91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø

What Can and Cannot Be Disposed?

Transitory records are not required by the University to meet statutory obligations or to initiate, sustain, evaluate or provide evidence of decision-making, administrative or operational functions. Transitory records are not to be filed in official record keeping systems. 

Records required for business, legal, financial, or archival purposes must be retained and filed in official recordkeeping systems and disposed of in accordance with an approved record retention and disposition schedule.

The Policy does not apply to records that are not under the authority of the Records Management Policy. This includes: 

• Research records (subject to the 91³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏÍø Research Policy and its associated Procedures)
• Personal communications of individual faculty, staff and students; or
• Records placed in the University Archives by or on behalf of a person or organization other than the University. 

How to Disposition Official University Records 

Once the minimum records retention timeframe has elapsed for a grouping of records, the records become eligible for disposition (destruction or transfer to archives) according to the .

This standard provides direction and guidance to University Units for authorizing and performing disposition of Official University Records (physical and electronic) under their care and control that:

• Have met their minimum retention timeframe, and
• Are not subject to archival, legal, audit or investigative purposes. 

This standard does not apply to transitory records, which are of short-term, limited value and do not have retention requirements applied to them. For more information, see the Identification and Destruction of Transitory Records Guideline on the Information, Privacy and Records Management Office website. 

How to Destroy Transitory Records

Transitory Records must be Destroyed Securely 

Transitory Records must be disposed of in a manner such that information cannot be reconstructed. Physical records should be cross shredded or placed in a secure shredding bin. Any computer or mobile device that has been used to access personal or sensitive information in the custody of the University should have transitory information securely removed. For further information on identifying, classifying and destroying sensitive information, refer to the Information Technology Security Policy and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Policy.

Transitory Records do not require approval of destruction 

Transitory Records should be disposed of when they are no longer required. No approval is required for destruction. Individuals are not required to keep evidence of transitory records that have been deleted or destroyed.

Related Resources and Contacts