Guidelines for Managing Records
Introduction
The purpose of these guidelines is to provide departments with guidance for managing University Records. The guidelines support the Retention of Records Policy (“Policy”) and outline basic steps to help departments and offices comply with the Policy.
Typically, University Records fall into a range of categories including, but not limited to: administrative records, advancement records, alumni records, corporation records, environmental health and safety records, faculty records, financial/budget records, legal and regulatory compliance records, personnel records, operations records (facilities management), student academic records, student life records, university research data and compliance, and university statistics.
Exceptions
For the purpose of complying with the Retention of Records Policy, the following records are exceptions to the Policy:
Extra copies of publications kept for distribution; and
Personal documents neither created nor received in the conduct of University business.
Summary of Best Practices for Managing Records
Departments should manage their University Records in a trustworthy manner that ensures their authenticity. To do this, departments should:
Create records that accurately document their core activities;
Manage and store records in a manner that facilitates timely and accurate retrieval;
Ensure that records are stored in secure locations with stable physical or electronic environments;
Allow only those with the proper authority to have access to records;
Access should be allowed to the minimum amount of information necessary for business purposes; and
Comply with University policies and the external laws and regulations that affect the management and disposition of their records.
Records Storage
All departments should store their University Records in a safe, stable, and secure manner that supports their timely and accurate retrieval and establishes appropriate controls on their accessibility. To do this, departments should:
Develop filing, classification, and/or indexing systems for their records that all of their department or office members understand and follow. These systems need not be complex—they only need to enable people to find the appropriate records quickly.
Know the location of all of their records.
Store their records in stable physical and electronic environments. For the physical storage of records this means storing records in dry and clean areas that are protected from the elements and have appropriate temperature and humidity levels. For the electronic storage of records this means ensuring that records are stored on stable media and in readable software formats.
Periodically check the stability of their physical and electronic storage environments.
Ensure that their physical and electronic records storage areas are secure. Know who has access to their physical storage areas. Make sure these areas are locked when unattended.
Periodically review their physical and electronic records storage security measures.
Determine the confidentiality and privacy status of all of their records.
Know who has a business need and the proper authority to view their records. If uncertain, please contact the Departmental Records Manager.
Ensure that their records storage security measures meet the confidentiality and privacy needs of their records.
Document their records organization system, storage locations, and security procedures in their own policies and procedures.
Restricted and Private Information
All departments should conduct the collection, processing, maintenance, disclosure, storage, retention and disposal of private information and Confidential Records in accordance with applicable laws, regulations and University policies.
Personal and Confidential Information:
is information which when linked can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity. The University is obligated to keep personal information elements (whether in electronic or hard copy format) confidential and secure during collection, processing, maintenance, disclosure, storage, retention and disposal;
may include but are not limited to: name, address, SSN, driver's license, account/financial information, date of birth, phone numbers, email addresses and personal health information;
collection and retention should be limited to the minimum amount necessary to conduct University business;
if the is no current business purpose, the personal and confidential information should not be collected;
should only be collected by authorized individuals based upon their job; and
responsibilities. Authorized individuals with access are responsible for the proper handling, disclosure, storage, retention and the proper disposal of the information they collect.
Recommendations for Scanning University Paper Records
Scanning, also referred to as digitizing, is the conversion of materials in print form to a computer-readable format. Generally, once a document has been digitized, the paper copy of the document does not have to be maintained. However, there are some exceptions to this general rule. Some exceptions include:
Any document that contains a signature, seal, certification, or any other image or mark required to validate the authenticity of its information must be maintained in its original hard copy or in an imaged media format. This includes tax returns, verification statements, and Student Aid Reports (SARs) used to determine eligibility, and any other document received in hard copy form, in which a signature, seal, etc., contained on it is necessary for the document to be used for the purposes for which it is being retained. The record may be maintained in an imaged media format only if the format is capable of reproducing an accurate, legible, and complete copy of the original document;
Corporate formation, real estate (property deeds, licenses, mortgages), and historical documents should be maintained in their original format, as well in an electronic format, if possible; and
Documents in their original format that have raised seals, historical value, property records, and contracts with current or pending performance obligations that have wet signatures should be maintained in their original format.
When undertaking a reformatting project, departments should:
Adhere to university policy and acceptable industry standards when microfilming or creating digital scans of university records.
Properly store and migrate digital images to ensure their long-term preservation and accessibility.
In order for scans of University Records to meet the University’s needs for adequate recordkeeping, the following minimum requirements must be met:
The scan must be complete, including all parts of original document;
The scan must be legible. Scans should be reviewed for legibility as a part of regularly conducted quality control checks. Considerations for legibility include:
The scan is not blurred or indistinguishable, text is readable, if colors or images are important then documents are scanned in grayscale or color.
Each individual document is captured completely; and the resulting image is not crooked or skewed.
The document must be scanned at a resolution that will capture the finest significant details of the original, typically a minimum resolution of 150 dpi for text, 300 dpi for images or higher;
The scan must be saved in PDF or TIFF format and must not be further altered; and
The scan should be saved in a location that is known, identifiable, secure, and backed up on a regular basis by Information Technology.
As with paper records, scanned records must be accessible when needed, kept in a secure location to prevent accidental or intentional alteration or loss, named and organized.
Please note that these standards are the minimum required and will be acceptable for most non-permanent records. In some instances higher standards may be appropriate.
For example, if an original document is faded or badly printed, the scan may need to be done at a higher resolution or the image may need manipulation to make it legible. The ultimate goal in adhering to these standards is to produce reproductions of the original records that will serve as acceptable supporting documentation for audits and legal matters. Scans that are not legible or are not acceptable forms of supporting documentation.
Records with original signatures may be scanned or migrated for storage for the remainder of their retention. As with other records being scanned they should be scanned at the recommended technical requirements.
This is a set of best practices for digitizing paper records and using the electronic version in place of the paper original. Please contact the Departmental Records Manager with any questions.
See also Guidelines for Managing Electronic Records or return to Retention of University Records Policy.