This brief guide aims to identify record series (or types of records) commonly kept by academic departments throughout the University, and recommend best practices for maintaining and ultimately destroying records, or transferring them to the University Archives.

For the majority of records series created at Princeton University, academic departments are not the Office of Record, or the office responsible for maintaining the official version of a record. Any other version of the official record is considered a reference copy and is only kept as long as it has administrative value. Reference copies should not be kept longer than the official record’s retention period (how long a record must be kept due to legal requirements and/or business needs) and should be securely destroyed as soon as it is not in use. This is especially important for copies of records with sensitive financial details or Personal Identifiable Information. Additionally, restricted information and material like copies of Student Records (or their constituent parts) should not be sent via email but rather shared using a service like SecureSend.

The following is a list of record series that are often kept as reference copies by academic departments, along with the Offices of Record that are responsible for them:

• Faculty Personnel Files – The University Archives only receives the version of a Faculty Personnel File transferred by the Office of the Dean of Faculty. Individual academic departments are not responsible for keeping these files permanently.
• Non-Faculty Personnel Files – Personnel Files for non-faculty are maintained by the Office of Human Resources, and destroyed seven years after an employee leaves the University. Two exceptions are Performance Evaluations and Conflict of Interest Statements, discussed below.
• Student Records – The University Archives only receives official Student Records from the Graduate School or Office of the Dean of the College. Academic departments are not responsible for these files.
• Student academic work – There is no official University retention period for student work, other than senior theses and graduate-level dissertations that are submitted to the University Archives. (Any older theses still onsite in academic departments should be transferred to Mudd Library.) Completed exams, posters, presentations, or other projects can be securely destroyed after the student graduates.
• Financial Records – All official Financial Records are maintained by the Office of Finance and Treasury. Academic departments are not responsible for these files.
• Media clippings – The Office of Communications maintains collections of articles, interviews, and other media appearances by Princeton faculty. Any other physical or digital copies of articles featuring faculty members can be destroyed.

There are records that should either be maintained by academic departments for a determined period of time, or transferred to the University Archives due to their research value:

• Programmatic records (e.g., records related to the creation of majors and minors).
• Syllabi for offered courses.
• Exam questions administered to undergraduate or graduate students.
• Records related to major events (e.g., programs, posters).
• Records documenting the history of the department.
• Non-Faculty Performance Evaluations and Conflict of Interest Statements – These two types of personnel records are not maintained by HR. Performance Evaluations should be destroyed seven years after an employee leaves the University, and Conflict of Interest Statements should be destroyed six years after active use.

Please note that faculty and staff members’ personal papers usually fall outside the scope of the University Archives’ collection policy. If a former member of the faculty or staff, their families, or another individual contacts the department about donating faculty or staff papers to Special Collections, they can be directed to the University Archives' Information for Alumni, Individual, and Outside Organization Donors.

Some online records management resources include:

• The Princeton University Library Finding Aids – You can use the Finding Aids to search the University Archives for records series that already have been transferred from your department. Please bear in mind that some record series housed in the University Archives may no longer be considered archival.
• The University Archives website – This site details what types of records are routinely transferred from departments and offices (along with which records series are not usually considered archival) and gives instructions for how to transfer records to the University Archives.
• Princeton University Records Management’s RM Toolkit – The RM Toolkit is primarily aimed at Central Administrative Offices with approved Records Retention Schedules, but also includes general guidance on maintaining and destroying paper-based and electronic records.
• The University's Information Security Policy – Endorsed by the Executive Compliance Committee, this policy offers guidance on how to identify and appropriately handle records and information at all classification levels.
• Polar Shredding – Polar Shredding is Princeton University’s partner for secure records and information destruction. Once you are ready to shred paper-based records (and/or copies of records), please contact them directly for an estimate.

Please email Records Management or call at 609-258-1737 if you have any questions regarding records retention, destruction, or transfer to the University Archives.