When academic and student work become records

The Public Records Act 2005 (New Zealand Legislation website) specifically excludes “records created by the academic staff or students of a tertiary education institution, unless the records have become part of the records of that institution”. In line with this:

Records created by academic staff for the purposes of teaching and research fall outside the scope of this Information, Records and Data Policy.
Content created by students in the course of their studies or for their own personal use are not covered by this policy.

Research Contracts and Requirements

Records and documentation created in the course of research, whether internally or externally-funded, are subject to contractual recordkeeping requirements. Ensure that you have read and understood your individual requirements.

Research Management (DA702 - section 12)

In some cases there are recordkeeping requirements for records surrounding research management. These are where they relate to the management of:

Projects
Funding
Ethics
Product and commercialisation
Facilities
Biosecurity

Section 12 of the NZ Universities Disposal Schedule (DA702) details where research records are covered by our Public Records Act recordkeeping requirements.

Student Work

Student work in relation to the course of their studies where they provide specialist services under supervision are covered by the Public Records Act. These should be clear to students during the course of their study and usually relate to specialist treatment services to members of the public (DA702 – section 14) . These records should be managed within the relevant department.

If you have any other items which you think should be records please reach out for discussion.