UM Common Records Authority Schedule

Series contains records related to the management of physical assets, including buildings, furniture, keys and permanent fixtures. Records can be divided into the following sub-sets:

ASSETS-011 (Asset Management): Copies of legal documents related to the purchase, transfer and sale of assets: lease or rental agreements: policy and procedures: and plans and specifications.

Retention: Obsolete + 1 year: Destroy.

ASSETS-012 (Maintenance): Maintenance records documenting service and repairs, minor office/room renovations, current and future plans and requirements and asset inventories (not including IT equipment).

Retention: Completion/Use/Warranty/Replacement + 3 Years: Destroy.

ASSETS-013 (Routine Operations): Routine records related to the day-to-day operation and management of assets, including key and room allocations, furniture deployment and permanent fixtures.

Retention: Academic Year + 2 Years: Destroy.

Series contains records related to the planning and development of new capital assets in terms of new buildings, new systems and infrastructure, whether the project was completed or not. Also includes planning for major (building wide) renovations for existing infrastructure, as well as project management documentation for the approved projects.

Retention: Completion or Termination of the Project + 10 years: Transfer to Archives for selection.

Series consists of records documenting the community life and events of the University of Manitoba. Records can be divided into the following sub-sets:

COMM LIFE-011 (Promotional Materials): Records in all media documenting and promoting University events, departments and research. Records include posters, final itineraries or agendas, advertising and promotional items for the event, biographies or CVs of external speakers, content planning for major events.

Retention: Current + 6 years: Transfer to Archives for selection.

COMM LIFE-012 (Planning and Logistics): Logistical information behind event planning. Can include catering and travel information, address or contact lists, media contact information, room bookings and confirmations.

Retention: Current + 2 years: Destroy.

COMM LIFE-013 (Memorabilia): Yearbooks and other memorabilia from Faculties, Colleges and Schools.

Retention: Transfer 1 copy to Archives upon completion.

Series consists of records relating to the design, creation and distribution of all information/promotional/marketing materials produced for or by the faculty/department/unit. Records may include promotional reports, brochures, posters, advertisements, mail-outs, website/internet-related materials, correspondence, drafts, final copies, screen shots of web/internet-related materials and supporting documentation. Records can be divided into the following sub-sets:

ER-011(Marketing Materials): Final version.

Retention: Transfer one copy of each final product to Archives.

ER-012 (Drafts): All other records:

Retention: Last Use + 3 Years: Destroy.

Series consists of correspondence with donors pertaining to their donations and direct relationships with the University/faculty/department. This applies to any gift made via cash, credit, gifts of securities as well as gifts in kind including gifts of archival papers, books, specimen collections, equipment, etc. A copy of the final agreement and donor contact information should be shared with Donor Relations before finalization, and an original copy of any legal contract or deed of gift must be sent to the Office of Legal Counsel for retention. Records can be divided into the following sub-sets:

ER-021(Donor Files): Files pertaining to a relationship that has resulted in the formal transfer of gift of any sort to the University, including correspondence, appraisal and logistical information, copy of the deed of gift:

Retention: Retain active files within your office. Transfer inactive files to the Archives.

ER-022(Constituent Files): Files pertaining to a potential donor, where the final agreement has not been reached.

Retention: If an agreement is reached, handle as ER-021. In the event that the relationship becomes inactive, retain for 3 years following last contact, then destroy.

*This series is separate from the main donor files held by Donor Relations.

Series consists of current contact information, products description and delivery or maintenance schedule information from vendors used by the faculty/department/unit. This series does not include contracts or service agreements.

Retention: Termination of Relationships with the vendor + 1 year: Destroy.

*This series is separate from the main Vendor Files held by Financial Services.

Series includes media releases, responses, published information from external sources (newspaper and magazine clippings, newscasts etc.) and interviews by University staff, students or affiliates pertaining to University issues.

Retention: Current Year + 4 Years: Transfer to Archives.

Series includes medical, dental or psychological patient files, created both for staff, student and external clients of the University of Manitoba.

Retention: Termination of patient relationship + 10 years: in the event the patient is a minor, retain for 10 years after the patient reached the age of majority.

Series consists of records relating to the purchase and maintenance of general office supplies and equipment, including order forms, packing slips, catalogues, brochures, budget number lists, purchase orders and related correspondence.

Retention: Active Use + 6 Months: Destroy.

Series consists of records related to the financial management and/or supervision of scholarships, bursaries, fellowships, research grants and prizes awarded to faculty, students and research staff. Record may include applications (or copies of applications to external bodies), disbursement conditions, payment schedules, account information, supporting documents and related correspondence. Records can be divided into the following sub-sets:

FINANCE-021(Successful): Records related to successful applicants:

Retention: Completion of Grant/Award + 7 Years: Destroy.

FINANCE-022(Unsuccessful): Records related to unsuccessful applicants:

Retention: Date of application + 1 Year: Destroy.

Series consists of records relating to the establishment, monitoring and disbursement of faculty endowment funds. Records can be further divided into the following sub-sets:

FINANCE-031 (Administration): Series contains general administrative documents such as disbursements, account information, declined project proposals and FOAP Requests.

Retention: Fiscal Year + 7 Years: Destroy.

FINANCE-032 (Establishment): Records relating to the establishment of funds, correspondence with donors, approved projects, fund charters and supporting documentation.

Retention: Life of Trust or Endowment + 7 years: Transfer to Archives. If the Endowment is perpetual, these records may be transferred to the Archives when they become historical and no longer referred to frequently by the original office. Contact the Access and Privacy Office at fippa@umanitoba.ca for more information.

Series consists of records related to the routine financial administration of the unit. Records may include sales transactions* (including interdepartmental charges), bills, statements, Monthly Operating Reconciliations (MORs) and supporting materials, reconciliations and materials, credit card/debit statements and receipts, pre-concur travel claim forms, purchase requisitions, copies of journal entries, copies of budget adjustments, systems contract forms and related correspondence.

Retention: Fiscal Year + 6 Years: Destroy.

*Paper receipts generated from debit card machines that contain cardholder information must be retained securely for 12 or 18 months, in accordance with University of Manitoba’s Cash Control Procedures. (Please follow the link for full details about retention requirements) These slips may then be destroyed in accordance with the Transitory Records Procedure. The electronic record generated by the transaction will be retained for the full retention.

**Please note that any documents such as bills or receipts may be required to support warranties on equipment should be retained under either ASSETS-012 or FINANCE-040 using whichever retention results in the longer retention.

Series contains records related to the senior administration of the faculty/department/office. Records may include governance documents, strategic planning documents, departmental procedures and guidelines, annual reports and correspondence. Series does not include records related to general administration (human resources, financial management, equipment and supplies and other routine administrative records).

Retention: Current Year + 6 Years: Transfer to Archives for selection.

Series consists of records relating to the accreditation of faculties, schools, departments and programs, including evaluation, review and assessment of faculties, schools, departments and programs. Series may include records related to faculty, school, department and program history, academic and research activities, faculty member staffing and activity, student projects, student evaluations, physical facilities, area goals, progress reports, recommendations reports, findings, supporting documentation and related correspondence. Records can be divided into the following sub-sets:

GOV-021 (Final Reports and Addendum): Final and progress reports, evaluations, findings, histories, datasets and summaries:

Retention: Academic Year + 5 years: Transfer to Archives.

GOV-022 (Work Samples): Faculty and student projects, papers, published material, CVs and assignments:

Retention: Accreditation + 6 months: Return originals to faculty and students. Paper or electronic copies may be destroyed as transitory records.

GOV-023 (Drafts): Drafts and supporting documentation:

Retention: Retain all drafts and supporting documentation until the conclusion of the next accreditation cycle: Destroy.

Series contains the agenda, minutes and meeting files for all University committees and Faculty Councils. Please note that the recording secretary or committee head is responsible for the retention of the official record, and the versions held by other members are considered transitory working copies to be retained as needed. Records can be divided into the following sub-sets:

GOV-031(Minutes and Agendas): Official minutes, agendas and supporting reports and documentation:

Retention: Current Year + 6: Transfer to Archives.

GOV-032 (Drafts): Unofficial drafts and copies of minutes and agendas as well as student petitions, any material related to staffing (hiring or tenure decisions) that contains personally identifiable material, or copies any other documentation that contains personal information or personal health information that needs to be viewed by the committee or originals of such materials should the committee have viewed anonymized information:

Retention: Current + 6 years: Destroy.

Series consists of internal departmental process manuals for ensuring the ongoing administrative functioning of an office. Examples include procedures for system administration and data entry, procedures for opening, sorting, distributing mail and step-by-step processes for other routine functions.

Retention: Superseded + 1 year: Destroy.

Series consists of statistics regarding departmental administration and governance or mandate of the office. This includes, but is not limited to, enrollment, program and departmental statistics, usage, service or sustainability statistics, and statistics related to services provided to clients external to the university.

Retention: Current + 10 years, transfer to the Archives for review.

Series contains records related to the ongoing management of individual faculty and staff and may include consolidated work histories and other information relating to grievances, disciplinary action,* resignations, STEP increases, correspondence, services records, applications, resumes, staff issues, etc. Series may also be referred to as Personal Files or Employment Files.

HR-011 (Non-Academic Staff Employment Satellite Files): Consists of locally held copies of records held by the supervising office, maintained in the home office. No originals should be maintained in the home office file. Series should not include copies of material that can be accessed by the department in VIP. Health information in paper format that remains within the local office should be filed in a sealed envelope or in a secured sub-file.

Retention: Cessation of Employment + 6 Years: Destroy.

HR-012 (Academic Staff, Official Files): The official file for academic staff is the file held by the Deans’ or the Directors’ Office. It should contain the appropriate documentation required to facilitate employment and evaluate performance as per university procedures and the Collective Agreement with UMFA.

Retention: Cessation of Employment + 6 years: Destroy.

HR-013 (Academic Staff, Satellite Files): Personnel files for academic staff held at the departmental level.

Retention: Upon Cessation of Employment, transfer all original documents to the official file at the Deans’ or Directors’ Office and destroy all copies in accordance with the Transitory Records Procedure. 

*All records documenting or resulting from disciplinary actions should be retained as detailed under the appropriate labour agreement or university policy applicable to the staff member(s) involved:

▪ For details on collective agreements, please log in to UM Intranet.

▪ For EMAPS click here

Series contains records related to the recruitment, promotion and tenure of academic staff, including applications, CVs, letters of offer, search summaries, correspondence and copies of professional profile material, letters of reference, research and publications. Records can be divided into the following sub-sets:

HR-021 (CV and Portfolio): Series consists of CV, supporting documents and portfolio from the applicant:

Retention: Return to applicant.

HR-022 (Letters of Reference): Letters of reference obtained on an employment candidate:

Retention: Last Action + 1 Year: Destroy.

HR-023 (Offers and Applications): Letters of Offer, Application forms Sections A to F for promotion applications:

Action: Transfer to Personnel File; if accepted: treat as HR-032 offer of employment is if rejected.

HR-024 (General): All Other Records:

Retention: Academic Year + 2 years: Destroy.

Series contains records related to the general administration of human resources, including records related to staff complements, job descriptions, VIP forms, salary guidelines, attendance records, human resources procedures, unsuccessful applications, resumes and communications related to staffing, hiring boards, etc. Series does not contain personnel records. Records can be divided into the following sub-sets:

HR-031(General Staffing Management): General series, including staff complements, attendance.

Retention: Current Year + 3 Years: Destroy.

HR-032 (Unsuccessful Applications): Includes CV’s and cover letters, all evaluations, interview questions, scoring materials and notes taken by members of the hiring board. All original records must be collected by the hiring office’s administrative coordinator and retained in the main file upon the conclusion of the process. Any copies of resumes or interview materials held by members of the hiring board should be destroyed securely in a timely manner.

Retention: Closure of Posting + 3 years: Destroy.

HR-033 (Procedures and Salary Guidelines): Procedures and salary guidelines obtained from human resources:

Retention: Retain until obsolete: Destroy.

HR-034 (Justifications Reports): Justification reports are generally required when filling unionized position, and may be required for other positions. The justification should summarize the ranking process and decisions made by the hiring board and indicate the reasons the successful candidate was chosen. Reports should be submitted to your Human Resources Consultant upon the selection of a candidate.

Retention: Submit the original record to your Human Resource Consultant for full retention.

Series consists of records related to department and unit payroll authorization, including the verification of employee employment and appropriate fund charges. The University of Manitoba has a central payroll function that relies on input from individual departments and units in order to determine employee remuneration. The primary signing authority of each Fund/Organization combination is responsible for verifying all employee remuneration amounts charged to that Fund/Organization.

Retention: Fiscal Year + 1 Year: Destroy.

Series includes copies of all original legal agreements and contracts. Office of Primary Responsibility is the Office of Legal Counsel and they are responsible for maintaining the original contract or agreements. For all other offices:

Retention: Obsolete + 1 year: Destroy.

One copy of the agreement that has been signed by all parties must be forwarded to the Office of Legal Counsel for filing in the University’s Central Contracts Vault. Units should make a copy of the contract or agreement for their files. For more details, see the Office of Legal Counsel’s Information Regarding Signing of Agreements Policy and Procedure.

Series consists of copies all correspondence to and from internal and external counsel. Records may include memos, emails, letters and samples. Office of Primary Responsibility for these records is the Office of Legal Counsel and they are responsible for ensuring full retention of these records. For all other offices:

Retention: Obsolete + 1 year: Destroy.

All Legal advice is considered privileged unless otherwise directed by counsel.

Series consists of standard waiver forms for student trips, travel and study abroad, exchanges, participation in work-study co-ops, volunteering etc. Waivers should be maintained in the office of origin. It is recommended that you obtain standard legal forms for use from the website, rather than relying on previously saved versions. Standard forms may be found by visiting the webpages for the Office of Legal Counsel. Records can be divided into the following sub-sets:

LEGAL-031 (Waiver Sample): Blank sample of waiver form:

Retention: Transfer 1 copy of any amended, revised or new waiver form to Archives for permanent retention.

LEGAL-032 (Completed Forms): Completed waiver forms:

Retention: For participants that have reached the age of majority (18) retain for 2 years after the completion or termination of the event: Destroy. If the participant is a minor, retain waivers for 2 years after their 18th birthday: Destroy.

Series consists of all university created forms for use by applicants, students and staff. This includes but is not limited to: application, appeal, authorization, permission, request and recommendation forms. This classification applies only to a blank sample form: all completed forms should be filed in the client/subject’s appropriate file.

Retention: 1 blank copy of each form and any revision to the form should be transferred to Archives. Please include the dates the form was in use when transferring records to the archives

Series consists of individual student files maintained by the faculty/department/program to facilitate student progress within the faculty/department. Records may include applications, admission records, progress reports, academic summaries, copies of transcripts, disciplinary action, degrees received, appeals, supporting information and related correspondence. Records can be divided into the following sub-sets: 

STUDENT-011 (Incomplete): Application and Admission records for students accepted, but that did not complete their registration, or students that were rejected.

Retention: Session Start + 1 Year: Destroy.  

STUDENT-012 (Withdrawals): Student withdraws from faculty/department/program:

Retention: Withdrawal date + 3 Years: Destroy.

STUDENT-013 (Graduates): Graduation from faculty/department/program or Completion of Program:

Retention: Retain for 3 Years after graduation or completion date: Destroy. 

Series consists of records related to the solicitation, receipt and evaluation of criminal records checks for entry and acceptance to University programs. Records include criminal records checks, child abuse registry and vulnerable sector checks, any supporting documents and related correspondence.

Retention: End of Use + 6 months: Destroy. 

Student coursework, whether it be unclaimed paper copies or electronic documents, are not university business records, the content is owned by the student who created it. It is recommended that the faculty, department or school determine a retention timeframe for these materials, with a minimum retention of “End of Term + 3 months” to a maximum of “End of Term + 6 months” recommended. Students should be advised of the timeframe via the course syllabus, or by their instructor.

If the coursework be subject to a grade appeal, it may be necessary to include a copy of the assignment within the appeal file, and decision be retained for 2 years following the appeal decision.

Details on issues surrounding student coursework can be found in UM Intranet. Log in to Intranet and go to Records Management site's Guidelines and Resources page for the 'Unclaimed Student Assignments' guidelines.

Series consists of records related to the administration of academic examinations, including planning and delivery of exams. Series may contain examination schedules, examination scripts (regardless of format), invigilator files, appeals, related correspondence and supporting documentation. Records can be divided into the following sub-sets:

TEACHING-011 (Exam Administration): General exam administration records:

Retention: Academic Year + 1 Year: Destroy.

TEACHING-012 (Scripts): Examination scripts:

Retention: If there is no appeal on the exam retain for last posted date of Appeals Period + 90 days: Destroy. If an appeal is launched, retain as Teaching-013.

TEACHING-013 (Appeals): Examination appeals:

Retention: End of Appeal + 2 Years: Destroy.

Please note: all exam deferral forms should be maintained in the Student File. See STUDENT-010.

Series consists of records related to the development and delivery of course and curriculum content, including faculty/department calendars, course descriptions, course syllabi, reading lists, as well as related committee minutes and reports.

Retention: Academic Year + 6 Years: Transfer to Archives for selection. 

Series consists of records relating to short and long term enrolment planning and management, faculty complement planning, appointment planning, academic load, budgeting and analysis of resource requirements for academic programs. Records may include reports, models, databases, projections and correspondence. 

Retention: Retain for 3 years after last action, Transfer to Archives for selection. 

Series consists of records relating to educational or informative programs organized or provided by University staff either as part of a University training program for other staff members, or as part of an outreach program generating awareness of the University’s programs and services to internal or external audiences, or academic conferences, events and lectures supporting University programs, faculties and events. Records can be divided into the following sub-sets:  

TEACHING-041 (Presentation): Final presentations, promotional handouts, event agendas, biographies and speeches.  

Retention: Transfer to Archives when obsolete or completion of event.

TEACHING-042 (Planning): Logistics, conference planning (such as catering choices, travel arrangements, scheduling), drafts of presentations, brochures or speeches, registration tracking. (All financial records should be retained under FIN-040.)

Retention: Current + 2 years: Destroy. 

All forms of teaching evaluations carried out should be carried out in accordance with the University of Manitoba’s Teaching Evaluation Policy and the policies and procedures of the Faculty/Department or School. This would include the SEEQ, or Student Evaluation of Educational Quality.

Retention of this material within the instructors Personnel file (HR-012) should be in accordance with article 35 of the Collective Agreement between The University of Manitoba and The University of Manitoba Faculty Association, (the “UMFA Agreement”), or Article 16 of the Collective Agreement between The University of Manitoba Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3909 (the “CUPE 3909 Sessional Agreement”).