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Collections – Special Collections – Texas A&M System Records Retention

Managing Office Records Efficiently and Within the Law: The Texas A&M University System Records Retention Schedule

The Texas A&M University System Retention Schedule enables the university office managers, division heads, and staff to determine the length of time to keep university records in conformity with state law. Disposing of records after the end of their legal and administrative requirements frees up space and saves the university valuable resources.

The schedule list is organized by function and then by type of record. For example, Section 6.1 on page 61 covers “Admission Data Documents”. Within this section can be found records of recommendation, transcripts (applicants who enter), and similar records with retention schedules for each. Abbreviations on the length of time, location and final disposition are displayed on the right with full explanation at the bottom. For example, Ac + 1 means after closed plus one year.

In some cases, multiple copies of records are created and distributed to campus offices. The creator of the record, in most cases, must keep the record for the full retention period; while other offices may dispose of the record, after it has served its administrative use. Examples of these kinds of records might include: purchase orders, invoices, and travel requests. In all these cases, the Financial Services maintains the originals.

In some cases, records that must be kept for a limited period of time but are no longer in high demand in the office may be transferred to the Library Record Center. These records may be retrieved upon request. For transfer information contact the Special Collections at (903) 886–5737.

It is important to keep in mind that the State of Texas requires that agencies follow the approved retention schedule. Additional Records Management information may be found here: Texas A&M University System Records Management.

One category of records that deserves permanent preservation are the records that document the history of A & M – Commerce such as correspondence, minutes of department, councils, and academic committee meetings, policy statements and reports, photographs, pamphlets, brochures, and other similar records. For preservation of these kinds of files, please contact the archivist at 886-5737 or James_Conrad@tamu-commerce.edu

The Archivist will assist with using the retention schedule.

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