Overview
The records retention schedule provides policy statements on the ownership, retention, and disposition of university records, identifying who holds the records, how long they need to keep the records, and what they need to ultimately do with the records.
The records schedule covers records that are common to most or several departments and offices across Tufts. The records schedule may be supplemented by school, division, department, or office-specific records policies. Translating the schedules into recordkeeping practice may not always be simple. For questions about interpreting or implementing the schedules or creating a department-specific records policy, please contact the DCA at 7-3737 or archives@tufts.edu.
Warning
| Do not follow the records retention schedule to destroy records that are currently part of–or you are aware that they are going to be part of–any legal action or proceeding, litigation, audit, investigation, or review. For more information, see the Subpoenas for University Records Policy. |
Records Schedule Organization
The records schedules are organized into ten functions, listed in the table below. Each function defines the retention policy for approximately 5 to 15 individual record types.
| Schedule Number | Category | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 000 | Financial Records | Investment, budget, and accounting records. |
| 100 | Employment Records | Staff personnel records, job search, and payroll records. |
| 200 | Faculty Records | Faculty personnel records. These include tenure and promotion records. They do not cover the teaching, research, professional, or personal files of the faculty. |
| 300 | Research Records | Funded and unfunded grant records and grant and contract accounting records. |
| 400 | Student Records | Graduate and undergraduate matriculated and non-matriculated student records. |
| 500 | Academic Records | Records that document teaching and learning, such as course schedules and descriptions, syllabi, reading lists, and courseware objects. |
| 600 | Advancement Records | Gift and estate records. |
| 700 | Operations Records | Records concerning building and grounds construction and maintenance. |
| 800 | Legal Records | Contracts. |
| 900 | General Administrative Records | Records defined by document type, such as reports, publications, and meeting minutes. |