Developing a Records Schedule

A retention and disposition schedule is a document that lists all the records series in your office. Your schedule tells you how long to keep the records series and when to destroy them or transfer them to University Archives.

Records schedules are required under North Carolina General Statute 132. Records, no matter how insignificant cannot be destroyed unless a records retention and disposition schedule has been approved by University Archives and Records Service and the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. The records management liaison in your office should be able to provide you with a copy of your schedule and aid in its interpretation.

Below are the steps in creating and/or updating a schedule:

• Appoint a Records Management Liaison (RML) for your department and submit a RML Appointment Form.
• Download and complete the schedule creation forms: Standard & Unique Records Series and Schedule Request Instructions.
• You may either:
  (1) contact the University Records Manager to set up an in-person consultation to review the forms, or
  (2) send the forms to the University Records Manager to request a draft.
• From these forms a draft schedule will be created and sent to the Records Management Liaison for review. The Records Management Liaison should share the schedule with all concerned parties in the office/department, and contact UARS with any questions or comments. Once the draft is acceptable to the department/office, the RML should sign a printed copy (on all pages) and return it to UARS.
• The University Records Manager will submit the draft for review by the University Archivist and Department of Cultural Resources
• Upon receipt of these reviews, a final signature version of the Schedule will be sent to the Records Management Liaison, along with an internal signature sheet. This requires the signatures of the Records Management Liaison and Department Head. Return the signature sheet with a copy of the schedule to UARS.
• The schedule with internal and external signatures sheets are then sent to the Department of Cultural Resources for final approval.
• An approved schedule, with scans of all signature pages, will be sent to the Records Management Liaison in PDF format upon return from the Department of Cultural Resources. The schedule will also be available on the Approved Schedules webpage.

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