University of Iowa stands by refusal to release Matt Strawn documents

IOWA CITY - The University of Iowa on Friday responded to a letter from the Iowa Freedom of Information Council raising concerns around its refusal to release documents. The university insisted the report in question is not public and restated plans to keep it confidential.

Randy Evans, executive director of the council, on Dec. 30 sent UI President Bruce Harreld a letter objecting to the UI decision not to release public polling and focus group research the institution commissioned through The Strawn Company - which is owned and operated by former Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn.

'The decision to hire The Strawn Company predates your selection by the Board of Regents, but you are now in a position to comply with the letter - as well as the spirit - of Iowa's open records law by making this information available to the people of Iowa,” Evans wrote in the letter to Harreld.

The council got involved after the Associated Press reported Strawn landed several UI contracts worth nearly $320,000 that were not competitively bid. The university declined to release some documents related to the contract, citing portions of Iowa Code that allow for confidentiality if release serves 'no public purpose.”

The university on Friday stood by that argument in its response to Evans, saying the polling findings and report are 'copyrighted analysis of public opinion prepared at the request of the university.”

'The statute does not require that the report be released just because some member of the public might want to know what was in it,” according to the UI letter, drafted by Carroll J. Reasoner, vice president for legal affairs and general counsel. 'There must be a public purpose, like knowing how grant money will be spent, how rates are set or how much the state pays for Medicaid recipients.”

Reasoner, in the letter, said the university hired The Strawn Company to survey Iowans about their perceptions and impressions of the university. The information was then used to craft messages for recruiting faculty, staff, and students and identifying areas of concern.

The university competes with other businesses for employees and with other institutions for students and 'strives to achieve a positive impression with all stakeholders,” according to the letter.

'This report, if released, would give advantage to our competitors, who are recruiting the same talent pool for employees and students and seeking to obtain a favorable impression with stakeholders,” according to the letter. 'The release would serve no public purpose as the courts have interpreted that phrase.”

'If others want to know how the university is perceived,” Reasoner wrote, 'they can conduct their own polling.”

In response to the university's letter Friday, Evans said he's disappointed but not surprised.

'With increasing frequency the university acts as if it were a private entity, not one that belongs to the people of Iowa,” according to Evans. 'The university spent one-third of a million dollars on this polling, focus groups and other research work that looked at the public's perception of the university and its reputation. It's troubling that university administrators do not think the people have a right to see what the university got for its money.”

Evans called the university's claim that the report holds no public interest 'so wrong-headed.”

'This is the second largest public university in the state. This is not a private corporation,” he said in a statement. 'But it is clear that the University of Iowa feels a greater obligation to a private business, the Strawn Company, than it feels to the people of Iowa.”