Got Paper?

Is your desk piled high with notes and papers that you’re afraid to part with, just in case you might need to refer to something later? Or maybe your file cabinets are bursting at the seams with records from ten years ago. And e-mail – well, sometimes it just takes forever to get through to the real messages because of all of the unsolicited ads for lower mortgage rates and whatnot, and the next thing you know, you have 300 messages in your inbox.

So whether it’s paper or electronic, just how long should you keep an item? If you’ve ever attended a training session conducted by a member of the Legal Department, you know the common response to most any question is: “It depends.”

The timeline for keeping a record depends upon the type of record it is, and whether or not the document relates to any pending litigation or complaint. As an educational institution and a political subdivision of the state of Arizona, the Maricopa County Community College District must adhere to the records retention guidelines established by the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records.

All records, whether paper or electronic, are considered to have a life cycle from the point at which they are created, to when they are disposed.

A public entity such as MCCCD is responsible for maintaining records for public accountability. Records are managed according to their value: administrative, fiscal, legal and historical. A records retention and disposition schedule for community colleges has been developed that outlines, by function, how long to keep certain records – whether they are related to office administration, financial aid or public safety.

Typically, the retention timeline is the same whether a record is paper or electronic. Records with a permanent or historical value should never be disposed. The records retention schedule is available at: www.maricopa.edu/legal/pr/index.htm.

Specific records maintained by a division or department that do not appear on the retention schedule will need to be identified on a subsequent schedule for the State Library, Archives and Public Records, and submitted to that agency.

For questions or assistance with records maintenance, please contact 480-731-8880.

Published in the Winter 2006 Edition of In Brief