Imaging Services
Manages all document imaging activities related to responsibility for the physical maintenance and custody of University financial documents in accordance with approved record retention schedules. Imaging activities include the organizing, indexing, processing, reproduction, filing, retrieving, distribution, imaging, preservation and disposal of documents and records.
Student Payroll Records
All student payroll records that are sent to Payroll for processing are considered official University documents. After processing, these documents are forwarded to the Imaging section of Accounting Services to be imaged and archived. Since all of these documents are archived, departments do not need to make a copy for departmental files. The documents that are imaged by Accounting Services that are related to student payroll are Personnel Action Forms (appointments, merit increases, separations, etc.), various tax documents (W-4, L-4, etc.), the I-9 form, loyalty oaths and Direct Deposit authorization forms. Accounting Services holds the documents that are the official University records. Any documents related to student payroll that are not sent to Payroll should be retained within a department in secured files for the current year and the prior three years. Examples of such documents are student applications, timesheets, evaluations, drug oaths, etc. If any of these records contain a Social Security Number (SSN), the SSN must be redacted from the documents and the documents should be stored in a secured file or room. Any questions related to this issue should be sent to Brenda Wright, Imaging Supervisor, at bwrigh4@lsu.edu.
Document Imaging
Various documents that route to Accounting Services, Procurement and HRM are scanned by the Document Imaging section of Accounting Services to be stored as official University documents. Since these documents are oftentimes retrieved by Accounting Services personnel and/or auditors, it is extremely important that the documents are legible. The workflow involved in imaging documents is a very tedious and time consuming process. In an effort to keep the workflow steady and avoid having to manually edit images, please use the following tips:
- Use white paper.
- Tape receipts to 8 ½ x 11 paper. The tape should not cover the amounts on the itemized receipts since it tends to fade the ink which may make it harder to read once the document is imaged. Do not staple the receipts to the 8 ½ x 11 white sheet of paper.
- Use fluorescent yellow highlighter. Other highlighters such as pink, blue, purple, etc. cause the information to be “blacked out” when imaged which causes Imaging personnel to manually adjust each individual page.
- Use blue or black ink when writing on documents. Avoid using red or other colored ink pens.
- Ensure that the document you are sending to be processed is legible. If an original is already difficult to read, the imaged version will be even harder. Signatures should be legible.
- Ensure that copiers and desktop printers have dark ink/toner.
- Replace ribbon on adding machines as soon as it becomes light.
- Send originals when available (no carbon copies).
- Only send pages that are relevant to the document being processed. For example, if an e-mail is used as back-up and only a phone number or a graphic is printed on the second page, the second page serves no relevant purpose and should not be sent to Accounting Services as part of back-up documentation. If “scratch paper” is being used to print documentation, then the pages containing irrelevant text will also be scanned and part of official University documents – so be cautious when recycling paper.
- Mark page numbers accordingly such as page 1 of 3, page 2 of 3 and page 3 of 3.
Shredder
Accounting Services has an industrial-sized shredder located on the 4th floor of Thomas Boyd Hall that departments can reserve. To reserve the shredder, please send an e-mail to imagingdistr@lsu.edu. The e-mail should include the day and time of your requested appointment. In an effort to allow all departments across campus to utilize the shredder and maintain the work flow internal to our office, we have limited the use to 2-hour increments. Appointments can be made for 8:00 to 10:00 am, 10:00 to 12:00 pm, and 1:00 to 3:00 pm. If a department is more than 15 minutes late, the appointment may be rescheduled. If a department has a project that includes a large amount of paper to be shredded and a timeline to abide by, we will do our best to accommodate. Any departments using the shredder will be trained on how to safely operate the shredder, clean the general area, and proper disposal of the bags of shredded paper. Note that the shredded bags of paper must be transported to the dumpster outside T Boyd & LSU Library and can be fairly heavy when being moved. Also, due to budget constraints, departments with a large amount of shredding may be required to purchase and replenish shredder bags and oil. Note: this equipment does not dispose of microfilm or microfiche - it is intended for paper only.