Records

This Handbook explains the responsibilities of records creators and guardians at Denison University. It also offers guidelines on how to fulfill these responsibilities effectively and efficiently, and how to receive additional assistance and instruction.

The proper use of the University Records Management Handbook:

• ensures efficiency in the creation and maintenance of campus records;
• ensures adequacy of documentation for university decisions and actions;
• facilitates the appropriate, cost-effective use of evolving technologies in records creation and preservation;
• ensures observance of legal requirements through application of approved records retention and disposition, and instructs university staff regarding records creation, maintenance, or description;
• promotes professional standards in records handling;
• preserves records that have historical value to the university;
• promotes a general awareness of the importance of records management at the university; and
• provides guidance and direction regarding records storage and disposition.

To develop a comprehensive records management program for Denison University. This includes teaching sound records management principles; supporting access to information for legal, financial, and operational decisions; and assisting in the determination of records of enduring value for the university records and their appropriate maintenance.

Denison University Records Management provides a systematic program designed to assist campus departments and offices with the creation, use, maintenance, retention, disposition, and preservation of all types of records for the purpose of meeting the university’s legal requirements, reducing costs associated with office space, and increasing efficiency, while ensuring that records of permanent value are preserved and obsolete records destroyed.

The Records Management Team (RMT) is a university-wide interdepartmental team made up of administrative staff from all divisions of the college. It oversees the management of all types of university records including recommending policy as well as procedures for implementation and evaluation. The RMT is a standing administrative committee advisory to the Vice President for Finance and Management. The Vice President for Finance and Management will communicate with the President’s senior staff on most matters of policy prior to acting on the recommendations of the Records Management Team. As appropriate, the RMT may periodically communicate with University Council.

Membership of the RMT consists of representatives from the following University Offices:

• Admissions
• Archives
• Campus and Residential Life
• Controller's Office
• Financial Aid and Student Employment
• Health and Counseling Services
• Human Resources
• Information Technology Services
• Institutional Advancement (Advancement Services)
• Provost’s Offiice
• Registrar's Office

General

• Consultation about any Records Management issues including filing, storage, micrographics, imaging, file purging, destruction of records, back-up storage and rotation, retention, preservation, facilities, etc.
• Training in Records Management.
  

Specific

1. Provide policies and guidelines for:

• Assessment of storage facilities for inactive records;
• Current locations
• Potential locations
• Disposal services (Facility Services will pick up documents that need to be housed until shredder comes to campus)
• Computer back-up storage and rotations
• Scanning of images
  

2. Provide regularly scheduled Records Management training sessions for the University community.

The Records Management Program at Denison University consists of a number of interconnected components:

• Files Management
• Records Retention
• Records Disposition/Destruction
• Records Storage
• Micrographics/Imaging
• Vital Records Management
• Records Security
• Records Preservation
• Electronic Date Management/E-mail

Records shall be defined as all documents, regardless of form or format produced or received by any unit, officer, or employee of the University in conduct of its business.

Records include: official files, correspondence, minutes, research files, annual reports, maps, photographs, computer tapes and disks, e-mail, financial and legal documents, optical disks, microfilm, and other documentary materials.

These records are made or received by the university (i.e. officers, faculty, and staff) in pursuance of its legal obligations or in transaction of its proper business. Records are created, collected, and stored by the university as evidence of its legal existence, policies, procedures, and operations, or because of the informational value of the data contained therein.

All records must be assigned proper retention periods regardless of what form they are in or where they are stored.

Active Record
A record that is referenced on a regular basis (once per month or more).

Administrative Value
The value of records to the creating department in performing assigned operations within the organization.

Electronic Record
A record that is machine readable or in code and has been recorded on media such as magnetic discs, drums, or tapes.

Historical Record
A record that possesses value in the history of the University and is worthy of permanent preservation as archival material.

Inactive Record
A record that is referenced fewer than ten times a year.

Long-term Record
A record that has continuing value and is held indefinitely or for a specified period outlined in the retention schedule.

Non-record Copy
A record that is not usually included within the scope of official records.

Record Copy
A record that is the official copy of a record and is retained for legal, operational, or historical purposes.

Semi-active Record
A record that is referenced less than once a month.

Temporary Record
A record that does not have continuing or lasting value to the organization.

Vital Record
A record that is essential to the operation of the organization, the continuation and/or resumption of operations following a disaster, the re-creation of legal and financial status of the organization, or the fulfillment of its obligations in the event of a disaster.

Vital records are those records essential to the continued functioning of an organization during and after an emergency and those records which protect the rights and interests of the employees, the University.

Vital records include records that protect material and human resources, and public health and safety. They can also include records relating to employee compensation and benefits, insurance, valuable research findings, proof of ownership, financial interests, and legal proceedings and decisions.

Each department is required to protect those records that are vital to the continued operation of the department and the university. Departments should:

• Identify and define in-house vital records
• Identify potential hazards
• Designate appropriate protection methods
• Select appropriate vital storage facility or facilities

The life-cycle of a record has three different phases:

1. Creation Phase
2. Maintenance and Use Phase
3. Disposition Phase

Each of the phases has various elements associated with it, and functional activities are performed within each element. For example:

1. Creation Phase
   Forms, reports, directives, and correspondence, etc.
   
   
2. Maintenance and Use Phase
   Files, mail communications, active storage, security, and vital records.
   
   
3. Disposition Phase
   Records scheduling, appraisal, storage in records centers, archives, and ultimate disposal.
   

1. An individual or committee designated by Senior Staff, herein ‘Records Management Designee’, shall be charged with the responsibility of implementing and monitoring the records management policy outlined by the Records Retention Management Committee.

2. The Records Management Designee shall designate each department head as the person responsible for ensuring departmental compliance with the University’s records management policy. This person, or his or her designee, shall be responsible for monitoring the retention and disposition of university records, in accordance with the retention schedule established by and for each specific office. No university records shall be discarded, destroyed or transferred from the custody of the office without authorization from the department head or other person charged with this responsibility.

3. Any revision and/or question of interpretation of this records management policy shall be referred to the Records Management Designee, in consultation with the Records Retention Management Committee. This policy shall be reviewed every two years under the direction of the Records Management Retention Committee.

4. Departments shall conduct departmental review of retention schedules on a bi-annual basis, and/or as mandated by other university, statutory, or judicial requirements.

5. Records produced or received by any employee of the University, or by any agency of the University, in the transaction of university business shall become the property of Denison and subject to its policy for the retention, management and disposal of university records.

6. Relative to teaching faculty, only those records that are produced or received by faculty in administrative and university committee service capacities shall be construed as university records and subject to this records management policy.

7. University records encompass all forms of recorded information that are maintained by the University. Examples of university records include, but shall not be limited to: hand-written and electronic correspondence; computer data files; drawings; financial statements; manuscripts; moving images; publications; photographs; sound recordings; or, other material bearing upon the activities and functions of the University, its officers, its agencies and employees. Excluded from this definition are: sole-possession records; personal papers; faculty research notes; library, museum, and/or specimen material made or acquired for reference, research, or exhibition purposes; and, extra copies of publications and/or other documents. All questions regarding the definition of university records are subject to the final decision of the Records Management Designee, in consultation with the Records Retention Management Team.

8. Retention schedules shall be reflective of Denison University’s standards for university records management, and shall be filed with the records management designee at the conclusion of each fiscal year. Retention schedules shall stipulate the specific records that are maintained by the office and the duration for which they are kept.
   

9. All University records shall be maintained: (1) for as long as they are administratively and/or historically significant; (2) until all statutory, judicial, or other requirements have been met; and/or (3) until the minimum amount of time for retention, as established by the office retaining the record, has elapsed.
   

10. The disposition of all university records shall be maintained as one of the following types: active maintenance records, temporary and short term retention records, destruction records, and permanent records. Active maintenance records shall define the disposition of those records that are accessed or used on a routine basis in the course of daily university operations. Temporary and short term records shall define those records that may not be frequently accessed, but may have statutory, judicial or other legal requirements or limitations that require their maintenance and storage. Typically, the disposition of these records shall change to destruction records when these requirements have been met, and the University determines the records no longer have any administrative or historical significance. Destruction records shall be scheduled for appropriate disposal. Records designated as permanent records shall be those that are maintained forever by the University, for archival and/or research purposes.

The destruction of all university records shall be the responsibility of each university department and will be done so in accordance with its records retention schedule.

The University Information and Records Retention Schedule documents the classification of all university records and the length of time they are stored. The legal, historical, and vital importance of records requires adherence to the retention schedule. All retention periods assigned to general and specific records series have been carefully researched by the campus departments and by University Records Management Committee. Proper use of this schedule safeguards the privacy and the financial and legal right of the University. All university personnel are required to consult with the Retention Schedule when assigning retention periods. This will assure proper storage and disposition of university records. Retention issues not covered in the Retention Schedule must be negotiated with University Records Management Committee.

Department head and/or a designee, as chosen by the department, are responsible for ensuring department compliance with this policy.

A retention schedule is a document that specifies how long information is to be kept to meet legal, administrative, fiscal, and historical requirements. It dictates what actions (such as retain, transfer, destroy) are to be taken, and is the authority as to which records are to be saved or destroyed.

The University Information and Records Retention Schedule is designed to establish procedures for campus departments regarding proper retention, disposition, and storing of records. It includes numerous departments with a listing of their specific records. Records that are common to all university departments are listed in a general section. The retention schedule should be referenced any time a record is transferred to the Records Center, so that records can be stored the proper amount of time.

• Provides value to decision making processes by identifying information and reducing duplication and redundancy.
• Assists in determining appropriate records media for meeting operational and retrieval needs.
  
• Provides for appropriate transfer from active to inactive storage.
  
• Provides a basis for appropriate elimination and destruction of records.
  
• Helps the university meet its own records needs.
  
• Saves time, space, and resources of the university through efficient document management.

Final Disposition
The disposition of all university records shall be maintained as one of the following types: active maintenance records, temporary and short term retention records, destruction records, and permanent records. Active maintenance records shall define the disposition of those records that are accessed or used on a routine basis in the course of daily university operations. Temporary and short term records shall define those records that may not be frequently accessed, but may have statutory, judicial or other legal requirements or limitations that require their maintenance and storage. Typically, the disposition of these records shall change to destruction records when these requirements have been met, and the University determines the records no longer have any administrative or historical significance. Destruction records shall be scheduled for appropriate disposal. Records designated as permanent records shall be those that are maintained forever by the University, for archival and/or research purposes.

Destruction
The destruction of all university records shall be the responsibility of each university department and will be done so in accordance with its records retention schedule.

File Purging
Purging or weeding files serves several purposes:

• Reduces the size of files.
• Facilitates the retrieval of important documents without having to wade through extraneous materials.
• Avoids last-minute rushes to clean out files just before they are to be removed from the office area.

Purging should be done on a continuous basis so that the file keeper’s work does not become an overwhelming project at any given time.

Always consult with the University Records Management Committee before undertaking a file purge.

Permanent Storage
Records that have little or no historical value, but which must be kept for legal reasons, are stored permanently. Nevertheless, such records should be reviewed every ten years to ensure that their permanency is still valid. This is the responsibility of the department that owns the record, in accordance with the University retention schedule.

If records have been destroyed in accordance with an approved retention schedule, a department is not liable for the inability to produce those records for an audit, court, or public disclosure proceeding. Nevertheless, records pertaining to on-going pending audits or to judicial or public disclosure proceedings must not be destroyed until the issues are resolved, regardless of the approved retention.

Retention schedules are available here.

All records in electronic formats, generated in the course of conducting university programs, projects, administration, research, or other business, are university records. They are subject to the same retention and disposition requirements as paper records. It is the responsibility to of the person conducting business on behalf of Denison to insure appropriate retention. See sections 3 and 4 for the policy and retention schedules.

Electronic Records are records that are stored on an electronic medium. The information may consist of character coded text, images, sound, and other types of information. Electronic records exist in a variety of formats such as spreadsheets, word processing documents, databases and applications, audio, video, instant messages, chat, text messages, and e-mail. They are stored on many mediums like CDs, DVDs, workstation hard drives, network drives, pin drives, and servers.

Electronic records are often stored on centralized network drives and email servers. The University has a continuing commitment to the availability of the information saved on centralized resources. Centralized resources are backed up routinely by ITS for the purpose of recovery in the event of system failure. Saving electronic records on centralized resources relieves the data owner of the need to take backups that is required when the information is saved on their workstation hard drive or desktop.

The data owner should not expect that backups provide an archive for their use. In most cases, only the most recent data is relevant for a system recovery. Imagine that needed data is deleted with the thought that it would be obtained from backup if needed. If a period of time has passed since the deletion, the backup medium may have been reused for a newer backup. A finite number of backup mediums are used, with the oldest being reused at any given time. This fact also makes it essential that users ask for file restores quickly after discovering that a file has been inadvertently deleted.

In summary, it is the responsibility to maintain the record on the live system until it no longer needs to be retained. In some cases, a system may provide the facility for archival of active data to improve system performance. Archived data may be considered to be retained for records management purposes.

Retention of electronic records is based on the content. Retain them as long as you would retain the same information if it were on paper. Plans for retention should be documented in your departmental retention plan. Non-permanent records should be deleted when they are no longer pertinent.

Records with long term retentions must be transferred onto more stable and permanent formats because of the limited life of some magnetic media.

Since there are no national standards for permanency of the medium on which electronic records are maintained (the medium is not considered permanent), records in electronic formats are not acceptable for permanent or archival storage. If or when standards for permanence of electronic media become a reality, this policy will be revised accordingly. Until that time, electronic records appraised permanent or archival must be maintained in a department or converted to paper, microfilm, or another acceptable medium that meets national standards for permanent or archival retention.

The Denison student information system(Banner) is maintained and moved to new forms of media as the technology changes. Permanent records stored there will be available as long as Denison maintains the system in this manner.

E-mail is a special type of electronic record. It is a convenient vehicle for communicating within the Denison community and sometimes outside the community. Whenever email is used to communicate university business, those emails are records that are subject to records management. The initiator of the email responsible for its proper retention if it was generated within the community, or first recipient if the email comes from an external source. Copies of email may be deleted because the initiator is the person responsible for retention. 

Email does not manage itself. Be a proactive manager of your inbox/outbox and manage your messages the way you would any other business document. Consider the content of e-mails to categorize them for permanency into the categories described below. E-mail routinely used in business communication and falling into the intermediate and permanent categories should be listed in the department’s retention schedule.

Personal Correspondence and Spam
Any e-mail not received or created in the course of University business, may be deleted immediately, since it is not an official University record. Example: “Let’s do lunch” or “Can I have a ride home”.

Official University Records-Transient
Much of the communication via e-mail has very limited administrative value and therefore has transient retention. For instance, an e-mail message notifying employees of an upcoming meeting would only have value until the meeting has been attended or the employee receiving the message has marked the date and time of his/her calendar. Transitory messages do not set policy, establish guidelines or procedures. These types of documents can be purged or destroyed once the administrative value has been met.

Official University Records-Intermediate Retention
These are more significant record series that have intermediate retention periods. An example is an email associated with a project that should be retained for a year after project completion. These records should be kept the approved amount of time as determined by the University Information and Retention Schedule

Official Record-Permanent
E-mail messages that have significant administrative, legal, fiscal and/or historical value may be scheduled as permanent. These may include (but are not limited to): official minutes and correspondence of regular or special meetings or committees, or other standing ad hoc organizations. This may also include official university policy statements and procedures. University departments must reference the University Information and Records Retention Schedule to determine permanent retention periods of e-mail messages.

E-mail messages can be stored and preserved in several ways: on the e-mail system, within the department’s electronic files, or in some form of electronic record keeping system. E-mail records should be stored and preserved according to the retention period. The longer the message is to be stored, the greater the need is to remove it from the system and store it as a hard copy (paper), on network drive, or in an electronic document management system.

Regardless of storage medium, the authenticity and integrity of the entire e-mail message must be preserved.The original content of the message must be described and a complete audit trail of custody must be maintained. To ensure the continued integrity of the message, these parts must be preserved:

• The message itself
• The message metadata including:
• The name of the sender
• The name of the primary recipient
• The name(s) of any other recipient(s)
• Any additional routing information
• The date of transmission
• The date and time of receipt

• Any attachments included with the message
  

Should I keep attachments to e-mail?  If so, how?
Remember to file any existing attachments with the e-mail, unless you have already saved them to a different location. If the e-mail message provides context for the attachment, the answer is yes. In most cases where the attachment has continuing value, the email should be kept as it supplies the date, sender, and recipients as well as any cover message.

Can I save the e-mail and attachment as paper only?
>Yes, if transmission data is retained on the print-out (date, sender, recipients, subject and message body). If the email and attachment have legal or evidential value, storing them together, either as part of your email environment or in an electronic records storage system that retains email header (transmission) data, is the best method for ensuring authenticity.

If your office frequently transmits attachments via email, consider placing the documents on a shared drive or making them available across a network. This will ease pressure on the users who must manage the attachments, and on the email system's storage capacity.

If I print an e-mail, can I then delete it?
If you choose this management technique for maintaining physical and intellectual control over your email, it is not necessary to retain the original electronic mail message.
If you manage your routine e-mail correspondence and inter-office memoranda by printing and filing it, you can purge and delete electronic copies.

Why do I need to include metadata in printouts of e-mail?
Email messages that are printed should include certain components (metadata) of the original electronic version. Metadata adds to the authenticity of the message. Those components include:

• Addresses – not names of distribution lists – of specific recipients (the “To:”), including addresses in “cc:” and “bcc:” fields;
• Addresses of the sender (the “From”);
• The subject line;
• The body of the e-mail message;
• All attachments;
• The date and time the message was sent and/or received; and,

Some organizations may require the sender to include a signature block or a disclaimer on each sent message. Those components also should be included on printed messages. Similarly, a vCard file that a sender attaches to the message in lieu of a signature block should be printed.

Should I discuss sensitive or confidential issues using e-mail?
Email is not always a secure communications medium, and users should have no expectation of privacy when using it. You should consult your e-mail system administrators and your supervisor to discuss using e-mail to transmit sensitive or confidential information. They can tell you about safeguards in place to protect that information, such as encryption. Your department may have policies against using e-mail in certain cases, such as transmitting protected health information or discussing personnel matters.

Note: Special thanks to the Duke University Archives for allowing us to use many of the concepts and some of the text from their Records Management web site.

Image technology saves an image of a record on media. The records saved in this manner are subject to the same retention and disposition requirements as paper or other types of records. Rules for retention or disposition of image records must be related to the information contained therein or the purpose the record serves.

Micrographics and compact disk are storage technologies that can be used for managing both paper and electronic information. Both have their specific applications and advantages when being prescribed as records management tools.

Micrographics
Micrographics, or micro image storage and retrieval, is the process of storing records that have been reduced in size on a photographic medium. Micrographics includes various types of microforms: roll film, microfiche, jackets, aperture cards, and cartridges. Each microform has different applications and advantages in managing records.

Why Consider Microfilm?
Microfilm can reduce paper storage requirements, preserve permanent historical records, improve document retrieval, and reduce misfiles. Microfilm is very stable and durable; and, if stored under the proper conditions, it will outperform the stability and durability of magnetic media, optical disks, and—in many instances—paper records. Microfilm is ideal for records with infrequent retrieval and longer retentions. Materials can be sent to third party vendors to be stored on microfiche.

Compact Disk
Compact disks are platter-type devices used to store information through the use of laser beams and a computer. A device with a low-powered laser beam is used for both writing and reading binary data such as programs, data, music, etc., to and from these disks. Users can write CD’s on their office workstations.

Why consider Compact Disk?
Compact disk can reduce the amount of paper documents and provide instant access to large volumes of records. Compact disks are ideal for records that are more active, with quick retrieval requirement, and have shorter retentions, but that are needed by a limited number of people. Compact disks can have a life span of over 10 years when they are stored carefully.

Types of Compact Disks and Applications

• CD-ROMs (ROM=read-only-memory) are the most common read-only disks. These molded plastic disks are produced in a factory where duplicate copies are made from a master. CD-ROMs cannot be written on or changed by the user. They serve mainly as a publishing medium for computer readable data bases and printed books. CD-ROMs are best suited for files distributed in multiple copies. Most desktop computers are NOT capable of creating CD-ROMs.

• CD-Rs are the most common disks. These molded plastic disks are written on once by a user’s computer. CD-R’s can serve as a useful purpose as a backup medium or storage for infrequently used material. Unlike CD-ROMs, Cd’s that are “burned” using a typical pc will fade over time.
  

The Denison University imaging and document management system is another alternative for storing records. The system is integrated with the student information system and is especially useful when the images wish to be displayed while using the student information system.

Records stored in the imaging system are subject to the same retention and disposition requirements as if they were on paper. The imaging and document management system is a good choice for documents with intermediate retentions. Although as stated earlier, there are no national standards for permanency of the medium on which electronic records are maintained (the medium is not considered permanent), the images will be available as long as Denison maintains the system on refreshed media.

Imaging Summary
Micrographics, compact disks, and imaging have their uses as efficient records storage resources. They are prescribed according to current and foreseeable records-keeping needs and costs. Records stored on these mediums must still be managed and disposed of according their retention schedule.

The University Archives, under the director of the archivist, is the depository for records having research of historical value and includes records transferred to its custody. The University Archives also includes professional and personal manuscripts of members of the academic and administrative staffs and records of faculty, graduates, and student organizations that may be given to the university for preservation and use.

Personal records created by past and present employees, students, and other persons with ties to the university also contribute in important ways to our collective memory. The archives preserves diaries, personal histories, professional files, photographs, scrapbooks, and other records that shed light on the human aspect of Denison University’s history. Contact University Archives to discuss options for preserving personal records.

Please feel free to contact the University Archivist with any questions you may have about record-keeping. Contact the Archivist concerning the University’s confidential shredding program or with questions about the history of Denison University.

Academic Records
Academic records are those records, directly related to a student, that are maintained by an educational institution.

Active Record
An active record is a record that is referenced on a regular basis.

Archives
Archives is responsible for the appraisal, preservation, and storage of records with enduring historical value to the university.

Archivist
A person responsible for, or engaged in, one or more of the following activities in an archival repository: appraisal and disposition, accessioning, preservation, arrangement, description, reference service, exhibition, and publication.

Copy
A duplicate record, or reproduction of the original.

Correspondence
Letters, postcards, memoranda, notes, telecommunications, electronic mail, and any other form of addressed, written communications, sent and received.

Electronic Records
Records whose informational content is usually in code and has been recorded on media such as magnetic discs, drums, or tapes. The code is generally decipherable only by another machine.

File
A collection of related records treated as a unit and arranged according to a predetermined system.

Files Management
Files Management is a system of classifying, arranging, and indexing records to make them readily available.

Final Disposition
The final disposition is the final outcome or destination of records.

Inactive Records
Records no longer required in the conduct of current business, with a reference rate less than 10 times annually.

Information & Record Retention Schedule
A document governing, on a continuing basis, the retention and disposition of university records.

Life Cycle of a Record
The evolution of a record from creation to final disposition.

Microform
A generic term used for any form containing photographically produced micro images.

Micrographics
Photographic based medium for document storage and retrieval.

Optical Disk
A platter-shaped device for the storage of very large quantities of electronic documents.

Policy
Defines procedures and use of records management functions and principles for the university.

Permanent Storage
Permanent records are records that are stored indefinitely because of long term informational or historical value.

Preservation
Appropriate housing, protection, care, and maintenance of archives, records, and transcripts.

Procedures
The approved or required methods of, or steps in, implementing or executing a policy.

Record
Recorded information, regardless of medium or characteristics, made or received by an organization and useful in the operation of the organization.

Records Storage
Records storage is the systematic gathering and appropriate maintenance of documents in containers, depositories, or machine-readable files, for possible future use.

Records Management Coordinator
A representative from a campus office responsible for sending new boxes to the Records Center, signing off on final disposition, and generally acting as a liaison between the department and records management.

Retention Period
The Retention Period is the length of time during which records must be kept before they may be disposed of. Usually stated in terms of years or made contingent upon an event, such as the conclusion of an audit.

Vital Records
Vital Records are records that are legally or administratively essential to resume or continue an organization, those necessary to recreate the organization’s legal and financial position, and/or those necessary to preserve the rights of the organization.