Records Management & Archives Handbook: Records Creation

Statement

Each record has a life cycle that includes four distinct stages: creation, maintenance and use, retention, and disposition. This policy addresses records creation.

To ensure that newly created records meet the University’s current and future administrative needs, departments must consider each record’s potential historical value. Uniformity in the form and content of records having primarily historical value facilitates their eventual use for archival research. Some of these records include

• annual reports
• minutes of meetings
• periodic reports of standing and ad hoc committees

Procedures

1. Before a new record is created, the department determines whether the record is necessary—that its value will merit the costs of time and space needed to maintain it for the duration of its life cycle.
2. The Head of the Department ensures uniformity in the form and content of records.
3. When creating a new record, the department contacts the Director of Records Management and Archives to request the development of a retention schedule for that record.