Delete all unneeded files that contain personal information.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have received a preservation notice (litigation hold letter) from the Office of the General Counsel, contact the Office of the General Counsel before making any changes.
NOTE: If a significant amount of email and documents have been stored on your computer longer than a year, you will greatly expedite the Personal Information Sweep procedure by completing Steps 2 and 3.
Step 2 requires you to determine whether the file with personal information is needed.
If the file is not needed, delete it.
If the file is needed, continue to Step 3 to determine how to secure the file.
Determine whether the file is needed.
The University is required by statute to retain certain “records.” Records of the type named in the common retention schedules or your own departmental retention schedules may NOT be kept longer than the specified retention periods, unless they relate to pending or current litigation, or are needed for an audit. Records Management & Archives can tell you whether your department has its own retention schedules. Consult the flow chart for assistance in determining whether to keep a file.
- Records Retention and Disposal Flow Chart
- Records Retention and Disposal Policy
- Common Retention Schedules (pdf)
- Records Management & Archives Contact Information
Email messages and attachments may be records subject to the retention requirements. You should treat email messages and attachments the same way you treat paper correspondence. Although Steps 4 - 8 involve scanning your computer for personal information with a software program, the program is not configured to scan email. You should pay particular attention to email in Steps 2 and 3, reviewing it for compliance with disposal requirements and eliminating or securing any personal information found in email messages or attachments.
The table below presents the retention periods for some common records.
| Type of Record | Retention Period |
| Academic advising records | 3 years after academic year created |
| Gradebooks and exams | 1 semester after grade given |
| Grade appeals | 5 years after calendar year created |
| Class rosters | None; discard when no longer needed |
| Admissions documents for applicants who did not enter | 1 year after calendar year created |
| Admissions documents for applicants who did enter | 3 years after calendar year created |
| Departmental grant/contract financial records kept for audit | 5 years after longer of fiscal year of final expenditure report submitted or when funding agency requirements are met |
| Human subject research records | 20 years after fiscal year research is completed |
| Research proposals (including grant routing documents) | 5 years after fiscal year created |
| PCard records | 8 years after fiscal year created; send records created after 6/1/06 to FSO after fiscal year created |
| Credit card receipts for departmental sales of goods and services | 6 months after created; up to 24 months for VISA |
| Departmental or supervisor's copy of employee personnel file | 6 months after termination |
To view the date on which a document was last modified in a Windows operating system:
- Click Start > My Documents > View > Details. (For Vista, click Start > Documents > Views > Details.)
- Click on the Date Modified heading to sort the documents by date.
If you are still uncertain whether to keep a file related to UA academic or business operations, consult a supervisor, advisor or Records Management & Archives.
If a previous computer user left the file and you don't know where it originated:
- If the machine was provided by the University for academic or business operations, consult a supervisor or advisor.
- If the supervisor or advisor does not believe the file was part of UA academic or business operations AND you share your computer with family, friends or co-workers, consult the people with whom you share the computer.
- If you still do not know where the file originated, delete the file.
Delete it if it's not needed.
Be sure to delete the unnecessary file, then empty the computer trash folder or recycle bin.
When deleting files, DO NOT delete system (program or application) files. If you have a question about whether a file is a system file, please contact your local IT staff or the 24/7 IT Support Center (626-TECH).
When you move a file into your computer's trash folder or recycle bin and empty it, the file information is not actually removed from the computer's hard disk until another program writes new information to the space where the "recycled" file's information resides. Consider using a secure file deletion utility to erase the files from your computer’s hard drive immediately. See the File Deletion Guideline for instructions. Be careful when using a file deletion utility because the files cannot be recovered once deleted.
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Step 3 – Secure personal information
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