Student Academic Records Retention Policy
The College of Idaho maintains and retains student academic records in accordance with institutional policy, applicable federal and state requirements, and recognized higher education records-management practices, including guidance published by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO).
The College maintains permanent academic records necessary to document a student's academic history, enrollment, academic standing, and degrees or credentials awarded. Other student records are retained for defined periods based on their administrative, legal, and historical value. Records may be maintained in electronic, paper, or other institutional formats, provided that the official record remains accurate1 year after date submitted, secure, accessible, and protected in accordance with applicable privacy requirements.
The following retention schedule establishes the minimum retention period for designated student academic records. Unless otherwise specified, the retention period begins at graduation or, for students who do not graduate, at the last date of attendance. Records subject to a legal hold, audit, investigation, litigation, or other applicable regulatory or institutional requirement will not be destroyed until the matter has been resolved and the applicable hold or requirement has expired.
Records Retention Schedule
|
Record Type
|
Retention Guideline
|
| Academic advisement records |
3 years after graduation |
| Academic warning — undergraduate (academic notice/separation) |
Permanent; retained on transcript |
| Academic warning — graduate students (non-performance/deficiency) |
3 years after graduation; retained in the student's academic department |
| Academic integrity violation |
Permanent |
| Correspondence related to academic records or inquiries |
3 years after graduation |
| Disciplinary action records |
3 years after graduation |
| Major, minor, certificate, and concentration changes |
3 years after graduation |
| Appeals for exception to academic policy |
Permanent |
| Thesis/dissertation |
Permanent |
| Degree audits |
3 years after graduation |
| Substitution/waivers for degree requirements |
3 years after graduation |
| Grade appeal/complaint |
1 year from decision date |
| Faculty grade book |
5 years after course completion |
| Grade change forms |
3 years after graduation or last date of attendance |
| Final grade reports |
1 year after date distributed |
| Midterm grade reports |
Through end of term |
| Final grade submission data |
Permanent |
| Credit/no credit, audit, and pass/no pass approval |
1 year after date submitted |
| Add/drop requests |
1 year after date submitted |
| Withdrawal requests |
3 years after graduation or last date of attendance |
| Name, Social Security number, date of birth, and gender updates |
50 years from date updated |
| Personal data updates (marital status, race, ethnicity, demographic) |
1 year from date updated |
| Transfer credit evaluations |
3 years after graduation or last date of attendance |
| Graduation lists |
Permanent |
| Catalogs |
Permanent |
| Commencement programs |
Permanent |
Records Disposition
At the end of the applicable retention period, records may be securely destroyed or otherwise disposed of in accordance with College records-management procedures. Records designated as permanent will be preserved in an appropriate institutional recordkeeping system or archive.
The College may retain records longer than the periods specified above when required or appropriate for legal, regulatory, accreditation, audit, historical, operational, or other institutional purposes. No record will be destroyed when it is subject to a legal hold, pending litigation, investigation, audit, public-records requirement, or other preservation obligation.
This retention schedule applies to records regardless of format, including paper, electronic, digital, scanned, or other media. Responsibility for maintaining and disposing of records rests with the College office or department designated as the record custodian, subject to applicable College policies and procedures.