University of British Columbia
RECORDS RETENTION SCHEDULE AND DISPOSAL AUTHORITY

Schedule No.:

005-01

This is a recommendation to (check one):

X -- Establish retention/disposal schedule

Series Title:

Animal Care Committee Files

Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR):

Research Services

Purpose and Description of Records:

Series consists of records relating to the granting of approval to research proposals and experiments involving animals. Files, organized by name of researcher, may contain Animal Care Certificates (representing formal approval by the Animal Care Committee), protocol renewal forms, animal protocol details (describing the project/experiment in question), protocol status summaries, Animal Care Certificate Renewal/Update forms, descriptions of research and teaching procedures, and related correspondence.

These records give evidence of procedures followed in reviewing proposed research projects, and in monitoring those experiments.

Personal Information Bank?

X -- Yes

Vital Record?

X -- Yes

Retained by:

X -- Continuous

Retention Period (Years):

Office -- Current
Records Centre / Storage -- Permanent
Total --

Final Disposition:

X -- N/A

Retention Instructions:

Records are retained permanently by Research Services - they are held in the office while current, then placed in storage. Other offices holding copies of these records shall retain them while current, plus one year, then destroy them.

Appraisal Rationale:

Records in this series are to be retained for at least one year after the researcher is terminated by his/her department or faculty, in accordance with the requirements of Section 10(2) of the British Columbia Employment Standards Act:
"The record [of employment] must be... kept at the employer's principle place of business in the Province for a period of one year after the employee ceases his employment..." [Section 40 says essentially the same thing];
and Section 31 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy [FOIPOP] Act:
"If a public body uses an individual's personal information to make a decision that directly affects the individual, the public body must retain that information for at least one year after using it so that the individual has a reasonable opportunity to obtain access to it".
Although records kept outside Research Services largely duplicate that which is retained there, they may contain additional information. Therefore, in order to guarantee full compliance with both statutes, offices should retain those files for a full year after termination. These are considered vital records in that they fully document the approval of animal experiments by the University through its Animal Care Committee.

Date of Initial Publication:

12 August 1997

Revisions: