Personnel files

Each faculty member has one official personnel file on campus. It is retained in the Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The office of the dean or department chairperson (or both) may also retain files of information pertaining to their faculties. However the latter are unofficial and informal. Any material pertinent to personnel actions must be submitted to and retained by the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Faculty members are required to submit annual reports of their professional activities to the department chairperson or supervisor. These are kept on file in the chairperson's office but are not made a part of one's official personnel file.

Official Personnel File

The official file, kept in the office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, is legally defined as part of the public record and is available to the public as well as to the faculty member. The official file contains the following information: name, age, date of original employment, current position title, current salary, date and amount of most recent salary change, date of most recent promotion, demotion, transfer, suspension, or other change in position classification, agency and location to which the faculty member is currently assigned. Any other information in this file is not part of the official file, is confidential, and may be examined only by the following: the employee, the employee's supervisor, the dean, the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Chancellor, members of the General Assembly, a person authorized by a court order, or an official of a state or federal government agency (or any political subdivision thereof) when inspection is deemed necessary by the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs upon the recommendation of the department chairperson and dean.

When information is requested from this file, a written record is made of who asked for the information, the information supplied, the date, and the purpose of the request. This record becomes a permanent part of the file. Upon request, a record of disclosure is made available to the employee to whom it pertains.

A faculty member may examine his or her own personnel record in this file in its entirety except for letters of reference solicited prior to employment and information concerning a medical disability (mental or physical) that a prudent physician would not divulge to a patient. Permission to see a personnel record must be requested in writing two days in advance.

Unofficial Personnel File

Information kept in the dean's and/or department chairperson's unofficial personnel files relates primarily to the faculty member's activities relevant to departmental management. Procedures for gaining access to school or departmental personnel files vary. Faculty members should consult their deans or department chairpersons concerning access. These files are unofficial and do not substitute for the official file in the Office for Academic Affairs.