University policies, guidelines, signing procedures, operating procedures/guidelines, and records relating to their development.
Responsible Unit | Information Steward | Information Confidentiality Classification | Retention | Disposition | Archival Records | Authority | Retention Rationale |Version Information
Content & Scope
University policies are initiated, reviewed, amended, and approved as specified in Policy 1 – Initiation and Review of University Policies, and are made publicly available via the Secretariat website. They are supplemented by University guidelines that apply to all members of the University community – employees, students, and visitors – and by University signing procedures, also available on the Secretariat website.
Administrative units develop and issue operating procedures, guidelines, and standards to support processes/activities they are responsible for and University policy implementation. These may be referred to as “policies” even though they are not numbered University policies established under Policy 1. Operating procedures, guidelines, and standards sometimes apply only to the unit which develops them, or they may apply to all University offices/units (e.g., Finance Department procedures and guidance).
This records class excludes procedures and guidelines which have been classified with a more specific records class (e.g., procedures for obtaining access to or requesting corrections of personal health information records, classified under IM40 – Information Access & Privacy).
The records include the final, approved, versions of these policies, procedures, guidelines, and related guidance, and records relating to their development, review, amendment or revision.
Responsible Unit
- Secretariat, for numbered University policies (established according to Policy 1), guidelines and signing procedures.
- Units issuing procedures and guidelines.
Information Steward
- University Secretary, for numbered University policies, guidelines, and signing procedures.
- Information steward responsible for the given area of University administration, for University or operating procedures, guidelines, and standards (consult the directory of information stewards for more information).
Information Confidentiality Classification
- Public: The final approved versions of University policies, procedures and guidelines, and other operating procedures/guidelines intended for use by the University community or the public.
- Confidential: all other records.
Retention
- Numbered University policies established under Policy 1: Permanent.
- Final approved versions of University guidelines and signing procedures; operating procedures, guidelines, and standards issued by administrative units: 3 years after superseded or withdrawn/cancelled.
- All other records: minimum of 1 year and maximum of 3 years after last action, or when no longer administratively required. Units should document the specific retention periods within this range that they are using for their records (contact the University Records Manager for assistance, if required).
Disposition
Archives Selection.
Records which are not selected for the University archives should be destroyed at the end of their retention period. All confidential records must be securely destroyed.
Note
Responsible Units should document the disposal/destruction of official records using the University records destruction form or equivalent documentation, to verify that we are following our records retention rules.
Archival Records
- University-level guidelines and signing procedures are of long-term historical value to the University. Please contact the University Records Manager for further assistance with these records at the end of their retention period.
- Superseded versions of numbered University policies established under Policy 1 may be transferred to the University archives to facilitate their preservation and access.
Authority
University of Waterloo Act, 1972.
Under Review Date
9 January 2023