(1) The State Board of Higher Education may, for each institution, division and department under its control adopt rules and specific orders by or through the institutional executive of each institution governing access to personnel records of the institution, division or department, which are less than 25 years old.
(2) Rules adopted under subsection (1) of this section shall require that personnel records be subjected to restrictions on access unless upon a finding by the institutional executive that the public interest in maintaining individual rights to privacy in an adequate educational environment would not suffer by disclosure of such records. Access to such records may be limited to designated classes of information or persons, or to stated times and conditions, or to both, but cannot be limited for records more than 25 years old.
(3) No rule or order promulgated pursuant to this section shall deny to a faculty member full access to the member’s personnel file or records kept by the board or its institutions, schools or departments, except as provided in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this subsection.
(a) The number of files relating to the evaluation of a faculty member shall be limited to three, to be kept in designated, available locations.
(b) 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.
(c) A faculty member shall be entitled to submit, for placement in the three files, evidence rebutting, correcting, amplifying or explaining any document contained therein and other material which the member believes might be of assistance in the evaluation process.
(d) Letters and other information submitted in confidence to the board or its institutions, schools or departments prior to July 1, 1975, shall be maintained in the files designated. However, if a faculty member requests access to those files, the anonymity of the contributor of letters and other information obtained prior to July 1, 1975, shall be protected. The full text shall be made available except that portions of the text which would serve to identify the contributor shall be excised by a faculty committee. Only the names of the contributors and the excised portions of the documents may be kept in a file other than the three prescribed by paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(e) Confidential letters and other information submitted to or solicited after July 1, 1975, by the board or its institutions, schools or departments prior to the employment of a prospective faculty member are exempt from the provisions of this section. However, if the member is employed by the board or its institutions, schools or departments, the confidential preemployment materials shall be placed in the three authorized files. If a faculty member requests access to the member’s files, the anonymity of the contributor of confidential preemployment letters and other preemployment information shall be protected. The full text shall be made available, except that portions of the text which would serve to identify the contributor shall be excised and retained in a file other than the three designated in paragraph (a) of this subsection.
(f) Classroom survey evaluation by students of a faculty member’s classroom or laboratory performance shall be anonymous. The record of tabulated reports shall be placed in at least one of the files designated in paragraph (a) of this subsection. All survey instruments used to obtain evaluation data shall be returned to the faculty member.
(g) After July 1, 1975, the board, its institutions, schools or departments when evaluating its employed faculty members shall not solicit nor accept letters, documents or other materials, given orally or in written form, from individuals or groups who wish their identity kept anonymous or the information they provide kept confidential.
(4) No rule or order promulgated pursuant to this section limits the authority of the institution, division or department to prepare, without identification of individual persons who have not consented thereto, statistical or demographic reports from personnel records.
(5) Any category of personnel records specifically designated as confidential pursuant to valid rules or orders pursuant to this section shall not be deemed a public record for the purposes of ORS 192.420.
(6) As used in this section, “personnel records” means records containing information kept by the institution, division or department concerning a faculty member and furnished by the faculty member or by others about the faculty member at the member’s or at the institution, division or department’s request, including, but not limited to, information concerning discipline, membership activity, employment performance or other personal records of individual persons. [1971 c.566 §1; 1975 c.317 §1; 1979 c.159 §1]
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