The University has been using the Panopto lecture capture system since early 2009 and since then, over 12.5 million minutes of video have been captured (or around 14,000 hours of video per year) – all of which is currently still being stored on the system.
Analysis has demonstrated that over 50,000 hours of content recorded before 31 August 2019 is being stored but has not been viewed for over 13 months.
Background
Due to a change in licensing arrangements and considerably increased costs associated with storing content in Panopto, the University needs to change the way it manages this content in the future. This also aligns with the University Teaching Capture Policy, introduced in 2021, which requires recorded lectures to be removed from the system two years after the year they were captured.
It is against this background that the University Education Quality and Standards Committee (EQSC) has approved the introduction of an archiving and retention process within Panopto starting in the new academic year. This process aims to ensure that we only pay for the recordings we need to store (and are being viewed), while also complying with the requirements of the Teaching Capture Policy, the Records Retention Schedule and the B4 and B5 conditions of registration by the Office for Students.
Archiving and retention process
We have initially categorised the existing content into two broad groups:
- All content recorded before 31 August 2018
- All content recorded after 1 September 2018
For Content Recorded Before 31 August 2018
- All content recorded before 31 August 2018 that has not been viewed in the last 13 months will be marked for deletion
- Deleted recordings will be stored in the Panopto recycle bin for 90 days before permanent deletion
For Content Recorded After 1 September 2018
- Content recorded after 1 September 2018 will generally be archived from September 2024 and kept in archive storage for up to 6 years
- The exception will be lecture capture recordings made in the academic year 2021/22, which must be deleted two years after the end of the year in which they were recorded, in line with the Teaching Capture policy (3.21) and in accordance with Ordinance 22.4.
Retrieval and restoration of archived recordings
Recordings moved to the Archive will still be retrievable, and those with authorised access (staff and students) can restore a recording if needed. Restoring a recording from the Archive will take up to 48 hours, depending on the length of the recording. Guidance will be provided for staff and students on restoring recordings when the Archive is in place in September.
Implementation timeline
Considering the large amount of data in the system and that this is a new approach for the University, we will take a cautious approach to what is archived and particularly to what is deleted. We will work closely with the Panopto team to ensure a smooth transition. These changes will be implemented during the week commencing Monday 2 September 2024.
This year, we need to remove or archive a significant amount of data. In the future, archiving will become an annual routine process, scheduled for each September, ensuring we only store and pay for active, in-use recordings on the live Panopto site.
What you need to do
You do not need to do anything for most recordings, as the archiving and deletion processes will run automatically. However, if you have an old recording (recorded before 2018) that is no longer used but you wish to keep, you will need to download and store it locally such as in your University OneDrive space.
What you can expect
We will provide further updates and reminders about this new process over the summer, leading up to the first archives being created during the week of 2 September. More information about the retention periods for various types of recordings from different years will be provided.
Your use of Panopto
This will not change how you use Panopto in the future. Thanks to recent improvements to the Panopto Scheduler Tool, teaching staff can continue to schedule recordings for the new academic year directly into their Moodle-linked folders. Students will retain access to recordings within their units on Moodle or directly on the Panopto site.