Personnel records for all employees including former employees, are filed in the Office of Human Resources. Under the provision of Tennessee Code Annotated Section 10-7-503, Records Open to Public Inspection, personnel records are considered public records and may be inspected, extracted, or copied by any citizen of Tennessee during normal business hours, in accordance with reasonable university procedures. These procedures are outlined in the university's Financial Procedures Manual, under "Public Records - Inspecting and Copying," Directive No. FP-12. All questions concerning public records should be addressed to the Executive Assistant to the President for University Relations.

The university monitors the release of information contained in personnel files in a manner consistent with individual rights to privacy and institutional and external needs for information. T.C.A  §10-7-504(f) treats as confidential the following information: unpublished telephone numbers; bank account information; social security number; driver license information except where driving or operating a vehicle is part of the employee's job description or job duties or incidental to the performance of his/her job; and the same information of immediate family members or household members.  This information must be redacted wherever possible, but access to otherwise public information shall not be limited or denied because a record contains confidential information. Further, this information is available to law enforcement agencies, courts, or other governmental agencies performing official functions. Each employee is encouraged to review their own personnel record to ensure that it is complete.
 
 

Source:  Tennessee Board of Regents Personnel Policy No. 5:01:00:10.