Records Office

Departments can retain file copies of documentation on site for a convenient length of time when deemed appropriate for the department’s timely reference. Original documentation that must be maintained in the department is subject to periodic review by the Division of Business and Finance to ensure that the documentation is being preserved in compliance with the University’s Records Retention Schedules. The retention of this documentation must follow the Records Retention Schedule.

Steps to Record Destruction

• Review the Records Retention Schedule
• Before records can be disposed, a Disposition Report should be completed with the Nebraska Secretary of State.

Disposal Resources

• On campus - If a department chooses to destroy their own records, the University recommends utilizing a cross-cut shredder.
• Shredding Services
  • Data Shield - 402-898-5000 (one time purges and routine service may be arranged)
  • Great White Shredding (Woodward's Disposal) 402-898-5000 (routine service)
  • The chosen vendor will directly bill the department for the services provided. These costs should be paid directly from department funds (there are no special funds for this).
  • The chosen vendor will provide a certification document to the department for Verification. (The bill will double as the certification).

State statutes (Neb. Rev. Stat. 84-712, et seq.) provide the right to examine public records “of and belonging to” the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK).

UNK Public Records Request Policy

What’s a public record?

Public records include all records and documents, regardless of physical form, of or belonging to a state agency, a county, city or other governmental bodies listed in the statute. Records include, but are not limited to, printouts, electronic data, discs, tapes, and photocopies.

Public records request responsibility

To ensure compliance, processing, and consistency of response all requests for public records from UNK shall be made to and reviewed by the Senior Advisor to the Chancellor for Executive Affairs and as required, by NU Office of General Counsel.

Submitting a public records request

No specific language is required for a public records request. However, any request should be submitted in writing with a clear description of records sought. Should a requestor, because of disability, be unable to provide a request in writing, UNK will provide accommodations as required by federal law by accepting a different reasonable means of communicating the request.

To submit a request electronically email unkpublicrecords@unk.edu

To submit a request by mail address to:

John Falconer, Senior Advisor to the Chancellor
Office of the Chancellor
Warner Hall 102A
2504 9^th Ave Kearney, NE 68849

For information or questions contact John Falconer at 308-865-8715 or faclonerj@unk.edu

When to expect your response: salutatory requirements

1. A reply must be made within four business days after actual receipt of a request. If the request is submitted electronically, the date of receipt shall be the date that the employee opens the electronic file.
2. The four business days after actual receipt do not include the first day of receipt of the written request. For example, a written request for records received on Monday would require a response by Friday.
3. If a copy of a public record is available on the Internet, the custodian is not required to copy the record, unless the requestor does not have access to the Internet.
4. The statutes allow the response to take one of three forms:
   • a grant of the request by providing records;
   • a denial of the request, citing the legal reasons for the denial; or
   • a communication that the request cannot be reasonably fulfilled within the standard four days due to some difficulty or the "voluminous" nature of the records requested (Neb. Rev. Stat. 84-712 (4)(c)). When an entire request cannot with reasonable good faith efforts be fulfilled within four business days after actual receipt of the request, UNK will provide a written explanation including the earliest practicable date for fulfilling the request, an estimate of the expected cost of any copies and special service labor charge (in excess of the first four cumulative hours spent searching, identifying, physically redacting, or copying records), and an opportunity for the requestor to modify or prioritize the items within the request. If the requestor does not respond to the records custodian within 10 business days, the records custodian shall not proceed to fulfill the request.

Transmittal

Upon approval, the response will be sent to the requestor. The preferred method of transmittal will be by email, with the response and documents (if included) converted to a PDF format.

When the requestor does not provide an email address the response will be sent by mail.

Charges

If the cost of fulfilling a request exceeds $50, UNK is permitted to require a deposit before beginning necessary processes associated with responding to the request. UNK will charge for actual costs incurred, whether higher or lower than estimated costs approved by the requestor.

The following charges may be invoiced when sending the documents to the requestor:

• 25 cents for each copy sized 8-1/2 X11 or smaller, double-sided copies counting as 2 pages
• 50 cents for each copy for legal size
• Actual cost for each copy of a larger than legal size page (i.e. engineering drawing, etc.)
• UNK may charge for staff salary associated with fulfilling the request (retrieval, compiling data, etc.). Pursuant to the Act, however, the cost will not include the first 4 hours of salary for the employee identifying or copying the records.
• Some requests may require computer run time and any necessary analysis and programming for fulfillment. As such, costs related to programming, extracting, compiling, displaying data will vary on a case-by-case basis.

Record Keeping

Responses to public records requests shall be retained in accordance with the University's Records Retention and Disposition Schedules. Denials of requests for records and documents shall be retained permanently.

UNK Records Retention Policy