Overview

As a public entity, the University of California (UC), Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR), is obligated to manage its records in compliance with various regulations, including the California Public Records Act (CPRA), the California Information Practices Act (IPA), and other State and Federal requirements, as well as UC policy. The CPRA affirms that access to information regarding the conduct of public business is a fundamental right of every person in the State, and public records are generally open to inspection except as provided in the CPRA and IPA. For detailed information and resources on public records, please visit our Public Records Requests page.

Our practice is to delete records regularly. Please familiarize yourself with the UC records retention schedule or contact PCPA for clarification.

On this page, we will focus on general record management best practices to help you navigate your day-to-day responsibilities. It is crucial to understand that a public record can be any document or record, whether written or electronic, that is prepared, owned, used, or retained by the University. This includes not only records that we create but also any records in our possession. Public records can originate from various sources, such as:

Recording Meetings

Meetings should generally not be recorded. Recording should only occur in exceptional circumstances with approval from the department head. Exceptional circumstances include rare situations like a recording accommodation by Disability Management Services or for training purposes. This also applies to transcriptions saved after the meeting. Always consider the necessity of recording and maintaining the record.

Employee meeting recordings become a University record and are potentially disclosable upon request (e.g., under the California Public Records Act or California’s Information Practices Act). Recordings should be deleted when no longer needed, or as per the UC records retention schedule.

Chat Conversations

Did you know all your chats from Teams, Google, Slack, etc. are automatically saved after your meetings? These can become public records and should be deleted after their intended use.

Chat conversations become a University record and may be disclosed upon request (e.g., under the California Public Records Act or California’s Information Practices Act). Conversations should be deleted when no longer needed, or as per the UC records retention schedule.

Emails

Emails sent, received or retained in your work email or your personal email can be considered public records, especially if they relate to official business or activities of a public entity.

Emails sent or received by UC employees in the course of their work become a University record and may be subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) or similar laws. It's important to follow UC's policies and guidelines regarding the management and retention of emails to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Emails should be deleted when no longer needed, or as per the UC records retention schedule.

Text Messages

Text messages sent or received from your work or personal phone can be considered public records if they are related to official business or activities of a public entity.

Like emails, text messages sent or received by employees in the course of their work for UCANR may be subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) or similar laws. It's important to be mindful of the content of text messages and to follow UC's policies and UC records retention schedule regarding the management and retention of text messages to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

Voice Messages/Recordings

Voice messages from a work or personal phoneline and any other voice recordings, including transcriptions from such messages/recordings, can be considered public records if they are related to official business or activities of a public entity. 

Like emails and text messages, voice messages left or received by employees in the course of their work for UCANR may be subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) or similar laws. It's important to treat voice messages with the same care as other forms of communication and to follow UC's policies and and UC records retention schedule regarding the management and retention of voice messages to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.