Records Disposal Guidelines

Before you dispose of records

Before shredding paper or deleting emails, Word documents, PDFs, or other files created or received in connection with University of Oregon work, verify whether they are subject to retention requirements outlined in the University-wide Records Retention Schedule (RRS).

Records governed by the RRS must be retained for the specified duration and destroyed according to approved procedures.

Records Destruction Procedures


Digitization and disposal of paper 

Paper records that have been successfully digitized may be disposed of only if the digitization process complies with Oregon Administrative Rule (OAR) 166-017-0035. This includes:

•    Specific scanning resolutions
•    Quality control procedures
•    Verification steps to ensure accuracy and completeness

More detailed guidance is available here.


When to use locked shred bins or in-house shredders

Records eligible for disposal—including transitory or intermediary documents—must be shredded appropriately based on their content.

  • Use locked Garten shred bins (or, on the Portland campus, locked Access shred bins) or P-4 level or higher crosscut office shredders for documents containing:
  • Use recycle bins for documents containing Green Data (low-risk), such as:
    • Non-sensitive course or program materials
    • Non-sensitive research data
    • Directory information

Storage, digitization, and shredding services

Confidential Shred Bins – Eugene Campus

Records Management oversees the university’s contract with Garten Services for confidential shredding.

To request a bin, schedule a pickup, or remove a bin:

Pricing:

  • $70 minimum per pickup (covers up to 184 lbs)
  • $0.38 per additional pound (up to 499 lbs)

Schedule pickups when bins are ¾ full to stay within the minimum charge.


Confidential Shred Bins – Portland Campus

Access provides shredding services for the Portland campus.

For service requests and pricing:


Records storage & scanning services

UO Records Management offers storage and scanning services for both Eugene and Portland campuses.
To initiate a request: Complete the Records Management Service Request Form


Device disposal

When retiring devices like laptops or cell phones, follow university guidelines for surplus property disposal and device sanitization to protect sensitive data.Learn more: Surplus Property Disposal Guidelines