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Storage & Retention

Storage

Due to space and budget constraints, the University Records Management Office provides minimal holding space for inactive records, therefore university departments are responsible for the storage, transfer and/or destruction of their own inactive records in accordance with the law and the university's policies, procedures, and records management program.

Georgia State University Archives

As the official repository for records created by Georgia State University, the Gerogia State University Archives provides secure storage for inactive records in any format that are of vital, or historic, or long-term value to the university. For more information on what to transfer and how to do it, please view Tranfering Records online or contact Laurel Bowen at lbowen@gsu.edu.

State of Georgia Archives

The State of Georgia Archives located South of Atlanta will store back-up copies of inactive, (permanent) vital records in electronic or microform format, with prior approval (having met approved retention guidelines). Be sure that University Archives has received a copy of these records before sending back-up copies off-site. Contact Jan McCord for more information at (404) 413-2236 or via e-mail at jmccord@gsu.edu.

State of Georgia Records Center

For a minimal fee and with prior approval, the State Records Center may provide temporary secure storage and retrieval for inactive records (of non-permanent or non-historic value) having an approved retention period.

Records Disposition Procedures

  • When your active records are no longer accessed on a regular basis, they become inactive. The head of the university office that created and maintains these records makes this determination. If necessary, for the sake of space, inactive records may be moved to a storage area within your department.
  • Consult with the University Archivist (lbowen@gsu.edu), who determines if the inactive records have long-term information, research, historic, or administrative value. If they do, or if they are vital records, they should be sent to University Archives.
  • Confer with the university Records Management Officer (jmccord@gsu.edu), who determines if inactive records have met their retention period (kept the minimum number of years required by the U.S.G guidelines.
  • If your inactive records have not yet been kept for the required minimum years but have an approved retention period (and are NOT vital records or records of long-term value), they or may be sent to the State Records Center for a fee.
  • Inactive records that have met their retention period and are NOT vital records or records of long-term value may be destroyed (shredded, for example) upon written approval from your department head, the university Records Management Officer, and the University Archivist. Download the Departmental Records Disposition form [PDF].

Retention Schedule

The University System of Georgia's Records Retention Schedules are a set of instructions for disposition of records that includes how long a record should be kept, based on federal and state laws and (often) other considerations. See Records Retention Guidelines below.

University System of Georgia Retention Series and Record Retention Guidelines

The University System of Georgia’s Records Retention Series and Record Retention Guidelines should be used to determine the MINIMUM period that your records must be retained and can be found online. The schedule is broken down by category (i.e. Human Resources) and then by series (class).

Georgia State University Retention Guidelines

If your department is unable to locate a record within the University System of Georgia Retention Series or you feel it necessary to keep your records longer than the approved guidelines, please contact Jan McCord in the Records Management Office at ext. (404) 413-2236 or jmccord@gsu.edu. Please note that official records of the same series type created and held across the university should meet the same retention guidelines. In addition, duplicate record copies should not be held longer than the official record.