VI. Policy on Faculty Files
A. Personnel Files
1. A personnel file will be opened once an offer of employment has been accepted by the Faculty member, and it will contain all employment application materials.
a. Faculty member’s annual evaluation;
b. Annual reviews with performance ratings by Division Chair, the Professional Standards Committee, and the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs;
c. Presidential reappointment, promotion, and tenure letters.
d. Complaints, negative comments, or other subjective or evaluative material may be placed in the file only after the Faculty member has been provided notice of the material and an opportunity to respond. After consideration of the Faculty member’s response, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs will notify the Faculty member if the material will be placed in the personnel file. Complaints or criticisms that have not been made known to the Faculty member may not be placed in the personnel file or considered in any personnel decision. The Faculty member may submit a rebuttal, comment, and/or clarification of any unfavorable item in the file which will be attached to the relevant item in the personnel file.
e. Unsolicited and anonymous materials will not be included in the personnel files unless there has been a finding of fact through an existing College investigatory process.
2. One official personnel file should be securely kept for each Faculty member by the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Only the Faculty member, her/his supervisors (Division Chair, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Associate or Assistant Provost [when requested by the Provost], College President), and members of the Professional Standards Committee while in the process of evaluation, shall have access to the file. Any materials submitted under a waiver of access will be removed during any review by the Faculty member.
3. During the Faculty evaluation process, it is the responsibility of the Faculty member to initiate or have initiated all of the necessary information for evaluation. These materials will not be considered part of the official personnel file until final action has been completed. The Faculty evaluation process assumes that colleague recommendations are considered non-confidential, unless access is waived by the Faculty member being reviewed. Notice to that effect will be sent to each Faculty member when they are informed that the review process is to take place.
B. Access to Faculty Personnel Files
1. Faculty members shall, at all times, have access to their own files, including un- redacted letters, both internal and external.
2. Faculty members shall be afforded access upon request to general information about other Faculty members such as is normally contained in curriculum vitae.
3. Files of a Faculty complainant and of other Faculty members, for purposes of comparison, shall be available in un-redacted form to the Faculty Liaison Committee or a hearing committee (i.e., Article V C 7) to the extent such committees deem the information relevant and necessary to the fair disposition of the case before them. This committee shall make available to the aggrieved Faculty member, in un-redacted form and without prejudging the merits of the case, all materials it deems relevant to the complaint, having due regard for the privacy of those who are not parties to the complaint.
4. A Faculty member will always have the right to inspect and/or correct non- confidential misinformation contained in the official personnel file or the materials submitted for Faculty evaluation. The Faculty member may also request in writing that information contained within her/his official personnel materials may be released to any individual or group she/he may designate.