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- Archival Film Flashes Back to 70s Student Life
- Manuscript Traces SFU's Architectural History
- Early University News Publications Now Digitally Available
- Digitized Programs Commemorate SFU’s Opening & Installation Ceremonies
- Archives Celebrates Fall Convocation with Release of Digitized Programs
- Films Capture Visual History and Sentiment of Time Gone By
- Lost and Found: Simon Fraser Letters
- Oral History Provides Glimpse into Mind of SFU’s First Chancellor Gordon Shrum
- Early SFU Photos Tell a Story That Frames Our World
- Aerial Photos Capture Campus Landscape & Photographer’s Legacy
- You have what...?!! and other interesting things you didn't know about the SFU Archives
- Charting the course of history: documenting SFU's early days from the student perspective (Part 1)
- Charting the course of history: documenting SFU's early days from the student perspective (Part 2)
- Helping others find their history in the future: Preserving the records of the Students of Caribbean and African Ancestry at SFU
- Preserving the sparks of global revolution in the Adbusters Media Foundation fonds
- Reflections of a co-op student
- Debunking popular myths and conspiracies with the Barry Beyerstein fonds
- In "The Beginning...": First student film returns to SFU
- "Got any pictures of Terry Fox?"
- My summer in the archives: a co-op placement retrospective
- Seeing the world through Arthur Erickson's eyes
- Beer (records) in the Archives!
- Quartet in the Quadrangle: PSQ Records Come to SFU
- Navigating silences and filling gaps: finding Black stories in the Archives
- Boxes, boxes, and more boxes: my summer co-op at SFU Archives
- Finding queer joy in the SFU Archives: Out On Campus records now available
- The Selma Wassermann fonds
- Glossary
Course Files
Function
Teaching and Academic Programs
PIB
No
RRSDA Number
1999-002
Department
All University Departments
Description, purpose and use of records
The series consists of records relating to the administration and delivery of academic courses. Records may include correspondence, memoranda and email; class lists, class and exam schedules; course add / drop forms, grade change forms and grade lists; course outlines, reading lists, and sample examination questions; course book requisition forms; completed exams and assignments; instructor / course evaluations; instructor’s lectures, notes, working papers and teaching material; grade distributions and instructor’s course-end report; print-outs of internet pages.
Retention periods
Records | Active Retention |
Semi-Active Retention | Total retention | Final disposition |
---|---|---|---|---|
All departments holding these records | Course completed + 2 years | Nil | Course completed + 2 years | Selective Retention by Archives |
Active = Active Retention Period, Keep in Office; Semi-Active = Semi-Active Retention period, transfer to University Records Centre; CY = Current calendar year; CFY = Current fiscal year; CS = Current semester; S/O = Superseded or obsolete; OPR = Office of Primary Responsibility; Non-OPR = All other departments
Authorities
These records are created, used, retained and managed in accordance with the following authorities:
- Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (RSBC 1996, c. 165)
- SFU Policy T Series, Teaching
- Senate Guidelines for External Reviews of Academic Units
Retention rationale
SFU Policy T20.01 requires retention of grade-related records for one semester following course. Students must normally request a review of grades within 60 days of receiving a grade. The FOI/POP Act (RSBC 1996, c. 165, s. 31) requires that personal information used to make a decision that directly affects an individual must be retained for at least one year. Beyond the total retention period, course administration records have no value. Teaching records have value for documenting curriculum history and establishing transfer credit equivalencies and will be selected for archival retention.
Retention and filing guidelines
Do not file instructor / course evaluations or completed student assignments and exams on the course file: these records have different retention requirements which are easier to apply if they are kept as separate blocks of files. For instructor / course evaluations, see RRSDA 1998-034 (faculty) and RRSDA 1999-006 (TSSU employees); for examination papers and course assignments, see RRSDA 1995-018.
Arrange course files by semester and course number. The only course records of long-term, archival value are those documenting the content of the course:
Course outlines
Reading lists
Sample examinations and assignment questions
Instructor summary report
Records relating to course administration will be destroyed. Course files should be structured (e.g. use file dividers) in such a way that the archival material is easily identified, while the remainder is easily removed and destroyed.
Teaching Records (Archival)
[Use for course outlines, reading lists, exam questions, research paper and assignment topics, instructor course-end summary report if produced, printed copy (screen shot) of course web home page (but do not file here print-outs of on-line documents used as teaching materials).]
Administrative Records (Destroy)
[Use for all records relating to course enrollment and time / room scheduling, class lists, add / drop forms, course book requisition forms, grade lists, correspondence and memoranda relating to course administration.]
Teaching Materials (Destroy)
[Use for photocopies, articles and publications, instructor’s lectures, notes and working papers, print-outs of internet documents. This material will be destroyed; instructors wishing to retain it should keep the material in their own personal files.]
As a student information resource, some departments make available copies of exam questions in publicly accessible binders (e.g. last 5 years). Continue to include a copy in the course file and destroy the binder copies when no longer required.
ELECTRONIC RECORDS
Records creators should note that this RRSDA applies equally to paper and electronic records and that they are responsible for deleting or transferring any records maintained in electronic form at the expiration of the total retention period (e.g. PDF versions, spreadsheets, database records, e-mail correspondence, etc.). Maintaining electronic copies of records with personal information after the recommended retention period places an undue burden on the University to continue to protect against unauthorized acces, use and disclosure of that personal information in accordance with the FOI/ POP Act and the records series status as a PIB.
TRANSFERRING ELECTRONIC RECORDS TO THE ARCHIVES DIGITAL REPOSITORY
Electronic records (including teaching records) can be transferred to the archives' digital repository. Please see "Electronic records transfer procedures" on Archives' website for details (TBD) in 2015/2016.
CONFIDENTIALLY DESTROY ADMINISTRATIVE AND TEACHING MATERIALS
At the end of the active retention period (2 years), remove administrative records and teaching material for destruction. Course administration records contain personal information and must be destroyed by confidential shredding or deletion.
TRANSFERRING PAPER TEACHING RECORDS TO THE URC
Box files (containing teaching records) and transfer the paper files to the University Records Centre (URC). For each box prepare a box contents listing, itemizing all files contained in the box. Always include ONE copy of the file list inside the box sent to the URC taped to the underside of the lid; keep ONE copy for your own records; and send ONE copy (paper or electronic) to the Archives (see Procedures for Transferring Records to the University Records Centre).
Status
RRSDA is in force
Approval Date
12 Oct 2000
Last Revised Date
26 Jan 2015