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University Policy Number 1102
Subject: Records Management
Responsible Parties: Records Manager, University Libraries
I. SCOPE
This policy applies to all records generated by all George Mason University offices,
departments, and academic units, and to the management of all such records. This policy
supersedes Administrative Policy Number 23 of March 3, 1993.
II. POLICY STATEMENT
The Virginia Public Records Act (State Code of Virginia, Chapter 7, §42.1-85.) stipulates
that the “Librarian of Virginia shall administer a records management program for the
application of efficient and economical management methods to the creation, utilization,
mainte- nance, retention, preservation, and disposal of public records…. It shall be
the duty of the Librarian of Virginia to establish procedures and techniques for the
effective management of public records, to make continuing surveys of paper work
operations, and to recommend improvements in current records management practices,
including the use of space, equipment, and supplies employed in creating, maintaining and
servicing records."
“It shall be the duty of any agency with public records to
cooperate with the Librarian of Virginia in conducting surveys and to establish and
maintain an active, continuing program for the economical and efficient management of the
records of such agency.” As a state agency that complies with the Virginia Public
Records Act, George Mason University:
1. Cooperates with the Librarian of Virginia in conducting surveys of public records;
2. Maintains an active, continuing Records Management Program for the economical and
efficient management of the records of the university;
3. Has a designated records officer who “serves as a liaison to the Library of
Virginia for the purposes of implementing and overseeing a records management program, and
coordinating legal disposition, including destruction of obsolete records;” and
4. Operates a Records Center where temporary inactive university records can be stored
until disposal.
III. DEFINITIONS
Records management is the economical and efficient administrative process for managing
information throughout its life cycle: from creation to its final designated disposition
(destruction or preservation). It also is a process of maintaining information in a format
that allows for its timely access.
University records are any document or group of documents related to
a specific subject or transaction created or accumulated during the course of public or
university business. Records may be in a variety of formats, including paper, email,
databases, microfilm, other electronic media, photographic, audio, motion picture, or
video recordings.
Vital records are records absolutely needed to conduct business or
to reconstitute an agency, organization, office, or unit (during or after an emergency),
or to preserve the rights of the state or its citizens. Vital records considerations are
part of an agency's records disaster prevention and recovery program. Although vital
records are subject to records management regulations, vital records are not eligible for
transfer to the George Mason University Records Center until they have become inactive.
Temporary inactive records are records that no longer are needed for daily operations, but
that must be retained for a defined period of time in accordance with state records
retention guidelines.
The George Mason University Records Center is the facility used for
low cost, temporary storage of inactive, non-permanent university records during the
required retention period until properly documented disposal.
A retention schedule is an approved timetable stating the retention
and disposition of specific public records. A general schedule is a retention and
disposition schedule that applies to records that state agencies or localities have in
common. The Library of Virginia creates all General Schedules for Virginia State Agencies.
General Schedule 111, which is available at http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwedo/records/sched_state/gs111.htm,
is the schedule for records of state universities and colleges in the Commonwealth of
Virginia. George Mason University adheres to this schedule.
Additional definitions are available at the GMU Records Management website at:
http://www.gmu.edu/library/specialcollections/glossary.html.
IV. RESPONSIBILITIES
A. University
In accordance with Commonwealth laws and regulations, George Mason University supports and
cooperates with state Records Management guidelines developed by the Records Management
and Imaging Services Division of the Library of Virginia for statewide
use.
B. Records Management Office
The University Records Manager is the officially designated Records
Management Officer for George Mason University. In accordance with the Virginia Public
Records Act of the Code of Virginia (§42.1-76 et seq.), the Records Manager’s
responsibilities include:
1. Implementing the University Records Management Program in keeping with Records
Management policies and procedures established by the Records Management and Imaging
Services Division of the Library of Virginia.
2. Managing and operating the University Records Center.
3. Providing training in Records Management procedures, policies, and use of appropriate
forms, as necessary, and working with departmental records coor-dinators in maintaining
the University Records Management Program.
4. Disseminating information regarding General Retention and Disposition Schedules to
members of the university community and assisting in surveying records that are unique to
George Mason University in order to compile and implement accurate and current records
retention and disposition schedules.
5. Assisting in identifying records that can be destroyed in accordance with retention
guidelines, and approving the accurate and timely destruction of records by completing or
reviewing the Certificate of Records Destruction (RM-3) forms, pursuant to Library of
Virginia policy and procedures for the destruction of records.
6. Identifying vital, inactive, and permanent records, and ensuring that records are
properly maintained, protected, and accessible for the length of time cited in applicable
records retention and disposition schedules.
7. Participating in decisions concerning the reformatting and storage of records, and
coordinating and approving the transfer of records to archival or temporary storage at the
Library of Virginia.
8. Assisting as necessary in the preparation for and protection of university records in
the event of a disaster.
C. Department, School, or Academic Unit
Individual department or offices:
1. As needed, appoint departmental records coordinators to coordinate with the University
Records Manager regarding departmental records.
2. Are primarily responsible for the maintenance and retention of their records during
active use, during which time the records are defined as vital records.
3. After departmental records become inactive, are responsible to initiate transfer of
temporary inactive University records under their control to the University Records
Center.
4. After departmental records stored at the GMU Records Center are eligible for disposal,
the Records Manager will contact the departmental representative to obtain the signature
of a departmental representative on the Certificate of Records Destruction (RM-3) form.
The departmental representative is responsible for verifying that there is no audit,
investigation, or legal action is pending on the records and that the records have not
otherwise been reactivated. If there is no pending action that would prohibit records
disposal, the departmental representative should sign the Certificate of Records
Destruction (RM-3) form in a timely fashion so that the Records Management Office can
proceed with the disposal of the departmental records.
V. OTHER INFORMATION
Commonwealth requirements stipulate that records with archival value
must be retained permanently. A listing of records considered by the Commonwealth to be
permanent is available at http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whatwedo/records/sched%5Fstate/gs%2Dperm.htm.
Permanent records can be transferred to the George Mason University Archives in the
Special Collections & Archives Department in Fenwick Library.
VI. COMPLIANCE
Retaining university records longer than the retention schedule
authorizes causes unnecessary legal and fiscal liabilities and is strictly forbidden.
Conversely, premature disposal of university records carries with it similar liabilities
and is also strictly forbidden. No records may be destroyed without proper completion of
Commonwealth Certificate of Records Destruction (RM-3) forms.
According to the Conditions for Records Retention and Disposition
section of all Commonwealth General Schedules, custodians of records must ensure that
information in confidential or privacy-protected records is protected from unauthorized
disclosure through the ultimate destruction of the information. Normally, destruction of
confidential or privacy- protected records will be done by shredding or pulping.
"Deletion" of confidential or privacy-protected information in computer files or
other electronic storage media is not acceptable. Electronic records must be
"wiped" clean or the storage media physically destroyed. These methods of
destruction are specified so that records may not be viewed or used by unauthorized
persons after they are disposed.
VII. EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPROVAL
This policy is effective July 1, 2002. This policy shall be reviewed
and
revised, if necessary, annually to become effective at the beginning of the University's
fiscal year, unless otherwise noted. All amendments and additions to Administrative Policy
Number 1102 are to be reviewed and approved by the Agency Records Manager and the Library
of Virginia.
Approved:
____________________
Senior Vice President
____________________
Provost
Date approved: September 20, 2002
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