Surely it would be improper and inappropriate for a referee
to mention anything in a reference about a period in which
his/her knowledge is second-hand? I would not expect an
academic reference to tell me about anything other than the
verifiable facts of the academic career in question plus
the referee's opinions of the person concerned, gleaned
from their knowledge of them. Surely they can have no 'duty
of care' in respect of earlier periods of time and activity?
Tony F
On Thu, 27 May 1999 10:17:07 BST "O.M. Richards"
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dear All
>
> As colleagues will know, Undergraduates entering via UCAS
> are now required to disclose their previous criminal
> convictions. You may have a similar policy for PGs. In
> terms of record-keeping, this information either goes into
> the general student file, or possibly into a separate, more
> secure confidential file.
>
> It has been pointed out by a colleague here that the
> existence of this information (whether in the main student
> file or in a separate file) raises issues with regard to
> members of faculty writing references (either while the
> student is still here, or after leaving). For instance,
> the file may disclose to the referee information that s/he
> should not know about - eg. convictions which are spent or
> become spent during the period of studies (and which are
> irrelevant to the reference). There is a DPA angle here.
> However & conversely, the author of a reference owes a duty
> of care to both the subject of the reference and the
> *recipient*, to ensure that the reference is factually
> accurate and complete, and >fair< to both parties. (And
> this 'duty of care' has begun to have a specific legal
> dimension in recent years - in terms of liability for
> damages.) >From this point of view one needs the referee
> to see the convictions information, in order to form a
> judgement on whether to mention it (spent or otherwise?).
> HEIs would presumably want to give guidance to staff as to
> how they go about making these judgements.
>
> I don't have any neat solution to this tension, but thought
> I'd flag it to colleagues, and invite anyone who would like
> to contribute to respond (direct to me or the mailbase) and
> I will collate and recirculate. Thanks.
>
> _____
> Owen Richards
> Senior Assistant Registrar (Registry Systems)
> Sussex University
> Tel: 01273 877019
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
AJ Flack
Senior Group Administrator
Humanities & Social Sciences
UEA
Norwich
NR4 7TJ
01603 592967
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