Guidelines for Access to the Commission’s Public Records
Public records maintained by the California Postsecondary Education Commission will
be available for inspection by members of the public pursuant to the following procedures:
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Requests for inspection and/or copying of public records:
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May be verbal, in writing or electronic, however, the Commission encourages
requests to be made in writing or electronically unless the request involves records
that are maintained by the Commission for the purpose of immediate public
inspection.
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Should be directed to the legal counsel for docketing and referral to the staff member
that created and has ownership responsibility for the desired records.
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Should be specific, focused and sufficiently describe records so that they can be
identified, located and retrieved by Commission personnel.
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Where a request is not specific and focused, Commission staff will attempt to assist the
requester to identify the requested information, to describe the technology or physical
location of the record, and to suggest of how to overcome practical barriers
to disclosure.
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Requests must not interfere with the ordinary business operation of the Commission. The
operational functions of the Commission will not be suspended to permit inspection
of records during periods in which such records are reasonably required by
Commission personnel in the performance on their duties. If the request requires
review of numerous records, a mutually agreeable time should be established for the
inspection of the records. Public records maintained by the Commission shall be
available for inspection during the regular business hours of the Commission.
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A "public record" includes any writing that contains information related to the conduct of
the public's business prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency
regardless of physical form or characteristics. A "writing" is any handwriting, typewriting,
printing, photostatting, photographing, photocopying, transmitting by electronic mail or
facsimile, and every other means of recording upon any tangible thing any form of
communication or representation, including letters, words, pictures, sounds, or symbols,
or combinations thereof, and any record thereby created, regardless of the manner in
which the record has been stored (Gov. Code Section 6252(e)(g)).
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The Commission may refuse to disclose any records that are exempt from disclosure
under the Public Records Act (Government Code, Section 6254).
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Physical inspection of the records shall be permitted within the Commission’s offices and
under the conditions determined by the Commission, as permitted by law. Upon either the
completion of the inspection or the oral request of Commission personnel, the person
conducting the inspection shall relinquish physical possession of the records. Persons
inspecting Commission’s records shall not destroy, mutilate, deface, alter or remove any such
records from the Commission. The Commission reserves the right to have Commission
personnel present during the inspection of records in order to prevent the loss or
destruction of records.
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Upon any request for a copy of records, other than records the Commission has determined
to be exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Act, Commission personnel shall provide
black and white copies of the records to any person. If the request involves more than 100 pages,
the Commission may charge $0.02 (two cents) per page for the copies. The Commission may also
charge for records that require data compilation, extraction or programming to produce them.
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A copy of these guidelines shall be posted in a conspicuous public place in each office of
the Commission and a copy there of shall be made available free of charge to any person
requesting such copy.
Last Updated: April 16, 2009
