Records Policy

1. For the purpose of this policy, Archives shall be defined as both the College of Saint Benedict Archives, known as the College Archives, and the Saint John's University Archives, known as the University Archives. The College Archives is responsible for collecting, preserving and making available the history and development records of the College, programs and culture; the University Archives collects, preserves and makes available materials that illustrate the history and activities, programs and culture of the University, and also includes the Saint John's Preparatory School, the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, and the Collegeville (formerly the Ecumenical) Institute.

2. For the purpose of this policy, records shall be defined as all material on which information is recorded or preserved, regardless of form or characteristics, which is created or maintained by any agency, officer, or employee of CSB or SJU in the transaction of its business. This definition refers to all forms of recorded information or other material bearing upon the activities and functions of either the College of Saint Benedict or Saint John's University, any of its officers, and employees. This definition also includes, but is not limited to, handwritten, typed, or printed material; publications; photographs; moving images; sound recordings; drawings; and computer or other machine readable data. Not included in the definition of records as used in this policy are: faculty research or lecture notes; library materials; and materials not published by the institutions.

3. Records produced or received by any office or employee of the College of Saint Benedict or Saint John's University in the transaction of College or University business are the property of the institution and subject to institutional policy for retention, disposal, access, and publication, including records produced or received by individuals in administrative and committee service capacities. Upon their completion, records retention schedules will be distributed to all individual employees. These schedules will serve as the formal institutional policy for disposition of all types of records.

4. No College or University records shall be discarded, destroyed or transferred from the custody of the home institution or otherwise disposed of except upon the prior approval of the Archivist. The decision to select and preserve records of historical value is the responsibility of the Archivist. The Archivist shall withhold the approval for the destruction of records until satisfied that the records involved need not be retained for legal or accounting reasons, as determined by appropriate officers. Approval either to transfer inactive institutional records to the Archives or to destroy them after an agreed upon period may take the form of written records disposition schedules or other written agreements between the Archivists and the administrative officers, department heads, or committee chairs responsible for the custody of these records during their active life.

5. The College and the University Archives, under the direction of the CSB/SJU Archivist, are the depositories for non-current institutional records having enduring and significant historical or research value. Records created on the College of Saint Benedict campus will generally be housed in the College Archives, and records created on the Saint John's University campus will generally be housed in the University Archives, with exceptions made in the case of some joint entities. At least one copy of every publication issued by the College or the University or by any of its agencies should be forwarded to the Archives. The College and University Archives also solicit and accept donations of professional and personal papers of faculty and staff, records of student organizations, and other relevant material.

6. Restrictions on access to records transferred to the Archives may be negotiated by the department or office of transmittal. Reference service provided by the Archives may include searching records to locate specific pieces of information, making copies or scans of particular documents, or making records available for consultation in the Archives. Offices and departments which transfer records to the Archives may request the return of records to the transmitting office if and when subsequent administrative need reveals their transfer to have been premature.

College Archives, College of Saint Benedict

University Archives, Saint John's University

November 2002; updated October 2007