There are documents/records that are produced by the university that have historical value and are important to the life of the university and should be retained permanently. There are some documents that are listed in the Retention Schedule that are designated as an archival record and they must be placed in the university archives. For those documents/records that are designated to be sent to the archives after their retention period has expired and you think that they have significant historical value, you should contact the University Archivist and have those documents/records reviewed and a determination made prior to destroying or disposing of them.
What to Archive
Here are a few of the types of materials or documents that can be considered to be archived. For those items that are not designated on the State Record Retention Schedule, you should contact the University Archivist to have them review the items and then make a determination on it’s historical value.Items to be considered should always be materials or documents that their content has substantive and significant historical value to the university and activities of the department or office that created the content or performed the activity. Here are a few examples of items that can be considered for archiving:
- Constitutions and by-laws
- Planning documents
- Accreditation records
- Policy and mission statements
- Publications
- Promotional and outreach materials
- Event records
- Research records
- Press releases
- Photographs
- Videos and audio recordings
For further clarification and information on what materials or documents should be archived, please contact the University Archivist, Phyllis Earles via phone at 936-261-1516 or via email at plearles@pvamu.edu.