3.12 FACULTY
PERSONNEL RECORDS
Records for faculty
are maintained by the Provost's Office and by the Human Resources Office.
The Provost's Office maintains a personnel file and a teaching evaluation
file. The Human Resources Office maintains a personnel file and a medical
file. This document gives guidelines concerning the contents of these
files. It also outlines the rules concerning access to records in these
files.
3.12.1 Personnel
File (Provost's Office)
The Provost's Office
maintains a personnel file for each faculty member. The personnel file
consist of records that are used or have been used relative to the faculty
member's qualifications for employment, promotion, additional compensation,
or disciplinary action except for such records that are held in the confidential
file. The personnel file may include the following:
- Application for
employment (previously, personal data form).
- The most current
C. V. available.
- Transcripts for
all undergraduate and graduate coursework, including official certification
of degrees.
- Appointment and
reappointment letters including attachments concerning special conditions
(for example, start-up funds or unusual tenure schedule)
- Recommendations
of the department chair, dean and PSC for reappointment and/or promotion.
- Applications for
leaves of absence (both paid and unpaid).
- Leave of absence
forms (outlining conditions for such leaves).
- Faculty member
report on paid leaves of absence (such as sabbaticals).
- Faculty member
post-tenure review documents.
- Documentation
of any disciplinary action.
- Numerical summaries
of all teaching evaluations.
- Signed statement
of compliance with faculty membership requirements.
- Notices of awards,
commendations, grants and the like.
- Signed letters
of complaint.
- Letters of resignation
or retirement.
The personnel file
may not include:
- Any medical information
(medical information documenting a change in employment status is kept
in the Human Resources medical file).
- Any unsigned
letters such as anonymous student complaints.
- Any signed documents
solicited by the college and submitted by persons under the presumption
that the document will be treated as confidential (such as letters of
evaluation written by colleagues at the time of reappointment).
- Any documents
that refer to the employment status of persons other than the faculty
member.
Access to the personnel
file in the Provost's Office is limited to those persons who need access
for the purpose for which the file is maintained. This normally includes
the president, provost, deans, and their authorized representatives. Access
to appointment and reappointment dossiers is discussed later in this section.
The faculty member
may request, in writing, to review the contents of her or his personnel
file. The file may then be examined at the Provost's Office but may not
be removed. Copies of the file may be made at the faculty member's request.
The faculty member may question the accuracy of any document in the record.
If the provost and faculty member agree, such a document may be removed
or corrected. If the provost and faculty member do not agree, the faculty
member may include in the record a statement reflecting the faculty member's
position.
3.12.2 Teaching
Evaluation File (Provost's Office)
The Provost's Office
maintains a file of completed student evaluation forms for each instructor.
These forms are completed by students with the expectation of anonymity.
They are usually unsigned. Completed forms are reviewed by the Dean soon
after the semester in which they are completed. Then they are sent to
the chairs and faculty member for their review. They are then returned
to the Provost's Office and are kept on file for at least five years.
At that time, they are returned to the faculty member.
Access to the teaching
evaluation file for the purpose of evaluation of a faculty member for
appointment, reappointment or tenure is described below. Access to this
file at other times is limited to the president, provost, deans, department
chairs, faculty member and any person with written authorization from
the faculty member.
3.12.3 File Maintained
in the Human Resources Office
The Human Resources
Office maintains a personnel file (for the purpose of administering faculty
salary and benefits) and a medical file. Policies concerning access to
these files are available from the Human Resources Office.
3.12.4 Appointment,
Reappointment, and Promotion Dossiers
Dossiers are constructed
by the department chair at the time of appointment, reappointment or promotion.
Each such dossier is kept in the Provost's Office as an "active" file
until the Board of Trustees has taken its action. Before
the chair submits the dossier to the dean, the group formed by the department
to make the personnel decision has access to the dossier.
The dean and each
member of the Professional Status Committee have access to the dossier.
The dossier must remain in the Provost's Office or committee room and
may not be copied. Each person with access to the dossier must treat the
entire dossier as confidential. The dossier may not be used for any purpose
other than making the appropriate personnel decision.
After the action
of the Professional Status Committee, the Provost's Office will prepare
for use of the Board an abridged version of the dossier. This version
will consist of the candidate's statements, the recommendations of the
chair and the dean, and a selection of the candidate's publications. Board
members have access to this abridged version and may view it in the Provost's
Office. Board members should treat this information as confidential and
may not use it for any purpose other than making the appropriate personnel
decision.
Board members may
also view the unabridged dossier under the same conditions. However, Board
members should be aware that the primary audience of many of the documents
is the professional peers of the faculty member. Thus, Board members should
use caution in interpreting the documents.
After the action
of the Board of Trustees, the student evaluation forms are placed in the
teaching evaluation file. The remainder of the dossier is stored in a
secure place in the Provost's Office for ten years after the faculty member
receives tenure or leaves Calvin and is then destroyed. Only the dean
and the provost have access to the file during this period.
3.12.5 Departmental
Records
Departments should
not keep copies of the personnel information described above. There are
some exceptions to this policy. First, departments may keep copies of
non-confidential information that is needed on a frequent basis. For example,
departments may keep copies of biographical data on each faculty member.
Second, department chairs may keep copies of student evaluation summaries
for the purpose of studying teaching effectiveness in the department.
Third, departments should maintain the application dossier of all candidates
not receiving an appointment for at least two years after the position
is filled.
