Common Records

Common Administrative Records

Administrative records

• Business plans, organizational charts, committees and meetings, associations and societies, accreditations, information exchange with other organizations, information and records management, administrative reports, office services, computing services, telecommunications, travel and security.

Buildings and properties records

• Use, maintenance, repair and renovation of buildings and facilities, including occupancy plans, requests, parking and utilities, planning and development records.

Advancement records

• Announcements on topics of interest to the public including news releases, media relations, speeches, events planning, publications, displays and annual reports.

Equipment, supplies and services records

• Procurement of equipment, supplies and services including tendering documents, requests for proposals and quotations, and records related to the use, maintenance and disposal of materials and equipment.

Financial records

• Financial management and planning, accounting, contracts, estimates and budgets, revenue, expenses, capital assets, financial reports and statistics, insurance and taxation.
• Audit records such as financial auditing methods, responsibilities, reports, statements, background documentation, recommendations resulting from audits and audit responses.

Governance

• By-laws, reports, minutes and other records of the governing body of Athabasca University.

Human Resources records

• Staffing, appointments, terminations, attendance, classification, position descriptions, employee relations, pay and benefits, occupational health, wellness and safety, staff training and development, professional standards, performance appraisals, exit interviews, awards and recognition, reports and statistics, studies, surveys and organizational charts.

Legal records

• Regulations, by-laws, contracts, legal agreements, legal research, opinions and litigation files.

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Common Operational Records

Development and fundraising

Alumni relations - Relating to the relationship between Athabasca University and its alumni including descriptions of projects, campaigns and support provided to the university from alumni.

External affairs - Relating to organizations such as corporations, institutes and foundations with an interest in the activities of the university.

Foundations - Relating to charitable organizations benefiting Athabasca University including descriptions of projects, campaigns and support provided to Athabasca University from individual organizations.

Fundraising - Relating to institutional efforts to raise funds to support program functions and facilities including special projects such as capital fundraising campaigns, planned giving activities, etc.

Library and archives

Collection and use records - Collection or use of materials by qualified patrons.

Collection development and maintenance - Acquisition and maintenance of materials which typically involves ordering, accessioning, cataloguing and referencing.

Gifts and exchanges - Donation, receipt and processing of gifts and bequests, the exchange-at-no-cost of materials with other institutions, policies and procedures as well as donor and other institution agreements.

Inter-institution loan - Lending of materials between the university and external organizations or individuals, requests made to other institutions and from outside sources. May include individual or institutional agreements and related forms.

Services - Provision of other services. May include forms describing services and documenting user requests.

Research

Ethical matters - Matters associated with academic programs such as animal care in testing environments, environmental issues, records documenting ethical approval of research involving humans, animals and biosafety.

Fellowships - Applications, evaluations and awarding of fellowships, both general and post-doctoral, including records on the individual fellowships awarded.

Grants and projects - Grant proposals and applications, evaluation and awarding of grants for research, records on the individual grants awarded, information on donors and recipients of grants.

Institutes - Specialized institutes, both short-term and permanent, operated and/or sponsored by the various groups and individual within the university including planning documents, advertising copy, brochures, mailing lists, program and research records, proceedings and summary reports.

Laboratories - Operation of laboratories within the institution including experiments, surveys, data files and test results.

Student records

Admission - Process of evaluation and admission or readmission of students to the university including some or all of the following information: admission, application, letters of acceptance or refusal.

Appeals - Appeals of decisions made about students by the university including admission, placement and grades.

Awards, scholarships and prizes - Evaluation and granting of awards (financial and other) to students, based upon criteria specific to the individual awards. May be based on academic or other achievement.

Discipline - Process of student discipline.

Grades - Examinations and the recording of grades including specific forms and documentation for recording or amending official grades.

Registration - Process of registration of students for courses including specific types of registration documents, such as approval forms, drop/add forms, which are used in the registration process.

Student records - Relating to the individual students registered at the university including, but not limited to, admission and registration information, interview forms, out of province transcripts and other data, academic standing and grades, appeals, transcripts, dissertation thesis and directed studies.

Student services

Financial aid -

• Financial support systems available to students, including bursaries, loans, grants and other financial arrangements based upon student financial need.
• Correspondence with sponsoring organizations, policies and procedures, rules and regulations respecting the various programs and related to individual students and specific financial aid awards.

Student counselling services - The operation of counselling services provided to students. May include notes made by counsellors concerning contacts with student clients, referral letters, letters to agencies or other counsellors regarding student clients and related documentation and correspondence.

Teaching and continuing education programs

Advising - The program and course advising function and process provided to prospective students by departments and faculties within the university.

Clinics - Specialized clinics and services provided by the university as a community or public service which may or may not be part of academic programs providing students with field training experience including names of participants, program planning, operational data and statistics.

Course evaluations - The process of evaluating courses and instructors including forms, administrative procedures and policy as well as student evaluation summaries.

Lecture series - Development and history of special lectures and continuing lectureships on a variety of topics or disciplines operated and/or sponsored by the institution including planning documents, announcements, brochures, financial support, honoraria records, patron information, proceedings and summary reports, photographs and supporting documentation.

Program development and review - Content of program and courses including the specific information about the individual course offerings including course development, course descriptions, content, course requirements, textbook information, grade information, prerequisites, etc.

Scheduling/Timetable - Programming and scheduling of programs and courses including the development of the timetables and assignments of facilities and space to courses and instructors.