August 13, 2008
Albuquerque Journal
UNM Records Policy Changes
By Martin Salazar, Journal Staff WriterUniversity of New Mexico regents on Tuesday unanimously approved policies on the release of public records it maintains.
The new policies — which represent a compromise among UNM, the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government and the Journal — specify that UNM will comply with the state Inspection of Public Records Act.
The policies allow employees to opt out of releasing their current home addresses, telephone numbers and personal e-mail addresses. State and federal laws already prohibit the release of such things as Social Security numbers, letters of reference, personnel evaluations, medical records and student education records.
The new policies also require the records custodian to inform employees whose records are being sought. And it allows UNM to withhold the identity of job applicants until the application deadline has passed. Once the deadline expires, the applications are subject to disclosure.Regent President Jamie Koch said the changes were spurred by requests from the Journal, one seeking the employment application of an administrator and the second for internal audit working papers. UNM refused to release the application, though the administrator turned over the document himself. The university did release the audit documents.
Koch noted that a number of public agencies have lost public records lawsuits and been forced to pay attorney fees and fines. He said the university has a responsibility to comply with the law.
"We're doing what we think the law requires," Regent Mel Eaves said.
The regents in May approved similar changes to the regents' policy manual.
The Faculty Senate Operations Committee voted to support policies recommended by a task force that would have allowed UNM to withhold more documents. UNM President David Schmidly said he rejected those suggestions because he didn't think they complied with state law.
"We're willing to work with whatever decisions you make," Faculty Senate President Howard Snell said.
The new policy drew praise from the Foundation for Open Government.
"I think it sets a great precedent, and I hope more institutions follow their lead," executive director Leonard DeLayo said.