Procedures for the Disposition of University Records

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This online version is for convenience; the official version of this policy is housed in the University Secretariat. In case of discrepancy between the online version and the official version held by the Secretariat, the official version shall prevail.

Approving Authority: Board of Governors    

Original Approval Date: N/A

Date of Most Recent Review/Revision: N/A

Administrative Responsibility: Legal Services and Privacy Office

Parent Policy: 10.4 Records Management Policy

1.0 Purpose

1.1 University Records are valuable assets and their proper management is essential for effective decision making, legislative compliance, the preservation of institutional memory, and the mitigation of risk. Destruction of Records at the end of the Records lifecycle is an integral part of a records management program.

2.0 Definitions

2.1 University Record: Recorded information in any format that has been created or received in the regular course of business and kept for administrative, operational, or historical purposes. The Original Record is held in the office that has the primary responsibility for the record (see Information Steward).

2.2 Permanent Record: A University Record requiring permanent retention. If not transferring a record requiring permanent retention to the archives, units must ensure the records remain in a readable form, are organized in a way that ensures they can be located if needed, and are secured according to their type (see Policy 9.4 Information Security).

2.3 Archival Record: A subset of Permanent Records; a University Record of enduring legal, evidential or historic value. Archival Records are retained permanently in the University Archives.

2.4 Information Steward: The university employee who is the manager responsible for the direction of a functional unit that is responsible for creating and/or managing a group of records.

2.5 Disposition: The final stage in the lifecycle of a record. This includes destruction (e.g. shredding or full deletion from a hard drive), permanent retention within a unit, transfer to the University Archives, or transfer to another institution where appropriate.

2.6 Retention Period: The length of time records must be retained before Disposition.

2.7 Records Hold: A written notice to suspend the disposition of a specified group of records. A Records Hold may be placed by General Counsel for legal reasons, or by a unit for audit or other operational needs.

3.0 Procedure

3.1 No University Records subject to a Records Hold shall be disposed of in any way until the University’s General Counsel or designate has lifted the hold (see 4.07, Policy 10.4 Records Management).

3.2 Record Disposal

3.2.1 University Records must only be retained for the retention period described in the records retention schedule.

3.2.2 Once the retention period has been reached, records must be disposed of as per the disposition method noted in the records retention schedule unless there is a Records Hold. Disposition of a record may be through destruction, transfer to University Archives, permanent retention by the department, or transfer to another institution.

3.3 Records Destruction

3.3.1 Confidential documents (types 2 (internal) and 3 (restricted) information) must be securely destroyed to ensure no recovery or reconstruction of the document is possible. Shredding must be completed by a certified shredding company or with a standalone shredder that meets P3 or P4 standards. For electronic records, must be deleted and purged. Any Laurier provisioned electronic hardware such as laptops, external hard drives, and phones must be returned to ICT for proper decommissioning. For further information, please contact ICT or the Privacy Office for instructions.

3.3.2 If copies of University Records still exist at the end of the retention period, these copies must be destroyed to ensure the university has an accurate understanding of what University Records are in the university’s custody.

3.3.3 Approval for destruction is required by the record’s Information Steward, and it is recommended a record be kept of when a record or group of similar records is destroyed.

3.4 Permanent and Archival Records

3.4.1 Some University Records require permanent retention, either for operational, legislative, or historic purposes. Permanent retention will be noted in the records retention schedule in these cases. Unless noted in the retention schedule, University Records marked for permanent retention will be stored in the University Archives once operational use has ceased.

3.4.2 In cases where ‘Archival Review’ is noted in the records retention schedule, the determination of whether a University Record will be retained permanently in the University Archives or destroyed will be made by the Head, University Archives. University Records noted to need archival review in the records retention schedule cannot be destroyed without the authorization of the Head, University Archives.

3.4.3 When a series of University Records is regularly deposited in the Archives, an Archives Transfer Form will be completed at the time of transfer.

3.5 Transfer to another Institution

3.5.1 In limited cases, University Records must be transferred to another institution at the end of its internal operational use period.

3.5.2 Transfers must be arranged in advance, and a log of the transferred University Records kept.

3.5.3 Any new requirements for the transfer of University Records to another institution must be noted in the record retention schedule.