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Records and Information Management User's Guide - What Records to Send

What Records Should I Send to the Records Center?

Records stored at the Records Center are secure and easily retrieved. More than 400 departments from all four campuses currently store more than 137,000 boxes of records at our facility at 2910 LeMone Boulevard in Columbia, Missouri. Using the University’s facility is much more efficient and cost effective than utilizing valuable office space for storage.

All University records that have official retention schedules can be stored in the Records Center. This includes most records commonly found in all departments and many records specific to a single department.

Records that do not have retention schedules may be stored in the Records Center, provided the department agrees to the development of a retention schedule for their records as soon as possible. The development of a schedule insures records will be retained long enough to meet the University’s needs.

It is a good practice to review records at least annually. While reviewing records, you may destroy outdated records that have exceeded their university retention authorization and send inactive records to us for storage.

What NOT to Send to the Records Center

  • Active records (referred to more than monthly)
  • Outdated or obsolete material
  • Non-record material: (see Records General Policy #23001 for more detail)
  • Extra reference copies of records
  • Stocks of publications, pamphlets, blank forms, books, etc.
  • Private materials
  • Binders
  • Hazardous material
  • Items that cannot be shredded

If in doubt, contact us at recordsmanagement@umsystem.edu before sending records.

Reviewed 2022-03-04