This year marked the tenth annual ShredFest event. The event, co-sponsored by IT Services and the Office of General Counsel, was held in Oxford on Wednesday, October 21, and in Middletown and Hamilton on Friday, October 23. A total of 93 people attended this year’s ShredFest, and provided over 4,500 pounds of paper to be shredded. 

According to John Virden, Assistant Vice President, Security, Compliance, & Risk Management, and Chief Information Security Officer, outdated paper documents can pose a significant risk for identity theft. “Anything that has a signature, an account number, social security number, or medical information poses a risk. During ShredFest people drop off old bank statements and checks, ATM receipts, credit card receipts, address labels from junk mail, old utility bills, and outdated tax forms just to name a few items.”

Randy Hollowell, Manager of Communications and Customer Advocacy within IT Services, says that providing an annual shredding service for the campus and for the community helps to cut down the risk of data loss and provides a secure way to dispose of sensitive documents. “When people drop items off at the event, they tell us it gives them a sense of relief to finally get rid of old documents they no longer need and peace of mind that they are being disposed of securely,” he said.

ShredFest was held at the Oxford, Middletown, and Hamilton campuses. A mobile shredder was on hand to provide secure, on-site shredding of both University and personal documents. Representatives from IT Services and the Office of General Counsel assisted with the shredding process, as well as worked with attendees to make sure all University documents had reached the proper retention limit, and that the Records Disposal forms were completed.

This year there were special safety protocols in place, which included wearing mandatory face coverings, maintaining social distancing, and cleaning of collection bins. “A big thank you to the Physical Facilities Department for providing the cleaning materials, and to Parking Services at all three campuses for securing the space needed for the shred truck,” added Hollowell.  

Preparations for next year’s event are already underway. The plan is for the event in Oxford to return to the regular schedule of taking place on the Thursday of May graduation. Specific dates and times for Oxford and the regional campuses are still being finalized.