This page provides brief background and contact information for common questions about records retention & disposition at Indiana University.

Records retention & disposition are components of the records life cycle.

  • Retention refers to the amount of time a record should be retained.
  • Disposition refers to the final administrative action taken with regard to records, including destruction, transfer to another office, or permanent preservation.
  • A record is an individual document, whether in paper, microfilm, microfiche, photograph, film, electronic, etc. At Indiana University, a record is defined as material created, received, and maintained in any form as evidence and information by the organization or person, in pursuance of legal obligations or in pursuit of the University’s mission.
  • A record series is a group of related records filed and/or used together and evaluated for retention and disposition purposes.
  • records retention schedule is a comprehensive list of record series, indicating for each the length of time the series is to be maintained and its disposition.
  • A records inventory is a survey of the types of records currently in the unit, which is used to identify the retention and disposition of those records (according to existing records retention schedules, and in consultation with University Archives or your campus Archives), and then to take action as needed.

Records are not to be disposed of until a review has been completed for possible archival and historical value. University Archives, or the Archives unit on each campus, has the final determination as to what records have archival and historical value, and where they are to be archived.


Contacts for Common Questions

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What records do I keep, for how long, and how do I dispose of them?

First check if the records have been scheduled on an existing records retention schedule. If not, see the contacts by functional area/record series listed below.

Academic Personnel

All Campuses
Start with the Academic Personnel contact within your unit. If this person is not available, contact the Academic Personnel professional for your campus, listed below.

IUB - Dede Borik
IUPUI - Rachel Applegate
IUE - Kim Ladd
IUK - Mark Canada or Marsha McKinley
IUN - Liz Romeo 
IUS - Ginnie Lee
IUSB - Doug McMillen

Alumni & IUAA Records

All campuses
Sarah Pike

Financial Records
All campuses
Start with the fiscal officer within your unit. If this person is not available, contact the financial professional for your campus, listed below.

IUB - John Fox
IUPUI - Camy Broeker
IUE - Dan Dooley
IUK - Philemon Yebei
IUN - Michelle Dickerson
IUS - Dana Wavle
IUSB - Kathleen Pizana

Foundation & Donor Records
All Campuses
Philippa Guthrie

Health Records
Electronic Medical Records - Start with your unit leadership.
​Research - Start with the principal investigator
Student Health Data - Start with your unit leadership. If you still have questions, contact the Student Data Steward
Employee Health Data - Start with your unit leadership. If you still have questions, contact the HR Data Steward
Optometry - Jennifer Fisher
Dentistry - Karen Rogers
Protected Health Information (PHI) - Claire Tempel

Human Resources, Employee & Benefit (non-academic) 

All Campuses
Start with the HR contact within your unit. If this person is not available, contact the HR professional for your campus, listed below.
http://hr.iu.edu/hrms/records_schedule.html 

Campus Contacts
https://hr.iu.edu/welcome/contact-address.htm

IUB - 
IUPUI - Deborah McCullough
IUE - Evelyn Gordon
IUK - Nancy Larkin
IUN - Mianta' Diming
IUS - Ray Klein
IUSB - Deb Schmitt

I have records I want to dispose of. I don't find them listed on any existing records retention schedule. Who do I ask whether these records might have historical value?

Start with your campus archives, usually located within the library. Specific campus contacts are listed below.

IUB - Amanda Rindler 
IUPUI - Stephen Towne 
IUE - Jesse Whitton
IUK - Meg Galasso 
IUN - Jeremy Pekarek
IUS - Melanie Hughes
IUSB - Scott Shoger 

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Can I destroy the paper copy of a record if it has been digitized and stored electronically?

Contact your unit records coordinator or the contact listed for the specific record series. If no other contacts are available, please email Amanda Rindler.

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If I do scan the record, where can I store it?

Contact your local IT Pro.
Additional guidance is available online for the storage of electronic documents:

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