JISC

The Study was commissioned by the Archives Sub-Committee of the Humanities Non-Formula Funding Committee (under the JISC). 

The Sub-Committee commissioned a study of the archives of British universities in 1997. They believed that the resulting report Study of the Archival Records of British Universities reached some important conclusions and commissioned this Study to further develop the archival selection criteria and the Higher Education Institutions (HEI) function and activity model which were recommended in the Report, with a view to creating a model scheme of arrangement for the archival records of HEIs and guidelines for its implementation.

Terms of reference

The Terms of Reference for the Study are to:

• develop detailed criteria for the selection of archival records from HEIs
• develop a Function / Activity model of a typical HEI with respect to records and information creation and handling, including a comprehensive description of the records typically produced and held in each functional area
• establish retention schedules for those classes of records deemed to be non-archival
• combine the above and produce a model scheme of arrangement for archival records of HEIs

Methodology

The Study involved developing draft versions of the key elements of the framework, distributing these to consultation groups, and revising the drafts in the light of their comments.

Consultation Groups

Two consultation groups were set up, consisting of

• HEI Administrators
• HEI Archivists / Records Managers

All of whom were actively interested in the Study.

Draft documents were made available to the groups via the TFPL website, and by fax where necessary. Members of the groups could post their comments on the website, or send them to the Study team by fax or email.

The HEI Function / Activity Model defines the common business functions and activities of HEIs.

• Functions are what HEIs do to achieve their goals and strategies
• Activities are carried out to fulfil each function

HEI Functions / Activities

HEIs have 6 common functions:

1. Strategy Development & Implementation
2. Teaching & Learning
3. Research & Development
4. Student Administration & Support
5. Resource Management
6. External Relations

Each Function is fulfilled by undertaking a number of Activities. These Functions and Activities are common to all HEIs, although there are likely to be local differences in the terminology used to describe them.

The Model focuses on what HEIs do (Functions) and how they do it (Activities), and it is intended to be generic framework - a 'highest common denominator' which each institution can then adapt for its individual circumstances. Most importantly, it bears no relationship to organisational structure for the very simple reason that while most HEIs do the same things in broadly the same way, organisational hierarchies vary enormously, particularly between different types of institutions.

Using the Model

The Model provides an intellectual framework for managing HEI records in relation to HEI business functions and activities.

It can be used as a basis for:

• classification and indexing
• appraisal, including selection of archival records
• retention scheduling

The other sections of this report use the Model as the basis for:

• Generic HEI Records Retention Schedule 
• HEI Archival Selection Criteria 
• Outline Scheme for Presentation of HEI Archival Records