Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) Policy statement. In accordance with
section
149.33
of the Revised Code, the board of trustees has full responsibility for
establishing and administering a records retention program for Youngstown state
university (university). The board of trustees directs the university to
comply with all state and federal laws regarding the creation and disposition
of university records.
(B) Purpose.
To ensure compliance with section
149.33
of the Revised Code for the establishment and administration of efficient and
economical management methods applied to the creation, utilization,
maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposition of the university's
records.
(C) Scope. This policy
applies to all records of the university, both public and exempt, that are
maintained and disposed in accordance with the university's records retention
schedule.
(D) Definitions (for
purposes of this policy).
(1) "Records" are
defined as any document, device or item, regardless of physical form or
characteristic (including a record created, generated, sent, communicated or
stored by electronic means) that is created or received by or comes under the
jurisdiction of the university and which serves to document the organization,
functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities of
the university. Records and their retention and associated retention schedules
are numerated in the
"Records Retention for Public Colleges and Universities
in Ohio: A Manual" (IUC manual). University records may include, but are
not limited to:
(a) Financial records such as
requisitions, purchase orders, invoices, bank data, and ledgers or
journals.
(b) Administrative
records such as correspondence, emails, reports, policy statements and related
items both sent and received.
(c)
Minutes of all university
board and committee meetings.
(d) Publications and other items issued by
the university.
(2)
"Non-record materials" are documents, devices, or items in the university's
custody that do not meet the above definition because they are not needed to
document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures,
operations, or other activities of the university. Examples of non-records
include:
(a) Rough notes and drafts which do
not contain any information that needs to be preserved or which merely
duplicate information that is being preserved in other documents that are
records.
(b) Extra copies of
documents kept only for reference.
(c) Stocks of publications and processed
documents.
(d) Library or museum
materials intended solely for reference or exhibition.
(3) "Active record" means any
record that
relates to current business matters and
is
required to carry out the daily activities of the department.
(4) "Disposal" means the removal of records
from a department or office. It does not necessarily refer to record
destruction, but rather
to the various processes of records retention,
whether offsite storage, conversion, or destruction.
(5) "Electronic record" means any record that
is created, generated, communicated, received, maintained or stored on any
electronic medium owned by the university or controlled by the university or a
university employee. Examples include, but are not limited to: email, word
processing documents and spreadsheets, and databases.
(6) "Permanent record" means a record that
has continued historical or other value to warrant retention beyond the time
it
is needed for administrative, legal, or fiscal purposes.
(7) "Records custodian" means the employee
responsible for records retention in their assigned area of university
operations.
(8) "Records retention
schedule" is a listing of various types of routine, administrative records
maintained by university offices and departments.
(9) "Transitory records" are records which
are needed for a limited time to complete a routine action used in the
preparation of final records or are kept as information or convenience copies
by offices or individuals who do not have primary responsibility for
them. Examples are drafts of documents, telephone
messages, and emails relating to the scheduling of meetings.
(10) "Unit leader" is a department chair,
office director, or other administrator that directs the regular function of a
unit of the university.
(E) Procedures.
(1) The program shall be
administered by the archives and special
collections
department of Maag library (university archives), which shall have authority to
develop administrative procedures and guidelines to implement this
rule.
(2) The university hereby
adopts the IUC manual as developed by the inter-university council of
Ohio, as it may be amended by the university's administration as its guidelines
for the retention of its records. Records and their retention and associated
retention schedules are numerated in the IUC manual.
(3) University employees shall make such
records as are necessary for the adequate and proper documentation of the
organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential
transactions of the university and for the protection of the legal and
financial rights of the state and persons directly affected by the university's
activities.
(4) The creation of
unnecessary and duplicative records should be avoided. Duplicative records are
not official and should not be used to represent official records. Duplicative
records should not be retained and should be destroyed as soon as their
immediate need has passed.
(5)
University records shall be retained for such period as is required by
retention schedules established by the IUC manual and administered by
university archives and may be disposed of only in accordance with disposition
instructions issued by university
archives.
(6) Each unit leader is
responsible for ensuring that unit records (including electronic records) are
maintained in such a way that they can be identified and retrieved on
demand.
(7) Each unit leader shall
identify a records custodian to ensure (in conjunction with university
archives) that records are maintained in accordance with the university's
records retention schedule. Employees other than the records custodian may
maintain records so long as the records custodian is aware of the records and
is able to retrieve them.
(8) Each
unit shall develop a records inventory that describes the categories of records
created and maintained by that unit.
(9) Records
may be maintained
in paper or electronic format so long as they may be identified and retrieved
by the custodian. Maintenance and disposal of electronic records shall be
determined by the content, not the medium. Digitized paper records (e.g.,
scanned documents) may be kept in lieu of paper records at the discretion of
the unit leader and university archives.
(10) University records shall not be removed
or destroyed except in accordance with the university's records retention
schedule.
(11) Detailed
administration guidelines for records retention are found on the records management
website.
(F) Policy
violation, removal, destruction, mutilation, alteration, transfer, or other
disposition of university records, except as authorized by this policy, is
prohibited and may result in disciplinary action.