For those of you who have access to NACUA resources through your university
counsel's office, the Legal Resources database has several fabulous conference
papers as well as a publication on records retention and disposition. The
latter is a bit dated, but provides a solid outline for knowing the right
questions to ask and where to start looking for answers. I'd be happy to share
citations if your counsel has trouble finding them.
In the meantime, here are a few summary thoughts (note: not legal counsel) that
I have found to be helpful guides recently in helping institutions develop
email retention/disposition policies.
I completely agree with all the posters thus far who have noted the importance
of basing retention schedules on subject matter (e.g., enrollment verification
requests) rather than type of media (e.g., email). In addition to a whole
slate of federal regulations, state regulatory requirements as well as
accrediting agency standards might also have something to say about this topic.
How these regulatory limitations apply to email retention in particular
depends, in large part, on how each institution's employees use email in their
day-to-day work and whether they make a practice of saving important documents
in locations other than their inboxes (e.g., in official student or personnel
files). Keep in mind that preservation requirements often involve some kind of
inspection right.
Note also that federal law governing preservation of electronically stored
information ("ESI") provides a safe harbor provision that prohibits a court
from imposing sanctions on a party to litigation for failing to provide ESI
that has been lost as a result of the routine, good-faith operation of an
electronic information system. This provision only applies when a party is
unaware of potential litigation at the time ESI is destroyed. Thus, to take
advantage of the safe harbor, the party must have and implement routine,
good-faith ESI destruction policies. If a specific time period is not
prescribed by law, one year longer than any applicable statute of limitations
is appropriate. Any record for which neither a law nor statute of limitations
governs retention, a 7-year retention period is commonly recommended.
So much more to say, but I should probably stop there for today. Hope this
helps!
Naomi Harralson May * Cooley LLP
1299 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW * Suite 700
(enter from 12th and E Streets)
Washington, DC 20004-2400
Direct: +1 202 776 2820 * Fax: +1 202 842 7899 * Cell: +1 202 779 0883
http://www.cooley.com * http://www.cooley.com/nmay *
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
Admitted to practice law in California and the District of Columbia.
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bartlett,
Deborah L
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 12:23 PM
To: Association of College and University Policy Administrators
Subject: Re: [acupa-l] Email Retention and Disposition Policy
Here at Washington State University, we also retain email, text and voicemail
messages, and voicemail according to the message content. We publish the
following policy in our Business Policies and Procedures Manual regarding
retention of electronic communications:
http://public.wsu.edu/~forms/HTML/BPPM/90_Records/90.03_Retention_of_Electronic_Communications.htm
We include a notation regarding electronic communications retention and a link
to the policy above in our All-University Records Retention Schedule:
http://public.wsu.edu/~forms/HTML/BPPM/90_Records/90.01_Administrative--General_Office_Operations.htm
Hope this helps --
Deb
-------------------------
Deb Bartlett
Director
Office of Procedures, Records, and Forms
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-1225
509-335-2004
From:
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
on behalf of "Rebecca G. Deardorff" <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Reply-To: Association of College and University Policy Administrators
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Date: Wednesday, November 4, 2015 8:19 AM
To: Association of College and University Policy Administrators
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Subject: RE:[acupa-l] Email Retention and Disposition Policy
Hello Rick,
Similar to others on this e-list, the University of Washington retains email
according to the email's content and not its format. However, the UW's Records
Management office has also provided an Email Best Practices
page<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://f2.washington.edu/fm/recmgt/retentionschedules/gs/general/Email&k=EWEYHnIvm0nsSxnW5y9VIw%3D%3D%0A&r=rOC%2B4I8r3rU8pRdVZ0oaiQ%3D%3D%0A&m=O9gvfsFytvFY5KwFZeFdYoUo%2FxLd3ZMXk3RS00lq4hg%3D%0A&s=e978bd8e12c31199a5162b0b407e0ce04160da385df9dfeaf3f64ce1c6ce12fe>
which helps our employees understand what to keep, what to delete, and how to
do this with common email systems such as Outlook.
Hope this helps,
Rebecca
REBECCA GOODWIN DEARDORFF
Director of Rules Coordination
Office of the President
448 Gerberding Hall Box 351210
Seattle WA 98195-1210
206.543.9219
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> / washington.edu/rules
[logo]
From:
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Witmer, Rick
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 6:14 AM
To: Association of College and University Policy Administrators
Subject: RE:[acupa-l] Email Retention and Disposition Policy
Hello All,
I'm part of a group at PSU which is reviewing our policies with regard to email.
What is your institution's Email Retention and Disposition policy? If you
would be willing to share that information, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks!
Rick
Senior Procedures Specialist / Supervisor
Penn State University
Systems & Procedures / GURU Website
https://guru.psu.edu<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=https://guru.psu.edu&k=EWEYHnIvm0nsSxnW5y9VIw%3D%3D%0A&r=rOC%2B4I8r3rU8pRdVZ0oaiQ%3D%3D%0A&m=O9gvfsFytvFY5KwFZeFdYoUo%2FxLd3ZMXk3RS00lq4hg%3D%0A&s=28d7ab31068cb04d447cf12fab9ab9793dc1971d29a454408a8fa200774e8b27>
202B James M. Elliott Building
814-863-8658
814-865-3937 FAX
From:[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michele Gross
Sent: Wednesday, November 4, 2015 9:06 AM
To: Institutional policy-related discussions
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>>
Subject: [acupa-l] Encountering the "not safe" message on ACUPA.org
Good morning everyone!
Secure Site
If you have gone to ACUPA.org in the past week, you may have encountered one of
those "this site's identity cannot be verified" messages.
ACUPA.org is now a redirect to the new URL. There is no security on ACUPA.org
because there's nothing attached to it any longer which is why you might
receive the security message. As soon as you're on
acupa.site-ym.com<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://acupa.site-ym.com&k=EWEYHnIvm0nsSxnW5y9VIw%3D%3D%0A&r=rOC%2B4I8r3rU8pRdVZ0oaiQ%3D%3D%0A&m=O9gvfsFytvFY5KwFZeFdYoUo%2FxLd3ZMXk3RS00lq4hg%3D%0A&s=22dad20bba1b99bafbd1573017045dc03d4fa383e21980a1807f4879fd0103c6>,
the pages are fully secured by the vendor. So in this instance, it is safe to
hit "continue".
The new vendor has an option to secure the old URL as well, and the Board is
evaluating the ongoing cost vs. benefit.
Please remember to change your password the first time you go in.
Registration
As is typically the case with moving a new system into production, some things
don't go quite as planned and registering for the 2016 year was one of them.
The identified problems have now been corrected and you should all be able to
renew your membership for the upcoming calendar year. Should you have any
issues while registering, please contact Joshua Adams, Cornell, at
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. He will be able to assist you in
completing the task.
Thank you so much for helping us work out the kinks! If you notice anything
else or have a question, please do not hesitate to ask.
Happy Wednesday!
Michele
--
Michele Gross, Director
University Policy Program
University of Minnesota
356-1 McNamara, 200 Oak street
Minneapolis, MN 55454
612-624-8081
http://policy.umn.edu/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://policy.umn.edu/&k=EWEYHnIvm0nsSxnW5y9VIw%3D%3D%0A&r=rOC%2B4I8r3rU8pRdVZ0oaiQ%3D%3D%0A&m=O9gvfsFytvFY5KwFZeFdYoUo%2FxLd3ZMXk3RS00lq4hg%3D%0A&s=8f6f72182ad0ca5790c1f9f2a7be413495db17c6fdf63afca3785ea53bb7553f>
Replying to Messages: Replying (using Reply) to an ACUPA-L e-mail will
distribute your message to the ENTIRE list of members. To send a message
privately, reply directly to the individual who sent the message (their e-mail
address appears in the "From" line of their original e-mail).
To Unsubscribe: Go to
http://www.acupa.org/MembershipForm_Discontinue.html<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://www.acupa.org/MembershipForm_Discontinue.html&k=EWEYHnIvm0nsSxnW5y9VIw%3D%3D%0A&r=rOC%2B4I8r3rU8pRdVZ0oaiQ%3D%3D%0A&m=O9gvfsFytvFY5KwFZeFdYoUo%2FxLd3ZMXk3RS00lq4hg%3D%0A&s=d107ebdba06ccdce6f03561fb7367bfa0c1cd59a5d0ced7051444c71dd2c522e>
and complete the form. We will remove you from the list within 24 hours,
during normal business hours.
Questions about the ACUPA e-list? Contact Jamie Parris at
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]?subject=ACUPA%20e-list%20assistance>
or 607-255-6837.
Replying to Messages: Replying (using Reply) to an ACUPA-L e-mail will
distribute your message to the ENTIRE list of members. To send a message
privately, reply directly to the individual who sent the message (their e-mail
address appears in the "From" line of their original e-mail).
To Unsubscribe: Go to
http://www.acupa.org/MembershipForm_Discontinue.html<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://www.acupa.org/MembershipForm_Discontinue.html&k=EWEYHnIvm0nsSxnW5y9VIw%3D%3D%0A&r=rOC%2B4I8r3rU8pRdVZ0oaiQ%3D%3D%0A&m=O9gvfsFytvFY5KwFZeFdYoUo%2FxLd3ZMXk3RS00lq4hg%3D%0A&s=d107ebdba06ccdce6f03561fb7367bfa0c1cd59a5d0ced7051444c71dd2c522e>
and complete the form. We will remove you from the list within 24 hours,
during normal business hours.
Questions about the ACUPA e-list? Contact Jamie Parris at
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]?subject=ACUPA%20e-list%20assistance>
or 607-255-6837.
Replying to Messages: Replying (using Reply) to an ACUPA-L e-mail will
distribute your message to the ENTIRE list of members. To send a message
privately, reply directly to the individual who sent the message (their e-mail
address appears in the "From" line of their original e-mail).
To Unsubscribe: Go to
http://www.acupa.org/MembershipForm_Discontinue.html<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://www.acupa.org/MembershipForm_Discontinue.html&k=EWEYHnIvm0nsSxnW5y9VIw%3D%3D%0A&r=rOC%2B4I8r3rU8pRdVZ0oaiQ%3D%3D%0A&m=O9gvfsFytvFY5KwFZeFdYoUo%2FxLd3ZMXk3RS00lq4hg%3D%0A&s=d107ebdba06ccdce6f03561fb7367bfa0c1cd59a5d0ced7051444c71dd2c522e>
and complete the form. We will remove you from the list within 24 hours,
during normal business hours.
Questions about the ACUPA e-list? Contact Jamie Parris at
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]?subject=ACUPA%20e-list%20assistance>
or 607-255-6837.
Replying to Messages: Replying (using Reply) to an ACUPA-L e-mail will
distribute your message to the ENTIRE list of members. To send a message
privately, reply directly to the individual who sent the message (their e-mail
address appears in the "From" line of their original e-mail).
To Unsubscribe: Go to http://www.acupa.org/MembershipForm_Discontinue.html and
complete the form. We will remove you from the list within 24 hours, during
normal business hours.
Questions about the ACUPA e-list? Contact Jamie Parris at
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]?subject=ACUPA%20e-list%20assistance>
or 607-255-6837.
________________________________
This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may
contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use,
disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended
recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of
the original message. If you are the intended recipient, please be advised that
the content of this message is subject to access, review and disclosure by the
sender's Email System Administrator.
