LMS retention schedule

Brock CPI is once again undertaking the process of deleting LMS course sites that are older than four years. This is in-line with the University’s LMS/Online-Materials retention schedule that was adopted in 2017.

This is the first time that the deletion process will take place in Brock’s Brightspace instance. The timing of Brock’s migration does mean that everything currently scheduled to be deleted is Sakai material that has been transferred to Brightspace.

Notes:

• If you need to preserve content that is 4 years and older please read Rescuing old site materials.

• Deleted material will be recoverable for up to thirty (30) days.

• This same information will appear in the Brightspace homepage’s Instructor Information widget.

• Site owners enrolled in sites that are scheduled to be deleted will receive an emailed announcement.

• The earliest deletion of academic sites created in Brightspace will be Fall 2026.

Details

What is happening and why?

This procedure will accomplish the following:

• Reduce Brock’s data footprint.

• Maintain a records management process.

• Decrease the resources required to operate the learning management system.

This process also aims to limit legal discovery and freedom of information searches to a reasonable and standardized period and will limit the amount of personal information that could be exposed in the event of a privacy breach.

Course site deletion and retention activity is informed by:

• Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.31.​​​​​​​

• Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 24, Sched. B.

• Brock's LMS/Online-Materials retention schedule.

What is getting deleted?

Course sites

Course sites older than four (4) years, with the exception of those subject to externally-mandated data
retention policies, will be deleted.

Adhoc / Project sites

Sakai ad hoc and project sites were manually copied to Brightspace during the migration process and exist as Brightspace Project sites. Thus, no such sites are included in this scheduled deletion.

Exceptions

Department-wide exceptions will be made when instructed by the appropriate SAC member for the
purpose of meeting compliance commitments to external entities.

How to identify sites that are to be deleted

A semester-by-semester breakdown of the deletion schedule can be found at the bottom of this page.

1. All material that was transferred from Sakai is clearly labeled as such (i.e., the name begins “Sakai:…“).

Open

A migrated Sakai site in the Select a Course list.

2. The My Courses widget on the Brightspace homepage has a tab for sites flagged as Pending Deletion. This will be on the far right side of the menu and can be located by clicking the right-pointing arrow.

Open

The My Courses widget on the Brightspace homepage.

3. An authoritative answer will be provided by a status change visible in a site’s Course Offering Information. Sites to be deleted will be placed into a special semester called Pending Deletion [1]. Note that other Sakai-specific indicators [2, 3] may not be present.

Rescuing old site materials

Any site content can be copied into project sites for preservation. CPI is ready to help site owners retrieve, copy, and export any needed data. Contact edtech@brocku.ca for assistance.

How to export content

Instructions are available to assist with the transfer and export processes. Be aware of the options for copying from one site to another along with the ability to export different package types.

All transfer methods will only bring site structure and course materials--not student records or student-submitted content.

Sakai material

The Sakai system is in cold storage and CPI is granted a few access periods scheduled over the next couple of years. It is possible that material not transferred to Brightspace during the main migration can still be accessed in these times. Student records and activity can also still be viewed.

Please contact edtech@brocku.ca to inquire about the next Sakai availability window.

Video content in Echo360/YuJa/Youtube and related from the affected period still in use

Video content that may have been initially created for and associated with affected sites that is being used in the current site is not affected. The current use (views) of video assets in Brock University YuJa and online video platform signals that they are to be preserved.

Schedule of deletion