1999-003
Committee Files
All University Departments (General Records Series)
| Records | Active retention (in office) | Semi-active (records centre) | Total retention | Final disposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All departments holding these records: | CY + 2 years | 5 years | CY + 7 years | Selective Retention by Archives |
CY = Current calendar year; CFY = Current fiscal year; CS = Current semester; S/O = Superseded or obsolete; OPR = Office of Primary Responsibility; Non-OPR = All other departments.
Records made or received and used to support the deliberations, decisions and activities of university committees.
Records may include agendas, minutes, memoranda, correspondence, policies and procedures, support documentation, studies, reports, statistics and working papers.
This schedule applies to all committees formed by university-wide bodies, academic faculties, departments, schools, research institutes and centres, and non-academic departments. Senate and Board of Governors committees are scheduled separately under their own RRSDAs (see RRSDAs 1996-003 for Board of Governors, 1997-003 for Senate).
Standing and ad hoc committees are involved in the governance, planning and administration of the university, faculties and departments, adjudication of scholarship applications and recommendations of faculty appointments, promotion, tenure, salary increases and leaves.
Note that case files and application packets used by committees (e.g. Departmental Tenure Committees) to adjudicate individual cases are scheduled separately and should be kept separate from committee minutes and other records. See the following RRSDAs: - 1999-024, Competition Files: Academic Appointments - 1997-013, Competition Files: Non-Academic Staff Appointments - 1999-012, Competition Files: Senior Administrative Appointments. - 1999-020, Leave Application Files - 1999-019, Renewal, Tenure, Promotion and Salary Review Files. - 1999-048, Scholarship, Award and Bursary Application Files
These records are created, used, retained and managed in accordance with the following authorities:
Retention period based on the normal cycle for external reviews of academic departments, i.e. once every 7 years. Case files used by committees in adjudicating scholarship applications and recommending faculty appointment, leave, renewal, tenure, promotion and salary reviews have shorter retention periods and are scheduled separately.
All committees should explicitly designate someone as secretariat with record-keeping responsibilities. All committees should take and produce minutes of their deliberations. Keep records of each committee separate. When transferring records to the University Records Centre (URC), clearly label files so that the originating committee is easily identified. The only committee records of long-term, archival value are: - Agendas, minutes and membership lists; - Reports authored by or for the committee; - Committee correspondence dealing with substantive matters relating to the work of the committee; - Committee policies and procedures.
Other committee records will be destroyed. Committee files should be structured in such a way that the archival material is easily identified, while the remainder is easily removed and destroyed. The following classification is recommended (A = Archival; D = Destroy ):
Policies and Procedures A [Committee policies and procedures, e.g. voting procedures, rules of composition. Retain superseded / obsolete copies of committee-specific policies; destroy superseded / obsolete copies of university-wide policies.]
Membership A [Use for lists of members and dates of participation.]
Minutes and Agenda A [Official record of the committee’s activities and decisions. Copies sent to committee members or others should be clearly stamped "copy."]
Committee Reports A [Use for reports and other documents authored by the committee or prepared for it.]
Background and Support Papers D [Use for documents (e.g. copies of reports, memoranda) received from other sources (e.g. President’s Office, VP Academic, other universities) and circulated to committee members for background information. Documents with long-term reference value should be copied and filed in the department’s general subject files.]
Administrative Records D [Use for routine, general or repetitive correspondence and memoranda, e.g. circulars informing members of procedure, scheduling meeting times, routine letters of notification.] Correspondence A [Use for correspondence dealing with substantive matters related to the work of the committee.]
Case Files D [Use for support documentation relating to an individual’s case that comes under the committee’s consideration. These records are typically scheduled separately under other RRSDAs. Do not send these files to the URC. Apply one of the applicable RRSDAs as appropriate (see list under Purpose and Description of Records).
At the end of the active retention period (2 years), box committee files and transfer to the University Records Centre (URC). Prepare and retain a file list of records transferred. Administrative Records and Background and Support Papers may be destroyed at this time rather than sent to the URC (i.e. after 2 years).
RRSDA is in force.
Approved by the University Archivist: 5 Dec 2000