The Office of Records Management developed the following recommendations for handling records associated with campus closures.
Guiding Principles
All University records are subject to University Policy AD35 – University Archives and Records Management. How long certain records must be kept and their ultimate disposition is determined by the Records Retention Schedules.
- All records, physical or digital, need to be removed from each closing campus prior to the last day of occupancy, which may vary by location. Records should be reviewed to determine ownership and disposition as soon as possible, to reduce the loss of context and institutional knowledge as employees depart. Prior to the last day of occupancy, the Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses (OVPCC) will confirm that all records have been removed from the location.
- Individuals working with or encountering records should be mindful of any applicable privacy and sensitivity concerns in accordance with University Policies including: AD53 Privacy Policy, AD95 Information Assurance and IT Security, AD22 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and AD11 University Policy on Confidentiality of Student Records, particularly if the records have been separated from their creators/orphaned. When requesting assistance from leadership or another unit for reviewing records, please indicate any relevant security/privacy considerations.
- These recommendations are largely informed by CWC Records Coordination Committee conversations with University stakeholder groups, including: University Registrar, Human Resources, Student Affairs, Commonwealth Campus Athletics, Finance & Business, Academic Affairs, and Admissions. The University Libraries and University Archivist Ben Goldman provided additional consultation and guidance.