1000-1-3 Records Retention

Policy

1. All College records will be retained in a safe manner for the length of time prescribed in the Retention Schedule.
2. Records will be stored in a manner that prevents loss through misplacement, deterioration, accidental destruction, or theft, and unauthorized or inappropriate access. They shall be stored in a manner that ensures their continued readability and, in the case of electronic records, with the software and hardware necessary for readability. In some cases, the safe long-term storage of important records may require the duplication of the records and separate or off-site storage of the duplicates.
3. The retention and safe storage of records and documents as required by law, the Retention Schedule and good business practice is the responsibility of the dean or director identified below or, secondly, of the administrator of the department that generates the document or record.
   1. The Director of Finance is responsible for the retention of all financial documents and records; the Director, Human Resources is responsible for the retention of all human resource records; and the Registrar is responsible for the retention of all student records and grades.
   2. The director or dean is responsible for all other records and documents generated by departments or operations under their direction unless specifically stated otherwise.
   3. The academic and student records and documents of the academic divisions and the Registrar’s Office that do not fall within the scope of the Director of Finance or the Senior Vice-President, Strategy & Corporate Services shall be maintained by the Registrar, or dean or director of each school or division according to the Retention Schedule.
   4. The Director of Finance and the Senior Vice-President, Strategy & Corporate Services may delegate the maintenance and retention of records to other department administrators and shall provide direction to the other departments on the retention of records that fall under their purview but are being held by the other department.
4. The administrator responsible for the retention of records is responsible for identifying those records that have met the required retention period, and directing and authorizing the destruction of them and for the conversion of records into another storage medium and the observance of all legal requirements pertaining to the conversion.
5. Transitory records are records with only short term-value, and are used to complete a routine task or in the preparation of an ongoing record. Examples of transitory records include, but are not limited to, announcements and notices, drafts and duplicates, convenience copies, or routine correspondence. Transitory records may be destroyed securely at the discretion of the employee once the actions to which they relate, or their immediate purpose is completed unless directed otherwise by the director or dean. Before destroying documents, the employee should ensure that the documents are in no way needed for future accountability, liability or documentation purposes.
6. No records identified on the Retention Schedule with a required retention period of more than two years may be destroyed without the explicit permission of the administrator responsible for them.
7. Records should be destroyed in a manner that ensures the required confidentiality of the documents is maintained.
8. Records of all files within their purview that are destroyed must be maintained and retained by the Director of Finance, the Registrar and the Senior Vice-President, Strategy & Corporate Services. Records of the destruction of other files must be maintained and retained by the appropriate director or dean.
9. The retention period is defined as from the date of creation for all financial, human resources, and administration records, and from the end of the semester in which the document was created for all academic records, and student records and materials. Any document not listed in the Records Retention Schedule shall be retained for a period of 7 years from the date on which it was created.
10. All student records maintained by the Registrar must be retained during the student's presence at the College. After the student has left the College, the Registrar will retain records of student awards, and misconduct and discipline permanently. Otherwise, the only permanent record that must be maintained is the transcript, which must include the following items:
    1. the student's full name,
    2. student number,
    3. at least one other source of identification (social insurance number, date of birth, last permanent address),
    4. the cumulative academic record, which shall consist of the following:
       1. the course number, title and credit weight,
       2. the final grade in each course,
       3. the semester date in which the grade was earned, and
       4. graduation status, if any.

Retention Schedule

Academic Records

Student Records - Registrar

Human Resources