The purpose of this policy is to ensure that necessary records and documents are adequately protected, maintained, and destroyed when required to ensure proper document accountability. This policy is intended to satisfy the laws of the State of Michigan, safeguard the history of the college, protect the college during litigation or audit, minimize the cost of record retention, and optimize the use of space.
This records management program will:
The office/department, in which a record originates, is responsible for the preservation and/or disposal of that record as indicated in the records retention/disposal schedule. Each cost center manager shall appoint an individual to serve as liaison with the records management program. This person will monitor adherence to the records retention/disposal schedule for that department.
The Datatel/Warehouse records are integral to the fundamental operation of the college’s System and will be exempt from the retention and disposal schedule.
Maintenance and disposition of records created, retained, or stored in electronic format shall proceed on the same basis as paper documents. Unless retention is otherwise required by law, paper records that are scanned into a secure digital record format may be immediately disposed of by shredding. Maintenance and disposal of Electronic Records is the responsibility of each department as listed in their respective records and retention schedule.
In the event of a claim, lawsuit, government investigation, subpoena, summons or the like, whether formal or informal, the Record Retention Schedule shall be suspended and the records related to the process shall not be destroyed, pending resolution of the matter.
A permanent record is a document which is retained indefinitely because of its administrative, historical, or legal value and will appear in the retention/disposal schedule as Perm.
Records designated “audit” in the retention column of the schedule are to be retained until the applicable audit and retention period reach end-of-life.
Records, designated “Term”, are to be kept until the entity terminates their activity with the college.
Records designated “Until Update” are to be kept until a revised, superseded, new document is created thus causing the old document to be obsolete.
Records must be retained for the period indicated in the retention column. Records meeting the expiration period should be disposed as soon as possible, but longer retention may be authorized, if needed.
