Records of committees supporting University administration.
Related Records | Responsible Unit | Information Steward | Information Confidentiality Classification | Retention | Disposition | Archival Records | Authority | Retention Rationale | Version Information
Content & Scope
Numerous University-level and departmental committees, ad hoc committees and task forces support the operations of the University. Similarly, many University initiatives operate with the assistance of advisory boards and councils.
This records class excludes records of the Board of Governors and Senate as well as their committees and councils, faculty councils and their committees, committees constituted by law or government agency, and committees whose primary function is adjudicative (i.e., to make evaluations and/or decisions about individuals regarding such matters as job competitions, promotions, awards, honours, academic standing, etc.). Please note that this records class does include the records of academic department/school meetings.
The records include: committee constitutions and terms of reference; records of elections and/or nominations of committee members; meeting agendas, minutes, presentations and reports; correspondence and other records supporting the committee’s activities maintained by committee chairs and secretaries.
Related Records
- For records of the Board of Governors, Senate, faculty councils, and their committees, see the records classes in the Governance (GV) function.
- For the records of committees required by law or government agency and of committees with a primarily adjudicative function, see the appropriate records class in the function which the records support (e.g., records of hiring and search committees will be found in the Human Resources (HR) function).
- Note: if uncertain where to class the records of a particular committee, please consult the University Records Manager.
Responsible Unit
Units responsible for particular committees.
Information Steward
- Faculty dean: records of administrative committees, councils, and advisory boards of the faculty and its academic departments/schools.
- All other administrative committees: the relevant information steward for the functional area of administration (consult the directory of information stewards for more information).
Information Confidentiality Classification
- Public: committee constitutions and terms of reference; minutes of the open sessions of committee meetings; communications and reports intended for public release.
- Restricted: records of closed/in camera sessions of meetings.
- Confidential: all other records.
Retention
- Constitutions and terms of reference; supporting records maintained by chairs and secretaries: until superseded or obsolete.
- Meeting agendas, minutes, presentations and reports: minimum of 7 years and no more than 20 years. 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).
- Election & nomination records: 1 year after election or nomination process is complete.
Disposition
- Election & nomination records; supporting records maintained by chairs and secretaries: Secure Destruction.
- All other records: Archives Selection.
- Records which are not selected for the University archives should be destroyed at the end of their retention period. All confidential – including restricted and highly restricted – 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 committees, advisory boards and councils, and academic department or school meetings: constitutions and terms of reference, agendas, minutes, and reports are of long-term historical value to the University.
- All other administrative committees: Please contact the University Records Manager for further assistance with these records at the end of their retention period. Records of long-term historical value to the University will be selected by the Library Special Collections & Archives department.
Authority
- University of Waterloo Act, 1972.
- Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Retention Rationale
Retention is based on operational use and regulations to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act requiring that personal information be retained for a minimum of one year after its use, unless the individual to whom the information relates consents to its earlier disposal (RRO 1990 Reg 460, s 5(1)).
Some of these records have long-term historical value.
Approval Date
3 April 2018
Previous Version
19 December 2011