New Record Retention Program

As more records are identified and more information is made available internally, it’s critical for stakeholders and other members of the university community to have a comprehensive Record Retention Program they can consult and rely on when reviewing and implementing retention policies. The Program will be structured so that stakeholders and other members of the university community will be routinely involved with reviewing, overseeing, and implementing best practices for retaining and properly disposing of confidential university records.

Identifying records that have reached their maximum retention date will lower costs in two ways: 1) by reducing the number of records in both physical and digital storage, and 2) by reducing the potential for public disclosure, misuse, or loss of confidential university records, which can result in substantial financial costs in the case of a data breach.

The Record Retention Program was shared with the Data Stewardship Council and reviewed and approved by the Data Governance Council in August 2025. The Program will be managed by Jacqueline Moore.

A Record Retention Group will be formed that consists of Department Contacts, who will follow a formal and customizable Record Retention Program Framework provided by the Data Administration team to manage the retention of 4 and 3 lock level records in their departments. This group will meet quarterly, aligning with the cadence of the meetings with the Chief Privacy Officer and members of the Data Administration team. The Record Retention Group will be informed of any changes by utilizing the Record Retention Group Teams Channel and the Record Retention Group meeting series to address such changes. The Department Contacts are expected to relay such changes to those in their department who handle the records listed on the University Record Retention Schedule at any point in their data life cycle. The Data Administration team will serve as a central point of contact for questions, concerns, or gaps related to the retention of records for their department that need to be addressed outside of the quarterly meetings.