Printed on: 04/09/2020. Please go to http://policy.umn.edu for the most current version of the Policy or related document.

Administrative Policy

Maintaining Records of Student Work: Twin Cities, Crookston, Morris, Rochester

Responsible University Officer(s):

Executive Vice President and Provost

Policy Owner(s):

Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education
Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Education

Policy contact(s):

Susan McKinney

Date Revised:

Jan 3, 2017

Effective Date:

Apr 15, 2009

Policy Statement

Instructors and academic units are responsible for maintaining records of student work and grade books, as follows:

Instructors and academic units should either return submitted student work to the student, or retain it for 30 days after grades for the class are posted to the student’s transcript. This provides students the opportunity to retrieve or review their work, as appropriate.
After 30 days, any retained student work may be discarded securely (following applicable University document-destruction procedures).
A student may request that retained student work be retained until 30 days into the next semester (not including summer, so a request in the spring would require a unit to hold the work until 30 days into the following fall semester). A student must make this request to the instructor no later than the last day of instruction for the class.
Instructors must follow FERPA, Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGDPA) and University policy in retaining and returning student work. For example, student work may not be left in hallways or other public places where anyone may see it.
Academic units must retain grade books or their equivalents for a minimum of one year or, if a grade is appealed, until the end of the appeal. Instructors leaving the University must give all grading records to the department.
Academic units must also be aware of and follow Administrative Policy: Managing University Records Retention.

Exclusions

This policy is not applicable to the Duluth Campus.

Reason for Policy

To comply with state and federal law regarding data privacy and to establish a reasonable time period after the end of a term during which students are able to retrieve or view their work while recognizing the physical storage space limitations in units.

Procedures

Forms/Instructions

Appendices

Frequently Asked Questions

Contacts

Subject	Contact	Phone	Email
Primary Contact	Susan McKinney	612-625-3497	mckin018@umn.edu
Twin Cities Campus	Stacey Tidball	612-626-0075	tidball@umn.edu
Crookston Campus	Jason Tangquist	218-281-8424	jtangqui@crk.umn.edu
Morris Campus	Marcus Muller	320-589-6011	mull0262@umn.edu
Rochester Campus	Diane Douglas	507-258-8008	douglasd@r.umn.edu

Definitions

Student Work: Materials a student has submitted for a class, including but not limited to, papers, projects, exams, problem sets, artwork, and architectural models.
Maintain: The process of keeping student work where it can be safely stored and accessed, whether submitted physically or electronically.

Responsibilities

Academic Units: Maintain grade books or their equivalents for a minimum of one year, or until the end of an appeal if a grade is appealed.
Instructors: Return student work or retain it for 30 days after grades are posted to a student’s transcript. Maintain the privacy of student work.
Students: Before the last day of instruction, request their student work be retained for 30 days into the next semester.

Related Information

Administrative Policy: Managing University Records Retention

History

Amended:: January 2017 - Comprehensive Review, Minor Revision. 1. Clarifies obligations when work has been returned earlier than the 30-day requirement for retention. 2. Revise to use “course” and “class” clearly in policy. 3. Title Change: Maintaining Course Records changed to Maintaining Records of Student Work.
Amended:: December 2009 - Policy now applies to Crookston.
Effective:: April 2009