4-33: Personnel Records – Policy

Policy Overview

This policy acknowledges Santa Fe Community College’s (SFCC or College) obligation to its employees not to disclose personal information that is not considered by law to be public information, defines which information is public and when it can be disclosed, and addresses the maintenance of personnel records.

Scope and Applicability

This policy addresses the security, proper maintenance, and availability of employee personnel records. This policy applies to all employees.

Policy Statement

SFCC is committed to appropriately maintaining and protecting current personnel records and acknowledges its obligation to employees not to disclose personal information except that which is allowable by law.

Definitions

1. Employee is any member of the college workforce: all staff (regular full-time, regular part-time, term, temporary, probationary, sensitive position); all student employees; all faculty (full-time, part-time, adjunct, probationary); all administrators, including interim; all contract employees.
2. Personally Identifiable Information (PII) refers to a set of distinct information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual excluding information as allowed by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). It includes but is not limited to information such as social security numbers, tax identification numbers, health information, birthdate, driver’s license numbers, bank account numbers, health insurance information, maiden name, SFCC A-numbers, or any aggregate student data that is less than 10 individuals.

Policy Process

1. Public and Private Information
   1. The name, job title, organization, contract/salary amount, and dates of employment, of each College employee are considered public information (SFCC Policy 8-3 Inspection of Public Records).
   2. The College shall decline all requests to share home addresses and personal phone numbers of employees, unless such disclosure is required by law.
   3. All other employee information is considered private and confidential, including personally identifiable information, and is not disclosed except as required by federal and state law.
2. Official Personnel File
   1. The Office of Human Resources accepts résumés and/or applications a on every individual applying for a position at the College. Materials are kept in the appropriate file for which the applicant is applying.
   2. If an applicant is hired, all submitted materials become the basis for the employee’s official personnel file.
   3. In the case of non-appointment, all applicant materials are retained for one year.
   4. Employees are responsible for submitting required information for inclusion in their files to keep their records current.
   5. The Office of Human Resources maintains accurate College personnel records on all employees.
   6. The Office of Human Resources maintains originals of documents substantiating required information in personnel files.
3. Protection of Personnel Files
   1. Under no circumstance may an official personnel file or confidential information on an employee leave the Office of Human Resources unless accompanied by the Director of Human Resources or designee or is authorized in writing by the Director of Human Resources.
   2. Original files may be examined only in the presence of the director or designee. The only individual exempted from this provision is the President.
   3. The official personnel file is confidential and relevant personnel information may only be viewed by the employee, their Executive Team-level supervisor (Vice President or Executive Director/Director), division head, department chair, the President, members of the Governing Board, members of official accrediting teams, and members of official auditing firms. Public information contained within the official personnel file may be disclosed.

Statement of Accountability and Responsibility

The President, through the Vice President for Strategy and Organizational Effectiveness and the Director of Human Resources, shall be responsible for enforcing personnel records policies and procedures. The Office of Human Resources shall work with the different departments and offices to comply with this policy and to develop procedures that will enforce this policy regarding awareness, prevention, and remediation.

Authority

New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act
SFCC Policy 8-3 Inspection of Public Records

APPROVAL

Revised and Governing Board approved: 7/22/2003
Revised and Governing Board approved: 3/23/2022

Associated Procedures

• Personnel Records – Procedures