General Records Schedule FAQ

The vast majority of departments at the University are expected to switch to the General Records Retention Schedule. Some areas of the university will continue to maintain their own retention schedules if they have records documenting unique functions not found elsewhere on campus (for example, Public Safety or the University Registrar) which they will use in conjunction with the General Records Schedule. To determine your status, please review the list of supplemental approved unique schedules. If you do not see your schedule number listed, it has been determined that your previous schedule is now defunct and you should switch over to using the General Records Schedule.

All records on the schedule represent functions, which may be different from their common names. For example, A113s are not listed on the schedule, but since they are travel expense reports, they can be found under "Travel Records". You can use the "find" function (Control+F) to do a word search of the PDF.

If the General Records Schedule does not appear to list the type of record you have, please contact the Records Manager for guidance.

UC staff often ask about keeping records longer than the recommended retention period due to worry they might need the records one day. UC Records Management discourages this practice, since it leads to disorganized groups of records, and potentially opens up the University to liability. If you have a legitimate business reason (for example, a longer than usual professional accreditation cycle) to maintain records longer than what is suggested on the general retention schedule, please contact the Records Manager to arrange for a local records schedule.

No office may keep records for a shorter period than indicated on the retention schedule, under any circumstances. The guidelines in this schedule represent the minimum legal periods necessary to ensure the University's compliance with various state and federal laws and regulations.

Upcoming workshops are typically scheduled twice a year. Please check the workshops page for more information.

UC Records Management can do a custom workshop for your department, area, or college with 3-4 weeks' notice. Please contact the Records Manager to make arrangements.

"ACT" means Active, "IND" means Indefinite.

"Active" means as long as the relationship is active. It is often seen with employee, student, and grant records. In these examples, it would mean as long as the employee has an active employment relationship with UC, as long as the student is actively enrolled at UC, and as long as the grant period is active.

After the retention period for records has passed, you must follow the instructions in the last column of the General Records Schedule. Most records will be destroyed after the retention period has passed. To properly destroy records, review the disposal instructions. If the instructions say "Transfer to University Archives" or "Archive final or major reports" you must transfer the records to University Archives in the Archives and Rare Books Library.

Please review the transfer guidance for both paper and electronic records.

Please review the disposal guidance for both paper and electronic records.

UC Records Management does not offer shredding services. The Office of Information Security periodically schedules shredding days for the campus community.

If you have identified material in excess of 3 boxes, or electronic records that total more than 2 GB, please contact the Records Manager to arrange for a pre-transfer consultation.

UC Records Management does not offer records storage services.

Public records requests should be referred to General Counsel, at pubrecds@ucmail.uc.edu