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Electronic Records

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Electronic information created in the course of BYU business can be found in various locations, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, BYU sponsored or cloud-based systems, email, removable media (like DVDs, CDs and thumb drives), department file shares (shared drives) and hard drives (internal and external). Electronic records contain evidence of business decisions and transactions and are subject to the same retention and disposition requirements as their paper counterparts. Electronic records should be stored in a secure location that is backed up on a regular basis. Special precautions should be taken to preserve electronic records that need to be kept longer than 10 years as electronic records become unreadable overtime due to hardware failure, file deterioration, and format and media obsolescence.

If not stored in an official system of record (Kuali, Chrome River, etc.), Electronic Records should be stored in the Electronic Records Center/University Records folder on Box as it can be configured to manage retention, disposition, and long-term storage.

Electronic Records Center/University Records Folder

The Electronic Records Center or ERC is a folder on Box where retention is automated. As Records Liaison for your department, it is your responsibility to transfer finalized records from your department’s day-to-day work area into the University Records folder/ERC on Box. A finalized record is any piece of information that you're no longer working with, but you must hold on to for retention or historical purposes. Each department's Records Liaison and Department Head should have access to this folder on Box.

Only finalized records not held in a “source system” (i.e. Workday, AIIM) should be placed in the folder.

To access the University Records folder, first login to Box, then find University Records – [Department Name]. If you are unable to see the University Records folder, please contact the URIM Office Assistant. Once you have verified access to the folder, then it is just a matter of moving finalized records into the appropriate default folder. For more information about the University Records Managed Area of Box please see Manage Department Records in Box on the sidebar.

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Using the ERC will reduce the following risks for the University:

  1. Records stored there are attached to the department not the user so documents will not be lost when a user's computer crashes or when the person moves on.
  2. Privacy, Security, and Legal risks are reduced when we dispose of records once retention has been met. Risks increase when records are retained for longer than needed for legitimate business purposes.
  3. The ERC helps department electronic records meet the guidelines found in the university’s general retention schedule.

The following types of information are NOT allowed in Box, per the updated Box User Agreement:

  • Federally protected research data
  • Data related to export control laws

Sensitive personal information (e.g., SSN, driver’s license) and sensitive financial information (e.g., tax records, student loan info, bank info), should not be stored in Box UNLESS the information is necessary to meet a university business or legal requirement, ONLY stored in a BYU service account folder and not a personal folder, and the information is promptly removed when no longer needed for legitimate business purposes.

If the Box Service is used to store any FERPA protected data, you agree to and accept the responsibilities associated with such use and agree to complete the university’s online FERPA training before engaging in such use (see https://registrar.byu.edu/records-privacy-ferpa). Open box.byu.edu to see the updated User Agreement, additional training and information, and FAQs located on the lower half of the sign-in screen.

  • Ownership of the records will always stay with the departments. The ERC/University Records folder is not attached to one specific individual. This means that if the department head and the records liaison were both to leave one day and never return, the department doesn’t have to worry about the continuity of their records. In the event of a change, Records Management removes the old individuals and attaches the new ones. The new individuals now have access to the folder and all the contents placed there by their predecessors. 

  • Once records are placed in the ERC, they should not be modified. 

  • Retention times are applied based on the General Retention Schedule for the University 

  • Work with University Records Management to customize your folder. For more information go to Managing Department Records in Box.

  • If the University were to move away from Box, Records Management would work with the departments to facilitate the transfer of the department’s records to the university’s new cloud location.