Maricopa Community Colleges

Maricopa Steward

Record End of Life and Do We Have to Keep All This Paper?

Once a record has met the end of its lifecycle it becomes necessary to dispose of it in an appropriate manner. E-records may be deleted, and the media used to store the data can be reused, but paper records have different requirements. If a record contains confidential information it will need to be shredded, or burned, to meet the standards set forth by the Arizona State Library, Archvies and Public Records. Remember, before you destroy anything, you must ensure that a records hold is not in place by calling your college President’s office or the District’s Office of General Counsel.

Recycle vs. Shredding

Records that do not contain confidential information may be recycled––or thrown away if they can not be recycled. A third-party vendor may be contracted to shred confidential records but they must be able to guarantee that the records will be secured to ensure confidentiality at all times. Several colleges have established contracts with vendors to come in periodically and shred documents, setting up locked bins around campus to ensure confidentiality, while other colleges have purchased a shredder to handle destruction needs in-house. A list of contacts for college document destruction services can be found at www.maricopa.edu/publicstewardship/pr/Document%20Destruction%20Services.pdf.

Document Imaging

In some instances, records that need to be retained for some time can be scanned and the electronic files kept while the paper is destroyed, but not all records lend themselves to scanning. For instance, historical records can be imaged (on film) but not in a digital file. The State Library only recognizes paper and film as appropriate mediums for historical documents. As may be expected, there are strict requirements that need to be adhered to in order to scan images for such purposes. Imaging requirements are discussed on the Public Stewardship website. The proper forms (Imaging Request Forms) that must be approved by the State Library can also be found at the above referenced web site. This process only needs to be followed if the electronic files are to become the record––scanning files for convenience sake (while maintaining the paper version as the official record) can be done without an imaging request.

Once the records have been destroyed, a Report of Records Destruction form needs to be completed and sent the Arizona State Library to document the destruction. Copies of any records series should be destroyed at the time the records are.

Any questions regarding records destruction can be directed to the Office of Public Stewardship, 480-731-8882.

Maricopa Steward, Fall 2010