Section 3: Faculty COntracts, Ranks, Search Procedures, and Benefits
3.11 Personnel Records
3.11.1 Pre-employment Dossiers Pre-employment dossiers (see §3.7.5) of all candidates for faculty positions will be maintained by the department for three years, and then destroyed. The relevant documents from the pre-employment dossiers of successful candidates, when they accept their positions, are transferred to the Dean’s office where they are placed in the official College personnel file (§3.11.4). Copies of these documents are customarily retained for the department's records.
3.11.2 Personnel Files Two official personnel files are maintained for each member of the faculty. One, the state personnel file, is maintained by the HRO and is primarily a record of the individual's employment and salary history. The second official personnel file, the College personnel file, is maintained by the Dean's Office and is primarily a record of the individual's academic career at the College. In addition to these two files, most departments maintain an informal and unofficial personnel file for each department member. This file is open for examination by the faculty member.
3.11.3 State Personnel File The state personnel file usually contains but is not necessarily limited to: the pre-employment dossier, including a faculty data sheet, a curriculum vitae at the time of employment, and official transcripts certifying the faculty member's degrees as received; letters of first employment and all consequent reappointment letters; Board of Visitors personnel docket letters regarding the awarding of tenure and promotions; annual salary letters; and any other correspondence between the University and the faculty member which reflects additional compensation or salary adjustment, including leaves of any kind, awards, administrative responsibilities, or special duties.
3.11.4 College Personnel File The College personnel file usually contains but is not necessarily limited to: the documents cited above; all performance evaluations together with any letters of exception and conference summary statements (such evaluations may include chair or departmental evaluations, the faculty member's annual activity reports, student course evaluations and letters, peer or colleague evaluations, and tenure and promotion evaluations, among other forms of evaluative documentation); all formal correspondence between the College and the faculty member regarding leaves, duties, and other professional matters; records of decisions reached following grievance proceedings to which the faculty member was a party; and other items as deemed appropriate by the College placed in the College personnel file either by the College or by the faculty member.
3.11.5 Review of Personnel Files Both the state personnel file and the College personnel file are open for examination by the faculty member, the faculty member's department chair, the Dean, the Assistant Vice President for Human Resources, and the President. No one else may examine a faculty member's file without the express written permission either of the faculty member or the President. The letter of permission, in such an instance, is itself made part of the file. This policy is consistent with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Protection Act (PPA).
3.11.6 Grievance File Grievance proceedings documents are maintained in a special grievance file until the proceedings are concluded and then are destroyed (see §4.9).
3.11.7 Public Relations File The Office of University Relations and Legislative Affairs maintains a file on each faculty member with a recent photograph, basic biographical data, and items of current interest. Faculty are urged to send useful information for this file to the Office of University Relations and Legislative Affairs.
3.11.8 Promotion and Tenure Files A promotion and/or tenure credentials file is assembled by the faculty candidate for promotion and/or tenure for the consideration of the Promotion and Tenure Committee. It is submitted to and maintained by the Dean's Office and is returned to the candidate after a final decision is reached by the College. (See §§6.1 – 6.8 and Appendix F.)
3.11.9 Personal Files Faculty members are expected to maintain careful and complete records of their own activities. This material should be organized and easily accessible. At the minimum a faculty member's personal file should contain:
· an up-to-date curriculum vitae, arranged in conventional order (see Appendix C);
· all correspondence related to appointment and compensation, promotion, and tenure;
· all performance evaluations and related documentation;
· records of all professional activities (activities relevant to performance evaluations, promotion, and tenure, arranged by category--teaching, professional activity, and service); and
· a samples file of supporting documents such as student evaluations, research reports, papers presented, articles published, etc.
3.11.10 Working Papers of the President and Other Confidential Files Confidential files of personal working papers are maintained by the President. Although such files may contain correspondence and other records regarding individual faculty members, they are not accessible for examination by those individuals, nor by anyone else other than the President, without the President's consent. Department chairs, the Dean, and other administrators may also maintain files that are confidential in cases in which such files constitute records compiled expressly for use in executive meetings, as such meetings are defined in the Virginia FOIA. Such officials may also maintain personnel files that are confidential, though such files may be accessible to the individuals to whom they pertain for the limited purposes of the Virginia PPA.