3.1.36 Document Retention and Destruction

The University is committed to effective records retention to preserve its history, ensure that critical records are available to meet business needs, comply with legal requirements, optimize the use of space, minimize the cost of record retention, and ensure that outdated and useless records are destroyed. The University requires that University records be retained for specific periods of time and has designated official repositories for their maintenance. These records should be managed according to procedures that are outlined in the Document Retention Schedule.

Document Retention Schedule:

Document Description	Official Creator/ Repository	Retention Period (in Years)
Accounts Payable (Cks, wires, EFT, disbursement records)	Controller's Office	7
Accounts Receivable	Controller's Office	7
Annual Budget Documents	Controller's Office	7
Annual Financial Report (Audited)	Controller's Office	Permanent
Audit Work Papers	Controller's Office	7
Bank Reconciliations	Controller's Office	7
Bank Statements	Controller's Office	7
Bond Issue Docs	Controller's Office	Permanent
Cancelled Checks/Wire Transfers	Controller's Office	7
Capital Equipment Records	Controller's Office	4 years after Sale of Property/ Equipment
Capital Property Records	Controller's Office	Permanent
Chart of Accounts	Controller's Office	Permanent
Construction Contracts	Controller's Office	7
Contracts and Leases	Controller's Office	7 years after expiration
Deeds and Titles	Controller's Office	Permanent
Deposit Records	Controller's Office	7
Fixed Assets and Asset Depreciation Schedules	Controller's Office	Permanent
Determination Letter for Income Tax Exemption	Controller's Office	Permanent
States Sales Tax Exemption Letter	Controller's Office	Permanent
Federal Grant Records	Controller's Office	7 years after expiration
General Ledgers	Controller's Office	7
Credit Card Receipts	Controller's Office	3
Insurance Policies	Controller's Office	Permanent
Certificates of Insurance	Controller's Office	1
Invoices or expense records	Controller's Office	7
Monthly/Quarterly Investment Statements for Managers/Brokers	Controller's Office	7
Mortgage Records	Controller's Office	Permanent
Payroll Registers	Controller's Office	Permanent
Earnings Records	Controller's Office	7
Garnishment Records	Controller's Office	7
Payroll Tax Records	Controller's Office	7
W2 Statements	Controller's Office	7
Garnishment Records	Controller's Office	7
Property Appraisals	Controller's Office	Permanent
Property Tax Reports	Controller's Office	Permanent
Purchase Orders	Controller's Office	7
Tax Reports - 1098-T	Controller's Office	7
Tax Reports - 1099	Controller's Office	7
Tax Returns - Payroll	Controller's Office	Permanent
Tax Returns 990 and 990-T	Controller's Office	Permanent
Unclaimed Property	Controller's Office	Permanent
Check Registers	Controller's Office	7
Construction Documents	Facilities	Permanent
Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP)	Financial Aid Office	5
Worker’s Compensation Claims	Human Resources	30
EEOC Investigations	Human Resources	7 years after conclusion
Employee Applications	Human Resources	1
Employee I-9	Human Resources	3 years after termination
Retirement Records	Human Resources	Permanent
Employee Policy Manual	Human Resources	Permanent
Wage and Personnel Records	Human Resources	7 years after termination
Endowment Records	Institutional Advancement	Permanent
Gift Agreements	Institutional Advancement	Permanent
Gift Receipts	Institutional Advancement	7
Private Grant Records	Institutional Advancement	7 years after expiration
Grant Applications - Denied/Declined	Institutional Advancement	3
Scholarships Agreements	Institutional Advancement	Permanent
Trusts/Bequests	Institutional Advancement	Permanent
Deceased Files	Institutional Advancement	7
Title IX Records Investigations Determinations Recordings Transcripts Sanctions Remedies Appeals Informal Resolutions Training Materials	Title IX Compliance	7
Annual Budget (in Board Books)	President's Office	Permanent
Articles of Incorporation	President's Office	Permanent
Attorney Opinion Letters	President's Office	Permanent
Attorney-Client Correspondence	President's Office	Permanent
Budget Variance Reports (in Board Books)	President's Office	Permanent
By-Laws	President's Office	Permanent
Correspondence, legal and important matters	President's Office	Permanent
Institutional Planning Records - final planning reports, proposals, goal and objective statements, and instructions and explanations of process, internal planning committee materials	President's Office	Permanent
Litigation Files, Court Documents and Records, and Discovery Materials - cases resulting in major policy modification, pleadings, final decisions, copies of records of the courts of cases considered historical	President's Office	Permanent
Minutes of Board Committee Meetings	President's Office	Permanent
Minutes of Board Meetings	President's Office	Permanent
Board Policies and Resolutions	President's Office	Permanent
Student Information System (Colleague) Student Documents	Registrar’s Office	Permanent
Printed academic documents for currently enrolled students – maintain paper documents for current semester, scan for permanent maintenance, then destroy paper documents	Registrar’s Office	Permanent for electronic documents
Printed academic documents for former students	Registrar’s Office	7 for paper and Permanent for electronic
Piedmont pre-electronic printed academic transcripts for former students	Registrar’s Office	Permanent
Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs	Registrar’s Office	Permanent
Graduation programs	Registrar’s Office	Permanent

Financial Aid Retention Policy:

The University must retain all required records for a minimum of three years from the end of the award year. However, the starting point for the three-year period is not the same for all records. For example, FFEL/DL reports must be kept for three years after the end of the award year in which they were submitted, while borrower records must be kept for three years from the end of the award year in which the student last attended.

The University may retain records longer than the minimum period required. Moreover, the University may be required to retain records involved in any loan, claim, or expenditure questioned in any FSA program review, audit, investigation, or other review. If the three-year retention period expires before the issue in question is resolved, the university must continue to retain all records until resolution is reached.

There are also additional record retention requirements that apply to universities granted waivers of the audit submission requirements.

The Financial Aid Office currently keeps 10 years of financial aid records either stored in fireproof file cabinets or in the vault on the first floor of Daniel Hall.

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Section 3 - General Policies