2012-001
Criminal Record Checks
Student Services
| Records | Active retention (in office) | Semi-active (records centre) | Total retention | Final disposition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRC Records | CY of CRC application + 5 yrs | Nil | CY of CRC application + 5 yrs | Destruction |
CY = Current calendar year; CFY = Current fiscal year; CS = Current semester; S/O = Superseded or obsolete; OPR = Office of Primary Responsibility; Non-OPR = All other departments.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 documenting student applications for Criminal Record Checks. The Criminal Records Review Act (CCRA) requires students to consent to a CRRA Criminal Record Check before enrolling in any secondary education courses with a practicum component that involves working with children or vulnerable adults. SFU is required by law to ensure that every student registered in such a course has undergone a CRRA Criminal Record Check by facilitating and tracking the results of a CRC.
Records may include application forms, e-mail relating to the status of student applications or clearances, scanned identity documents, correspondence (clearance or at risk determination letters) and clearance reports from BC's Ministry of Justice, service indicators and student group assignments in the University's Student Information Management System, break in service reports, student roster reports, and student initiated reports of subsequent criminal charges or convictions.
This series is a Personal Information Bank; click here for PIB description.
These records are created, used, retained and managed in accordance with the following authorities:
The Criminal Records Review Act states that the University may be compelled "to submit records or information if the registrar [meaning a person appointed under the Public Service Act as registrar for the purposes of the CRRA] considers it necessary in determining whether the [University's] duty is being performed." Therefore, the University has an obligation to maintain records as evidence that it is fulfilling its legal obligations. The University may be audited from time to time to determine such. The Ministry of Justice requires SFU to retain all original, signed Consent for Criminal Record Check forms for a minimum of five years starting from the date the University submits a form to the Criminal Records Review Program (CRRP).
RECORDS CREATED IN MULTIPLE FORMATS
Records covered by this RRSDA are created and maintained in both paper and electronic formats (paper application forms, hardcopy and PDF letters, database entries, e-mail correspondence, scanned images of hardcopy records, etc.). This RRSDA applies equally to all CRC records, irrespective of the form in which those records are created or maintained.
COLLOCATION AND CONCURRENT DISPOSAL
Records covered by this RRSDA are maintained in multiple locations (e.g. separate campuses, multiple e-mail accounts, vaults, offices, the Student Information Management System, etc.). It is incumbent upon the record-keepers to locate all CRC records stored in these multiple locations and in multiple formats (paper and electronic ) and to destroy these records by confidential shredding or deletion in accordance with the total retention period (CY of CRC application + 5 yrs) prescribed by this RRSDA. Destruction should occur concurrently so that this RRSDA is applied consistently to all CRC records.
BREAK IN SERVICE
A Criminal Record Check (CRC) is valid for a total of five years. If, however, a break in service occurs in a student's enrollment at the University then that student is required to reapply for a Criminal Record Check if they subsequently resume their studies and decide to enroll in a course affected by CRRA requirements irrespective of whether five years has expired from the date of their first CRC. The Ministry of Justice allows the University to determine what qualifies as a break in service and SFU has defined it as the passage of three semesters in which a student fails to register. Service indicators and student group assignments in the University's Student Information Management System (SIMS) should be updated accordingly.
RRSDA is in force.
Approved by the University Archivist: 14 Aug 2012