Records Management at East Carolina University

Organizational Chart

Draw a simple one on the board with Chancellor at top, Academic Affairs, Admin & Finance, Student Life, Health Sciences, Institutional Advancement, Graduate School

Show Art, Music, Arts & Sciences, Med School, etc and many departments below each one.

Handouts/Supplies

Power point presentation slides
Report of Destruction of Records in the University Records Center
Report of Destruction of Records in Office
Transfer instructions
Box labels
Our business cards
Records Center box – know how much they cost and how many you get when you order them
Holinger box
Acid free folders
Certificates of completion
Create handout for use with slide 6 – Have G22, G54, G49, G51 and G83
Records Management home page
Have a red foldered records schedule for show and tell

Miscellaneous

Check on having coffee
Make sure they know where the soda machine is
Meet people at front door
Tell guards and circ desk that there is a meeting and where
Check on having donuts – Krispy Kreme
Check out laptop
Roll call check off list

Maintenance - of active records and filing systems in an office
Preservation – of records of historic value
Disposition – moving records to inactive storage, destruction or records or sending records to the archives for permanent storage

NCGS 121 Archives and History Act
Assigns records management responsibility in all state agencies to the Department of Cultural Resources.

Regulates the destruction of public records.

Application to UNC schools – establish records managers/university archivist offices

We work with the DCR records analysts to write records schedules

NCGS 132 Public Records Law

Public record shall mean all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, films, sound recordings, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data-processing records, artifacts, or other documentary material regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance in connection with the transaction of public business by ANY agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions.

No public official may destroy, sell, loan or otherwise dispose of any public record except in accordance with G.S. 121. Whoever unlawfully removes, alters, defaces, mutilates or destroys a record shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor.

Public records and information are the property of the citizens of North Carolina. People may obtain copies of their public records and public information free or at the cost of copying. These requests are to be met at reasonable times (normal business hours) and under reasonable supervision. The person making the request does not have to disclose the reason why they want the information.

Not all PARTS of a public records are “open” to the public. So you have to apply this law in conjunction with other laws.

FERPA – Student confidentiality

Under FERPA all student information is confidential. Only directory information can be given out. These types of requests are best referred to the Registrar’s Office. Only upon death can a student record be opened to the general public. It is legal for us to request proof of death before releasing information. Again, it would be best for all requests to be sent to the Registrar’s Office.

Confidentiality – NCGS 126-22; 126-23 and 126-24; NCGS 116-37 – personnel confidentiality

Under the personnel statute, we can only give out directory information and salaries on employees. These types of requests are best referred to the Human Resources department or to the University Archives for retired faculty files.

Directory information:
Name
Age
Date of original employment
Current position, title, and salary
Date and amount of most recent increase/decrease in salary
Date of most recent promotion/demotion, transfer, suspension, separation or other change in classification Office to which the employee is currently assigned

People who can see the file:
the employee – but not any medical information
the employee’s supervisor
government officials state or federal but NOT for criminal prosecution or tax investigation
person with a court order

No medical information can be given out, NOT EVEN TO THE PERSON whose file it is.

HIPAA; [Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act] common law principles of physician-patient privilege – medical records

All medical records are confidential and HIPAA re-enforces that by implementing stricter controls and security over electronic medical records and computer systems. It also affects insurance claims and billing records. The privacy standard gives patient’s more control over the use and release of all their medical information regardless of format.

The law also attempts to standardize medical record keeping by creating code sets for disease identification and assigning unique id codes for insurance providers, employers, patients and hospitals.

Slide 4 – Risks & Benefits

Survive an audit or Death by audit
Preservation of vital records
Preservation of historic records
Clean out file cabinets
Litigation
Storage / Space costs
Inability to find records when you need them

Slide 5 – Retention Schedules

Records Schedule
List of all records series created by an office, in all formats, with instructions on the length of time these records should be kept and how they should be disposed of.

General Schedule - lists records common to many offices on one list.

Department Schedule – lists records unique to a department

Applying the ECU General Schedule - we will look at the general schedule and then discuss the procedures for

Getting a Department Schedule

Slide 6 - General Schedule

Signature sheet – gives authorization to us to use this schedule for up to five years. At that point it’s my responsibility to review the general schedule and make any changes as needed and to make you aware of those changes.

Introduction – outlines the responsibilities under state law. Gives information about Offices of Record. Services offered by the Records Management staff:

Amending/updating schedules
Box labels, transfer instructions
Retrieval services
Advice and technical assistance in solving Records Management problems

Section on e-mail and it’s use as a public record. Which types of e-mail are public records and which aren’t and gives strategies for maintenance and disposition of e-mail.

Section on Electronic Records – key point is that the disposition for electronic records is the same as for the equivalent paper records. Disposition length is determined by content and use not format. Discusses care and maintenance of electronic records and importance of backup procedures.

Section on Public Records of Short Term Value

Identifies 97 records series that appear in most offices across campus, especially the academic offices. These are arranged in five categories:

Administrative/Business/Financial Records
Courses
Medical/Research Records
Personnel Records
Student Records

The item number & title – identifies the records series in our database and in the database at DCR. Whenever you destroy records, transfer records or have questions about them, please refer to these pieces of identification.

Description – lists the kinds of forms or documents that make up the records series. Also lists any laws that the records are subject to.

Some records series are made up of a one specific form or document. Others are made up of several related forms or documents.

Disposition Instructions – lists when, where and how to dispose of records. Three basic dispositions:

Destroy in office after a set of criteria have been met.
Transfer to the RC and destroy after a set of criteria have been met.
Transfer to the RC and transfer on to the University Archives after a set of criteria have been met.

Criteria – number of years

No audit or litigation involving the records is ongoing
When reference value ends
When superseded or obsolete

Use handout here

May have different criteria for different parts of a record: Item G22 Publication File
1 – Transfer 2 copies to the custody of the University Archives at the conclusion of each fiscal year
2 – Transfer copies (as required) to the State Document Clearinghouse – NC State Library
3 – Destroy in office remaining copies when reference value ends.

Item G54 Faculty Recruitment File

1 – destroy in office policies and forms when superseded or obsolete
2 – transfer applications and other records for individuals hired to appropriate personnel file when individual accepts position
3 – destroy in office applications and other records that are unsolicited and for individuals not hired 2 years after date of receipt, if no charge of discrimination has been filed.
4 – If charge is filed, destroy in office 1 year after resolution of charge
5 – Destroy remaining records in office after 5 years if no litigation, claim, audit etc pending
6 – If official action has been initiated, destroy in office after completion of action

At point 2 – records are moved to an CSS File (Item 49), an EPA file (Item G51) or an SPA file (Item G83) – from that point forward, follow the applicable disposition instructions described in those new items.

Office of Record – office that may have greater responsibility over the creation, dissemination and retention of a specific records series.

In most instances you will see Individual Office – this means that the description and disposition applies to all offices across campus identically.

When a specific office is listed, the office manager should consult the specific departmental schedule for how to handle the specific records series. The disposition time will probably be longer and there may be other criteria to take into account.

Example 1 – Item G1 – Academic Committees File – Academic committees are made up of faculty and staff members rotating on and off. So there can be multiple copies of all or portions of the records created by a committee across campus. The Faculty Senate is the governing office for all Academic Committees. Committee chairs and secretaries are to report all minutes, reports, etc. to the Faculty Senate.

These are considered historic records of the university with a great deal of information regarding decisions made and enacted through time. On the Faculty Senate schedule the disposition is to maintain a copy of these records in the Faculty Senate office permanently and to send copies to the University Archives for permanent retention.

According to the general schedule, all other offices on campus are allowed to destroy these records when reference value ends in their office.

This prevents the University Archives from receiving partial sets from all other offices and having to reconcile all the copies, while insuring that a complete set of the records is being preserved for historical record.

Example 2 – Graduate school registrar at Greensboro – mistakenly destroyed all student records by using a general schedule.

Index – we’ve put an index at the back that lists all records series in alphabetical order.

Filing – General schedule written to hit most types of records found in offices. Your individual filing practices may combine 2 or more of these records series in a file.

Example – Student Reference File in your office may include drop/add forms, financial aid information, placement test scores, etc. For each part of the file, apply the appropriate dispositions.

You may not have all these kinds of records – general schedule doesn’t mean you have to start creating all these kinds of records.

You have records that AREN’T listed OR your office is listed as an OFFICE OF RECORD. Then you need a department schedule.

I come to an office and ask questions about the types of records that are kept in your office:
A list of records series created by or filed in the office not on the general schedule.
A description of the types of forms and documents in the records series
Confidential information
Length of time used actively in the office & amount of activity:
Every day
Once a week
Once a month
Once every 6 months
Once a year
Can’t remember the last time you opened the drawer.

Growth per year – 1 individual file, 1/3 drawer, ½ drawer, full drawer, more
How much space in your office?
Are the records audited?
State and federal regulations related to the records
Are they original records or copies?
What are the records’ value(s)? - Records can have more than one type of value.

Records Values

Administrative
Records used in the day to day operation of an office. May or may not have permanent value. At this point I would take into consideration the placement of an office in the organization to determine the likelihood of duplication of records.
Fiscal
Records related to financial issues. These generally have short-term value only and include budget files and the FRS system. In most offices these will be destroyed when reference value ends. The Administration & Finance offices have longer retention requirements on these records. These would be considered offices of record.

Legal

All records could potentially be used in a court of law either for the University or against it. But some records are specifically created and maintained for legal contingencies. Grievance files, contracts, personnel files and EEO files.

Historical

Records that have value after their immediate administrative, fiscal, and legal values have ended. Records that show historical and significant changes in the University. Annual department reports, committee files, photographs, correspondence, etc. These records should come to the University Archives when their use in the office has ended.

From this information I can write a schedule. This process is a negotiation between the office staff and myself. The disposition lengths are the minimum disposition time. You can keep records longer, but there is risk involved in never destroying records.

Slide 8 - Approval Process

The department schedule is a negotiated agreement between the department and the archivist.

I will create a draft schedule and send it back to the office for review. Once we agree on a schedule, I forward it to DCR for review by Ed Southern. He reviews all university records schedules for the UNC schools on a first come, first serve basis. Ed generally has questions regarding the schedules. I pass these questions back to the departments, get the answers and send them to Ed. When we get an agreement with Ed, we get a final schedule back.

It has a signature sheet like the general schedule, but it will be signed by the Chancellor, the Vice Chancellor to which you report and the department head. The schedule will be in affect for 5 years or until superseded.

Schedules are posted on the archives website when completed.

Schedules are in affect for 5 years or until superseded. As things change in offices, we can write amendments to the schedule to reflect the changes in recordkeeping practices. Anytime you begin to create a new type of record, call and we can write an amendment to the schedule.

When a department changes in some way and part of the records are reassigned to a new office. We should change both departmental schedules to reflect that change.

Slide 9 – University Records Center

Read slide 9. List of major functions of Records Center.

Slide 10 - Transferring Records to the Records Center

Use of the records center is determined by the amount of records created, size of office space, inactivity of records and length of time that they have to be kept.

The longer an inactive record has to be kept the more likely it will need to come to the Records Center for part of it’s life span.

• Only one type of record (item #) should be sent in the same box. Only one series date(s) should be sent in the same box.
• Show them the correct archival box. Show web page of item # at Staples.
• Show them the correct box labels and explain how to fill them out. Show web page of labels link.
• Show web page of transfer instructions.

Slide 11 - Inventory & Retrieval of Files

Slide 12 - Destroying Records in the Records Center

Records are destroyed in the records center twice a year – January and July.

Slide 13 - Destroying Records in the Office

Choose a day once a year – end of the fiscal year or end of the calendar year to destroy records.

Pull out your department schedule and go through it first

Write up the records that are ready for destruction on the Report of Destruction of Records

Then go through the general schedule and add those items to the Report of Destruction of Records

Send the Report of Destruction of Records to me, I’ll make comments and sign it and send back a copy.

Keep the copies with your Records Schedule for auditors.

Slide 14 - University Archives

We process the records that have a disposition of transfer to the University Archives for appraisal and final disposition. Processing means that we go through the boxes and get rid of duplicate documents, remove staples, paperclips, place the documents in acid free folders and boxes, create a finding aid and post that on-line and make the records available to all researchers – faculty, staff, students and the general public.

From the time records are moved to the custody of the University Archives they are no longer available to be checked out.

You can come and do research in the records and make copies.

The archives is open 8 – 5 Monday – Friday and 10-2 on Saturdays during the school year.

Slide 6 Illustration

Green = action to take
Blue = where action takes place; where records are transferred or destroyed
Red = criteria to be met before action can take place; a specific time, after a specified amount of time has elapsed, etc.
Black = further explanation of action; list of statutes that are to be complied with

Example 1

Item 22. PUBLICATIONS FILE. Publications produced by and concerning the activities and programs of the unit.
DISPOSITION INSTRUCTIONS: Transfer 2 copies to the custody of the University Archives at the conclusion of each fiscal year for permanent retention.

Transfer copies (as required) to the State Document Clearinghouse, North Carolina State Library when received from the printer, in accordance with GS 125-11.8 (b).

Destroy in office remaining copies when reference value ends.

Office of Record: Individual office

Example 2

Item 54. FACULTY RECRUITMENT FILE. Records concerning the recruitment of faculty members for department. File may include policies, forms, resumes, applications, correspondence, reports, interview notes, and other related records. (Comply with applicable provisions of G.S. 126-22, 126-23 and 126-24 regarding confidentiality of personnel records.)
DISPOSITION INSTRUCTIONS: Destroy in office policies and forms when superseded or obsolete.

Transfer applications and other records for individuals hired to appropriate personnel file when individual accepts position.

Destroy in office applications and other records that are unsolicited and for individuals not hired 2 years after date of receipt, if no charge of discrimination has been filed.

If charge has been filed, destroy in office 1 year after resolution of charge. [continuation of statement above, applies to the applications and other records].

Destroy remaining records in office after 5 years if no litigation, claim, audit or other official action involving the records has been initiated.

If official action has been initiated, destroy in office after completion of action and resolution of issues involved. [continuation of statement above, applies to the remaining records]

Office of Record: Individual office

Transfer to one of the following:

Item 49. CLINICAL SUPPORT SERVICES (CSS) REFERENCE FILE. Records concerning employees excepted from personnel act under GS 116-37. File may include personnel action forms, resumes, job descriptions, and other related records. (Comply with applicable provisions of GS 126-7 regarding confidentiality of personnel records.)
DISPOSITION INSTRUCTIONS: Destroy in office 1 year after employee terminates service after verifying that records are duplicates of those in Human Resources office.

Transfer to Human Resources office any unique records to be incorporated into the official personnel file of the employee. [criteria is the same as in statement above]

Office of Record: Human Resources

Item 51. EXEMPT FROM PERSONNEL ACT (EPA) EMPLOYEE PERSONNEL FILE. Records concerning employees not subject to the State Personnel Act. File may include personnel action forms, evaluations, resumes, job descriptions, and other related records. (Comply with applicable provisions of G.S. 126-22, 126-23, and 126-24 regarding confidentiality of personnel records.)
DISPOSITION INSTRUCTIONS: Transfer to the University Records Center for permanent security storage 2 years after employee terminates service.

Office of Record: Individual office, Provost, Vice Chancellor for Administration & Finance, Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences, Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement, and Vice Chancellor for Research/Graduate Studies

Item 63. SUBJECT TO PERSONNEL ACT (SPA) REFERENCE FILE. Records concerning employees subject to the Personnel Act. File may include personnel action forms, resumes, job descriptions, and other related records. (Comply with applicable provisions of G.S. 126-22, 126- 23, and 126-24 regarding confidentiality of personnel records.)
DISPOSITION INSTRUCTIONS: Destroy in office 1 year after employee terminates service after verifying that records are duplicates of those in Human Resources office.

Transfer to Human Resources office any unique records to be incorporated into the official personnel file of the employee. [criteria is the same as in statement above]

Office of Record: Human Resources