Nofsinger stated some of his constituents are concerned that with this policy faculty may be giving up rights. Under the privacy section some of this might be protected by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, a federal law which requires that even state agencies go through court proceedings in order to get access to certain kinds of records unless the person involved gives permission. Nofisinger stated that may be we need legal counsel to find out if by voting this in we will be voting out rights. Shier stated that the default policy was much less invasive of the privacy of faculty then the proposal. Benson stated the policy is objectionable because it treats all employees the same without distinguishing between the specific needs of faculty as opposed to staff.
Faculty have specific needs for privacy, they deal with student records.
Benson suggested the policy would work much better if one would distinguish between employees and faculty. Benson stated one constituent is insistent that this proposed policy violates existing University regulations governing consulting by faculty and needs to have specific wording to make it possible for him to continue in ordinary consulting activities. Leid asked that all suggestions be emailed to him. It was suggested we contact the other four year schools in the state and see what they are doing. Concern was raised about the use for faculty of the fieldhouse.