Data/Record Retention Team
- Will Saxe, Assistant General Counsel & Director of Risk Management (Chair), x4632
- Lisa Burton, Director of Advancement Operations, x4327
- Barbara Moore, Dean of Studies, x4255
- Lindsey Nelson, Registrar, x4622
- Jane Robertson, Senior Associate Director of HR Operations, x5508
- Dan Siff, Director of Enterprise Services/Information Security Officer, x4199
- Alex Taylor, Accounting Technician, x4128
The need for a Record Retention Policy arises in light of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure relating directly to document and data retention, including electronic documents and e-data. The Rules establish procedures for discovery by litigation opponents of electronic information. The Rules also provide protections against sanctions being imposed on a litigant in the event that information which could be relevant to the case has been destroyed pursuant to a document or information retention policy. Although the Rules technically apply only in cases in federal court, the principles are likely to be applied by any court.
- Colby Records Retention Policy (Revised 05/03/2017)
- Retention List (Revised 08/19/2020)
The general concept is that it is in Colby’s interest to implement retention procedures that result in the destruction of documents and data which do not need to be retained either for legal or institutional reasons. There are a number of reasons why retention procedures make sense, four of which are that:
- the Rules state that “absent exceptional circumstances, a court may not impose sanctions under these rules on a party for failing to provide electronically stored information lost as a result of routine, good-faith operation of an electronic information system”;
- the cost to the College of producing discoverable information will be lower if there is less information to produce;
- variations in destruction practices by individuals in the absence of a retention policy could cause a court to infer that information was destroyed when it should not have been; and
- it would relieve a significant burden on the College in the storing of data and documents for a period longer than required by law or in the College’s interest.