Committee Files

These records are created, used, retained and managed in accordance with the following authorities:

• Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (RSBC 1996, c. 165)

Retention period based on the normal cycle for external reviews of academic departments, i.e. once every 7 years. Please note, 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.

Policies and Procedures (Archival)
[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 Retain superseded / obsolete copies of committee-specific policies; destroy superseded / obsolete copies of university-wide policies.]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 (Archival)
[Use for lists of members and dates of participation.]

Minutes and Agenda (Archival)
[Official record of the committee’s activities and decisions. Copies sent to committee members or others should be clearly stamped "copy."]

Committee Reports (Archival)
[Use for reports and other documents authored by the committee or prepared for it.]

Background and Support Papers (Destroy)
[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 (Destroy)
[Use for routine, general or repetitive correspondence and memoranda, e.g. circulars informing members of procedure, scheduling meeting times, routine letters of notification.]
 
Correspondence (Archival)
[Use for correspondence dealing with substantive matters related to the work of the committee.]

Case Files (Destroy)
[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).

• 1999-005, General Administrative, Program and Subject Files
  
• 2014-004, Financial Aid and Awards Subject Files