Western Illinois University is mandated by the Illinois State Records Act (5 ILCS 160 et seq) to ensure that all books, papers, digitized electronic material, maps, photographs, databases, or other official documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristic, made, produced, executed or received are not destroyed until proper authorization is received from the State Records Commission. WIU’s Archives administers the university’s records management program. The records officer works with offices and departments across the university to assist them in following procedures for the proper retention, disposal, and storage of historical records in Archives.

Any person who knowingly, without lawful authority alters, destroys, defaces, removes, or conceals any public record commits a Class 4 Felony. Please contact the records officer, who can advise on record retention issues and help handle the necessary paperwork. Records Management Information provides a brief presentation on records management, the retention schedules for your office records, forms, and instructions to assist you in complying with the State Records Act.

Malpass Library has a large capacity shredder your office may use to destroy your documents after the State Records Commission approves the destruction of your records. Contact the records officer and Facilities Management to coordinate the pickup and delivery of documents to be destroyed at Malpass Library or for transferring your historical documents to Archives for permanent storage.

Archives collects additional records that show the university’s rich past. We preserve photos, flyers, brochures, scrapbooks, recordings of student recitals or plays, and any other information that showcase the activities on campus to assist us in keeping an accurate record of events in the past. It is important that we all share stewardship of the historical record at WIU. It doesn’t happen unless you provide those materials to Archives.