., science, scientific, epidemiology, virology, public health) (any format: email, Teams/SharePoint, Slack, IM, SMS/text) during the date range, limited to Dr. Deborah L. Birx (and assistants/delegates).
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
>
> Kevin Bass PhD MS
>
> Phone: [REDACTED – HOME-PHONE]