University Archives

All sensitive University of Michigan materials that are retained will be restricted until July 1st of a particular year. However, the length of time that material is restricted is dependent on which category it falls into:

• Executive records (20 years): Records generated by the university's executive officers, deans, directors, department heads, and their designated support staff are restricted for twenty (20) years from their date of their creation.

• Personnel records (30 years): Search, review, promotion, evaluation, and tenure records (including letters of recommendation), are restricted for thirty (30) years from their date of their creation. Note that records must be particularly evaluative to fall into this category. For example, a shortlist of candidates for a position would by itself not be considered a personnel record. However, a ranked list of candidates for a position—with evaluative information about each candidate—would fall into this category.

• Student educational records (85 years): Student educational records, such as evaluative records, are generally restricted for eighty-five (85) years from their date of creation (see footnote 1). This is because the protection afforded by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) ends at the time of a student's death and the University will presume that the student is deceased after this period of time has elapsed. Note that this restriction does not apply to students who are confirmed deceased, although—as a courtesy to the families of recently deceased students who were enrolled in the university at the time of their death—the university generally will not release information from their education records for five years without the consent of the deceased student's next of kin. 

• Patient/Medical records (100 years): University medical records are restricted for one-hundred (100) years from the date of their creation. The use of particular records older than 100 years may require that researcher sign a Patient/Client Access Agreement.

• Client records (100 years): Any record falling within the attorney-client privilege category should be restricted for one-hundred (100) years from their date of their creation. The use of particular records older than 100 years may require that the researcher sign a Patient/Client Access Agreement.

University of Michigan collections can have more than one category of restricted materials, as evidenced in the Department of Sociology (University of Michigan) records (public link). Be careful to scan for different kinds of restricted material when processing University of Michigan collections.

Twice a year—shortly after January 1 and July 1—the Lead Archivist for Collections Management reviews and  unpublished expired restriction notes in ArchivesSpace.  

Processor's should also be careful when processing materials related to faculty, students, and alums:

• Faculty members often included their social security number in curriculum vitae until the late 1990s (and sometimes until even the early 2000s). 

• Until fairly late in the 20th century, a student's identification number (SIN) was often their social security number. 

If a processor uncovers information like this, they will likely need to redact it. Consult the Redaction page on this site (public link) for more information. 

For additional resources relating to restricted material, consult the following resources:

• Barritt, M. (1986). The appraisal of personally identifiable student records. American Archivist, 49(3): 263-275. https://americanarchivist.org/doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.49.3.gq468424t45445g5 (public link).

• The UM Standard Practice Guide, Privacy and the Need to Monitor and Access Records (public link).

Footnote 1: For the University's definition of what does and does not fall into the category of student records, consult the Office of the Registrar's Student Rights and Student Records (public link) page. Processors may also wish to consult the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (public link) website.