Word: letters
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...response to an official letter that I sent to her in accordance with the Faculty of Arts and Science's "Guidelines for the Resolution of Faculty Grievances," I received a letter from Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Carol J. Thompson. In her letter, which was marked "Personal and Confidential," Thompson wrote, "I want to state unequivocally that I have not had, and will not have, any role in your tenure review." Since the contents of Thompson's letter directly concerned my appeal, and since the confidentiality in the appeal process is designed to protect the grievant, Weld Professor...
However, we also sought to respect Thompson's concerns. Accordingly, before we posted her letter, Professor Nesson, on Nov. 27, 1998, e-mailed Dean Thompson: "we do not want to do this over your objection, at least until you have had full opportunity to articulate it. Please let me know if you think we are misapprehending the situation. We will wait a few days before moving ahead...
Dean Thompson never replied to Professor Nesson's e-mail. The second letter I received marked "Personal and Confidential" came on Friday, May 28, 1999, late in the afternoon on the last day of the spring term. This was Richards Professor of Chemistry Cynthia M. Friend's nine-page letter on behalf of the Docket Committee informing me that my formal grievance was in every respect "clearly without merit." Although the letter was stamped "Personal and Confidential" by the Office of the Dean, Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles himself was the first to make the letter's contents...
...immediately wrote to Secretary of the Faculty John B. Fox Jr. '59 by e-mail, asking him to explain what I was supposed to have understood by the designation of Professor Friend's letter to me as "Personal and Confidential." Fox's reply is instructive: "I marked the e-mail and letter confidential and/or personal in order to protect you from someone else inadvertently opening or reading something which was addressed...
Thus, on Secretary of the Faculty Fox's own account, when the Office of the Dean marks a letter "Personal and Confidential," the Office of the Dean recognizes no obligation on the part of the recipient to keep the letter's contents private. What is astonishing, however, is that on Fox's account, when the Office of the Dean marks a letter "Personal and Confidential," the Office of the Dean recognizes no obligation on its part to respect the constraints of confidentiality...