May 4, 2015

The UT System Board of Regents held a meeting by telephone this morning to discuss the proper process by which members may ask for student information in response to Regent Wallace Hall’s requests.

The board called the special meeting to discuss Hall’s requests to Attorney General Ken Paxton to review Hall’s independent investigation into the admissions process at UT. Hall has recently come under scrutiny for requesting a large amount of student information for this investigation. After Chancellor William McRaven told Hall that he had “insufficient reason” to reopen student admission records, Hall asked Paxton for help in determining whether or not McRaven or the Board of Regents can keep that information from him.

After a closed executive session that lasted nearly two hours, Regent Alex Cranburg spoke for the board about the information request problem when they reconvened in open session. He suggested a “not unfettered access to data” regarding Hall’s student admissions investigation.

“There should merely be some limits placed on what a regent may ask,” Cranburg said.

He also referred to concerns about privacy and FERPA regulations as why some information should be restricted.

The board took a vote to require running significant student information requests by the rest of the board, and the motion passed almost unanimously with only one abstention.