V. J.   DeKalb Technical College

Student Record Management

Student record retention and disposal practices should be as consistent as possible among technical institutes, colleges, and universities.  For this reason, DeKalb Technical College bases this policy on recommendations of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO).  In addition, the retention and disposal schedule is intended to be in compliance with the requirements of the following agencies:

U.S. Department of Education

State Board of Technical and Adult Education

FERPA Office

U.S. Public Health Service

U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs

At DeKalb Technical College, it is the responsibility of the records managers to keep themselves informed about federal laws and regulations pertaining to the maintenance, security, and retention of records.  The records retention and disposal schedules below may be used as a guide.

RETENTION POLICY

 

Instructional and personnel documents are to be maintained by the college and/or the appropriate individual (faculty or staff) to conduct the daily operation of DeKalb Technical College.  Units of the college will adhere to the Technical College System of Georgia and Secretary of State guidance regarding maintenance and destruction schedule of documents.

DeKalb Technical College shall ensure the legal disposition of agency records in accordance with instructions contained in the official records retention schedule approved by the State Records Committee and any relevant federal statutes

DeKalb Technical College shall also adhere to the federal statues pertaining to records management. These include records concerning non-resident aliens, employment, financial aid, education, campus security, and non-discrimination in federally subsidized programs.

RETENTION SCHEDULE

Admissions data/documents for applicants who do not enter (no-shows) whether accepted or rejected are retained for one year after application term. These include: acceptance letters, placement records, applications for admissions, correspondence, entrance examination reports (ACT, SAT, ), letters of recommendation, medical information, placement information, admissions data changes, recruitment materials, relevant test scores (such as diagnostic), transcripts from other colleges, high school transcripts.

Notes:

1.         Records for applicants who do not enter are not covered by FERPA.

2.         Documents from Colleges in other countries may be originals and therefore difficult or impossible for the applicant to replace. The records custodian does have originals, they may return these documents to the applicant rather than destroy them.

3.         The above records are located in the Admissions Office.

4.         The above deletion schedule also applies to data that may be stored electronically through the computer system.

Admissions data/documents for applicants who enter DeKalb Technical College are retained for a period of five years after date of last attendance.  These documents include: acceptance letters, advanced placement records (transfer credit, credit by examination, etc.), applications for admission, application for readmission, correspondence, relevant entrance examination reports (ACT, SAT, etc.), letters of recommendation, medical records, placement scores, residency classification forms, student waivers for rights of access to see letters of recommendation for admission, test scores, transcripts (other colleges), transcripts (high school).

Notes:

Essential data is recorded on academic records, which are retained permanently.

1.      FERPA states that letters of recommendation not accompanied by waivers and retained beyond their intended use may be viewed by the student.  DeKalb Technical College recommends that the record manager destroy these letters after admission of the student. Waivers of rights of access filed with letters of recommendations should be retained as long as the file is retained.  Students who revoke their waivers of rights of access may not see letters of recommendation submitted during the time the waivers were in force.

  1. The above records are located in the Registrar's Office

 

ARCHIVING OF GRADES AND FINAL EXAMS

All faculty should keep their accumulated grade books for a period of one year.  Copies of grade books should be forwarded to the appropriate Department Chairperson’s office  by faculty at the end of each quarter to be stored for a period of three years.

Faculty should maintain all final examinations of their students for one year from the time of completion of the final exam.

When a faculty member will not be returning to the College the following quarter, he/she should deliver accumulated grade books and the past year’s final examinations to the appropriate Department Chairperson to be stored for a period of three years.

All permanent records of grades and student transcripts are stored in the Office of the Registrar.

REGISTRATION AND RECORDS DATA/DOCUMENTS

Unless otherwise noted, the following documents are retained for a period of five years from the date of graduation or the date of last attended: academic action authorization (dismissal, etc.), academic records (permanent); Advanced placement and other placement tests records/scores (COMPASS, ASSET) application for graduation; audit authorizations (1 year after date submitted); schedule changes (add/drop) (1 year after date submitted, 3 years for veterans); grade change forms (permanent); final class rosters/grade sheets (permanent); course selection forms (1 year after date submitted); credit by examination forms; request to audit forms (1 yr after date submitted); curriculum change authorization (course substitutions, etc.); degree audit records; disciplinary action documents (retained while in force in a file separate from the student's academic record); fee assessment forms; financial aid documents; foreign student forms (M-1, etc.); grade reports-Registrar's copy (1 year after date distributed); grade confirmation report (3 years for veterans); graduation list (permanent); graduation approvals or authorizations; name change authorizations;  Registrar personal data information forms (1 year after graduation or date of last attendance); transcript requests (1 year after date submitted); transfer credit evaluations; withdrawal forms (2 years after graduation or date of last attendance); INS documentation.

Notes:

1.      DeKalb Technical College recommends that record managers who manage permanent retention documents have back up documents for security reasons.

2.      Academic records from the beginning (1960) to 1975 are maintained on hard copy in the District Admissions and Records Office at Georgia Perimeter College.  Microfilm copies of these records are maintained in the Registrar's Office.  An original backup microfilm copy of these records are maintained in a vault at the Montreal Road Center, 1085 Montreal Road, Clarkston, Georgia 30021.

3.      All academic records since 1975 are maintained electronically on disk. There are certain backup procedures that are used for record safety and security. DeKalb Tech performs a system backup to all tapes Monday through Friday. In addition, a database export to disk is done Monday through Friday to backup the first backup system. This export file is written to a network file system, which is on a separate machine and then is backed up during that machine's daily backup. This is also done Monday through Friday. DeKalb Tech also has enabled mirroring of the database files. This step is to verify files, which is done every time a transaction is written to a file. Copies of the week's tapes are taken off-campus once a week and stored in an off-campus site.

4.      There is no recommended retention period given for disciplinary-action documents except that they be retained while in force in a file separate from the student's academic record (transcript).

CERTIFICATION DATA/DOCUMENTS

The following documents are retained for the periods indicated: enrollment verification (1 yr after verification); financial aid assistance records (3 years after graduation or date of last attendance); social security certifications (1 year after certification); VA certifications (3 years after graduation or date of last attendance).

Publications, statistical data/documents, and College reports

The following documents are retained permanently: catalogs; commencement programs; degree statistics (graduate lists); enrollment statistics; grade statistics; racial/ethnic statistics; schedules of classes.

Notes:

1.      All records recommended for permanent retention should have back-up copies for security.

2.      Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that Colleges maintain the necessary information and accurate compliance reports in such form that the determination of whether or not a College is in compliance could be easily ascertained.  In addition, racial and ethnic data are required to show the extent to which members of minority groups are beneficiaries of and participants in federally assisted programs.  There is no time limit specified in the law.

3.      The above records are located in the respective office responsible except for 1963-1975 academic records.  These are stored on hard copy at Georgia Perimeter College.  There are three microfilm copies of these records.  These are located on each of the Georgia Perimeter College campuses (North, South, and Central).

VA regulations require that all advertising, sales, and enrollment materials (e.g., catalogs) used by or on behalf of the College be retained three years after the termination of a veteran's enrollment.  In addition, records of tuition and fees charged to and collected from students, grade reports, and statements of progress (academic records), and previous education and training documents (transfer credit evaluations) be retained for three years.

FAMILY EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT DATA/DOCUMENTS

The following documents are retained for the periods indicated: requests for formal hearings (life of affected record); student requests for nondisclosure of directory information (1 year after date submitted); student statements on content of records regarding hearing panel decisions (life of affected record); student's written consent for records disclosure (until terminated by the student or life of affected record); waivers for rights of access (life of affected record); written decisions of hearing panels (life of affected record).

Whenever the recommended retention period is the "life of the affected record", the retention period of the FERPA document is meant to be the same as that of student records to which it pertains:  students' waivers of rights to access to letters of recommendation, for example, should be retained until student is terminated or the letters themselves are destroyed (Schedules I and II).  If the retention period for a record to which a FERPA document pertains is permanent, the FERPA document should also be permanently retained with backup for added security.

DATA SECURITY

DeKalb Tech requires all users to sign a security statement.  All users have passwords that expire every 12 weeks.  All dial-up modems have dial-up passwords.  Each time a person logs on, it records in the computer room.  Access to confidential information is maintained through computer form security and grants to the tables inside the database.  Programs written outside of the main system are secured by way of security files and level permissions.


References :

Secretary of State Retention Schedule http://sos.georgia.gov/archives/who_are_we/rims/retention_schedules/default.htm

 

Approved 3/99

Revised 02/01; 08/07