UMCal Archiving

Retention Policy

The Office of Information Technology will retain 18 months of calendar data within the UMCal system. Data older than 18 months will be exported from UMCal and stored in a standards-based file format for at least 7 years. Exported data will be available to users by sending a request to umcal@umn.edu.

Why the need?

The Office of Information Technology is creating this policy based on the recommendation from Oracle to improve UMCal system performance. This policy is also meant to provide a clear retention policy for units and departments to follow.

Peer Institution Comparison

In developing this policy, the Office of Information Technology looked at the following institutions and their retention policies:

Questions

How do I request a copy of my archived calendar data?

Requests for calendar archives can be sent to the UMCal Support group at umcal@umn.edu. The UMCal support team will send the user a copy of their archived calendar. Requests for calendar data for accounts other than your personal account should come from the Office of the General Counsel.

What file-format is the archived data stored in?

The archived data is stored in an ics file format which is a standard used by most calendaring clients. Data will be exported into files based on each calendar year. Due to the varying implementations of calendar clients, the archived data file may not import correctly.

What information from UMCal comes over in the archive?

The information included in the archived data is the Title, Location, Access Level, Importance Level, start and end dates and times, details, attendees, meeting organizer, and reminders. Personal notes and attachments are not included in the export. Users who need their personal notes or attachments for reporting purposes should make efforts to store this information in another location.

When will archiving begin?

OIT will begin UMCal archiving on Feb 1st. Archiving will be performed on a regular basis as determined by system administrators. UMCal users will be notified of the change via e-mail. The OIT, ADCS, UMCal, and 1-HELP websites will have a news article posted.

Can users export their own data?

Users can export their own data from the UMCal Desktop Clients. Information on exporting data from the clients will be available at a later date.