Faculty Handbook
Confidentiality of Letters of Reference for Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure RecommendationsLast updated: 12/2/1991
IV. ACADEMIC HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES (Cont.)
The following policy was issued by the Office of the Provost on December 2, 1991.
University policy on confidentiality of letters of reference is that all letters soliciting evaluation relative to reappointment, promotion, and tenure recommendations must include the unit's statement on confidentiality. Any deviation from the following statement must be less restrictive and must be reviewed by the Provost's Office.
"Your letter of evaluation, as part of an official review file, will be held in confidence and will not be disclosed to the faculty member under consideration or to the public except as required by law or University policy. In all such instances, the information made available will be provided in a form that seeks to protect the identity, privacy, and confidentiality of evaluators."
In instances in which individual colleges, departments and schools wish to deviate from the referenced policy, the expectation of the Office of the Provost is that such policy deviations, which can only be less restrictive, would be developed in consultation with duly constituted faculty advisory groups as required by Section 2 of the Bylaws for Academic Governance. In addition, it is expected that such college, department, or school policies will be available to be reviewed by the Office of the Provost in advance of their distribution, both within the academic unit or to external reviewers. In this way there will be an opportunity to ensure the conformance of the unit's policy with this University policy and the law.
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