Recordkeeping at The University of Auckland
Resource Sheet 3
How long do I have to keep University records?
The records you create as part of doing your job (other than research data and findings)
are the records of the University’s business. They belong to the University and should be
disposed of only in accordance with the General Disposal Authority (GDA) which has
been approved by the Chief Archivist under the Public Records Act 2005. This is a legal
document and records should not be disposed of any earlier than is authorised.
Not all records have to be kept for very long. Many of the records we produce are only of
transitory importance and do not need to be kept once their purpose is past e.g. contact
lists, many working drafts, duplicates, reminder notices. On the other hand, some
records need to be kept forever as archival records – these include final student results,
Council, Senate and some other committee minutes, major audits and reports and
significant legal agreements.
A copy of the GDA for University records is on the Records Management intranet site. If
you have any queries please contact the
Records Management Programme Manager.
If you are the originator of the record you are likely to be the person responsible for
keeping it or ensuring it is part of one of our business systems which contain records.
Similarly, if for example, you are the sole or main recipient of a letter concerning
University business, then you are responsible for managing that record.
If you have a copy of a record which you just use for reference purposes it is unlikely
you will be responsible for keeping the record.
Examples:
1.
You keep copies of invoices that you forward to Finance. Finance are responsible
for keeping the original official copy for the required length of time. You can
destroy your copy once you no longer need it.
2.
You are responsible for the final report summarising the outcomes of a staff
satisfaction survey. This report needs to be retained.
3.
You receive a letter or email including agreement for a particular business action
to take place. You should keep this record in accordance with the GDA.
Resource Sheet 3: How long do I have to keep University records Dec 2010 v1.1
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