Permanent Records Guidelines for University Departments

The University Archives is the repository for all records of enduring historical value from all university administrative and academic units. The permanent retention of materials is governed by North Carolina's Public Records Laws and the university's records retention schedule.

The following are the common types of records that must be retained permanently by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the administrative offices of the UNC System and transferred to the University Archives.


Office files

• Executive Correspondence, including email
  • Whether correspondence can be considered a permanent record depends on the content of the message. Does the message show evidence of action, outline procedure, or issue policy?
  • Messages that merely confirm appointments or are personal messages generally do not meet the standards to be considered a record.
• Institutional Accreditation Records (see General Schedule series 1.2)
• Professional Accreditation Records (see General Schedule series 14.24)
• Lectures and Lecture Series Records (see General Schedule series 1.22)
• Staff Meeting Records (see General Schedule series 1.27, 1.43)
• Organizational Charts (see General Schedule series 1.29)
• Reports (administrative)
  • Specifically annual reports, although other periodic or summary reports are considered permanent if containing information not reflected in annual reports
• Policy and Procedures Documents
  • Including handbooks and organizational charts (see General Schedule series 1.32)
• Cooperative Program Records: inter-institutional program records
• Special Event Records (see General Schedule series 1.3)
• Public Relations Records, including news releases (see General Schedule series 1.25)
• Visiting Scholar/Scholar in Residence Programs (see General Schedule series 1.52)

Financial Records

• Official Budget Reports (see General Schedule series 5.11)

Board, Committee, Council, and Task Force Records

• Advisory Board Records (see General Schedule series 1.5)
• Agendas, minutes, reports, and correspondence (see General Schedule series 1.12)
  • Note: When preparing records for transfer, consider copy of record versus reference copies. Was your office an active participant in the committee’s activities or a representative monitoring them?

Personnel Records

• Faculty Curricula Vitae and Resumes (see General Schedule series 12.29)

Curriculum & Instruction Records

• Course and Program Development Records (see General Schedule series 1.1, 2.3, 2.5, 2.8)

Grant Records

• Grant Proposals and Awards (see General Schedule series 6.7, 6.8, 6.14)

Audio-visual Materials

• Photographs, films, videos, and sound recordings specifically related to a department’s activities and personnel, such as headshots, lectures, symposiums, faculty and student mixers, staff parties, etc.

The above is not an exhaustive list. Depending on the functions that occur within your department or unit, additional specific records and record types must be retained permanently. Please refer to the General Records Retention and Disposition Schedule regarding any materials not listed in the outline above that you think might be permanent. Your department or unit may use different names for the documents, and they may be formally or informally produced; nevertheless, they fall within the scope of the University Archives' acquisition and preservation program.

Consult the University Archives and Records Management Services with any questions.

All permanent records must be transferred to the University Archives after the time period specified in the General Records Retention and Disposition Schedule.

All permanent materials must be retained regardless of their original format. Please consult with University Archives and Records Management Services regarding maintaining and transferring electronic records.

Non-permanent records also need to be disposed of in accordance with the General Records Retention and Disposition Schedule. University Archives and Records Management Services can answer questions about management of non-permanent records.

Return to Home.