Official Records Retention Schedules

Please note: The official University of Iowa Records Retention schedules are currently under revision. Updates will be posted periodically. The official UI Health Care Records Retention Schedule is available separately to assist UI Health Care departments.

These retention schedules are designed to assist University departments in preserving Official Records appropriately while providing economy and efficiency in the creation, organization, maintenance, use, and disposition of records.

Search Criteria

Administrative Unit: represents either the administrative unit responsible for establishing the Official Record retention criteria OR the Administrative Unit responsible for maintaining the Official Records identified.

Confidential: indicates Official Records that contain information of various sorts that the University receives and holds confidential unless otherwise ordered by a court, by the lawful custodian of the records or by another person duly authorized to release such information. Examples include: student records, medical records, personnel records, etc.

Vital: indicates Official Records that contain information considered essential for the operations of a department (and/or the University) and includes information that may prevent a department from incurring serious liability or risk, or that would be extremely costly to replace. In the event of a disaster, this information, if destroyed, would make it difficult for a department to conduct normal business activities.

Export the full list of Official Record Retention Schedules available to date – or use the search criteria below for a more targeted search.

Institutional Biosafety Committee Meeting Minutes

Category: Environmental Health & Safety

Description:

Minutes of the UI Institutional Biosafety Committee Meetings as required by the National Institutes of Health.

Official Files Maintained by:

UI Retention Guidelines: Permanent

Confidential: No
Vital: Yes

Instrument Calibration Reports

Category: Environmental Health & Safety

Description:

Records of instruments calibrated for Principal Investigators

Official Files Maintained by:

UI Retention Guidelines: 5 Years

Confidential: No
Vital: Yes

Inventor Sharing Agreements

Category: Inventions, Patents and Research Agreements

Description:

These are agreements signed by the inventors laying out unique distributions of personal income generated by the licensing of their disclosure. UI Policy outlines an equal sharing of a specified percentage of licensing income captured by UIRF.

Official Files Maintained by:
UI Research Foundation

UI Retention Guidelines: Patent Term + 5 Years

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Investment Statements

Category: Banking & Investments

Description:

Activity and investment performance reports, compliance documents

Official Files Maintained by:
Treasury Operations

UI Retention Guidelines: 10 years

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Iowa Form IA 1120 - Corporation Income Tax Return

Category: Tax Records

Description:

Filed annually with Iowa Dept. of Revenue and Finance by UIHC for U of I Health System Inc. and subsidiaries.

Official Files Maintained by:
UI Health Care

UI Retention Guidelines: Permanent

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Iowa Premium Tax Return

Category: Tax Records

Description:

Tax Return Filed annually to Iowa Dept. of Revenue and Finance for Iowa Medical Mutual Insurance Co. (IMMIC)

Official Files Maintained by:
UI Health Care

UI Retention Guidelines: Permanent

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Iowa Site File Records

Category: Administrative Records

Description:

Recorded archaeological sites in Iowa and associated information.

Official Files Maintained by:
Office of the State Archaeologist

UI Retention Guidelines: Permanent

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Iowa State Sales Tax Return

Category: Tax Records

Description:

Sales Tax Quarterly/Semi-Monthly Payments Return filed quarterly with Iowa Dept. of Revenue & Finance by UI Accounting Services.

Official Files Maintained by:
UI Accounting & Financial Reporting

UI Retention Guidelines: 5 Years

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Issued Patents

Category: Inventions, Patents and Research Agreements

Description:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will send a limited number of marked or ribboned original patents upon issuance.

Official Files Maintained by:
UI Research Foundation

UI Retention Guidelines: Patent Term + 5 Years

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Land Transactions

Category: Contracts, Real Estate and Leasing

Description:

Purchase agreements; deeds; closing documents; land abstracts.

Official Files Maintained by:
UI Business Manager Office

UI Retention Guidelines: Permanent

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Leases

Category: Contracts, Real Estate and Leasing

Description:

Signed lease where UI is either the tenant or landlord; Including all ground and tenant leases at UI Research Park.

Official Files Maintained by:
UI Business Manager Office

UI Retention Guidelines: 10 Years from termination

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Letter of Credit

Category: Grants and Awards

Description:

Documentation of federal letter of credit funding requests, including monthly reports & reconciliations, quarterly reporting to agencies, and documentation of payments received.

Official Files Maintained by:
Grant Accounting Office

UI Retention Guidelines: 10 Years

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Liability Claims

Category: Risk Management, Insurance and Loss Prevention

Description:

Liability claims filed against the UI, other than tort, where commercial insurance coverage was purchased.

Official Files Maintained by:
UI Risk Management

UI Retention Guidelines: 10 Years

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Liability insurance policies

Category: Risk Management, Insurance and Loss Prevention

Description:

Liability insurance files including policy documents, applications, renewals, correspondence, and working files for various lines of coverage.

Official Files Maintained by:
UI Risk Management

UI Retention Guidelines: 10 Years (end of the tail/covered period +10 Years for claims-made policies)

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

License/Option/3rd Party Revenue Sharing

Category: Inventions, Patents and Research Agreements

Description:

These are all agreements related to commercial availability and distribution of income related to inventions, patents and research agreements.

Official Files Maintained by:
UI Research Foundation

UI Retention Guidelines: Patent Term + 5 Years

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Litigation Records

Category: Audit & Legal

Description:

Pleadings/settlement agreements of any legal action or lawsuit brought against the University of Iowa.

Official Files Maintained by:
UI Office of the General Counsel

UI Retention Guidelines: 5 Years past the settlement date

Confidential: No
Vital: No

Long-distance Telephone Charges

Category: Administrative Records

Description:

Documentation of monthly long distance telephone charges.

Official Files Maintained by:
UI Telecommunication & Network Services

UI Retention Guidelines: 5 Years

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Maps

Category: Facilities Management

Description:

Campus maps including property, utilities, site surveys, soil borings. Plans/drawings and any items deemed confidential by legal counsel are considered confidential.

Official Files Maintained by:
UI Facilities Management

UI Retention Guidelines: Permanent

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Material Transfer Agreements (incoming)

Category: Grants and Awards

Description:

Agreement that governs the provision of materials from a provider organization to the University.

Official Files Maintained by:
Division of Sponsored Programs

UI Retention Guidelines: 5 Years

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

Medical Personnel Records (Student, Staff and Faculty employees)

Category: Personnel, Human Resources and Recruitment

Description:

Medical Personnel files contain all forms related to the staff member's medical information related to their employment; i.e., FMLA letters and medical certifications, ADA accommodation information, catastrophic leave letters and documentation, worker's compensation records, documentation of medical leaves of absence, etc.

Official Files Maintained by:
Local Department responsible for creating or overseeing the record

UI Retention Guidelines: 5 Years following termination of employee

Confidential: Yes
Vital: Yes

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