Document Retention

Certain federal laws prohibit the destruction of certain documents. Not-for-profit organizations should have a written, mandatory document retention and periodic destruction policy. Policies such as this will eliminate accidental or innocent destruction. In addition, it is important for administrative personnel to know the length of time records should be retained and follow protocol for the timely and appropriate destruction of records after the retention period has passed.

Policy

Kentucky State University follows the State University Model Records Retention Schedule. All university employees are responsible for maintaining records according to this policy, whether those records are stored electronically or in paper form. Information must be accessible to the appropriate parties until all legal, fiscal, and administrative retention periods are met, regardless of the records storage medium.

• Paper or electronic documents indicated under the terms for retention in the following section will be transferred and maintained by the responsible office.
• No paper or electronic documents will be destroyed or deleted if pertinent to any ongoing or anticipated government investigation or proceeding or private litigation (check with counsel for any current or foreseen litigation if employees have not been notified); and
• No paper or electronic documents will be destroyed or deleted as required to comply with government auditing standards (Single Audit Act).

The following table summarizes the retention requirements for fiscal records. The complete retention schedule for other university records is included in the State Agency Records Retention Schedule.