Text Bucks seeks student information

“We are a small family business; we’ve been in business 17 years, and we’ve never had an issue with anybody,” Wampler said.

Until now.

Wampler Books Inc., Wampler’s company which does business as Text Bucks, is suing Ozarks Technical Community College over access to student directory information that he says is key to his livelihood. Text Bucks is a college textbook discount retailer.

“Well, No. 1, we lose the ability to know how many books to order for a specific class,” he said. “And No. 2, every student that goes to OTC, on (the school’s) Web site, (OTC) pushes them right to the OTC bookstore. So without me having a list of the students and the customers out there, that’s not a level playing field.”

In the suit, filed July 8 in Greene County Circuit Court, Wampler alleges that information about students enrolled at the school is being withheld, a violation of Missouri sunshine laws.

Since the lawsuit was filed, OTC has begun delivering its directory information to Text Bucks. On July 25, OTC Custodian of Records Delvin Mitchell delivered a large box of computer

printouts to Wampler’s office and indicated that more were on the way.

Cindy Hinds, spokeswoman for OTC, said the school was following internal policy when it denied Wampler’s request.

“The college has had a policy since we started in 1991. It basically says that we don’t give information about students out to businesses, for the reason of solicitation,” she said in a July 19 interview. “So we were following our own internal policy. The only official statement that I have is that we’re reviewing our policy in the light of that suit.”

Hinds declined to comment on any other action the university is taking, citing the ongoing nature of the suit. OTC President Norman Myers, also named as a defendant, was on vacation and unavailable for comment.

According to court documents, Wampler May 24 hand delivered a request for the information to Mitchell. Wampler asked for individual class enrollments and for student directory information. The school denied the request in a written letter dated May 31.

According to Missouri Sunshine Law, responses to requests for information must be made within three days of the request, and if the request is denied, there must legal documentation supporting it.

Wampler said he has never had a problem with information from other public schools, including Southwest Missouri State University, which has provided student directory information multiple times in the past.

Nicole Robig, SMSU’s assistant registrar, said SMSU students are told before enrolling that their “directory information,” including their name, local address, local phone number and campus e-mail address, is available to anyone who requests it. Students have the option of requesting in writing that the information not be shared.

“This is defined as directory information that can be released to any third party without the student’s express consent,” she said, adding that the school doesn’t make disclosure decisions based on who is requesting the information.

Text Bucks recently opened a second location at 614 N. National, cater-corner from the OTC campus, aimed at drawing students from OTC, as well as Drury and Evangel universities. Wampler said he also makes requests of the two private institutions; Drury supplies the requested information, while Evangel declines.

Moving forward

In the case petition, plaintiff’s attorneys Bryan Wade and Joe Passanise cited a page from the OTC Web site, under the heading “Student Right to Privacy and Right to Know.” The page says that the school “may make available to any person certain directory information” about students. OTC students, like those at SMSU, can request that their information be kept private by filing a written request with the school.

Penalties for violation of the Missouri Sunshine Law can be as much as $5,000 per violation, though Wade said the judge in the case would determine the exact penalty as there is no precedent for this type of proceeding.

Passanise said the case is about access and control.

“The losers in this case are the students at OTC because they’re only made aware of one place to get their books,” he said. “There’s no equal access to the students.”

Passanise is an attorney with Dee Wampler Law Firm while Wade works for Husch & Eppenberger’s Springfield office. There is no relation between Christopher Wampler and Dee Wampler. Thom Field is OTC’s general counsel.

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