Sisyphean task
Endless and unavailing, as labor or a task.
Although record retention may seem like a Sisyphean Task, it is necessary. It's crucial to have an adequate record retention policy for Chapman University to comply with federal and state regulations. There are also other reasons why record retention is important. However, we first need to go over more definitions.
Definitions
Official Repository: The office/department listed on the Records Retention Schedule that is responsible for maintaining Records.
Record: Recorded information of any kind an in any form . . . made or received by the University or pursuant to law or in connection with the transaction of University business, and preserved or appropriate for preservation by the University as evidence of its organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, compliance, operations or other activities, or because of the informational and historical value of data contained in the record.
Why?
Compliance to record retention is important for many different reasons:
- There is one "source of truth": There is a matrix which identify which department is responsible for maintaining a specific record, how long, and where it is kept.
- Access Control: Not everyone in the organization should have access to all records. Certain laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) determine who can access specific information and how they can use it.
- Easy to locate: If there is no communication between departments/colleges of what records they keep, it will be difficult to locate the exact document needed.
- Protects records: See Preservations Holds below
Do you know about preservation holds?
Destruction of a record may be suspended for many different reasons. If this is the case, the Office of Legal Affairs will send out a notice of such action.
If your department receives a notice, you are responsible for ensuring that the record are not altered or deleted/destroyed until further instruction.
Compliance with preservation holds is required of all employees of Chapman University.