Record Retention Schedule

Institutional and Legal Records

Articles of Incorporation (Charter), Bylaws, Board of Trustee and Committee Minutes, Deeds and Titles - Permanently

Licenses, Patents and Trademarks - While Active (+) 6 Years

Attorney Opinion Letters (re: property) - While Active (+) 4 Years

Leases - While Active (+) 6 Years

Contracts - While Active (+) 4 Years

Policy Statements - 10 Years

Campus Crime Reports (annual) - 4 Years

Campus Crime Reports (interim) - 2 Years

Federal Tax Records

Forms 990 and 990-T and supporting documentation - 3 Years (6 Years if understatement is more than 25%, indefinitely if fraud is involved)

Exemption Application - Permanently

Exemption - Permanently

Financial Records

Description of accounting system, balance sheet, auditor's reports; capital property records, including inventory, depreciation schedules, mortgage records and property improvement records - While Active (+) 4 Years

Accounts Receivable, including ledgers, receipts, and uncollected amounts; accounts payable, including purchase requisitions/work orders, invoices, ledgers, payment and disbursement records, expense reports, insurance payments and royalty payments; Accounts Payable, including purchase requisitions/work orders, invoices, ledgers, payment and disbursement records, expense reports, insurance payments and royalty payments - 4 Years

Collection records and equipment inventory - While Active

Institutional Publications

Alumni newsletters and directories, student newspapers and institutional newspapers/newsletters - 3 Years

Student and employee directories, College press publication lists - 5 Years

Bulletins and course catalogs - 10 Years

Facilities Records

Air/Water waste emissions records - 3 Years

Hazardous chemical waste records - 5 Years

Office layouts, zoning permits, operating permits, maintenance records, motor vehicle records and laboratory practices - While Active

Building permits - While Active (+) 1 Year

Building plans and specifications - Permanent

Student Records

Application Materials For Students Who Are Accepted But Do Not Enter:

Acceptance letters, applications, correspondence and transcript - 1 Year after application term

Application Materials For Students Who Enter:

Acceptance Letters, applications, correspondence, entrance exams and placement scores - 5 Years after date of attendance

Letters of Recommendation - Until Admitted

Individual Student Records:

Course drop/add slips, pass/fail requests, registration forms, transcript requests - 1 Year

Class schedules, applications for graduation and personal data forms - 1 Year after date of last attendance

Advanced placement, foreign student (I-20) forms, degree audit records and transfer credit evaluations - 5 Years after date of last attendance

Academic records and date of graduation and degree award - Permanent

FERPA requests - Life of requested record (If requested by the student, no records are required)

Financial Aid Records:

Applications and financial aid transcripts - 5 Years

Financial aid awards, lender's name and address, job placements and repayments - While Enrolled (+) 5 Years

Promissory Notes - Permanent

Personnel and Employment Records

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) reports - 3 Years

OSHA reports and records regarding occupational injury or illnesses - 5 Years

(NB: If an employee was exposed to hazardous materials or other toxic substances while at the College, exposure records must be retained for 30 years from the date of the exposure. Medical records of an employee who was exposed must be retained for the duration of employment plus 30 years.)

Employment applications and pre-employment records, including advertisements and announcements of positions, resumes and employment applications and results of background investigation, including letters of reference, verification of information provided; potential employees on a application, credit reports and criminal record checks - 1 Year

Payroll records including employee's name, home address, occupation, sex, and birth date (if under 19 years old) and, except for administrators or professionals, hour and day when work week begins, total hours worked each work day and work week, total daily or weekly straight-time earnings, regular hourly pay rate for any week in which overtime is worked, total overtime pay for the work week, wage additions or deductions and date of payment and pay period covered, W-2s and W-4s - 6 Years

(This time period exceeds Federal and state requirements and may be adjusted.)

Family and Medical Act Leave records including - 4 Years

Individual Employee Files:

Employment application or resume, employment history, beneficiary designation forms, emergency contacts, Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9) Forms, medical records, promotions - While Employed

Attendance records, employee evaluations, disciplinary warning notices, demotions, tenure, transfers, layoffs - 3 Years

Records regarding terminated employees - Indefinitely

Employee Pension Plans and Other Benefit Records

Employee Pension Plans and Other Benefit Records, including records of the plans themselves, individual vesting records, contributions, accounts and all other benefits - Indefinitely

(The ADEA requires an employer to retain copies of pension plans, seniority system plans, and merit pay plans (although not the records of the individual participants) for the duration of the plan plus one year. Although ERISA requires that individual employee benefit transaction records be maintained for a minimum of six years, an affected employee can file suit at any time if fraud is involved.)

Faculty Records

Basic Information: In addition to the personnel/employment records described above, records regarding faculty members generally include reports submitted by the faculty member to the department chair's or dean's office, all correspondence, current resume - While Employed

Student Evaluations of Faculty: Course evaluations - 3 Years or until promotion, tenure or contract renewal decision is reached.

Peer Evaluations: Reviews by faculty members, department heads and deans; letters from external and internal reviewers evaluating publications - 4 Years from time of action regarding contract renewal, promotion or tenure (indefinitely if result is negative)

Disciplinary Records: Documentation regarding behavior deficiencies, attempts to correct behavior deficiencies (e.g. performance counseling), formal charges of misconduct, transcripts/minutes of disciplinary hearings/appeals, findings and resolution of foregoing - Indefinitely