A mistake in the way resumes were posted on the Internet for candidates applying for the College of Sciences allowed personal information to be viewed by anyone, a situation the committee attempted to prevent.

Information such as phone numbers, addresses and ages of the candidates and/or their spouses appeared on the resumes. The search committee placed black rectangles on top of those areas of the resumes, which are on the committee’s Web site in the form of an Adobe Acrobat Portable Document File (PDF), so the information would not be viewable by the general public.

However, when the resumes were accessed online, the rectangles could be moved around and the information beneath was then viewable.

The mistake was not a violation of any laws, Vicki Woodard of Media Relations said Thursday, when the issue was realized.

Candidates volunteered all resume information and the committee attempted to conceal facts in the interest of courtesy and consistency, she said. Also, Woodard said much of the information could be obtained using a phone book or directory assistance.

The resumes were posted Tuesday night and removed Thursday when the committee realized the error. The committee then began to look for other ways to post the information, Woodard said.

Search committees began posting candidates’ resumes on their Web sites to better inform the campus community about those candidates’ credentials and experience, she said.