December marks a recommended period for departments at the University of Georgia to review and dispose of outdated student records. According to university policy, all records created by staff and faculty in the course of university business are considered property of the citizens of Georgia. These documents must be managed in accordance with the Georgia Records Act, the Georgia Open Records Act, and relevant federal laws.
The UGA Records Management program (UGA RM) provides guidance to all university offices on handling their records. The program offers free storage for items that comply with the Georgia Board of Regents Retention Guidelines and also provides secure destruction services at no cost for sensitive campus records.
“Separating the records of inactive or graduated students from active student records ensures a smooth transfer to the Records Center for storage or destruction,” states UGA RM.
Key retention standards set by the Board of Regents include maintaining transcripts permanently, while other academic records should be kept for five years after a student’s last attendance. Graduation certification and advising files held by college departments also have a five-year retention period following last attendance.
For international students, assistance and advising files must be retained for five years after last attendance but at least one year after final notification to Immigration and Naturalization Service. Non-admitted applicants’ files are to be kept for two years.
Special academic programs such as those involving English Language Institute, Study Abroad, or Adult Learners require enrolled participants’ files to be stored for five years; denied or non-participants’ files should be kept for two years. Special program student records related to K-12 non-institutional participants are maintained three years after separation from their program.
Records related to denied admission or students who did not show up have varying retention periods: undergraduate student files are retained one year after application term; graduate student files remain on record three years post-application; international student applicant files are held two years; special academic record applicants’ documents are kept two years following application term.
Additional guidelines can be found on the USG Records Management website (https://www.usg.edu/records_management/). Departments seeking further information about destroying or storing outdated student files can contact UGA Records Management directly.
