10.3.5 Records Disaster Recovery Plan

This plan provides guidance for the recovery and restoration of mission critical documents and information that may be damaged or lost in a mishap or disaster. Mission critical is defined as documents and/or information necessary for the successful day-to-day operation of the institution. In this plan, records will refer to mission critical documents and information.

Electronic records are subject to the procedures established by the Chief Information Officer. This plan relates to paper records which are mission critical. There are also many paper records of an archival nature that, while not necessarily mission critical, are of great historical value to the institution.

The safety of students, faculty and staff is of utmost importance. Fire, severe weather or other disasters may cause structural damage that renders a building unsafe for occupancy. In the event of a disaster, personnel should not enter a damaged building until it has been inspected and deemed safe for occupancy.

Activation

Implementation of this plan will depend largely on the nature of the cause of damage to records.

Localized Incident: Causes such as a leaking roof or a broken water line usually result in localized damage which is limited to an office, office suite or floor of a building. In localized damage cases, the department/unit head of the affected unit(s) will be responsible for implementing the recovery process.

Widespread Incident: Causes such as fire or severe weather often result in more widespread damage. In such cases, it is possible that the MGA Emergency Operations Plan will be activated. The provisions of the MGA Emergency Operations Plan take precedence over the Records Disaster Recovery Plan. When the Emergency Operations Plan is in effect, the Records Disaster Recovery Plan is to be activated only when clearance to enter the affected building(s) and to assess the damage has been given.

Disaster Recovery

Units within the institution should approach disaster recovery for mission critical records in the following manner:

  • The department/unit head(s) of the affected unit(s) should contact MGA Facilities for assistance with any necessary post-disaster clean-up.
  • Department/unit head(s) and records manager will be responsible for the initial assessment of the nature, extent, and severity of the damage to records in their respective unit. Successful recovery depends upon quick action; therefore, the initial assessment should be conducted as soon as possible after discovery of the damage.
  • After the initial assessment, the unit head should contact MGA Facilities for a more detailed assessment of the damage and for advisement regarding the steps necessary to increase the likelihood of successfully recovering the damaged documents.