To provide efficient, economical and effective controls for the maintenance, use and destruction of all College records

Transcription

1 Records Management Storage and Destruction Procedures Definitions and Responsibilities Purpose To provide efficient, economical and effective controls for the maintenance, use and destruction of all College records Definitions College Records Any document, paper, letter, book, map, photograph, sound or video recording, microfilm, magnetic tape, electronic medium of physical form or characteristic, created or received by the College, any of its officers, or employees in the transaction of business Non-Record Material Extra identical copies of documents created for convenience of reference, notes, journals, and similar documents created for the employee s personal convenience; blank forms (unless subject to audit, such as blank checks); stocks of publications; library materials acquired for reference on display; and any records associated with a matter conducted under an alternative dispute resolution procedure in which personnel of the College participated as an impartial third party, or facilitated as the administrator of a dispute resolution. Vital Records Records that are essential to the resumption or continuation of College operations in an emergency or disaster, and/or to the recreation of the legal or financial status of the College. Records Retention Schedule Document required by State law that identifies the records created and maintained by the College, the retention periods, and other records disposition information that the records management program may require Retention Period The period of time during which records must be kept before final disposition. The retention period for a record applies to the record regardless of the medium in which it is maintained. Records Custodian An employee of the College who is responsible for directing and managing the operations of a College unit or department Responsibilities Records Management will establish standards and procedures for the proper care and secure storage of College records. College unit/department managers are responsible for the proper and legal management of the records in their custody. To fulfill this responsibility, each College unit/department manager will serve as the Records Custodian for his/her respective area and shall have primary responsibility and accountability for the following duties in support of this Rule: Cooperate with Records Management in carrying out the rules and procedures of the records management program established by the College. Create, maintain, and protect the records necessary to document his/her department s official activities ensuring that records are complete and accessible for the retention periods outlined in the College Retention Schedule. Develop written departmental procedures for file organization to ensure an effective maintenance and retrieval process for records. Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness 1

2 Establish and document effective measures for protecting essential and confidential information from erasure and/or disclosure. Develop written documentation for department specific systems such as databases or spreadsheets to ensure continuity of departmental and College operations. Assist Records Management in the development and maintenance of the College Records Control Schedule. Record Retention Schedule The Records Management Officer will develop and maintain a records retention schedule to identify essential College records. The Records Retention Schedule will be consistent with the applicable Texas State Library and Archives Commission Retention Schedules adopted by the College. The College Records Retention Schedule shall be binding on all offices and units of the College. Records Storage The College will provide a centralized facility for storage of inactive College records. Only records identified on the College Records Retention Schedule and determined to be inactive are eligible for storage in Records Storage. Records Storage is not to be used for storage of extra copies of documents, magazines, newspapers, books, or other non-record material. Records Management is responsible for the development of effective and efficient records storage and retrieval systems, and for the development of procedures to ensure the continuous transfer of inactive records from offices to storage. Returning Records to Storage 1. Go to Safesite website 2. Click on Request boxes returned to Safesite. Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness 2

3 3. Enter the Box IDs for all the boxes you are returning and Validate Box IDs. 4. Safesite will pick up records from your location. You DO NOT have to send records to the system office first. Sending Records to Storage for the First Time Before sending records to storage: Is the retention period 2 years or less? If so, the records should not be sent to storage. Keep the records on hand on campus or in office for length of retention, then send to Safeshred for recycling or destruction. Have these items been scanned into the system? Are paper copies required? If these items have been scanned and a digital image that can be reproduced is all that is required, then DO NOT send records to storage. Your paper copies can be sent for destruction. Procedures for destruction are covered under Destruction of Records in this document. 1. Pack your records in either letter or legal size boxes. Records packed in bankers boxes will be charged a higher storage fee. Be sure to use a box that will stand up for time it will be in storage. Do not write anything on the boxes. Attach a bar code label to the box. These labels will be provided by Safesite. Contact Catherine Hooper at Catherine.a.hooper@lonestar.edu if you need labels. 2. Go to the Safesite website 3. Click on Request new boxes picked up and delivered to Safesite. Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness 3

4 4. Enter the Box ID This is the 3 letter 6 number code on the label. 5. Category is currently not being used but you may choose a category if you want. 6. Enter your department. If you do not see a code for your department, contact Catherine Hooper at Catherine.a.hooper@lonestar.edu. 7. Enter the Retention Date First drop down is month, second is year. Consult the Records Control Schedule for the Retention Date. Records must be kept at least the minimum time on the Schedule. 8. Enter a description of the records in the box. Be as detailed as possible (ex: receipts, payroll records, student health records) Be sure to include the term or date range of the documents. It is best not to mix documents that have different retention lengths. 9. Add Box. 10. Choose your location then in the Pickup Comments enter more specific information such as your office or cubicle number. It s a good idea to add an alternate person to contact in case you are out of the office at time of pickup. 11. Complete this form for each new box being sent to storage. 12. Contact Angela Washington in Accounts Payable whenever you send new boxes to Safesite. 13. Your department will be charged for all boxes stored at Safesite. The cost per month is.50 for letter size boxes and 1.00 for larger boxes. Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness 4

5 Request Boxes Delivered to Service Address 1. Go to the Safesite website 2. Click on Request boxes delivered to my service address. 3. Enter the Box IDs for the records you need. Descriptions entered when boxes were sent to storage will be especially helpful when retrieving boxes from storage. 4. Safesite will deliver to your location. 5. You may have as many boxes delivered to you and returned as you need. There is no charge for this service. Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness 5

6 Destruction of Records Purpose The following procedures are to provide for consistent, systematic and documented destruction of College Records. Permanent Removal of College Records Records in storage at SAFESITE All records should be destroyed once the retention period has expired unless an Open Records Request is pending, the subject matter is pertinent to a pending lawsuit or audit, or the department head requests in writing to Records Management that the record be retained for an additional period. Procedures 1. Destruction Notice 1.1. Records Management will prepare a Destruction Notice of all records eligible for destruction. The Destruction Notice will include Box ID and description (if available.) and eligible destruction date. The Records Destruction Notice will be sent to the Records Custodian identified to authorize destruction of the corresponding records Review The Records Custodian is to review the Notice and verify that none of the listed records are the subject of litigation, an audit or an Open Records Request. Any records involved in litigation or an access request must not be destroyed until after resolution of the suit or request. 2. Permanent Records Removal - Alternately, the department Records Custodian may request permanent records removal by filling out the Permanent Removal of Records Authorization form. Send this form to Catherine Hooper who will make the arrangements with Safesite. 3. Destruction Records Management will carry out the destruction by using an approved method as outlined in the Local Government Code, Chapter 202, Section , Method of Destruction. 4. Methods of Destruction 4.1. Shredding Certificates of Destruction are issued for records destroyed by shredding. There is a fee required for shredding. Your department is responsible for this fee Recycling This option is for records that do not require a Certificate of Destruction. Records that contain personal information or financial records such as those that contain account information are not eligible for recycling. There is no fee for recycling. 5. Recordkeeping Record of destruction notices, Permanent Records Removal Requests and Certificates of Destruction will be maintained by Records Management in accordance with the College Records Retention Schedule. Destruction of Records in Departments Records that have been stored on campus College unit/department managers have the primary responsibility for the proper and legal management of the records in their custody to ensure they are complete and accessible for the designated retention period. The destruction of any records identified on the College Records Control Schedule must be documented and authorized by Records Management. Contact Records Management for records not listed on the College Records Control Schedule. Procedures 1. Place an orange destruction label on your box. You do not have to put anything else on your box. These labels will be provided by Safesite. Contact Catherine Hooper at Catherine.a.hooper@lonestar.edu if you need labels. Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness 6

7 2. Records Destruction Request After the retention period of a record has expired, the department s Record Custodian must complete a Records Destruction Request. (This form is provided by Safeshred which is part of Safesite.) 2.1. Enter your GL Account number Fill out the Customer Contact Information. Account Number: (This is the same for every department) Customer Name: Lone Star College System The rest of the contact information is your information. 2.3 Enter the orange preprinted label number. 2.4 Instructions/Remarks: Here you can enter your office or cubicle number or an alternate person who can authorize the pickup in case you are out. 2.5 Do not fill out the Authorized Customer Signature. 2.6 Send completed form to Catherine Hooper for approval. Catherine Hooper will contact Safesite for pickup and then you will receive an confirmation from Safesite. 2.7 The confirmation will contain a Batch Number. This number is very important. Please give the batch number to Catherine Hooper and Angela Washington in Accounts Payable. 2.8 See the price sheet at the end of this document. Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness 7

8 3. Records Purge If you need to clean out a lot of records, such as a whole file cabinet, large locked bins are available from Safeshred. See the price sheet at the end of this document. 3.1 You must notify Angel Washington in Accounts Payable of your arrangements with Safeshred. Destruction of Non-Record Materials Procedures 1. Non-record material that does not include confidential information may be recycled on campus. 2. Confidential/Sensitive Information All non-record material that contains confidential information (refer to FERPA and Public Information Act for details on privacy information) such as Social Security numbers, home address, telephone numbers, grades and other personal privacy information must be rendered unrecognizable before being recycled. Records Management contracts with a destruction service to make the destruction of confidential records convenient, secure and reliable. If a department chooses to shred documents, they must use a cross-cut shredder to provide security. 3. Please follow same procedures as Destruction of Records in Departments. Box Requirements 1. Boxes that will contain records to be stored at Safesite should be letter, legal size or bankers boxes.. Boxes should be in good condition so that they will not collapse if stacked or will not deteriorate quickly if stored for a long period of time or permanently. 2. Boxes that will contain records that will not be stored but only shredded or recycled only have to be in good enough condition to make it to the Safesite facility and recycling process without falling apart. Boxes will be shredded or recycled with the records. Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness 8

9 Inventory You can print an inventory of your current records in storage at any time. (If you need a list of boxes that have destroyed, please contact Janine Waggoner at Safesite.) 1. Click on Query box inventory. 2. Choose your department and click on Search. 3. Click on the excel icon to print your inventory. Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness 9

10 College records will be maintained in accordance with the Local Government Code, College rules and procedures, and the College Records Control Schedule. Unauthorized destruction of any record is prohibited. Questions? Contact Cathy Hooper at or Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness 10

11 Safeshred, Inc. OFF-SITE ROUTINE SERVICES: This pricing schedule is designed to give you an approximation of total charges for shredding. By The Container Executive Cabinet First Unit $ units $ plus units $20.00 Medium Carts. {64 gals.} First Unit $ units $ plus units $25.00 Large Carts. {96 gals. } First Unit $ units $ plus units $33.00 OFF-SITE PURGE SERVICE By The Container This quote include delivery/pick-up of lockable containers, secure destruction, certificate of destruction and recycling of paper. By The Box This quote includes physical p/u of boxes, secure destruction, certificate of destruction and recycling of paper. 1 cube box {1.2 cu. ft. } $5.00/ea. 2 cube box { 2.4 cu. ft. } $10.00/ea. 3 cube box { 3.6 cu. ft. } $10.00/ea. Recycling This service provided at no charge for boxes in our inventory. DEFINITIONS 1. Off-Site Destruction is the destruction of paper at our facility 2. Routine Service-weekly, biweekly, monthly, or bimonthly scheduling 3. Purge Service- Annual or bi-annual clean out of old documents Thanks Janine Waggoner Jwaggoner@safesite.cc Office of Research and Institutional Effectiveness 11