C70
Policy
CONFIDENTIALITY OF FACULTY RECORDS
(adopted by the Faculty Senate
Personnel files
concerning faculty of the , shall
be gathered, retained, disclosed, and used by academic or administrative units
of the University subject to the following rules:
1. Collection and Retention of Information
1.1 No more than one personnel file shall be maintained in each of the following locations:
(1) the faculty member's department (or other primary academic unit),
(2) the faculty member's college,
(3) and/or in the office of the Provost or Vice President for Health Sciences.
Collectively, these documents are referred to in this Policy as "faculty personnel files." Designated faculty personnel files must include any written information used to any degree in making a decision concerning the employment, rank or status of a faculty member.
Faculty personnel files
shall be compiled or retained by an academic
or administrative units of the University solely for the purposes of carrying
out official University business and for determining the status or
responsibilities of faculty members.
1.2 An item of information may be introduced into a faculty personnel file only if accompanied by written identification of the source of the information, subject to the right of peer or student evaluators to keep their identities confidential from the faculty member evaluated as provided in section 2.2.
1.3 Faculty-personnel files shall be maintained by the University during the faculty member's employment at the University and at least five years thereafter. Personnel files of emeritus faculty shall be maintained during the faculty member's lifetime and at least two years thereafter.
1.4 The administrative officer of an academic or administrative unit maintains the faculty personnel files. That officer, or a person expressly authorized by the officer, is responsible for the security of that record or file and for providing access to it to the extent permitted by this Policy.
1.5 The administrative officer responsible for maintaining faculty personnel files shall notify faculty in writing of any material deleted from their faculty personnel files, the nature of the material and the reason for the action. In a similar manner, faculty shall be notified in writing of any material added to their file(s) with respect to which they have not been copied. Faculty members have the right to know and the responsibility to examine their personnel files. However, as defined in sections 2.2 and 2.3, faculty cannot have access to confidential information.
2. Access to Information by the Faculty Member
2.1 Each faculty member has the right to inspect and review without unreasonable delay by the university (normally within two weeks) any record or file maintained on him or her by the University subject to the provisions of this Policy and any limitations imposed by law. If additional time is needed to produce a record for inspection, the faculty member shall be informed in writing of the reason for the delay and the date such record will be available. Each faculty member has the right to challenge the accuracy of any item of information in her or his faculty personnel file, including the right to introduce rebuttal statements or evidence into the files. The faculty member may request the administrative officer of the unit maintaining the file to amend or delete any item of information contained in the file. The administrative officer shall respond to a faculty member's request within two weeks, and if the request is denied, shall state in writing the reasons for the denial. The decision of the administrative officer must be approved by the Dean and the Provost's Office/Vice President for Health Sciences.
2.2 The University respects the desire of many authors of faculty evaluations to keep their identities confidential from the faculty member being evaluated. Such evaluations include letters of reference for employment, internal peer evaluations of a faculty member, student evaluations, letters received from peer reviewers outside the University, as well as those portions of the recommendations of the faculty member's chair or dean or the Associate Provost that may reveal the identities of peer or student evaluations. If a faculty member makes a request to review and/or copy such evaluations, an academic administrator, prior to permitting such review or copying, shall redact material that may reveal the identity of the author. If it does not appear feasible to protect the identity of the author through redaction, the document may be accurately summarized in writing for the faculty member instead. If the author of an evaluation submits a written waiver of confidentiality, the evaluation may be reviewed or copied by the faculty member without redaction. If requested by the faculty member, a member of the Provost/VPHS office and a member of the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure designated by the Chair of the Committee shall verify the accuracy of the redacted or summarized documents.
2.3 To the extent information is confidential under this Policy, or privileged under law (for example, materials related to an investigatory audit or materials subject to attorney-client privilege), it shall not be available for inspection by the faculty member. Such information shall be retained separately and shall be available for inspection only by University officials whose duties make it necessary for them to know the particular information. In the case of privileged information, the administrative officer of the academic or administrative unit maintaining the files shall introduce a memorandum that states the nature of the privileged information, its date and source and the type of privilege asserted.
3. Public Access to Information about Faculty Members
3.1 As provided in Regents’
Policy Manual 6.8, aAny
person is entitled under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records
Act (“IPRA”) to public information
maintained by the University concerning a faculty member. Examples of
information that is subject to disclosure or inspection under IPRA include the
name, For purposes of this Policy, public information is
defined as the following: present position, department, salary,
dates of employment, and job application, resume or curriculum
vitae. Examples
of information that is not subject to disclosure or inspection under IPRA
include letters of reference concerning employment, and letters or memorandums
that are matters of opinion in personnel files.
The University will generally endeavor to withhold from
inspection under IPRA employees’ personal information, including Social
Security numbers. ,
including educational qualifications, past employment, progress at the
University (initial employment, promotions, attainment of tenure, sabbaticals),
publications, news items, awards and achievements. All other personnel
information is considered private and shall not be disclosed except pursuant to
lawful court order or except upon the written authority of the faculty member. Any
faculty
member who chooses to consent to the disclosure of information that is exempt
from public inspection
under IPRA may do so by means of a written authorization or consent, which such
written authority shall be maintained in the faculty member's
faculty personnel file at the Provost/Vice President Health Science office.
3.2 Other than as provided
in Section 3.1, records or iInformation
concerning a faculty member that is exempt from public inspection under IPRA shall
be made available by the custodian of a file of record only to those officials
members of the University who have an
official role in the evaluation of that faculty member for purposes of
employment, rank, status, salary, or other such decisions and whose role makes
it necessary for them to know the contents of that faculty member's file.
3.3 Except as provided in
Section 3.2, All requests for information about
a faculty member from persons who are not members of the University shall
be referred to the University Custodian of Public Records as provided
in University Business Policy 2300. Department of Public
Affairs, which will coordinate a proper response with the appropriate Faculty
Contracts Office. In coordination with the Public Affairs Department, the
appropriate Faculty Contracts Office shall make available for inspection upon
request the items of public information concerning a faculty member. A
record of the name and address of any member of the public making such request
shall be kept in the faculty member's faculty personnel file at the Provost/VPHS
office and be available for inspection by the faculty member.
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