Scanning Office Records Handling Policy

This policy outlines responsibilities and procedures regarding retention and handling of course data processed or generated by the Scanning Office.  This includes course material in the possession of Scanning Office personnel and course material available to our management and any other Scanning Office employees whose job duties include handling paper or electronic data related to Scanning Office functions.

Instructor Responsibility

Instructors hold primary responsibility for maintaining course records according to UT Austin’s official records retention policies.  UT Austin’s official Records Retention Schedule requires that master copies of “Course Materials, Tests, Assignments, (and) Rosters” be retained for a period of one year past the end of the current course semester.  Master records are the official record that is retained as the original, and is subject to this University retention schedule:

UT Austin Records Retention Schedule for course materials

For more information, visit Guide to the University of Texas at Austin Records Management

Scanning Office Responsibility

Convenience Copies

Course material in the possession of the Scanning Office are considered convenience copies and are not the official state records.  Convenience copies are defined as copies of the official state record that were created only for convenience or reference or research. These are not required to be maintained and do not require approval to be disposed.  This includes electronic and printed data used in the scanning and scoring process in possession of the Scanning Office.

Exceptions

It is the responsibility of instructors to retain course answer sheets and any printed test results generated by the Scanning Office.  However, in certain cases, instructors leave materials with Scanning Office personnel.  In these cases, the Scanning Office will make every effort to return these materials to the instructor.  All classroom materials left in possession of the Scanning Office will be handled as official state documents and are subject to university policies for records retention.  These documents are filed for a minimum of one year.  After submitting an official request, following the UT Records Retention guidelines, and receiving approval, these documents are then shredded.

Scanning Office Records

Records Description

Course Materials

Scanned records for the current semester are available to instructors and their designees through the Scanning Reports Output Page. The Scanning Office will make every effort to ensure that convenience copies of scanned files for the previous two semesters (Spring, Summer, or Fall) are also available through the Output page.  Records prior to this are deleted.  For example, during Spring 2013, the following files should be accessible:  Spring 2013, Fall 2012 and Summer 2012.

CBE Testing Materials

Credit By Examination (CBE) testing materials consist of test response sheets and test keys.  CBE test response sheets are stored in the Scanning Office for one year.  They are then transferred to testing staff.  CBE test keys are stored with our testing staff.  All CBE testing materials in possession of the Scanning Office are maintained by testing staff according to the UT Austin Records Retention Schedule.

Other Testing Materials

In addition to course and CBE testing materials, the Scanning Office has access to electronically stored materials related to several other tests (AP, CLEP, ASL, GSP, Word Processing).  The Scanning Office does not hold responsibility for these records and only accesses them when requested by testing staff to assist in resolving problems.

Convenience Copy Elevation

UT Records Retention policy states that when the master copy of official state records is destroyed and a convenience copy is still available, the convenience copy can become the master copy.  If the Scanning Office receives notification from an instructor or an instructor’s designee that a master copy of course materials has been destroyed, and a convenience copy is still available, the Scanning Office will provide new master copies to the instructor or the instructor’s designee.  Retention responsibilities will transfer to the instructor with the new master copies.

Lifecycle of Electronic Scanning Records

Course materials are maintained by the Scanning Office for the current and two previous semesters only.  Earlier records are deleted following the (sample) timeline below:

Policy Availability

General information about the UT Records Retention policy and contact information is posted in the Scanning Office, located in GSB 2.130.