Advice for the Churchwide Office: Records Retention Schedule

Correspondence
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
letters and e-mail	File letters and responses together. Print out significant e-mail, together with your reply. the e-mail kept in GroupWise will be deleted every 41 days.	Send to the Archives after 3 years.
Minutes of boards, advisory, and steering committees
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
Protocol minutes include exhibits, executive committee, conference call, and executive session minutes.	Send one copy of protocol minutes--including exhibits, executive committee, conference call, and executive session minutes--to the Office of the Secretary, ELCA Constitution [13.41.02.a]; retain one copy in the unit.	Upon publication, send 1 copy to the Archives.
Unit financial records
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
financial reports journal vouchers expense reports invoices check requests budget development files	After the year-end reports are reconciled, the primary value for these records is the development of the next year's budget.	Destroy unit records after 2 years.
Unit personnel records for churchwide office staff
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
applications resumes personnel action forms time sheets performance appraisals	No records over 1 year old should be retained in the unit.	Send all personnel records to the Human Resources Office.
Personnel records for persons related to the unit
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
persons employed by the unit	If the persons are employed or endorsed by the unit, these records are governed by policy set for each unit depending on the contents of the file.	Send to the Archives at the termination of the relationship.
persons employed by other organizations	If the persons are not employed by the unit, no personnel records should be maintained.	Ever changing mailing lists are not captured.
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Records supporting the development of official statements and documents
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
original mandate grant application minutes of committee, team or task force drafts reports of focus groups and hearings correspondence and responses, including e-mail and Listserv articles relating to the study final document	Send copies of the final version to the Library for cataloging. The electronic version will be linked to the bibliographic record in the library catalog. Unless essential to the development of the document, resource material from outside sources should be destroyed.	Send the entire project to the Archives within one year of adoption.
Events, conferences, training programs, and assemblies
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
mandate for the event planning material correspondence, including e-mail minutes (if applicable) grant application promotional and programmatic material videos and photographs sermons and speeches Web site presentation		Send to the Archives within one year following the event.
contracts insurance policies	Retain in the unit for 10 years after expiration Retain in the unit for 10 years; consult with Legal Office regarding disposition.	Destroy after 10 years
meeting history (from the convention center) hotel room pick-up report (from the hotels)	May be retained for planning of the next similar event.	Destroy after 3 years.
evaluation questionnaires registrations ballots invoices	Evaluation reports are part of the archival file.	Destroy within one year following the event.
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Relationships with organizations, including but not limited to synods, congregations, agencies, associations, schools, camps, and global partners
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
correspondence, including e-mail with responses governing documents minutes of governing boards or councils consultations statistical reports and trend analysis property related documents insurance policies training materials organization program and promotional material newsletters and news articles documents for special events budgets, annual financial statements, and audit reports	Do not include personnel records in these organizational files. Program area directors must help maintain the central file, and they should destroy the duplicates in their possession when they are no longer of current use.	Send the central file to the Archives at 4-year intervals.
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Relationship with ecumenical partners and organizations
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
governing documents correspondence, including e-mail travel itinerary and briefings dialogues and consultations	Applies to all units involved in ecumenical conversations.	Send to the Archives at 4-year intervals.
interpretive material histories worship materials sermons and speeches videotapes and photographs		Send copies of the programmatic material to the Archives as produced.
financial records		Destroy after 2 years.
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Grants given to individuals, agencies, or organizations or received by the unit
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
policy documents applications accepted and denied reports and evaluations correspondence, including e-mail, with responses contracts interpretive material committee minutes final financial accounting	(See personnel guidelines regarding student records for scholarship recipients.)	Send to the Archives at 4-year intervals.
monthly financial reports		Destroy after 2 years
Program, interpretation, and training resources
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
project proposal program planning material, including minutes grant application contracts copyright field rest reports correspondence, including e-mail reviews and evaluations resource produced (print, video, audio, electronic)	Videotape and audiotape products should be accompanied by extensive written transcripts	Send to the Archives within 1 year of the conclusion of the project.
invoices		Destroy after 1 year.
Policy and procedure documents
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
Paper copy and Web editions	Retain until superseded.	Send to the Archives as issued.
Dynamic Databases
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
surveys statistical financial personnel	Consult with the Department for Research and Evaluation to determine the long term value of the data and appropriate format for retention. Work with the Department for Information Technology to document the structure of the database. Be prepared to migrate the data, retained in ASCII format on CD-ROM, to newer generations of software and hardware. (See the Records Management Manual for further instructions.)	After consultation with the Archives, print out annual reports from appropriate databases.
registrations mailing lists		There is no need to preserve these constantly changing records.
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Documents of a legally sensitive nature relating to persons or institutions
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
personnel records institutional records	Always maintain these in a separate, restricted file, and destroy copies after the matter is concluded.	If action is taken on the matter, the copy of record resides with the General Counsel for time deemed appropriate.
Journals and newsletters prepared by the program area
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
print journals electronic journals	May be retained in the unit until it has ceased publication or been superseded.	Send to the Archives as issued. Print out copies of electronic journals for the Archives.
Topical resource material, reports, and professional journals from outside sources
Contents	Instructions	Final Disposition
newsletters journals reports conference publications pamphlets training materials	Dated material of temporary value.	Once each year, clean these files and dispose of material that is over 4 years old.
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