Student Files Guidelines

• A Student Record is the University’s official records of a student’s enrolment and academic progress. It is created once the student accepts an admission offer and registers for courses. This records is maintained in the Student Information System (e.g. Banner/Minerva).​

• A Student File, by contrast, is a collection of unstructured that provide context or support for a student’s academic progress. These files are typically created and maintained by the student’s faculty student affairs office (for undergraduate students) or graduate department. Enrolment Services manages legal documents and the student files for the Faculties of Arts, Science and Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies. ​

• Medical Student Training Records managed by the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science are also covered by these guidelines. ​

The types of documents included in a student file are:​

• Admission documents (student application, auditions, portfolio, personal statements, transcripts, reference letters, entrance exams)​

• Legal documents (e.g. birth certificate, study permit)​

• Transcripts for activities completed pre-admission to McGill or partner institutions​

• Advising notes, degree audit reports, correspondence, course outlines (to support course equivalency requests), record change requests​

• Any other relevant information that helps track student progress​

Student files contain various types of personal information—that is, information that can directly or indirectly identify an individual—whether recorded on paper or in digital format. McGill University and its employees are required to protect the confidentiality of the personal information contained in student records, in accordance with applicable laws and institutional policies.​

According to Access to Records and Governance of Personal Information institutional policies:

• The University is responsible for protecting the Personal Information it holds.​

• Personal Information must be kept safe, confidential and secure.​

• The University may retain Student Records and Files permanently to ensure McGill’s compliance with Quebec Archives Act and McGill Records Retention Schedule (MURRS-0188).​

• Except as otherwise provided by applicable laws, when the purpose(s) for which Personal Information was collected have been achieved, the University will dispose of the Personal Information (e.g., by destroying, archiving or anonymizing) in accordance with its Retention Schedule and applicable laws. ​

• The retention and storage of student files must follow certain practices to prevent any confidentiality incident, which can occur at any stage of the personal information lifecycle.​

• A confidentiality incident may constitute a privacy breach under the Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information (the “Access Act”). A privacy breach occurs when an individual’s personal information is disclosed to an unauthorized person, whether intentionally or accidentally.​

• Student files must not be stored, even on a temporary basis, in personal cloud storage environments such as Google Drive, Dropbox, individual OneDrive accounts, or on local hard drives. Instead, they must be stored in an approved institutional repository, such as SharePoint or a document management system such as Documentum.

• Faculties and Schools are encouraged to create and central and specific files for each student and make sure the information is secured. This helps prevent information from becoming scattered, which increases the risk of losing documents or disclosing personal information.​

• Printed documents from a Student Information System are not considered as official transcripts and documents and should be destroyed according to MUA’s Destruction of paper records guidelines. ​

When handling Student and Records Files, also refer to the following guidelines:​

• Destruction of Paper Records Guidelines​

• Transfer of Paper Records Guidelines​

• Email Management Guidelines​​

Admission records of Admitted and Registered are included in the student file:

• Student applications​

• Transcripts for admission​

• Reference letters​

• CVs​

• Auditions​

• Portfolio​

• Personal statements​

• Entrance exams​

• Test scores​

• Any documentation needed to assess an application for admission​

• Legal documents (e.g. birth certificate, marriage certificate, study permit, immigration papers)​

• Advising notes​

• Degree audit reports​

• ​Correspondence (Emails)​

• Course outlines​

• Record change requests​

• Course equivalencies​

• Theses and related forms​

• Incident reports/final decisions (Academic Integrity)​

• Banner/Minerva printouts​

• Practicums and fellowships records ​

• Payment requests (Scholarships)​

• Unofficial McGill transcripts​

• Prizes and awards records​

• Progress tracking forms​

• Teaching assistantship applications and hiring letters​

• Documentation related to residencies (medical students)​