EXPLANATIONS AND SYMBOLS
USED IN RECORDS DISPOSITION SCHEDULES MANUAL

ARCHIVES - In order to preserve records which document the history of the University of California, a University Archivist at each campus has been designated the official custodian of all University records at that campus adjudged worthy of preservation because of their historical value. Therefore, all records included in the Records Disposition Schedules Manual have been reviewed for their historical value by the Archivists. Those found to be of an historical nature are so indicated in this Manual by the words "then to Archives" or similar terminology. Offices holding such records should be sure to send them to their campus Archivist at the end of the stated disposition period. They should not be destroyed.

Once transferred to Archives, the records are the responsibility of the Archivist. If the published retention schedule of a record is "Permanent," the Archivist does not have the option to dispose of the record, and must ensure that it is retained permanently. If, however, a record sent to Archives doe not have a permanent retention period, the Archivist may dispose of it at any time, in any manner that is deemed appropriate to the particular record.

DESTROYING MATERIAL - Before disposing of large volumes of material, the Purchasing Office should be contacted to ascertain if the material can be sold as salvage.

FCP - Following completion of project.

G - Under the heading "Record Type or Number" the letter "G" will often appears. This indicates that the title used for this record is general and descriptive. Specific titles for this type of record may vary from campus to campus, or department to department; but the purpose of the record will be the same and the stated "G" retention schedule will apply. In some cases, there may be more than one record which can be applied against this "G" record title, but again, if the purpose of the record matches the descriptive title, the stated retention schedule will apply.

OFFICE OF RECORD - The Offices of Record indicated in this material are the customary or most common ones. However, on occasion the Office of Record may differ from that shown without altering the disposition schedule itself.

OP - Office of the President

SEARCH - Search for records within the database.

The search function allows a user to query records based on their "Function," "Record Category," "Record Name," "Form Number" or "Office of Record."

Once a query has been made, a table will display all of the records resulting from the query criteria. The results can be sorted by clicking on each column header. The first click sorts results in ascending order and the second click sorts them in descending order. Clicking on the record number in the last column, "Detail," produces a popup window which displays all of the information pertinent to that record. Individual Record Details can be printed via the "Print Page" link, located in the lower right-hand corner of the popup window. The main table with all of the records resulting from the search can also be printed by selecting the "Print" icon in the web browser.

To find a single record by its number, enter it in the Record Number field and choose Start Search. To find all record numbers that contain those digits, choose Find All.

UAT - Retain "Until Action Taken." Schedule may vary according to need, but material should not be retained longer than 0-1 year.

YEARS FOR RETENTION OF RECORDS - Disposition schedules which are indicated in years, such as 5, will be interpreted to mean that the documents will be destroyed 5 years after the end of the fiscal year in which produced unless otherwise indicated. Those schedules which are stated with inclusive years, such as 5-10, will be interpreted to mean that the documents will be retained at least the minimum stated years (5) but will be destroyed no later than the maximum stated years (10) after the end of the fiscal year in which produced. In many instances a schedule will read 0-3 or 0-5. This means that the record may be destroyed upon receipt or at any time up to 3 or 5 years after the end of the fiscal year.

• - CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS - Records which might include basic financial documents pertaining to government contracts and grants are indicated by a "Y" in the CG field. In order to comply with government requirements, actual contract and grant material may be removed and held for destruction according to approved government contract and grant retention schedules. The remaining noncontract material may then be destroyed in accordance with the listed retention schedule. If such sorting is not feasible, all records must be considered as subject to contract or grant retention schedules.

  NOTE: Specific instructions for determining federal contract and grant retention schedules may be obtained through Accounting Officers. (Also see UC Business and Finance Bulletin RMP-5.)

• - GIFT AND PRIVATE GRANT REQUIREMENTS - Retention periods for "other copies" of gift and endowment documents are subject to the retention periods of the material they support.

(V) - This symbol designates a vital record. Extraordinary precautions are required to preserve and effectively protect these administrative records from both normal and unusual hazards, present and potential. (See UC Business and Finance Bulletin RMP-4 for complete guidelines.)