How long am I required to hold onto a university record?
What does the term “official record copy” mean?
Does our department need to be audited before we can get permission to destroy certain records?
Do I need prior authorization to destroy university records?
An employee is leaving our office… What should be done with the records in their office space?
Why is Records and Information Management important?
My inbox is full! May I delete emails that I no longer need to reference?
How long am I required to hold onto a university record?
Different types of records are assigned record retention periods by the Office of the Public Records Administrator (OPRA) of the Connecticut State Library. OPRA lists the types of records (called record series) and their corresponding minimum retention period on schedules. Only the official record copy must meet OPRA’s retention requirements, however there may be other business needs to keep duplicate records longer than legally necessary. See also “Do I need prior authorization to destroy?”
What does the term “official record copy” mean?
Go here to find out!
Does our department need to be audited before we can get permission to destroy certain records when the minimum retention requirement is x years, or until audited, whichever is later?
The minimum retention requirement, “x years, or until audited, whichever is later,” requires further explanation. In most instances ‘audit’ refers to the general agency audit conducted by the State Auditors of Public Accounts, unless otherwise noted. The specific record itself may or may not have been examined as part of the audit process. [Source: OPRA] The status of the most recent audits of UConn and UConn Health can be found on the APA website under Reports and typing in “University of Connecticut” in the Agency search box.
Do I need prior authorization to destroy University records?
On any given day the answer will be yes… the next day it will be no. Long story short, it depends if you are in possession of the official record copy. If you are, that makes you the record custodian and the records in question must meet the corresponding minimum retention requirements. Once those are met, you must seek permission to destroy (see destruction authorization procedure). If the records in question are not the official record copy, you generally may destroy when no longer administratively valuable, no permission necessary. If you are uncertain if you or another department/individual is responsible for retaining certain records for the requirement please contact the appropriate campus RMLO to discuss further.
An employee is leaving our office… What should be done with the records in their office space?
Ideally, prior to separation, that individual should take several steps:
- Evaluate which records have met retention requirements and fulfilled business needs. Don’t forget email!
- For records that have met retention requirements, request destruction authorization for official record copies. Non-records may be destroyed immediately. While waiting for destruction approval, store records in a secure location.
- If the authorization is approved and returned prior to the employee separation, he/she should arrange destruction (shred, recycle). Otherwise, transfer records pending destruction to appropriate staff member. Contact your campus RMLO and provide the contact information for the staff member now overseeing the records in question — this information is necessary to ensure the completed approval documentation is sent to the correct individual who will oversee the destruction of the records.
- Records that must be saved should be transferred to an appropriate staff member. That individual(s) is now responsible for managing, protecting, requesting and arranging destruction.
Getting organized is difficult, but leaving behind “record chaos” could be very taxing on your co-workers and/or replacement. By tidying up shop beforehand, you’ll also help to reduce clutter and risk of potential legal liability.
An employee left our office and did not review their files. Our office doesn’t know what to do with them. What do we do?
It may not seem fair that you are left with the puzzling question “What must become of these records?” but please resist any inclination to box all of the records up, put them in a storage area and forget about the whole thing…that route will only make the task more burdensome. You’d also be putting your department at risk. What if there is something of importance for business operations? What about if there is a litigation hold and you didn’t realize those records were relevant? If a breach occurs, would you know what information may have been compromised? For these reasons, take the following steps:
- Discuss with other relevant staff members what individual or individuals should take over responsibility of the records. In other words, who should fill the role as record custodian
- Inventory what types of records are present and the date ranges. This information will help to determine what records should be:
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- Saved
- Immediately destroyed
- Destroyed with authorization
- Transferred to University Archives
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3. For assistance with step 2, set up a meeting with the appropriate campus RMLO to determine appropriate action.
I have already scanned paper records and am now preserving the records digitally. May I destroy the original paper copies?
In order to be allowed to destroy the paper, the scanning methods you used must have met digital imaging standards required by the Office of the Public Records Administrator. Do not assume that how you scanned the records will suffice until you have reviewed the digital imaging policy and standards with Betsy Pittman. If the digital imaging standards are not met, you must keep the paper for the associated minimum retention period and then request to destroy them, at the same time destroying the digital copies. If your digital imaging methods met the required standards, you may request to destroy the original paper copies provided that the records will be retained electronically for the duration of the minimum record retention period.
I want to scan records and preserve them digitally so I can destroy the paper. In what way must I approach this to be in compliance with policy?
Review the Digital Imaging Policy and Digital Imaging Standards documents. The procedure and requirements are rigorous, however serve very important purposes. Contact your RMLO with questions.
Why is Records and Information Management important?
Click here for a pamphlet explaining why.
My inbox is full! May I delete emails that I no longer need to reference?
Emails are records too and cannot be deleted until they have been retained for the corresponding minimum retention period. Email retention can get pretty complicated so the Office of the Public Records Administrator has created an FAQ solely dedicated to this subject.
If you need space immediately, consider using Outlook’s clean-up function found under the home tab. This will move duplicate threads in your inbox to your deleted folder, while saving the most recent email of a thread.
PII stands for Personally Identifiable Information. Examples of PII include but are not limited to an individual’s social security number, banking information, drivers license number, and credit card number. Basically, PII is the information you wouldn’t want ending up in the wrong hands. The University has several legitimate needs to obtain and use certain PII to execute business operations. As a whole, the University takes the protection of PII seriously. Individual staff members managing PII must also do their part to secure this sensitive information. Visit the privacy tips page to learn how to decrease privacy related risks.
I’ve received destruction authorization for records in the past. I want to destroy additional records. Am I required to fill out another form to receive permission?
Yes. Destruction approvals you’ve received in the past are only good for the types of records that were listed in that date range.
I filled out a form and received destruction approval, but I never got around to destroying the records. Am I still authorized to destroy the records?
Contact your campus RMLO to discuss. Normally, you should promptly destroy records once you receive the signed approval, unless you receive a destruction/litigation hold after you received approval and before the records have been destroyed.