RECORDS

The following will govern the maintenance of faculty records at Eastern Oregon University. These policies are consistent with both the State Board of Higher Education Administrative Rules and the laws of the State of Oregon.

Definitions (AR 580-22-065)

• "Personal records" means records containing information kept by the institution and its constituent units concerning a faculty member and furnished by the faculty member or by others including, but not limited to, information as to discipline, counseling, membership activity, other behavioral records, professional preparation and experience, professional performance (e.g., assignment and workload, quality of teaching, research, and service to the institution), personnel data relating to such matters as promotions, tenure, leaves, retirement credits and the like, and professional activities external to the institution, including, but not necessarily limited to, awards, recognition, research activities, travel.
• For purposes of compliance with ORS 351.065, "records of academic achievement" shall mean the record of credits earned toward a degree or in postdoctoral work and/or certificate(s), diploma(s), license(s), and degree(s) received.

Regulations

1. Limitation on Records to be Maintained. Only records that are demonstrably and substantially relevant to the educational and related purposes of the institution and its constituent units shall be generated and maintained.

2. Certain Information Not Required to be Given by Faculty Members. No faculty member shall be required to give--but may voluntarily provide--information as to race, religion, sex, political affiliation or preference, except such information that may be required by State statute, Federal law, or valid Federal rules, regulations or orders. Where the faculty member is asked for such self-designation for any purpose (including Federal requests for information), the request shall state the purpose of the inquiry and shall inform the individual of the right to decline to respond.

3. Location and Custody of Faculty Records

   1. Official faculty personnel records shall be kept only in the Human Resources Office and the Director of Human Resources shall maintain the confidentiality and security of the records.

   2. Convenience copy files shall not be used to circumvent this personnel record policy. Only one official personnel file shall be maintained for each individual and this only in the Human Resources Office. Deans of the Schools and administrators may have a file which includes reports of service, personnel data base, assignments, or other needed information. These files are also confidential.

   3. In the case of Regional Support Faculty, two files are to be maintained as specified in paragraph (3) "Regional Support Faculty" in the Recruitment Procedures (Faculty).

4. Release and Access of Faculty Records

   1. Appropriate information about the faculty member may be released upon request and without the faculty member's consent. Such information shall be limited to:

      1. Directory information, that is, information generally needed in identifying or locating a named faculty member, including such information as is readily to be found in published documents such as institutional catalogs;

      2. Objective evidence of a faculty member's academic achievement, limited to information as to the number of credits earned toward a degree or in postdoctoral work, and certificate(s), diploma(s), and degree(s) received;

      3. Salary information and the record of terms or conditions of employment.

      4. Records tabulated from students' classroom survey evaluations, on a finding by the president that privacy rights in an adequate educational environment would not suffer by disclosure.

   2. All information in the faculty member's personal record file, apart from that identified in paragraph A, of this item, shall be considered personal and subject to restricted access as hereinafter set forth in items 5 through 11.

5. Restrictions on Release of Faculty Records (AR 580-22-095)

   1. Personal records designated as subject to restricted access in accordance with authority granted in ORS 351-065, shall be available only to the faculty member who is the subject of the records as provided in OAR 580-022-0100 through 580-022-0115 and to institutional personnel such as faculty, administrators, students and others serving on official institutional committees or in other official institutional capacities and who have demonstrably legitimate need to review them in order to fulfill their official, professional responsibilities and shall include appropriate administrative officers and the School and Assembly Personnel Committees and the faculty member who is the subject of the records as provided for in items 6 and 7. These records may not be released to any other person or agency without the faculty member's written consent, unless upon receipt of a valid subpoena or other court order or process or as required by State statute, Federal law, or valid Federal or State rules, regulations, or orders.

   2. It shall be the responsibility of the President or his designee to appear in court to test the validity of a subpoena or other court order to process relating to release of faculty records when validity is in question. The University will attempt to notify the faculty member in the event of a subpoena or other court orders served.

6. Access to Files by Faculty Members. Faculty members shall be allowed full access to their own faculty record that is kept by the institution.
   1. A signed release is obtained on letters of confidential recommendations prior to placement of such letter in faculty records. If release is not obtained, information is returned to sender or destroyed.

   2. Any evaluation received by telephone shall be documented in each of the faculty member's files by means of a written summary of the conversation with the names of the conversants identified.

   3. Student evaluations of classroom or laboratory performance of a faculty member shall be conducted anonymously. The record of reports tabulated from student evaluations shall be placed in the faculty's record file. Copies of all survey instruments from which evaluation data are obtained shall be delivered to the faculty member.

7. Entry into File of Comments, Explanations and Rebuttals

   The periodic, written evaluation of the faculty member made by the administrative officer (Dean of the School or unit administrative officer) shall be discussed by the evaluating administrator with the faculty member. A copy of the evaluative statement, signed by the faculty member signifying that he or she has seen and discussed the evaluation, shall be placed in the faculty member's file. The faculty member may enter into the file such comments, explanations, or rebuttals as desired. There shall be attached to each copy of the evaluative statement retained by the institution a copy of such comments, explanations, or rebuttals as the faculty member shall make in relation thereto.

8. Retention of Evaluative Materials Concerning Candidates for Possible Employment

   It is expected that the evaluative materials brought together by the institution as it evaluates an individual's qualifications in connection with possible employment will, if the individual is not employed, be retained in the file for such period of time as may be necessary to respond to affirmative action investigations and investigations of any claimed violation of the civil rights of any person in connection with employment. Thereafter, they will be disposed of by destroying them in such a manner as to protect their confidentiality, in accordance with the rules of the State Archivist.

   When Federal rules or orders require certain personal records to be compiled before the employment of a faculty member and retained thereafter, such records pertaining to persons not employed which have been obtained with the promise of confidentiality will be closed to all persons except as required by such Federal rules or orders.

9. Availability to Faculty Members of Objective Information Concerning Categories of Staff

   The faculty member who feels adversely affected by the institutional personnel action or lack thereof may request from the Assembly Personnel Committee or the President objective or quantitative information contained in files which are limited as to access, concerning the personnel actions affecting categories of faculty members, where such actions appear to have relevance to the case of the faculty member making the request for information. Such information may include but need not be limited to: assignment, load, list of publications. It shall not include any evaluative statements concerning faculty members.

10. Availability of Faculty Records for Research Purposes

    The need for Eastern Oregon University to collect data and information about the faculty member for research purposes is acknowledged. The identity of the faculty members whose personal data or information are being included in the research shall be concealed. The Director of Human Resources shall be responsible to ensure that individual faculty information is concealed. If the confidentiality of faculty records would seem in the view of the Assembly Personnel Committee, to be jeopardized in any way by the release of the information for research purposes, Eastern shall obtain the written consent of the faculty member prior to releasing personal information for research purposes.

11. Performance, Duplication and Disposal of Faculty Records
    1. The individual faculty member's record shall be maintained only for the minimum period of time required to serve the basic official functions of the office which generates and maintains it. It should then be disposed of in a manner such as to protect its confidentiality.

    2. For purposes of the annual evaluation of all faculty, an "evaluation" file shall be developed by duplicating existing material from the faculty records as described in the "Evaluation Policy." The material in the evaluation file, upon completion of the evaluation, shall be returned to the faculty record file or destroyed.

    3. The permanent retention of faculty records shall be limited to those which the institutional executive or the State Archivist shall determine to be of long-range value to the individual faculty member, to the institution, or to the public. (ORS 351.065 provides that access to personal records more than 25 years old may not be limited.)

    4. Duplication of permanent faculty records shall be kept to a minimum. Such duplicated permanent records as are made shall be destroyed in the same manner as temporary records, as provided in paragraph E below.

    5. All duplicate copies of permanent faculty records and all temporary faculty records shall be destroyed in a manner such as to protect their confidentiality by review once each year in accordance with the rules of the State Archivist, or with the Archivist's approval.

[Responsible for Accuracy: Carol Kroll, Human Resources Director - Last Verified: 9/15/00]