Records Management
Lunch & Learn, 24 January 2013
Chris Halonen
University Records Manager
Intro & Overview
•
•
•
•
•
•
I tell you who I am
Info & records management at Waterloo
Guiding principles of RM program
Getting a handle on “transitory records”
WatClass: records retention schedules & their use
Steps to follow: managing the records lifecycle
from creation to disposal
– Some suggestions for managing paper & electronic
records
• Questions? Suggestions?
University Records
• All information created, received, & kept
by the university, its units & employees,
documenting university activities,
regardless of format/medium, including:
– Email
– Letters & memos
– Minutes of meetings
– Photos, digital images, video
– Social media: tweets, Facebook pages
University Records
• Records are always managed as a system
– It’s information tied to a process/activity, so
records are always interconnected with other
records
• Records are a university resource & asset
– We need to document what we have, in
consistent manner
– Available to the university – not just
individuals – if/when the need arises
What isn’t University Records?
• Faculty members’ teaching materials,
research, scholarly works (Policy 73, IP
rights)
– Only documentation from assigned tasks are
university records
• Personal email & documents, clearly
identified & stored as such
Info Management Policies &
Guidelines
• Statement on Information Management
– Includes list of all IM policies, procedures &
guidelines
•
•
•
•
Policy 8: Information Security
Policy 12: Records Management
Guidelines for Confidential Information
Guidelines on Managing Student Information
for Faculties, Depts. & Schools
• Policy 8
– Information security classification
• Confidential
– Restricted
– Highly restricted
• Public
– Roles
• Stewards
• Custodians
• Users
• Policy 12, your responsibilities:
– “Individual employees must ensure that records
for which they are responsible are managed in
accordance with the university’s records-related
policies, procedures, and guidelines.”
Records Management Goals
• Meet internal needs for information as efficiently
as possible
• Demonstrate accountability to our constituencies
– Our competence is reflected through responsible &
documented management of our information
• Comply with statutory/regulatory requirements
• Provide evidence of processes or transactions,
admissible in legal proceedings
• Preserve history of the university
Guiding Principles
• Records have a lifecycle
– Created or received in some work activity or
process,
– Kept for current work, reference, or to meet
external requirements (e.g., FIPPA, CRA),
– Destroyed when no longer needed by the
university.
• Of historical value: part of University Archives
Guiding Principles
• Organize records by work activities/processes
• Document the records you have, their lifespan,
and their destruction.
• WatClass retention schedules provide guidance on
records lifecycle, organization, & responsibility
– (approx. 60% complete)
• We set priorities for the RM issues we deal with
first, but the RM policy & program applies to all
university records
Destroy Transitory Records!!
• Records of temporary value
– Working documents, drafts, copies and reference
materials.
– “cc”, FYI, & broadcast e-mails.
• Keep only as long as needed for your work.
• Some estimates: up to 75% of all info in offices is
transitory.
• Transitory records should be destroyed when you
no longer need them.
– Secure destruction if they contain confidential info
– No need to document their destruction unless they contain
personal information.
Document the Destruction of
Personal Information
• Document destruction of copies of records
containing personal information, such as
student information.
• These are transitory records, but FIPPA
requires that we document their
destruction.
Records Destruction Form
• End of retention period: secure & authorized
destruction
–
–
–
–
Manager or delegate signs off on destruction
Central Stores secure shredding
Shared drives: delete computer files & folders
SharePoint: be sure to empty recycle bin
• Use the records destruction form to document
records destruction
• Keep these forms on file as a permanent record
WatClass: 12 University
Functions
• Core University Activities:
– Research Management (RS) [bold font = completed…for now]
– Student Management (ST)
– Teaching and Learning (TL)
• “Housekeeping”: common to many organizations:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Administration (AD)
Campus Services (CS)
External Relations and Communications (ER)
Finance (FN)
Governance (GV)
Human Resources (HR)
Health, Safety, and Security (HS)
Information Management (IM)
Property and Facilities (PF)
• Research Management (RS):
– Research ethics, grants & contracts
administration, controlled goods and technology
• Student Management (ST):
– Recruitment, admissions, student records,
financial aid &scholarships, student grievances,
discipline, appeals
• Teaching and Learning (TL):
– Calendars, program reviews & accreditation, coop & continuing ed programs, course
management, student work & grading, exchange
programs, internships & practica, professional
development and training, class/exam schedules
• Administration (AD)
– general correspondence, subject files, planning, reports &
stats, administrative committees and faculty councils, legal
records (contracts, legal opinions, IP records), policies &
procedures
• Campus Services (CS)
– non-academic services: ancillary services,
athletics/recreation, parking, WatCard
• External Relations and Communications (ER)
– donors, alumni, gov’t and inter-institutional relations,
events, media relations, marketing, outreach, publications,
images, speeches, and the website
• Finance (FN):
– accounts payable/receivable, p-card transactions, banking,
budgeting, investments, financial audit, procurement, and
taxation
• Governance (GV)
– Board of Governors and Senate
• Health, Safety, and Security (HS)
– Conflict management & human rights, health & counselling,
occupational health, safety, access & key control, police services
• Human Resources (HR)
– Faculty & staff appointments, employee records, promotion and
tenure, pension & benefits, employee discipline & grievances,
position descriptions, salary/payroll, work schedules & leave
management
• Information Management (IM):
– FIPPA, info systems management & security, libraries,
museums, and galleries, and records management
• Property and Facilities (PF)
– Buildings, capital construction projects, space management,
asset management, utilities, equipment & supplies, maps &
plans
WatClass Examples
• Human Resources
• Student Management
• Teaching & Learning
– If you’re unsure of the meaning or scope of a
retention schedule, or can’t find the one you
need, call me
Steps to Follow
• Separate your records from transitory records
– Regularly destroy transitory records
• Classify records by activity, using WatClass
• Identify retention periods, using WatClass
• Document what you have: file plan or folder
listing
• Destroy records at the end of their lifecycle
• Document the destruction of your records
Helpful Hints
• Keep a list (spreadsheet, database, Word table…)
of what you have!!
– WatClass record class
– Policy 8 security classification
– File title or type
• For paper files: date span of the file
–
–
–
–
Description (if needed)
How organized (alpha, chrono, some kind of code)
Retention period, from WatClass
Additional indexing keywords, if you want them
Helpful Hints
• Start a new file (or folder) every year!!
– Makes it easier to pull records for destruction
• Set up rules for naming files/folders
– There’s no right or wrong way, but you need
to be consistent
– For e-records, think of sorting issues:
• e.g., for dates, use 2013-01-24, not Jan 24, 2013
Future Plans
• Model file plan & Excel template
– Folders for Outlook
• “How to” for (re-)organizing shared drives
• With IST: more support for SharePoint site
design & records management
• Records of long-term value: integration of
SharePoint & OnBase
– SharePoint as “front end” for work & OnBase for
long-term storage
Topics for Another Day
• Are you creating all the records you need to
document your processes & decisions?
• Paper vs. electronic as the “official record”
– For now, check WatClass
– See Standards for imaging (scanning) paper documents
• Email management (no easy answers)
• Social media & web content as university
records: Twitter, Facebook, etc.
• Managing videos & digital images
Questions?
• Call or email:
– Ext. 38284
– Chris.Halonen@uwaterloo.ca