If your department is not in the process of responding to a Freedom of Information request or legal discovery, and you come across
you're likely dealing with a non-official record. Non-official records can and should be destroyed immediately – no documentation of the destruction necessary.
To be certain your record is non-official, consult our helpful decision tree.
Many official records must be kept for a defined period of time due to legal, regulatory or business requirements. These requirements have been synthesized into an official guide that lists 115 major types of records. For every major type of record, the guide provides:
In addition to legislative and regulatory compliance, standardized destruction brings many benefits to the university:
To determine the length of time you should keep each official record in your custody, visit the Time limits for official records, identify the type of record you have, and follow the instructions.