Model Employed at NASS for Scheduling Statistical Records Amanda Pomicter, Records Liaison Steve Pollard, Agency Records Officer

Overview  About the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)  Scheduling Model Employed  Appraising Census of Agriculture Records formerly covered by Census Bureau, Dept. of Commerce  Training and preparing to implement the updated comprehensive schedule

About NASS  National Agricultural Statistics Service Highlights  “Statistical Arm” of the USDA, representing 1 of 17 agencies  1,300 staff distributed among Headquarters and 46 Field Offices

Scheduling  Gained Senior management buy-in  Cost savings motivated decision to update comprehensive schedule  Senior manager asked to serve as Records Management Team Lead years of organization knowledge and experience - Provided in-depth analysis of business functions and workflow (RM PHD)

Scheduling - Timeline Records Management Team Formed – Jan Senior Management Buy-in Gained Late 2004 Schedule Drafted Draft Reviewed by NARA March 2006 NASS Finalized Revisions Late 2006 Schedule Submitted for Federal Register Publication – April 2007 Archivist Signed October

Census of Agriculture Records  Census of Agriculture transferred to NASS in 1997  Records appraised during scheduling process  NARA recommended changing a series disposition from temporary to permanent based on value of records to researchers  Obstacles encountered

Training  Updated Records Maintenance and Disposition Manual  Presented at agency conferences to train key staff on the new manual  Created Records Management Resource intranet site accessible to all agency employees

Preparing for Implementation  Meet regularly to update senior management of schedule status  Tie implementation responsibilities to specific individual's job performances  Have manual/file plan approved as agency policy

Contact Information  Amanda Pomicter, NASS (202)  Steve Pollard, ARS (202)