Mary and Jeff Bell Library

• Record Retention Schedule
• Records Destruction Form
• Records Destruction Form Additional Page
• Records Destruction Form Instructions

All records in the Record Retention Schedule may be disposed of in one of two ways.

Archival Preservation

If a record is designated in the Record Retention Schedule as one which should be kept as an archival record or if a department believes that a record should be kept for archival purposes and placed in the university archives, the department should contact the Special Collections and Archives department for consultation.

Destruction

Records must be destroyed in a timely manner. The record destruction process has to be approved and documented using the Records Destruction Form. This process is extremely important as we must verify that there is no reason that documents may not be destroyed such as pending litigation, claims, negotiations, audits, open records requests, or administrative review. If any of these are pending, then records must be kept until the completion of these actions.

Assistance in filling out forms is available as needed. Contact us at recordretention@tamucc.edu.

Each department is encouraged to have its own on-site Goodwill Shredding Bin. These are large bins that serve as a secure and fast way to dispose of hard copy records upon destruction approval. To learn more about these bins, complete the new bin request form, and schedule bin pick up, please visit Purchasing's Goodwill Document Shredding webpage: https://www.tamucc.edu/finance-and-administration/financial-services/purchasing/workquest-goodwill-shredding-contract.php 

 State Record

State records are any written, photographic, or other recorded information created or received by or on behalf of a state agency or an elected state official that documents activities in the conduct of the state business or the use of public resources Texas Government Code §441.180. Emails received on office computers fall under the definition of state record and must be treated as such according to the content of the email and based on the requirements of the retention schedule.

Copies of Record

Copies of record is the official state record kept on file as the original or master copy and maintained by the institution for the total retention period. These records are subject to the retention schedule and must be disposed of in a timely manner according to the retention schedule. Failure to do so results in non-compliance.

Copies of record require approval prior to destruction or disposition. The Records Destruction Form must be completed, submitted to the Records Officer, and returned to the department fully approved before destruction or disposition can take place. If you are unsure whether the document you hold is the copy of record please contact us at recordretention@tamucc.edu.

Transitory Records

Transitory Records are the records that have temporary usefulness and are needed only for a limited time for the completion of a particular action. These records are not essential to the documentation of an agency’s functions. They are not a part of any record series and they are not listed in the Record Retention Schedule. These records can be disposed of without approval; however, departments should have a process for disposing of these records. Examples of transitory records include temporary information such as telephone messages, routing slips, some memos, some draft documents, incoming letters that add nothing of substance, routine information that is used for communication but not for documentation.

Convenience Copies

Convenience copies are all other copies of the copy of record that were created for convenience, reference, or research. Convenience copies can be destroyed at any time but must be destroyed by the end of the retention period. They cannot be kept longer than the record copies. If a convenience copy is kept longer than the record copy it becomes a copy of record and results in non-compliance.

Inactive Records

Inactive records are records that are referred to infrequently but must be maintained until the retention period is over.

Active Records

Active records are records that are needed to perform current operations or duties. They are accessed frequently and should be near the user.

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi offers training in records management to departments and individuals upon request and schedules regular sessions during the year with the help of the Employee Relations Office. Additional training is available:

• The A&M System online training system. Traintraq Courses: 11015: Retention of State Records and 2112299: E-mail Management and Retention.
• Blog: The Texas Record at https://www.tsl.texas.gov/slrm/blog/
• Records Management Training for State Agencies and Local Governments in Texas at https://slrmtraining.tsl.texas.gov/

If you are interested in a department or individual training session, contact the University Records Officer, Interim Dean Hiatt, by emailing recordretention@tamucc.edu or derrik.hiatt@tamucc.edu.