Confidential Monthly Destruction

The goal of the Confidential Monthly Shred Program is to make it as easy as possible for your departments to securely and regularly dispose of confidential materials that are not considered official College records.

About the Shred Program

  • Boxes of materials (e.g., paper, microfilm, microfiche, digital storage media, etc.) for confidential destruction will be picked up on the first Wednesday of every month except for June. There is no cost associated with this service.
  • Records Management owns the Shred Program, but works with Facilities Operations and Management (FO&M) to pick up material for shredding. Please note that FO&M picks up only the materials for shredding.
  • Separating the storage and shred pick-ups helps to minimize any chance of records getting mixed up as shred when they need to be stored, or vice versa.
  • Records Management collect boxed records that need to go to the Records Management Center (RMC) for storage.

Eligible Materials

Confidential Business-Related Material

Any material that's related to work and confidential.

Examples:

  • duplicates or administrative copies
  • drafts
  • College-related transitory correspondence or handwritten notes from meetings, etc.

Ineligible Materials

Non-Confidential Paper Material

Please recycle any paper that isn't confidential in nature in the regular paper recycling bins located across campus.

Examples:

  • greeting cards
  • public documents
  • newspapers
  • books
  • personal correspondence
  • personal notes
  • personal photos, etc.

Trash

Please do not include trash in this material. Instead, place trash in a receptacle marked for landfill.

If you have questions about what constitutes confidential material, please contact Records Management. Remember, destruction is a costly service that Dartmouth provide free of charge.

Prepare Your Materials

  1. Box and seal: Prepare your materials by packaging and sealing them in a paper box.
  2. Lock and secure: All boxes need to remain secured until the time that they are physically handed over to FO&M staff for pickup. They are never to remain unsecured in a public location.
  3. Label: Use a dark permanent marker to write the word SHRED. FO&M will refuse to pick up any boxes that have not been clearly labeled as SHRED.

Tips for Choosing Your Box

  • Empty copy paper boxes are the best to use.
  • Plastic bags are unacceptable.
  • Do not use oversized boxes that would be difficult or dangerous to lift when full.
  • Do not overpack boxes.
  • Use lids that fit and securely seal the boxes closed with packing tape.
  • FO&M has the right to refuse the pickup of any boxes that have not been sealed properly or that are oversized.

Request Pick-up

Please call or email the Work Control Office at least three working days prior to the pick-up date.

Be sure to indicate your location and the number of boxes ready for collection. The FO&M staff will pick up the material and transport it to the RMC for secure destruction.

Your department or office can send up to 50 boxes of materials each month. If your needs exceed this limit, please contact Records Management directly.

Important Note

These procedures apply only to materials that are not official College records. Any boxed records that should be stored at the Records Management Center by Records Management must be handled separately. For pickup of boxed records, contact Records Management.

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