Other (indicate in message) Submitted: November 17, 2023 | Updated: December 14, 2023

(November 2023) Request for Gaston College, in NC: All employees and salaries 01/01/23 – present, Organizational chart as of 01/01/23, and College President Salary 06/01/20 – present.

Good evening Michele, Shelly, Savonne (or Gaston College Records Officer / Custodian(s) of these Records),

Please reply promptly to the following multi-part public records request, which I’m making in accordance with NC Public Records Law. https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_132.html

** I’m simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I’m NOT asking for the opportunity to come in person to "inspect", nor to obtain a printed copy of, this electronic record. I’m requesting explicitly that any responsive info be provided to me via the electronic medium / electronic format (in which the copy of this record should already exist). If you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of this request, please specifically cite where a reason for denial is justified under NC Public Records Law.**

All NC Universities and Colleges are public entities, and their basic salary info is considered a matter of public record as part of the public personnel file of employees. Many NC schools have fulfilled a request like mine via email in 1 week, or in many cases 1 day.

A. Please provide a list of ALL past and current Gaston College Dallas NC employees / faculty / staff, and their salaries. During the specific time period of January 01, 2023 through the present day [on the date the query is performed]. To be clear – I’m asking for the salary data to be provided for every month (Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov.).

Ideally, I’d like to receive these records in an Excel, or other machine-readable format. Please include the following:

1) Employee first / last name
2) Hire Date
3) Position / Title / Department
4) Pay Grade
5) Salary (including hourly wage, hourly rate, or salary -- whichever payment structure is applicable to that employee)

If for some reason it is impossible for you to query the info in that way (by month) then please explain this, and please provide any responsive records “as of the present day” [on the date the query is performed].

** Additionally – Please Note: On August 22, 2023 the College completed a similar July request for me, in which I asked for “all current employees and salaries”. It’s unclear to me why in that instance, the College President’s salary was not provided within the responsive spreadsheet I received. You seem to have provided the requested salary data for all other employees at that time. I do not feel that the College President isn’t considered to be an “employee”.

Please do not omit any employees from your search. I consider salary data for “all employees” to include all full-time, part-time, adjunct, employees, faculty, staff, etc. (any employee of any type) working for Gaston College.

B. Please provide the electronic copy of the school’s organizational chart as of January 01, 2023.

C. Please provide a report of the “College President’s Salary”, as of the first day of every month from June 01, 2020 through the present day [on the date the query was performed].

If any / all of this info is already publicly available online, please provide a link to where it can be accessed.
————————————

Please note that by submitting this request, I’m NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. If it isn’t possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and explanations for those charges upfront, and DO NOT proceed until I respond.

By Law I’m not required to provide a name or address to associate with a public records request, but in order to move things along I’d like to clarify that this request is being made by:

Sunshine Request
PO Box 17391
Asheville, NC 28816

The request has been sent solely by me and my email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me. Please do not commingle or treat that as an alteration or cancellation of my request – I intend to continue to pursue my request.

Thank you for your assistance!

** Sunshine Request (www.sunshinerequest.com) makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.

Editor’s Note: Sunshine Request makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.

Editor’s Note 11/17/23: The original submission(s) below have been revised for clarity, and merged into one request.

[ REQUEST # 1 ]

Date sent in to Sunshine: 11/14/23

Original Subject:
Gaston College, Dallas N.C. current and past employees’ salaries 01/01/2023 – 11/14/2023

Original Message:
Hello Sunshine,
I would like to make a public records request for the following information regarding salaries for all current and past employees of Gaston College, Dallas, NC during the time of January 1, 2023, to current. (November 14, 2023)
Please include the following information…
1. Name of employee
2. Original hire date
3. Current department
4. Current position or title
5. Current pay grade
6. Current salary
Please provide this information in Excel format or compatible if possible
I would also like to request a copy of the current organizational chart as of January 1, 2023

Thank you for your assistance.

Government Entity:
Other (indicate in message)

Start Date / End Date:
January 01, 2023 – November 14, 2023

[ REQUEST # 2 ]

Date sent in to Sunshine: 11/15/23

Original Subject:
Request for Gaston College President Salary

Original Message:
Please reply promptly to the following public records request, which is being made in accordance with NC Public Records Law.
Ref: https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_132.html

** I’m simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I am NOT asking to come in person to inspect, nor to obtain a printed copy of, these electronic records. I’m requesting explicitly that any responsive info be provided to me via an electronic medium / format (in which the copy of these records should already exist).

I do not have any further clarifying info I wish to provide to narrow this request. If the request is unclear, or if you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of the request, then please specifically cite where a reason for its denial is justified under NC Public Records Law. **

All NC Universities and Colleges are public entities, and their basic salary info is considered a matter of public record as part of the public personnel file of employees. Many NC schools have fulfilled a request like mine via email in 1 week, or in many cases 1 day.

Please provide a report of the Presidents Salary From June 2020- Present Day …. As the Presidents Salary was NOT listed/Left Off on the last Sunshine Request ….

Ideally, I’d like to receive the responsive records in an Excel or machine-readable format, if possible.

If any / all of this info is already publicly available online, please provide a link to where it can be accessed.

Government Entity:
Other (indicate in message)

Start Date / End Date:
June 01, 2020 – November 15, 2023

If you’re hoping to receive salary data for “all employees” or a “specific employee”, “as of the first day of every month, from 01/01/23 through present day(or in the president’s case, “From 01/01/2020 – 11/15/2023” ) … In our experience requesting salary data, it’s unlikely that Gaston College will be able to query the data in that manner (on one specific date in time, and on every month, or over several years). We’re happy to send in the request, but we just wanted to note that possibility for your consideration if you do send another similar request in the future.

Additionally — please note. We completed a similar request for all employee salary info on 08/24/23: (July 2023) Request for Gaston College, in NC: All current employees and salaries as of 07/26/23 [or present day] . Those records seem to be up-to-date as of 07/26/23.

In the future, we’d ask that the sender please conduct a search of our site to see if any of the responsive records you hope to receive have already been provided. If you’d like more specific or up-to-date information (and it is not already available on GC’s website), please feel free to submit a new request through our site.


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It’s the requester’s responsibility to write the request in a manner that clearly specifies a record that is being requested, and to what government entity it should be sent.

☀️ Please be specific:

It is important that what you are requesting is specific and reasonable, and is an actionable records request. Please specify the exact type of records you’d like to receive, rather than any “possible” or “potential” info that could be searched. Remember that the larger your request, the more time it usually takes to fulfill. Specificity will often help reduce the amount of time needed to process the request.

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Thank you for using Sunshine Request!

Status: Completed

Activity:

  • December 14, 2023 2:36 pm

    4 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Michele Avendano <[email protected]>
    date: Dec 14, 2023, 2:36 PM
    subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Public records request. (November 2023) Request for Gaston College, in NC: All employees and salaries 01/01/23 – present, Organizational chart as of 01/01/23, and College President Salary 06/01/20 – present.

     

    Hi Michele,

     

    Thank you for your reply.

     

    I’ve reviewed your response and the documents provided. I will now mark this request as “Completed” on our website.

     

    Thanks for your help!

     

    ~ The Sunshine Request Team


    Status: Completed
  • December 13, 2023 11:48 am

    4 months ago

    from: Michele Avendano <[email protected]>
    to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    date: Dec 13, 2023, 11:48 AM
    subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Public records request. (November 2023) Request for Gaston College, in NC: All employees and salaries 01/01/23 – present, Organizational chart as of 01/01/23, and College President Salary 06/01/20 – present.

     

    Gaston College does not maintain a specific record or report that contains all of the data in this information request, and as per North Carolina General Statute 132-6.2, is not required to create or compile a record that does not exist.

     

    However, I have attached copies of our current organizational charts and most recent salary information for full-time employees of Gaston College.

     

    Thank you!

     

    Michele Avendano

    Director-Human Resources

     

    Gaston College

    201 Highway 321 South

    Dallas, NC 28034

    704-922-2266 (phone)

    704-922-2330 (fax)

    [email protected]

    www.gaston.edu

     

    E-mail correspondence to and from this sender may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records law and may be disclosed to third parties. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, please contact the sender immediately.

     

    **Editor’s Note: Please see the 2 files referenced (“reexternalpublicrecordsrequest_november2023reque.zip”) at top left in our Documents section.


    Status: Response Received from Government
  • December 4, 2023 6:26 pm

    4 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Michele Avendano <[email protected]>
    cc: Shelly Alman <[email protected]>, Savonne McNeill <[email protected]>, John Hauser <[email protected]>, Todd Baney <[email protected]>
    date: Dec 4, 2023, 6:26 PM
    subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: Public records request. (November 2023) Request for Gaston College, in NC: All employees and salaries 01/01/23 – present, Organizational chart as of 01/01/23, and College President Salary 06/01/20 – present.

     

    Hi Michele,

     

    Thank you for confirming that my request is being processed.

     

    I’ll follow up again around mid-December, if I haven’t heard anything else before then.

     

    Thanks for your help!


    Status: Government Processing Request
  • November 30, 2023 3:15 pm

    4 months ago

    from: Michele Avendano <[email protected]>
    to: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    cc: Shelly Alman <[email protected]>, Savonne McNeill <[email protected]>, John Hauser <[email protected]>, Todd Baney <[email protected]>
    date: Nov 30, 2023, 3:15 PM
    subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] Re: Public records request. (November 2023) Request for Gaston College, in NC: All employees and salaries 01/01/23 – present, Organizational chart as of 01/01/23, and College President Salary 06/01/20 – present.

     

    I apologize for the delay. This request has been received and I will try and have this to you sometime in the next week or so.


     

    From: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2023 5:38 PM
    To: Michele Avendano <[email protected]>
    Cc: Shelly Alman <[email protected]>; Savonne McNeill <[email protected]>; John Hauser <[email protected]>; Todd Baney <[email protected]>
    Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: Public records request. (November 2023) Request for Gaston College, in NC: All employees and salaries 01/01/23 – present, Organizational chart as of 01/01/23, and College President Salary 06/01/20 – present.

     

    E-mail correspondence to and from this sender may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records law and may be disclosed to third parties. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, please contact the sender immediately.


    Status: Government Processing Request
  • November 28, 2023 5:38 pm

    4 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Michele Avendano <[email protected]>
    cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
    date: Nov 28, 2023, 5:38 PM
    subject: Re: Public records request. (November 2023) Request for Gaston College, in NC: All employees and salaries 01/01/23 – present, Organizational chart as of 01/01/23, and College President Salary 06/01/20 – present.

     

    Hi Michele, Shelly, Savonne (or Records Officer / Custodian(s) of these Records),

     

    I’m following up regarding my public records request in the email thread above. I submitted it to your offices on November 17th:

     

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Michele Avendano <[email protected]>
    cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
    date: Nov 17, 2023, 6:00 PM
    subject: Public records request. (November 2023) Request for Gaston College, in NC: All employees and salaries 01/01/23 – present, Organizational chart as of 01/01/23, and College President Salary 06/01/20 – present.

     

    I haven’t received a reply from anyone since I submitted the request.

     

    Can you please confirm receipt to let me know my request will begin processing? And, if possible, can you please provide me with an anticipated date for its completion?

     

    I’ll follow up in 1 week, if I don’t hear back before then.

     

    Thank you!


    Status: Follow up
  • November 17, 2023 6:00 pm

    5 months ago

    from: Sunshine Request <[email protected]>
    to: Michele Avendano <[email protected]>
    cc: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
    date: Nov 17, 2023, 6:00 PM
    subject: Public records request. (November 2023) Request for Gaston College, in NC: All employees and salaries 01/01/23 – present, Organizational chart as of 01/01/23, and College President Salary 06/01/20 – present.

     

    Good evening Michele, Shelly, Savonne (or Gaston College Records Officer / Custodian(s) of these Records),

     

    Please reply promptly to the following multi-part public records request, which I’m making in accordance with NC Public Records Law. https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_132.html

     

    ** I’m simply requesting an electronic copy of an electronic record, if one exists. I’m NOT asking for the opportunity to come in person to “inspect”, nor to obtain a printed copy of, this electronic record. I’m requesting explicitly that any responsive info be provided to me via the electronic medium / electronic format (in which the copy of this record should already exist). If you are unable to fulfill any or all parts of this request, please specifically cite where a reason for denial is justified under NC Public Records Law.**

     

    All NC Universities and Colleges are public entities, and their basic salary info is considered a matter of public record as part of the public personnel file of employees. Many NC schools have fulfilled a request like mine via email in 1 week, or in many cases 1 day.

     

    A. Please provide a list of ALL past and current Gaston College Dallas NC employees / faculty / staff, and their salaries. During the specific time period of January 01, 2023 through the present day [on the date the query is performed]. To be clear – I’m asking for the salary data to be provided for every month (Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May. Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov.).

     

    Ideally, I’d like to receive these records in an Excel, or other machine-readable format. Please include the following:

     

    1) Employee first / last name

    2) Hire Date

    3) Position / Title / Department

    4) Pay Grade

    5) Salary (including hourly wage, hourly rate, or salary — whichever payment structure is applicable to that employee)

     

    If for some reason it is impossible for you to query the info in that way (by month) then please explain this, and please provide any responsive records “as of the present day” [on the date the query is performed].

     

    ** Additionally – Please Note: On August 22, 2023 the College completed a similar July request for me, in which I asked for “all current employees and salaries”. It’s unclear to me why in that instance, the College President’s salary was not provided within the responsive spreadsheet I received. You seem to have provided the requested salary data for all other employees at that time. I do not feel that the College President isn’t considered to be an “employee”.

     

    Please do not omit any employees from your search. I consider salary data for “all employees” to include all full-time, part-time, adjunct, employees, faculty, staff, etc. (any employee of any type) working for Gaston College.

     

    B. Please provide the electronic copy of the school’s organizational chart as of January 01, 2023.

     

    C. Please provide a report of the “College President’s Salary”, as of the first day of every month from June 01, 2020 through the present day [on the date the query was performed].

     

    If any / all of this info is already publicly available online, please provide a link to where it can be accessed.

    ————————————

     

    Please note that by submitting this request, I’m NOT agreeing to pay any potential fees or associated costs related to my request. If it isn’t possible to process the request without incurring fees, then please let me know the itemized potential cost and explanations for those charges upfront, and DO NOT proceed until I respond.

     

    By Law I’m not required to provide a name or address to associate with a public records request, but in order to move things along I’d like to clarify that this request is being made by:

     

    Sunshine Request

    PO Box 17391

    Asheville, NC 28816

     

    The request has been sent solely by me and my email address [email protected] . If anyone other than that email address contacts you to pursue a similar request, it did not come from me. Please do not commingle or treat that as an alteration or cancellation of my request – I intend to continue to pursue my request.

     

    Thank you for your assistance!

     

    ** Sunshine Request (www.sunshinerequest.com) makes no claim as to the veracity of any statements or information contained in any of the requests, or public records, we receive.


    Status: Sent to Government
  • November 17, 2023 2:58 pm

    5 months ago

    Submitted to Sunshine Request
    Status: Pending