Records Management

Records management standards and principles apply to all forms of recorded information, from creation to final disposition. These records are subject to retention, destruction, and inspection.

REDBOOK Sec. 2.5.6 Archives and Records Policy

The University Archives and Records Center is the official repository for all University records and is responsible for the University's compliance with state and federal records laws, including those governing personal privacy; public access; micrographic, photographic, or electronic storage and reproduction; overall disposition; and destruction. The University Archives and Records Center shall preserve proper and adequate documentation of University policies, decisions, procedures, functions, and essential transactions.

All records generated in the course of business at the University of Louisville are governed by the State University Model Records Retention Schedules, which are approved by the Kentucky State Archives and Records Commission for the retention and destruction of records created by all of the public colleges and universities in the Commonwealth.

Kentucky law defines public records as "all books, papers, maps, photographs, cards, tapes, disks, diskettes, recordings, and other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, which are prepared, owned, used, in the possession of or retained by a public agency" (KRS 171.410, Section 1). The Kentucky Open Records Act mandates that "public records shall be open for inspection by any resident of the Commonwealth, except as otherwise provided by KRS 61.870-61.884" (KRS 61.872, Section 1).

The University Archivist serves as the official custodian of University records.

As dictated by the State University Model Retention Schedule (effective June 9, 2022):

• All college and university employees are responsible for maintaining records according to the State University Model Records Retention Schedule, whether those records are stored electronically or in paper. Information must be accessible to the appropriate parties until all legal, fiscal, and administrative retention periods are met, regardless of the records storage medium.
• State college and university heads have the responsibility to know all the appropriate confidentiality laws, statutes and regulations that apply to the records maintained by their respective institutions and to see that those laws are enforced.