Course Records: Best Practices for Records Management

Learn best practices for managing course-related records in accordance with the UO Records Retention Schedule.

Overview

Learn best practices for managing course-related records in accordance with the UO Records Retention Schedule, the organization-wide procedure that details the minimum amount of time different kinds of records must be kept. 

Introduction to managing course records

Our current environment offers unique and exciting ways to deliver instruction to students. The preparation, delivery, and evaluation of courses generate data and documents stored across various platforms. The same technologies that enrich our scholarly capacity create challenges in preserving records over time.

The University of Oregon has established policy that mandates how long records should be retained. The UO Records Retention Schedule is the organization-wide procedure that details the minimum amount of time different kinds of records must be kept.

Faculty and staff are encouraged to coordinate recordkeeping with their Records Stewards, the primary liaisons between their programs and University Records Management.

Detailed guidance for managing course records

The following guidance applies only to course records retained by the university. It does not include faculty members’ personal copies of syllabi, lecture notes, or presentation materials maintained for personal use, dossiers, or portfolios.

Course preparation records

• Drafts of syllabi, handouts, or other instructional material should be treated as transitory or intermediary records and disposed of soon after final versions are generated
• One time or ad-hoc reports of enrollment from DuckWeb should be treated as transitory or intermediary records
• Assessments of course site readiness (e.g. Canvas)
• Correspondence or other documentation establishing GE workload
• Book orders and room scheduling
• Course schedule maintenance

Course delivery

• Syllabi
• Lectures
  • Learn more about Canvas course and Panopto video auto-deletion.
• Correspondence with students
• Graded homework, coursework, and exams not aren’t stored in Canvas

Course Assessment

• Academic departments’ copies of syllabi retained for accreditation and analysis
• Course evaluations
• Instructors’ grade records

Need help?

For more help, please contact your unit's Records Steward or University Records Management.