North Idaho College is a public institution and follows provisions of the Idaho Public Records law, granting individuals the right to examine any public records maintained by the institution, except for those records which are exempt by law.
A public record includes, but is not limited to, any writing prepared, owned, used, or retained by any state or local agency regardless of physical form or characteristic.
North Idaho College will provide records based on the description received in a records request.
Most records requests are usually completed by the college at no charge. However, fees may occur when requests are labor intensive due to a high volume of documents and/or redactions, etc.
Prepaid Fees - All fees must be prepaid and received by the college before a records request can be fulfilled.
- Time Spent Fees - Pursuant to Idaho Code Title 74-102(10)(b)(iii) requests that take longer than 2 hours of an employee's time to gather and/or copy documents will be charged based on the associated employee's hourly rate.
- Redaction Fees - Pursuant to Idaho Code Title 74-102(10)(b)(ii) requests containing nonpublic information will have the nonpublic information redacted. Public records are reviewed for redactions. This process may include the use of the college's legal counsel. The requester will be charged for the service based on legal counsel's hourly rate.
- Paper Copy Fees - Pursuant to Idaho Code Title 74-102(10)(b)(i) requests resulting in more than 100 pages of printed records will be charged $0.10 per page. There is no charge for electronic records.
Note: All requests made to NIC may themselves be subject to release as a public record.
Pursuant to Idaho Code Title 74-120, requests for information may NOT be used for any commercial purpose or as a mailing list.
Fees
Pursuant to Idaho Code Title 74-102 (10), NIC will conduct the first two hours of labor to process this request free of charge. After the first two hours, the following labor fees may be charged:
| Employee labor | $60 (or less depending on employee's hourly rate) |
| Legal Review | $200 |
No, your public records request is not a confidential record. Your request is itself a public record. It can be requested by others and the office forwards public records requests to the departments holding records and to third parties who have an interest in the records you have requested.
The request is received by the Chief Communications and Government Relations officer or her designee, who will then collect all responsive documents and return them to you.
Exceptions:
- Some documents are exempt from public records
- If the collection of documents takes more than 2 labor hours you may incur a fee
Certain personnel records, FERPA protected documents, medical records, confidential legal advice, records prepared in connection with litigation, and information that may be kept confidential pursuant to other state or federal statutes.
It is helpful to be as specific as possible by including date parameters, type of information sought, department name or unit and/or name of employee.
There is no public counter service for on-demand, same day public records inspections; nor does the law require such a public counter. Identification and collection of potentially responsive records are only some of the steps involved in responding to requests. The collected records must be reviewed to ensure that they are in fact responsive to the request and to assess whether they are subject to redaction to protect the privacy rights of others and consistent with applicable legal privileges & exemptions. Each of the steps in the process takes time. When records requests are available for release, we will contact you. If you prefer to inspect the records before paying for physical copies, we are happy to set up a mutually convenient time for such an inspection.
- Written documents (e.g., notes taken during a staff meeting)
- Email (even if sent from a personal computer or phone as long as it relates to NIC business)
- Sound recordings
- Photographs
- PowerPoint presentations
- Text messages (regardless of where the text originated, as long as it relates to NIC business)
No. As long as the person making the request provides enough information for NIC to identify the records, NIC is obligated to furnish copies or allow the inspection of the records requested. However, a fee may be assessed if it takes NIC more than 2 labor hours to gather all of the documents.
No. In response to a public request, we are only responsible for providing existing documents and records that are maintained by NIC.
Printable NIC Guide for U.S. Military Recruiters
Recruiters from the U.S. military may request student information that is otherwise protected under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
FERPA is a federal law that defines the rights of students, including the right to privacy in education records and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information in education records, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
However, there is an exception to FERPA specifically for military recruiters - a federal law called the Solomon Amendment.
Solomon Amendment
The Solomon Amendment requires any education institution that receives federal funding to allow military recruiters access to campus, as well as access to student recruiting information that is otherwise protected under FERPA.
Under the Solomon Amendment, military recruiters may request student recruiting information for all students 17 years or older registered for at least one credit, according to the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
Public Records Requests
To request student recruiting information from North Idaho College, recruiters must contact NIC Communications and Marketing to submit a public records request. To submit a request, access the public records request form, send directly to publicrecords@nic.edu or contact NIC Communications and Marketing at (208) 929-4059
In your public records request, you must identify yourself as a recruiter and cite the Solomon Amendment. Please also specify what information you are requesting, including the semester. Typical requests are for students' names, emails, phone numbers, mailing or physical addresses, degree program and year of study (first year or second year).
NIC staff will work to fulfill your public records request within the 10 working days allowed by Idaho public records law (Idaho Code § 74-102).
NIC Guidelines for Student Communications
When contacting NIC students with information provided by NIC:
- Be sure to identify yourself as a military recruiter, including your military branch and recruiting office location. To avoid confusion, please DO NOT identify yourself as a representative of the college or as affiliated with NIC.
- Be prepared to let the student know you legitimately acquired their contact information through the college's official process following state and federal law.
- Keep in mind that students are encouraged to report unfamiliar contacts and/or suspicious messages received via their NIC email accounts as phishing attempts. Clearly identify yourself and be professional in your word choice and presentation.
NIC Contact Information
| NIC Veterans and Military Family Services |
Interim Chief Communications & |
| Advisor Patrick O’Halloran | Tom Greene |
| (208) 676-7145 | (208) 769-3404 |
| Patrick.O'Halloran@nic.edu | tom.greene@nic.edu |