University of Illinois System

Records Retention Schedules

In the context of records management, retention is the length of time required for keeping documents, records, and information resources to assure that they support business functions for as long as needed. Some records are required to be retained past their active support of business functions to support good financial recordkeeping practices or to meet legal or regulatory retention requirements. On top of these considerations for retention, some records have long-term or enduring value and are expected to be retained indefinitely. At the University, there are records retention schedules that address these requirements.

New to records management? Take our Records Management 101 Self-paced Video Modules! You can also check out our KnowledgeBase articles for further reading on "What is a Record?" and other FAQs.

If you have a category of records that does not appear below, please contact RIMS.

Records Retention Schedules

Administration Records Retention Schedule

This schedule includes administrative files, committee and meeting records, policies and procedures, disclosures, compliance records, access and authorization records, inventory management, publications, marketing and events records, course schedules, and working documents and drafts.

Capital Projects Records Retention Schedule

This schedule includes project drawing and specifications files, other project files, and equipment and materials files for capital projects.

Human Resources Records Retention Schedule

This schedule includes search files, employee eligibility files, affirmative action files, discipline files, labor management relations, tuition waivers, leave files, personnel employment files, promotion and tenure files, employment histories, employee unemployment insurance cases, employee conflict of interest files, employee ethics files, human resources policies, and worker's compensation claims.

Law Enforcement Records Retention Schedule

This schedule includes felony and misdemeanor crimes files, protection of minors files, Clery Act files, motor vehicle traffic accident reports, property and informational incident reports, asset forfeiture and seizure records, non-sustained complaints against officers, criminal history records, operation plans, and sworn officer training files.

Student Records Retention Schedule

This schedule includes admissions records, general student academic records, community program files, student financial aid records, FERPA compliance records, University of Illinois Laboratory High School records, course evaluations, and grades and graded work.

Business and Financial Records Retention Schedule

This schedule includes budget planning records, comptroller annual reports, insurance records, tax records, financial transactions, payroll, contracts, grant proposals and reports, and ID card records.

Equal Opportunity Complaint Case Files Records Retention Schedule

This schedule includes EOCC case files that include summary reports and complaint case files.

Human Subjects Research Records Retention Schedule

This schedule includes Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol and review files, federal rosters log files, IRB committee member files, authorization agreements, memoranda of understanding, data use agreements, and withdrawn protocols.

Medical Center Records (UIC) Retention Schedule

This schedule includes patient medical records, birth certification worksheets, immunizations records, patient master index files, fetal monitoring records, blood bank control records, imaging services records, laboratory records, pharmacy records, and patient encounter forms for the UIC Medical Center.