Records Management
at Luther College

• Introduction to Records Management
• Luther College Records Policy
• Records Retention Policy
• Policy for Access to the Luther College Archives
• Luther College Confidential Destruction Policy

Introduction to Records Management

This Records Policy is designed to help you make records management a part of your office routine. Every record has a life cycle, and by understanding the final disposition of your records, you can manage what should and should not remain in your office more easily. If you would like a printed copy of this report, please contact Rachel Vagts, the College Archivist at x1805.

Easy Rules for Good Records Management

1. Follow the Records Retention Schedule and destroy appropriate routine materials.
Certain classes of records can and should be destroyed routinely three years after their creation. These include (but are not limited to) copies of requisitions, receipts, and travel expense reports; most printed material received from outside the College; and duplicates of memos and reports generated by your office. These types of records can safely be destroyed without consulting the Archivist about possible historical value. Please see the procedures below for information on confidential destruction.

2. Identify materials that become inactive.
Most other paper records in an office--reports, correspondence, minutes, background material--become inactive after 5 to 7 years. Inactive merely means that the material is rarely referred to and hence could conveniently be moved out of your office. This is most easily done if you break your files at regularly scheduled intervals (e.g. annually or every five years). By doing so, not only do folders not become overcrowded, but it is extremely easy to purge inactive material on a regular basis.

3. Transfer appropriate materials to the Archives.
Once you have identified materials that should be destroyed and materials that should no longer be stored in your office, you're ready to call the Archives.

1. Pitch out the clutter that is more than 3 years old: requisitions, receipts, travel vouchers, expense reports, peripheral printed material from outside the college and any duplicates of memos and reports generated by your office.

2. Put the contents into chronological order and break the folders at a predetermined date.

3. Label the old folders with inclusive dates before boxing them. If you are still uncertain, please call the Archives and we will come over and survey the files to determine which files warrant permanent preservation. We can even provide you with boxes in which to put those permanent records.

4. Fill the boxes. Please fill the boxes in the same order that the folders exist in the file cabinets.

5. Number the boxes (1 of 3; 2 of 3; 3 of 3).

6. Prepare a typed list, on CD or sent to the archives as an attachment, of folder titles (including beginning and ending dates) in each box. This insures that the Archives can retrieve material for you should you need it in the future.

7. Finally, put in a work order with Facilities Management to get the boxes moved to the College Archives in Preus Library.

There is much more that can be done if you have the time and inclination. The College Archivist is available for consultation on records inventories, the organization of files, the creation of retention schedules, and some aspects of forms management.

To retrieve something sent over to the Archives, request the file by phone or e-mail and we will either send over a copy or the original (if it is from your office).

If your records are to be destroyed according to the records schedule, make an inventory including the destruction cycle (i.e. the records are held for 7 years and then destroyed), then contact the Archives. Records will be staged in a secure location at the archives and then sent to Spectrum Industries for confidential destruction at regular intervals.

If you have any questions or comments about the information in this policy, please feel free to call the College Archivist, Rachel Vagts, at x1805.

Luther College Records Policy

1. For the purpose of this policy, Archives shall be defined as the Luther College Archives. The Archives is responsible for collecting, preserving and making available the history and development records of Luther College.

2. For the purpose of this policy, records shall be defined as all material on which information is recorded or preserved, regardless of form or characteristics, which is created or maintained by any agency, officer, or employee of Luther College in the transaction of its business. This definition refers to all forms of recorded information or other material bearing upon the activities and functions of Luther College, any of its officers, and employees. This definition also includes but is not limited to handwritten, typed, or printed material; publications; photographs; moving images; sound recordings; drawings; and computer or other machine readable data. Not included in the definition of records as used in this policy are: faculty research or lecture notes; library materials; and materials not published by the institution.

3. Records produced or received by any office or employee of Luther College in the transaction of College business are the property of the institution and subject to institutional policy for retention, disposal, access, and publication, including records produced or received by individuals in administrative and committee service capacities. Upon their completion, records retention schedules will be distributed to all individual employees. These schedules will serve as the formal institutional policy for disposition of all types of records.

4. No College records shall be discarded, destroyed or transferred from the custody of the home institution or otherwise disposed of except upon the prior approval of the Archivist. The decision to select and preserve records of historical value is the responsibility of the Archivist. The Archivist shall withhold the approval for the destruction of records until satisfied that the records involved need not be retained for legal or accounting reasons, as determined by appropriate officers. Approval either to transfer inactive institutional records to the Archives or to destroy them after an agreed upon period may take the form of written records disposition schedules or other written agreements between the Archivists and the administrative officers, department heads, or committee chairs responsible for the custody of these records during their active life.

5. The College Archives, under the direction of the College Archivist, is the depository for non-current institutional records having enduring and significant historical or research value. At least one copy of every publication issued by the College or by any of its agencies should be forwarded to the archives. The Archives also solicits and accepts donations of professional and personal papers of faculty and staff, records of student organizations, and other relevant material.

Luther College Archives, Luther College

June 2001

Records Retention Schedule

KEY:

PERMANENT = permanent retention, probably in the Archives after 10 years

Active = retain only as long as frequent reference is made to the document

Current = retain only for the current year/period

Policy for Access to the College Archives

Overview

The College Archives are operated year round. Public research hours are posted in the library. In addition, access is readily available at other times by appointment.

General Rules

1. Patrons using the collections in the archives must observe all instructions for the use of archival material.

2. Access to restricted records will be limited to authorized individuals only.

3. For the protection of its collections, the Archive reserves the right to restrict the use of materials which are not processed, materials of exceptional value, and fragile materials.

4. Patrons must honor any restrictions placed by donors of private materials.

5. Failure to observe the rules will result in forfeiture of the privilege of using the Archives.

External Access

Non-Luther College users will have the same access to materials with the exception of college records that have been closed to the public. Access to these materials may be granted with the permission of the Vice President governing those records.

Internal Access

Records that are protected by law are only accessible to the originating department or by special permission of the President. These include all forms of personnel records.

Generally, the records of the College are available to any staff member who needs access in the course of their official duties. Widely distributed documents, such as Faculty Meeting minutes are easily accessible without question. However, in the event a staff person were asking for something that did not fit his or her role in the institution, and it was a document that had confidential content, conference would be made with the originating department.

The only records staff can borrow are the ones their office created. Any department may call for records they created. These records can either be duplicated for their continued use, or the original file can be temporarily borrowed or permanently de-accessioned and returned to the department. However, any department needing access to project files they did not create can only view them in person, or pay for duplication. Original files will not be lent out for use to non-originating departments.

Luther College Confidential Destruction Policy

Confidential materials that have reached the end of their use at the college (according to the records retention schedule distributed by the Luther College Archives) shall be transferred to the archives for destruction.

If your records are to be destroyed according to the records schedule:

• Make an inventory including the destruction cycle (i.e. the records are held for 7 years and then destroyed). Please specify the types of records and why they are eligible for destruction.
• Materials may include staples or paper clips, but no binder clips
• Please contact the Archives at x1805.
• Contact Facilities Management to have the records moved.
• Records will be staged in a secure location at the archives and then sent to Spectrum Industries for confidential destruction at regular intervals.

As outlined in the Luther College Records Management Implementation Guide, the decision to destroy or retain college records requires the approval of the College Archivist. The Archivist shall withhold the approval for the destruction of records until satisfied that the records involved need not be retained for legal or accounting reasons, as determined by appropriate officers.

Approval either to transfer inactive institutional records to the Archives or to destroy them after an agreed upon period may take the form of written records disposition schedules or other written agreements between the Archivists and the administrative officers, department heads, or committee chairs responsible for the custody of these records during their active life.