Tenure-Related Letter and Access to it?

[mcj1218]

My first thought would be are you at a publicly funded university? If so you can FOI the emails to find who it was strictly who did not support your application. If you don't have an FA, or a supportive senior colleague, I would definitely go the legal route and force them to release it - is there nothing in your personal contract/or faculty policies that allows you to request the information that is held at the university (at most state schools you are able to request it but they keep that quiet)?

If you can't get access to this, I would suggest consulting a lawyer, and launching the FOI request or seeking discovery of the emails and letter that lead to your request being denied. If there is any prejudice there for reasons not related to the current situation, this will likely reveal it and allow you to decide how to precede. If they are hiding it and related information, there is likely a reason.

Yes, I am at a public university. I have looked through as much of the policy information as I can think to look through (from the university and the larger state university system). If the requested  information is considered part of my personnel file, it's very clear I should have access. I don't see anything specifying whether or not it is considered as such. The only limitation I found regarding access to public information seems odd. Here is a modified version of what it says:
...System employees not allowed to submit public info rmation requests while in their official capacity. Any request made by an employee must be done in his/hermindividual capacity as a private citizen.

I don't know what that means for ANY employee trying to get information within the state system?

[JCu16]

It means don't do it while you are on the work clock, or from a work related machine or computer. As long as you are submitting it on your own behalf then you are allowed to do so. I would check with a lawyer on the wording and the interpretation here, is the last thing you want is to run foul of the procedure and give them an out.

[polly_mer]

Can one really FOIA request a personnel action?  I thought that was a restricted area.

[clean]

Can one really FOIA request a personnel action?  I thought that was a restricted area.

I think that generally that would be correct, but as it is YOUR personnel file, that may be an exception.
Id be surprised if the university would fail to respond, even if it denied the FOI request, I think that they would have to provide information related to your own file.

Of course, a Discovery action would most likely work! but be more expensive.

[polly_mer]

mcj1218, have you directly, in-person asked your chair for a copy of the letter she sent?

What excuse did she give for not turning around to the computer and printing you a copy right then and there?

[sockknitter]

Can one really FOIA request a personnel action?  I thought that was a restricted area.

My university fulfilled a FOIA request for a faculty member's entire personnel file. No, I was not the person who requested it.

[tuxthepenguin]

OP: Based on my experience, this is not something you want to fight. Universities have broad discretion in these matters. If your request has been denied, that means your dean concluded you don't meet the university's requirements for an extension. Maybe you can argue there was discrimination due to your disability, but if you haven't been denied tenure, how have you been harmed at this point? Maybe you'll go up for tenure a year earlier and get tenure as a result. That would be to your advantage. You haven't posted anything that would make me recommend doing anything other than having a talk with your chair and/or senior faculty colleagues.

I'm not a lawyer. I've only worked at a small number of institutions. Treat this as you would any internet advice. Nonetheless, I'm not seeing that you have anything in your favor. You've made a request and it was denied. Your disagreement doesn't mean there's anything you can do about it.

[Ruralguy]

You can probably consult with an attorney, someone with experience in academic labor law, without paying too much , since they are likely to say that this has a 90% of not going anywhere much before the tenure case is decided, and then the rest depends on the outcome of your case. They could probably inform you as to what *can* be done, but then likely advise that you may not wish to pull the trigger for the reasons Tux mentions.

[tuxthepenguin]

You can probably consult with an attorney, someone with experience in academic labor law, without paying too much

Something to keep in mind OP: there are attorneys that have worked for/sued universities that will give you their thoughts for free. You might want to see if anyone has a connection for your school.

[secundem_artem]

Virtually nothing in this world ever got better when somebody said, "The hell with this, I'm calling a lawyer."

OP -- quite wasting time trying to get a copy of a letter they are going to fight you on.  Spend your  time and energy where it's most beneficial - working on creating the strongest dossier you can.

[Ruralguy]

The OP doesn't need to tell anyone that he/she is calling a lawyer. Nobody likes lawyers until *they* need one, and then they love lawyers.

In any case, focusing on getting tenure is wise. Getting info on what you are entitled to is also wise.

[Hegemony]

I think Tuxthepenguin makes a very good point.  It is easy to get distracted by the shock that your department head said she was supporting the request, and t
seemed not to. But however that happened, if the request is denied, it would be wise not to bank on that being overturned. Do what you can to get your
materials in good shape so you'll win tenure on the original timeline.

[mcj1218]

Thanks for the advice on getting my dossier in order, but that ship has sailed. The extension request was to give me some breathing room due to the plethora of life events plus disability issues that landed on and around me. My body of work across my full tenure track career would definitely be sufficient for tenure, but I had to go up for tenure after three years at this university. These three years have been the worst, most fraught years of my life, which hindered my research productivity. Whether or not I get relief from appeals or FOIA requests, I feel the need to pursue information related to the extension request and tenure decision out of principle and transparency. Very little about any of this has been given to me.

[tuxthepenguin]

Thanks for the advice on getting my dossier in order, but that ship has sailed. The extension request was to give me some breathing room due to the plethora of life events plus disability issues that landed on and around me. My body of work across my full tenure track career would definitely be sufficient for tenure, but I had to go up for tenure after three years at this university. These three years have been the worst, most fraught years of my life, which hindered my research productivity. Whether or not I get relief from appeals or FOIA requests, I feel the need to pursue information related to the extension request and tenure decision out of principle and transparency. Very little about any of this has been given to me.

If you're going to fight it out of principle, sure, go ahead and fight. I'm going to state for anyone else reading this in the future that at my university (also public) the information you've been given is all you'd ever get in the absence of a tenure denial or evidence of a conspiracy to push you out. The rules vary from place to place, so they might be willing to provide you with additional details.

[Hegemony]

I think "out of principle and transparency" is really, well, that you feel angry and hard-done-by, am I right?  But if you have a hope of wining tenure on your regular timeline, I would caution that being adversarial at this point is going to make things harder.

Why not start with a genuinely friendly chat with your department head, so you can see if she really does disapprove of your proposed extended timeline?  Rather than trying to force her hand into to showing you the letter, you may get the same information just by being collegial.