Q.I have a lot of records in my office, and I’m
running out of storage space. Can I go ahead and dispose of the records?
A. You first need to contact the Office of
Institutional Research and Assessment to find out if the records in question
have a records retention schedule. This is a document that describes the
records and tells you how long to keep them. If no specific schedule exists for
these records, you will be directed to either implement General Schedules, if
applicable, or arrange to have those records inventoried and scheduled. Please
remember that all public records are disposed of in accordance with records
retention schedules.
Q. Do retention schedules apply to copies of documents – for instance, those forwarded as correspondence, or duplicated
for reference?
A. The records schedules
apply only to the official copies of the University's records. They do not
apply to convenience, informational, or duplicate copies, which may be
destroyed when no longer needed for reference.
Q. If Institutional Research gives me the
authorization to destroy documents, do I need to submit any forms to the
South Carolina State Archives, Records and Management
Division?
A. No. Once you are given
proper authorization to dispose of documents, the Institutional Research Office
will complete and forward a “Report on Records Destroyed” form on your behalf.
Q.Where can I find a copy of the General
Retention Schedules for
South
CarolinaStateColleges
and Universities?
Q. The State Archives lists two types of
schedules: General and Specific. What’s the difference?
A. General
Retention Schedules apply to records common to all University Departments.
Specific Retention Schedules apply to records that
are not listed in the General Schedule.
Q. My department has both paper and electronic
copies of the same documents; will there be different Retention Schedules for
each?
A. If a department
maintains records in two different formats (in this case, paper and electronic),
it will have to decide which one is the official copy for the department and
the university, and which is the “reference copy.” Only the official copy
is covered under the schedule; the reference copy may be either permanent
or destroyed depending on its value. No reporting is necessary if the reference
copy is destroyed.
Q.If I don’t need separate Retention Schedules
for my corresponding paper and electronic files, do I still need to draw
reference to the electronic files (for purposes of correspondence, etc.)?
A. If you are maintaining
both paper documents and PC documents of the same records series, you should
establish, in writing, the correlation between the two. You should give each
the same names to allow for easy cross-referencing.
Q.Our department has a shortage of storage
space, so we’ve started keeping all our new files on computer disks only. Is
there a special protocol we should follow for Records Management?
A. If you
generate records on a PC that will constitute a new records series with no
paper equivalent, you need a schedule for them. In addition, your written
procedures must cover the maintenance of the documents on the PC, storage disk,
or tape, for the duration of their scheduled retention period.
