04-011 Records Retention and Disposition Policy

Last Update: November 5, 2025

Approved: November 4, 2025 by President Zvi Szafran

Policy Contact: Records Management Officer

Supersedes:

I. SCOPE

This policy applies to all individuals with SUNY Canton employee-level permission to use network and electronic resources (i.e., faculty, staff, and campus-affiliated individuals and organizations).

II. POLICY STATEMENT

In accordance with Section 57.05 of the NYS Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, official records of state-operated campuses of the State University of New York (SUNY) and SUNY System Administration must be retained and may not be destroyed unless in accordance with applicable records retention schedules. SUNY's Records Retention Policy codifies the retention periods for the various records housed by SUNY campuses, including SUNY Canton. SUNY Policy 6609 has a series of appendices (available through the policy itself) that lists all the various records, the specific period that a campus must retain them, and what records must be kept permanently. When the SUNY schedule does not cover a particular record, SUNY Canton will defer to the New York State schedule for the proper retention period.

III. POLICY

Information that no longer serves a legal, operational, or historic value to SUNY Canton should be disposed of in accordance with the SUNY Records Retention Schedules. Departments are required to manage those records for which they are the "official record custodian." It is recommended that departments do not retain secondary copies of records otherwise managed by the official owner.

SUNY Canton will utilize appropriate means to ensure compliance with the applicable schedules and retention periods. Records that have reached the end of their retention period will be destroyed by appropriate means depending on the contents and nature of the records, giving due consideration to the confidentiality of the information contained therein. SUNY Policy requires campuses to report annually on records disposition activities. To support this reporting, departments are required to submit a disposition log to the Campus Records Management Officer anytime records are destroyed, within 30 days of such destruction.

If legal notification is received regarding records being subject to a litigation hold or records are otherwise relevant to a legal action or audit, suspension of routine destruction activities will cease for such records until they are no longer needed, as determined by the Office of General Counsel.

When campus related entities such as SUNY Canton Foundation, College Association, etc., are acting as custodians of SUNY records, they must follow SUNY's Records Retention Policy and Schedules, unless otherwise directed by SUNY. Additionally, the Research Foundation (RF) has established its own retention policy for RF records.

IV. DEFINITIONS

Affiliated Individuals and Organizations: External organizations, and their employees and volunteers, whose activities significantly assist SUNY Canton in advancing and achieving its strategic goals. Examples include, but are not limited to, College Association, the College Foundation, the Research Foundation of New York, and the Cornell Cooperative Extension and its partners.

V. OTHER RELATED INFORMATION

VI. PROCEDURES

Electronic Imaging

Unless otherwise specified, records that are listed on the SUNY and NYS schedules may be converted to electronic format, and the originals may be destroyed if the imaged copy meets the following requirements:

The images accurately and completely reproduce all the information in the records being imaged.
The imaged records will not be rendered unusable due to changing or proprietary technology before their retention and preservation requirements are met.
The imaging system will not permit additions, deletions, or changes to the images without leaving a record of such additions, deletions, or changes.
Designees of the State University of New York will be able to authenticate the imaged records by competent testimony or affidavit which shall include the manner or method by which tampering or degradation of the reproduction is prevented.

Storage

Paper records that require storage must, at a minimum, contain the following information on the exterior of the box:

Department Name
Brief Content Description
Scheduled Date of Destruction
Departmental Numbering (box # 1, 2, 3, etc.)

Records should be boxed in standard size file boxes marked clearly with the record type and destruction date. Records containing sensitive information such as ID numbers, social security numbers, bank account numbers, etc. should be kept in a secure location and destroyed by an approved method according to the disposition schedule.

A Records Retention Destruction form needs to be filled out when records are destroyed. The completed form needs to be sent to the RMO (Records Management Officer) for reporting purposes.

Request for additional information and questions about this policy can be directed to:

Records Management Officer
Southworth Learning Commons
315.386.7164
rmo@canton.edu

VII. FORMS

Records Retention Destruction Form – Being Developed

VIII. AUTHORITY

NYS and SUNY Mandated Policy, Regulatory Compliance

IX. APPENDICES

None

X. FREQUENCY OF REVIEW AND UPDATE

This policy will be reviewed every 3 years.