This document includes the following topics:
I: Mission
The University of Pennsylvania, acting through its University Archives
and Records Center, recognizes its responsibility to the academic community
and to the public for the orderly retention and disposition of all University
records, both active and inactive, and for the timeless preservation
of historically significant documents and other materials which reflect
the University's origins and development and the activities and achievements
of its officers, faculty, students, alumni, and benefactors.
In order to meet this obligation the University Archives and Records
Center has been designated the official repository of all inactive and
historical records of the University's administrative offices, academic
departments, committees, and student groups. Documentation is sought
for all aspects of University life. The Director of the Archives and
Records Center organizes and supervises the deposit and servicing of
inactive records in the Records Center and the eventual permanent conveyance
of historical materials to the Archives. The purpose of the records
management program is to provide records retention and retrieval services
which assist the faculty and administrative staff in the ongoing operation
of the University. The purpose of the archives program is to collect,
preserve and make accessible materials of historical value. Thus it
serves scholars interested in the history of the University, institutions
of higher learning in the United States, American intellectual life,
and the Philadelphia community in which the University lives. In addition
to the University's administrative records, the Archives and Records
Center shall also collect the personal and professional papers of University
officers, faculty, students, alumni, and benefactors and the papers
of individuals and organizations where the subject matter of the collection
is particularly relevant to University history.
The Archives and Records Center shall provide appropriate facilities
for the retention, preservation and servicing of its holdings. Inactive
records remain the property of the office of their origin and are made
accessible only to authorized representatives of that office. Historical
materials are the property of the Archives and Records Center and are
made accessible to scholars and the community at large in accordance
with University access policy. By making its historical collections
accessible, by encouraging their use for historical research and scholarship
and by entering into cooperative relationships with other archival and
records management agencies and institutions, the Archives and Records
Center shall serve as an educational resource center within the University
of Pennsylvania, a place to stimulate and nourish creative teaching
and learning.
II: Administrative Mandate
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, recognizing the need
for formal archival and records management policy, hereby adopt the
following policy and procedures for the collection, retention, preservation,
and servicing of University records:
1) Responsibility for assuring that historically significant materials
shall be preserved and permanently retained at the University of Pennsylvania
lies with a single administrative unit, the University Archives and
Records Center. The successful collection of all such records requires
that one office, with University-wide purview, manage their progression
through the several stages -- active, inactive and archival -- of
their life cycle. In general, active records are those in use in the
office in which they were created; inactive records are those placed
under finite-term retention at a records center facility, and archival
records are those of historical significance retained permanently
in a repository open to research.
2) Any papers or other records generated or received by the administrative
and academic offices of the University in the conduct of their business
-- including all official printed material, reports, record books,
minutes, committee files, financial records, correspondence, and associated
papers -- are the property of the University and may become archival
material. The definition of University records shall also extend to
forms other than paper, such as prints, photographs, microfilm, motion
picture film, audio and video tape, and machine-readable records.
3) All administrative officers of the University, including those
members of the Faculty who, by virtue of administrative responsibilities
either of a continuing or occasional nature, possess University records
relating to their official duties, are to observe the following policy
and procedures:
a) Provision shall be made for efficient and economic records
control by all University administrative offices and the University
Archives and Records Center. Records shall be regularly surveyed,
inventoried and appraised to determine retention value. Active records
shall be retained by the office of origin; inactive records will
be transferred to the Records Center and placed on finite-term retention
schedules. The officer in charge of each administrative or academic
office, in consultation with the Director of the University Archives
and Records Center, shall be responsible for deciding how long both
active and inactive papers shall be retained in and under the direct
control of the office of origin. Inactive records transferred to
the Records Center shall remain the property of the office of origin
and shall be accessible only to authorized representatives of that
office.
b) University records may not be destroyed or placed in inactive
storage at a site other than the Records Center without the joint
approval of the senior officer in the office of origin and the Director
of the University Archives and Records Center. Should these individuals
be unable to agree on retention value, disposition shall be stayed
pending review and final determination by the Advisory Committee
on the University Archives and Records Center, as defined in paragraph
seven below.
4) The Director of the University Archives and Records Center, in
accordance with prevailing collections and access policies, shall
be responsible for the appraisal of inactive University records for
their historical significance. The Director shall determine which
such materials shall be permanently retained by the Archives, shall
grant and limit access to the collections and shall establish and
administer other public service policies and procedures as necessary.
Historically significant records transferred to the University Archives
for permanent retention shall become the property of the University
Archives and Records Center.
5) In order to facilitate archives and records management service
to the entire University community and allow for effective coordination
with other University offices, the University Archives and Records
Center shall be an administrative department within the Office of
the President and the Director shall be an officer of the University
reporting directly to the President. Acting upon the advice of an
appropriately representative search committee, the President shall
appoint the Director. The President shall delegate to the Director
sufficient authority to enable the department to fulfill its responsibilities.
The Director is responsible for long-range planning, the preparation
and administration of departmental budgets, and hiring, training and
supervising of departmental staff. The Director is accountable for
the successful performance of all departmental services: records management,
development of archival collections, cataloguing and other technical
services, access, and other public services. He or she shall review
and have decision making power over University records which may be
offered to or found in any of the multiple archival repositories at
the University. He or she shall establish intellectual access to all
such repositories through the maintenance of shared collection catalogues
and finding aids.
6) The University Archives and Records Center, as the official repository
for all University records, including confidential records, shall
provide appropriate facilities for their retention and preservation.
The University Archives and Records Center shall be provided financial
and personnel resources sufficient to maintain services at the level
of comparable university archives and records management operations.
7) In order to facilitate these protocols an independent Advisory
Committee on the University Archives and Records Center shall be established
and shall have the following responsibilities:
a) to advise the President on institutional support and initiatives
required to fulfill archival and records management policy;
b) to advise the Director on the implementation of this policy;
and
c) in particular, to resolve substantive issues which may arise
regarding access and collections policy and when necessary, to advise
the President on the modification of these policies.
The Committee shall be composed of ten members: one representative
each from the offices of the President, the Secretary of the University,
the Provost, and the General Counsel; three members of the standing
faculty appointed by the Senate Executive Committee to serve overlapping
three-year terms; and three members of the standing faculty appointed
by the President, also to serve overlapping three-year terms. The
President shall appoint the Committee Chair.
The Committee shall meet at the call of the President, the Director
or the Chair. It shall meet a minimum of once per semester.
III: Collections Policy
The Director and staff of the University Archives and Records Center
shall actively seek, identify and acquire historically significant materials
in the following categories:
1) University administrative records, including, but not limited
to: correspondence, memoranda, minutes, summary financial records,
academic research, curriculum, contracts, reports, subject files,
published materials, photographs, and any other material generated
or received by the administrative and academic offices of the University
in the conduct of their business. These records shall be collected
in accordance with the University-wide archives and records management
program, in which all records pass through active and inactive phases
prior to appraisal for historical significance.
2) Materials which document the life of the University community,
including student activities, alumni organizations, organizations
of faculty and administrators, and other University related groups.
Such materials are essential complements to official University records.
They may take a variety of forms, including books, news clippings,
manuscripts, maps and posters, motion picture films, audio and video
tape, and artifacts and objects.
3) The personal and professional papers of prominent people associated
with the University, including University officers, faculty, students,
alumni, and benefactors. These manuscript collections may include
materials relating to issues of historical significance outside higher
education as well as professional academic activities, research and
teaching, and educational theories and practices during the lifetime
of the University. This collecting mandate shall also extend to the
papers of individuals and organizations where the subject matter of
the collection is particularly relevant to the history of the University,
institutions of higher learning in the United States, American intellectual
life, and the Philadelphia community in which the University lives.
The deposit, transfer or donation of records and other materials
to the Archives and Records Center shall follow specific procedures
established by the Director. In the case of deposit of University
records at the Records Center, the office or individual of origin
does not relinquish control of the materials. In the case of transfer
of University records for permanent retention at the Archives, the
office or individual of origin relinquishes all rights to the materials.
In cases where the materials are donated to the University, the donor
usually relinquishes all rights, including copyright and literary
rights. Donor restrictions are acceptable in special cases.
IV: Access Policy
The historical collections of the University Archives and Records
Center are open for research to all members of the University community,
to visiting scholars and to the scholarly public. The University encourages
the use of these collections through the dissemination of descriptive
catalogues and the provision of public services at the Archives.
Access to certain classes of records, however, is restricted. Access
to restricted records may be requested by written appeal to the Director
of the University Archives and Records Center.
The following types of records generally will be closed:
1) all administrative records of the University for twenty-five
years from the date of their creation, with certain exceptions, such
as those which must be open in conformance with law;
2) records of a sitting administration;
3) records the disclosure of which might expose the University to
legal liability.
The following types of records will be absolutely closed:
1) individual education records of living students or living former
students, as defined by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act of 1974, as amended, unless the student or former student grants
access in writing (in accordance with the University "Guidelines on
the Confidentiality of Student Records" as published in the undergraduate
and graduate Academic Bulletin);
2) individual employment records of living current or former faculty
members, administrators or other staff members, including records
which concern hiring, appointment, promotion, tenure, salary, performance,
termination or other circumstances of employment, unless the faculty
member, administrator, or staff member grants access in writing (in
accordance with University Personnel Policy Manual Policy No. 101);
3) other records where usage might constitute an invasion of privacy;
4) records the use of which has been restricted by Deed of Gift.
Requests to photocopy or otherwise reproduce restricted records generally
will be denied.
Appeals to gain access to restricted records shall be conducted in
the following manner:
1) a researcher seeking access to restricted records shall complete
a "Restricted Records Access Request" form;
2) the Director shall review each request with the Advisory Committee
on the University Archives and Records Center; the Advisory Committee
is composed of ten members: one representative each from the offices
of the President, the Secretary of the University, the Provost and
the General Counsel; and six members of the standing faculty;
3) the Advisory Committee shall base its decisions on the merits
of each case, weighing the needs of scholarship against the privacy
rights of individuals and the legal interests of the University; the
Committee must be satisfied that a researcher seeking access to restricted
records has demonstrated that the records are required to carry out
a legitimate scholarly research project or for other appropriate use;
in all cases, the decision of the Committee shall be fair and reasonable,
permitting the greatest possible access, given the limitations imposed
by legal and ethical considerations;
4) in order to come to such a decision, the Advisory Committee shall
meet, review the research proposal of the scholar petitioning for
access, examine the materials to which he or she is requesting access
and discuss the case; in cases where the materials are voluminous,
the Director shall review them and summarize their nature and content
for the Committee, presenting individual documents of particular concern;
in cases of requests for innocuous materials, a less formal review
process may be invoked, consisting of a telephone poll by the Director;
5) the Advisory Committee may act as a whole in its review and decision
making or may delegate to a sub-committee of its own members the power
to implement this policy; the decisions of the Advisory Committee
shall be final.
Sources: Almanac, January 23,1990; Minutes of the Trustees, June
22, 1990