It is important to choose the right moment to transfer records to the archives. It takes time to process archival materials, which means any documents that are still in an active or semi-active period should not be transferred to the archives. It may be several years until a set of documents is processed and available for access. On the other hand, it is important to transfer materials while records custodians still know where to find them and what their significance is. Ideally, departments and organizations on campus will conduct an annual review of records to assess which records are ready to be transferred to the archive or destroyed. The timing of the transfer of faculty papers will depend on individual faculty members.
Better Late Than Never
It is highly likely that most offices and organizations on campus hold records that ideally would have been transferred to the University Archives several years--or even decades--ago. It is never too late to transfer records to the University Archives, though the more time that passes the higher the risk of losing contextual information and exacerbating preservation challenges.