Do not destroy records that are part of - or you are aware that they will be part of - any legal action, audit, investigation, or review.
Academic Records
Description
Documents academic work pursued and degrees earned.
Confidential Information Present
Personally identifiable (non-directory) student information
Office of Record
University Registrar
School Registrars
Graduate Studies
Undergraduate Studies
Other Offices
Convenience copies maintained by other units should be destroyed by shredding or file wiping when no longer needed for administrative purposes. Convenience copies should be kept no longer than the periods specified for the Office Record.
Documentation of curricular plan or program requirements and exceptions to program requirements Some examples include: (See Notes)
Individual program of study (see Notes)
Exceptions to program requirements, including course substitutions and waivers and time extensions
Documentation of status, progress towards degree, withdrawal, separation, or dismissal, including eligibility to re-enroll
Some examples include: (See Notes)
Advanced placement and International Baccalaureate credits, credit by examination, transfer credit evaluations
Credit/non-credit approvals
Class audit authorizations
Registration/enrollment forms
Drop/Add forms
Grade and change of grade forms
Semester enrollment audits
Application for candidacy and degree, approval for graduation, status report, degree audit
Leave of absence authorizations
Withdrawal authorizations
Dismissal notifications
Dissertation certification
Diplomas, program completion documents
Transcripts from other post-secondary institutions (see Notes)
Graduates
Retain relevant documentation until no longer needed:
For re-accreditation review audits (See Notes)
To support collection of outstanding charges
To meet licensing requirements
To investigate degree challenges
But do not retain longer than 50 years after graduation (See Notes). Destroy by shredding or file wiping.
Student is no longer eligible to complete degree program
No longer needed for re-accreditation review audits (See Notes)
No longer needed to support collection of outstanding charges
But do not retain longer than 50 years after last attendance (See Notes). Destroy by shredding or file wiping.
Documentation of credits or degrees earned Some examples include: (See Notes)
Clinical or field work evaluations (see Notes about CWRU clinics)
Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE)
Final CWRU transcript
Graduates
Transfer to University Archives for permanent retention.
Non-Graduates
Transfer to University Archives for permanent retention.
Documentation of student identification and activities contained in academic records.
Transfer to University Archives for permanent retention.
Applications for admission
Photographs
Name and gender changes
Transfer to University Archives for permanent retention. (see Notes about student activities records)
Honors and awards received while a student
Extracurricular activities
Correspondence or news clippings documenting the student’s activities after graduation
Documentation of enrollment and degree verification
Retain while active, then destroy by shredding or file wiping
Requests for and disclosures of student personally identifiable non-directory information to third parties with student consent
Student requests for nondisclosure of directory information
Student consent for records disclosure
Student transcript requests
Retain for 3 years after graduation or last attendance then destroy by shredding or file wiping.
Veterans Administration certification
Retain permanently
Requests for and disclosures of student personally identifiable non-directory information to third parties without student consent
Transitory records that do not add significantly to an understanding of the student’s academic status
Some examples include:
Drafts, including CWRU transcripts other than the final version
Routine correspondence and phone messages, for example, to schedule meetings
Multiple copies of the same document
Retain while active, then destroy by shredding or file wiping
Notes
Multiple offices of record
When functions and the records they produce are shared between central and school-based offices, responsibility for records retention is also shared. To reduce the costs associated with duplication of effort, the office with the authoritative version is the office of record. For example, for records used in a sequence of actions, generally the office which carries out the final action would be the office of record.
Document examples
Documentation includes structured forms and unstructured correspondence, including email. Specific types of documentation vary considerably across schools. The documents listed are examples to illustrate the range and are not comprehensive. Similarly, the subset of documents needed to support defined purposes will vary across schools.
Program of Study
General major and degree requirements are published in the General Bulletin, which is scheduled for permanent retention as a distinct record series. These do not need to be retained as part of individual students’ academic records.
Transcripts
The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers recommends that transcripts from colleges in countries outside the U.S., if originals and difficult to replace, be returned to the applicant instead of destroying them.
Re-accreditation review audits
Some schools’ accrediting bodies audit student academic records, to ensure that program requirements were followed, during re-accreditation reviews. The Office of the Provost has advised that such reviews do not extend further than the previous review and that ten years is the longest review period.
50 year maximum retention
Some purposes for which student records are retained are relevant only to living students (e.g., verifying credentials for licensure, completing an interrupted program, etc.). The maximum retention of 50 years is intended to cover the life of a student, in most cases. The intent is to accommodate those schools that have lengthy degree completion periods, but not to burden schools that have much shorter degree completion periods.
Clinical evaluations
This schedule does not apply to evaluations of student performance in CWRU clinics when those records are maintained as part of patient records or clinic operations.
Student activities
While recent student academic records rarely contain these records, they are common in early 20th century student records.
Effective Date
August 2018
Revision Date
not applicable
Do not destroy records that are part of - or you are aware that they will be part of - any legal action, audit, investigation, or review.
Disposition schedules are based on the length of time records are needed to meet internal program management needs; satisfy external statutory and regulatory requirements; and to ensure the university has a reliable institutional memory. Questions should be addressed to the CWRU Archives at 368-3320 or archives@case.edu.
