ARTICLE 9  

Personnel Files

Section A.  Personnel Files .  Each university  shall maintain at the university one (1) official personnel file  for each faculty member .  Such file shall contain copies of personnel transac­tion s, official correspondence with the faculty member , material collected in accordance with procedures established in Article 22, which may include summaries of unsigned student evaluations, as well as other similar materi­als.  Unsigned letters or statements, other than those indicated above, shall not be placed in the faculty member’s personnel file.    Only those MnSCU  employees whose job responsibilities require it, and who are designated by the Administration  or other persons specifically autho­rized by law, shall have access  to a faculty member’s personnel file.  Faculty  members shall not have access to the personnel files of other faculty members except as authorized in Sec­tion C below. This Section shall not be construed to prohibit access to materials provided as part of an application for promotion, tenure, or non-renewal recommendation .

Commencing January 1, 1990, a dated log shall be maintained of official corre­spondence with faculty members and of material collected in accordance with the procedures established in Article 22 including any unsigned student evaluations which are added to or removed from faculty personnel files.  Errors in the mainte­nance of the log shall not be subject to the griev­ance procedure.

The Dean  may also keep a personnel file  for any faculty member  which shall only contain copies of resumes, educational transcripts, appointment  documents, Article 22 materials, application files, forms and recommendations for action under promo­tion, evaluation, non-renewal, or tenure.  However, the administration  shall only take action on personnel mat­ters with respect to a faculty member  based upon file information contained in the official personnel file.

Section B.  Access .  Consistent with law, each faculty member  shall have access  to his/her official and Dean ’s personnel file .  Such access shall be during normal business hours under university  supervision.  A faculty member  shall have the right to place in his/her official personnel file such material as he/she determines may have a bearing on his/her position as a faculty member, including statements in response to any items in his/her file.

Section C.  Exclusive Representative .  Representatives of the IFO , Association , or other persons having written authorization  from the faculty member  concerned may examine, under university  supervision, the official and Dean ’s personnel file  of that faculty member , except for the limitation provided in Section B of this Article.

Section D.  Right to Copies .  Upon written request  of the faculty member , the Employer  shall provide to the faculty member  copies of contents of his/her official and Dean ’s person­nel fil e, except as limited in Section B   of this Article, provided that the cost of providing such copies is borne by the faculty member.

A faculty member  shall be provided a copy or written notice of an addition to and/or modifi­cation of any non-routine material in the faculty member ’s official personnel file , such as grants, letters of commendation or reprimand, seniority summaries, salary adjustments, and letters regarding  non-renewal, promotion, or tenure.  Resolution of a grievance concerning the personnel file may include remov­al of material from the personnel files.

Section E.  Expiration .  Annually, any material which a faculty member  requests be re­moved from his/her personnel files shall, with the approval of the President , be removed.  Annually, the faculty member  may have data removed from his/her file which is more than ten (10) years old, except that which is required by law to be kept therein or material whose removal, in the opinion of the Attorney General’s office, might subject the university  to suit or damages.