LibGuides: UNCW Records Management : The Records Retention Schedule

General Records Retention and Disposition Schedule

General Records Retention & Disposition Schedule for UNC Wilmington (pdf)
The University of North Carolina Wilmington uses the General Records Retention and Disposition Schedule for the University of North Carolina System. The UNC Wilmington copy has signatures from the university but otherwise is identical to the General Records Schedule available from the the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and Records.

The General Records Retention and Disposition Schedule provides instructions on how long records need to be retained for legal, fiscal, and historical purposes. The current Retention Schedule supersedes all previous records retention and disposition schedules that may have been created for individual units; and serves all administrative and academic units of the University.

If you think a record type is missing from the schedule or if you've found an error in the schedule, please contact University Archives.

How to Use the Records Schedule

The table of contents lists records series by broad topic, like facilities or information technology. UNCW offices may refer to all series and are not limited to certain sections.

Search the PDF document for keywords by using the Ctrl F function. For example, search for "search committee" or "accounts payable" to find information on that specific record type.

How the Schedule is Organized

The Schedule is organized by business functions carried out by the University into 18 broad groups. The groups refer to the purpose of the records, not the name of the unit they are created or used by. Within the 18 groups, the schedule is broken down into more specific record types.

Key Concepts

Destruction: appropriate disposal of records after retention ends, method can vary by record type (e.g. confidential recycling, secure delete, etc.)
Record Series: a group of related records; the sections of the General Records Retention Schedule
Retention and disposition: how long you must keep a record and what to do with it after that period ends
Record Copy: original or official copy of a record that is retained for legal, operational, or historical purposes
Office of Record: the office responsible for the record copy
Permanent: the disposition specified for records of enduring value that must be actively maintained in an accessible and readable format and preserved indefinitely (in many cases, records marked for permanent retention will eventually be transferred to the University Archives)
Reference Copy: an unofficial copy of a record that is maintained for ease of access and reference
Transitory records: records that are transactional or for temporary use (e.g. emails about meeting room changes or appointment confirmations).