Friday, Oct. 11, 2002 | 9:58 a.m.
Regent Doug Hill on Thursday called for state action against Regent Linda Howard if her viewing of student and employee personnel files violated board bylaws.
"If I don't hear of legitimate reasons (for accessing a personnel file), I think we need to take state action and refer them to the state Ethics Commission," Hill said.
Hill's comments were aimed at Howard, who looked into student transcripts and the personnel file of Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates. Atkinson Gates works part-time for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
University system bylaws allow regents to view any personnel file without reason. Student files, however, under federal regulations must be viewed for legitimate academic purposes, according to Tom Ray, university system general counsel.
Regents asked Ray to report back to the Board of Regents in December with that policy to see if Howard's actions violated board policy.
Howard did not attend the end of Thursday's regents meeting when Hill made his comments.
In a phone interview Thursday, Howard admitted to looking at both Gates' file and student files, but said she had legitimate reasons for both.
"I looked at student records during the (admissions standards) issue for comparisons," Howard said.
Howard said she also looked into Gates' file because of complaints she received from constituents about her hiring process and subsequent promotion.
"You get complaints, you look into them," Howard said.
But she denied ever having looked at the file of a student who wrote an unfavorable letter about her in UNLV's student newspaper, a rumor that regents alluded to during Thursday's meeting.
"I didn't look into that file," Howard said. "I asked who he was. He wrote a letter that was full of hate, and I was afraid for my safety."
Jane Nichols, chancellor of the University and Community College System, said the policy on regents' access to files has not been tested until now.
"This is unknown territory that we are engaging in," Nichols said. "Normally a regent goes to look at the file with an employee. But if that regent turns to the employee and says, 'You may go, I don't need you,' there's nothing they can do."
Regent Steve Sisolak said the practice poses security problems.
"To not protect that file and ensure that it cannot be altered, I think is grossly inadequate," Sisolak.
A tentative policy has been drafted by the Community College of Southern Nevada's Faculty Senate to enhance notification.
Any request would be put in writing, forwarded to the president of the institution, the chair of the Board of Regents and the person whose file is being accessed, Joan McGee, CCSN's Faculty Senate chairwoman, said.
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