Records Management is the field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records. The Department of Archives and Special Collections provides assistance to all College departments and offices to help them efficiently manage institutional records. This is important because well-managed records are an asset to the College, while unmanaged records are a liability.
What is a record? Good question. Records aren’t just paper documents. They include any recorded information, regardless of medium or characteristics, created, received, and maintained by an organization or person. In other words, they can include not just papers, but also materials such as photographs, audio and video recordings, and College or departmental publications. Records come in physical and electronic form.The Archives maintains a General Records Retention Schedule to ensure that College records are maintained to meet all legal, fiscal, administrative, and operational requirements; to ensure that records of historic value are identified and transferred to the Archives; and to ensure that records that are no longer needed for legal, fiscal, administrative, or operational requirements are destroyed as prescribed by law. The General Records Retention Schedule may be supplemented by department- or office-specific schedules as needed.
In addition, the College administers several policies relevant to records management:
