Saving (and Destroying) Academic Records

Randi Honkonen | May 23, 2016

*Retention Schedule update for 2017 - additions to the policy are highlighted in green while changes are highlighted in yellow*

As a faculty member, you may be asking yourself, what do I do with all the academic records I have stored in D2L courses in Carmen? Do I save them? Do I delete them? Will they magically appear in Carmen (Canvas)? 
 
The short answers here are maybe, probably and no.
 
When it comes to retaining academic records, all faculty members should consult policies referenced in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The Registrar’s FERPA policy references a handy records retention schedule provided by University Archives. The last four pages of this document provide faculty with timelines for keeping (or destroying) student and course records such as syllabi, grade reports, class rosters and e-learning course records—all things you may have stored in Carmen!
 
The quick take-away is that student submissions and other material used to arrive at a final grade need only be kept for 2 terms after the term in which they were submitted. Just be sure to get the University Archive’s approval to delete by submitting the Certificate of Records Destruction prior to deletion.
 
Retention Schedule 1

Retention Schedule 2

Retention Schedule 3

Retention Schedule 4

 

Angela Ford is an academic records assistant for the Registrar, and she has a message for all faculty members: “The most important advice I can provide is to follow the retention schedule. Your college or department may have additional guidelines, but if the retention timeframe has passed there is no need to keep these documents.”
 
Keep in mind, during the Canvas adoption timeline, you are responsible for saving any data from D2L that you need to keep. And remember, less is probably more. 
 
Now you know what to keep and for how long, but where do you keep it? Stay tuned—we’ll be sharing Enterprise Security’s response soon!
Tags: 
Adopt Canvas, data retention, registrar, faculty, academic records, grades, Carmen, Canvas