Student Information – 75 Year Restriction

(FERPA refers to these as Education Records)

Examples

• Admission information for students accepted by and enrolled at MIT

• Biographical information including:

• date and place of birth

• gender

• nationality

• information about race and ethnicity

• identification photographs

• Transcripts

• Grades, test scores, courses taken, academic specialization and activities, and official communications

• Course work, including papers and exams, as well as communications that are part of the academic process between a student and the teaching staff, and between a student and other students in the class

• UROP and other internship program records

• Students’ financial records

• Disciplinary records

• Letters of recommendation

Likely Locations

• Committee on Discipline records

• Department records

• UROP records

• Faculty personal papers

• Dean Undergraduate Education records

• Dean Graduate School records

• Offices with disciplinary and counseling responsibilities records

How to Handle

Retain, but only if it is the record copy and designated as a permanent record.
 
Remove student papers, grades, and examinations with student names.
 
Remove and destroy letters of recommendation, except from faculty papers collections.

Additional Resources

Registrar’s Office: Records privacy & access 

Policies & Procedures: 11.3 Privacy of Student Records

Disciplinary records: http://web.mit.edu/committees/cod/ 

“Record” copy and permanent record schedule: Archives record schedules

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) a.k.a. “Buckley Amendment” http://www.ed.gov/offices/OM/ferpa.html 

Personnel Records – 75 Year Restriction

Examples

• Tenure cases

• Staff performance evaluations

• Search, appointment files

• Promotion files

• Affirmative action

• Salary

• Conflict of interest forms

• Outside professional activities forms

• Benefits records

• Retirement plan records

Likely Locations

• Human Resources records

• Deans of Schools records

• Office or program directors’ and heads of departments’ records

• Provost Office records

• Papers of faculty who served on tenure committees

• Papers of faculty who were heads of departments

• Correspondence series in all of the above

How to Handle

Retain, but only if it is the record copy and designated as a permanent record.

Restrict names on container lists.

If not a record copy, destroy (shred).

Additional Resources

“Record” copy and permanent record schedule: Archives record schedules

MIT Personnel Policy Manual: http://web.mit.edu/personnel/www/policy/

MIT Policies and Procedures Manual: http://web.mit.edu/policies/

MIT Corporation Records - 50 Year Restriction

Examples

• Presidential search committee records

• Fundraising records

• Visiting committee records

• Minutes of meetings

• High level planning records

Likely Locations

• Standing committees of the Corporation

• Executive

• Membership

• Investment

• Development

• Annual committees

• Auditing

• Corporation Joint Committee on Institute-Wide Affairs (CJAC)

• Presidential search committees

• Visiting committees

• Chairman of the Corporation

• Vice-President and Secretary of the Corporation

• President

• Treasurer

• Executive Vice President

• Provost

• Department and units’ visiting committee records

How to Handle

Is it the record copy?

• If record copy, mark for restrictions, especially when within another collection.

• If not, speak with Associate Head for Collections on retaining or not.