Records Management at UW-Green BayOr, I am out of space and just want to throw some things away!

What is records management?

Records management is the logical and practical approach to the creation, organization, maintenance, use, and periodic legal disposition of records, regardless of the media involved

Benefits of Records Management

Identifies inactive records. It is estimated that 90% of all documents generated have a very short life-span.

Allows for the legal destruction of obsolete records

Guarantees permanent retention of records with historical, legal, fiscal, and/or administrative value

Even more benefits....

Documents UW-Green Bay’s policy and decision making history. Provides for greater continuity and saves reinventing the wheel

Personnel cost savings because retrieval of records is more efficient

Eliminates duplicate copies of records Space and equipment savings

Do I Have To? As a state agency, the records we

generate and/or receive in the course of operating UWGB, are subject to statutory requirements.

The primary portions of the Wisconsin statutes effecting university records are found in chapter 16.61, chapter 19.21, and chapter 19.31.

Law Highlights

Defines public records Books, papers, maps, photos, films, recordings,

optical disks Regardless of physical format or characteristics Received by state agency or its employees in

the transaction of business Applies to virtually every item created or

received on campus

More law highlights

Public records may NOT be disposed of without written approval of the Public Records and Forms Board

Confidential records retain confidentiality when sent to archives

Destroying public records without proper authorization may result in legal action

Guarantees citizens’ access to public records State statutes are echoed in University laws and

regulations

The Life Cycle of a Record

Created

Evaluated/Scheduled

Disposed

Stored for Reference

Used

Starting out.....

1) Complete inventory and analysis worksheet

Definitions Examples

2) Submit to archives

Waiting......

Archives staff reviews inventory worksheets

Archives staff creates records schedules Signatures obtained from departments Records schedules submitted to Public

Records and Forms Board

Hooray! The paperwork is done

Records schedules approved by Public Records and Forms Board

Approved schedules returned to offices

Disposal

Transfer To

Archives

Confidential Destruction

Regular Recycling

When can I throw it away?

Records may be disposed of based on the identified retention period

Must always have the required number of years in your files, plus the current year

You may dispose of records when it is convenient for your office

Recycling

Records that are not confidential may be recycled per the normal campus recycling procedures

You must do this in accordance with the retention period identified on the schedule

Transfer to Archives

Send an e-mail to Deb Anderson indicating you have records ready to send to the Archives and how many boxes you will be sending

Records must be packed in regular-sized Bankers’ boxes

Do not remove contents from folders Contents and records schedule number should

be identified

Confidential Shredding Records with confidential information must be

shredded Receiving Department and Archives coordinate

confidential shredding approximately once per quarter

Only offices that have completed records scheduling can use confidential shredding

Individual department shredders should not be used

Myths About Records Management

I have plenty of space in my new office and I don’t need to worry about records

Records schedules only need to be done when we want to throw something away

My records are not important so I don’t need to do records scheduling

Someone might ask me for that document and I should keep it

More Myths

Office XYZ isn’t that good at keeping things so I better keep copies of the documents they send me.

I can just shred a couple pieces of records at my desk and no one will know!

This takes too long and is a pain! All of my stuff is on the computer and those files

aren’t records! What would be the harm of keeping the records

until I retire?

We’re here to help you climb over your mountains of papers!

Archives staff can respond to questions about records creation and retention. Available for office visits on limited basis

Archives staff will anticipate questions that will be asked by the Public Records and Forms Board

Cheating is allowed Future includes general

schedules for campus and UW System; records management policy for UW System; and addressing electronic records issues