EduAsiaNews, Medan – Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) carried out a Records Reduction and Destruction activity within the USU environment on Wednesday, 4 February 2026, at the USU Archives Office Building. The activity involved representatives from 26 work units, records managers, and was witnessed by internal supervisory elements as well as the Directorate of Legal Affairs and Organization as part of the accountability process.
The Secretary of USU, Prof. Dr. dr. Muhammad Fidel Ganis Siregar, M.Ked(OG), Sp.O.G., Subsp.F.E.R., stated that records destruction is an essential component of good university governance.
He emphasized that records management, including records destruction, is a mandate of the law that must be carried out in an orderly, systematic, and accountable manner in order to protect the institution from potential misuse of information.
“Records destruction is conducted through clearly defined stages, starting from appraisal, review by the committee, determination of records proposed for destruction, to the implementation of the destruction itself. All processes are carried out in accordance with Law Number 43 of 2009 on Archives and its implementing regulations,” Prof. Fidel explained.
The Head of the USU Archives Office, Dr. Aisyah, SE., M.Si., explained that the records destroyed had exceeded their retention period and no longer possessed any administrative, legal, or historical value. The determination was made in full reference to the Records Retention Schedule (Jadwal Retensi Arsip/JRA).
“Records destruction is not merely a matter of storage efficiency, but also a form of information security protection. Records that have been declared to have no further value must be destroyed in accordance with established procedures, using shredding equipment, so that the information contained within them is permanently eliminated,” Dr. Aisyah stated.
The records originated from the period 1947 to 2016, totaling 1,216 files. However, following the verification process, five records had their destruction postponed as they were still related to ongoing legal processes. Consequently, 1,211 files, packaged in 32 boxes, were destroyed.
Dr. Aisyah also reminded all parties that records destruction must be conducted in strict compliance with established procedures. Violations of archival regulations may result in criminal sanctions of up to 10 years of imprisonment and fines of up to IDR 500 million.
On the same occasion, Dr. Aisyah announced that the USU Archives Office received an award from the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI) as one of the best archival offices in Indonesia in 2025. According to her, this achievement was made possible through the support and commitment of all records managers within the USU environment.
