Records Management
Requirements for the Scheduling and Disposition of Public Records by the University of Florida
The procedures for scheduling and disposal of public records, applicable to all agencies, consists of two separate but related actions:
A. Establishing a Records Retention Schedule - A schedule describing the records and setting the retention period is required for each record series, or type of Record. This determines the official length of time that the record series must be retained to meet retention requirements. The University of Florida uses several different retention schedules, including the General Records Schedule for State and Local Government Agencies (GS1-S and GS1-L), the General Records Schedule for Universities and Community Colleges (GS-5), the General Records Schedule for Law Enforcement Agencies (GS-2), the General Records Schedule for Public Health Care Facilities and Providers (GS-4), and the individual records schedules developed specifically for the University of Florida. In addition, college, division, and department records schedules have been developed for those records that do not fall within the general records schedules listed above. The applicable retention schedules for your area can be obtained from the Records Management Office.
B. Obtaining Disposition Authorization - When records have met retention requirements established by a General Records Schedule or an individual department retention schedule, you may initiate disposal action by submitting a Records Disposition Request to the Records Management Office. The request will be submitted to the General Counsel and University Archives. Once approved, it authorizes the disposition of the listed records. It also serves as a certificate of records destroyed when signed by the initiating office. The request must be submitted and approved before actual disposition is carried out. The request assures that there is no premature destruction of records, or that records to be destroyed do not have an immediate or urgent value beyond the original retention period.
C. Archival Review - The Florida State Archives will analyze record series with a view to identify records having enduring historic, administrative or fiscal value that may be eligible for permanent preservation. If a record series is flagged, "These records may have archival value: contact Florida State Archives for archival review", the RMLO must contact the Florida State Archives at (850) 487-2073, SunCom 277-2073, once the minimum retention has been met. The Florida State Archives will provide guidance for the transfer of the records to the State Archives or other appropriate disposition of the records.
D. Electronic Records - Record schedules apply to records regardless of their physical format. Therefore, records created or maintained in electronic format must be retained in accordance with the minimum retention requirements presented in these schedules, whether the electronic records are the record copy or duplicates. Printouts of standard correspondence in text or word processing files are acceptable in place of the electronic files. Printouts of e-mail files are acceptable in place of the electronic files provided that the printed version contains the complete header information, including all date/time stamps, routing information, etc.
