1. Annual Records Management Workshop
How to Maintain, Preserve and Dispose of University Records with Confidence
Betty Carter
University Archivist
Barbara Tookey
University Records Officer
May 18, 2006
Welcome everyone. I am the University Records Officer, Barbara Tookey, and this is the University Archivist, Betty Carter. We are delighted that you could join us. If this is your first time to one of our annual workshops, would you please raise your hand.
Before we get started, please take a few minutes and fill out the Records Management Self-Assessment. I promise that you will not be graded. The intent is to focus in on some of the major concerns involved in records management, and to raise questions. Please feel free to ask questions along the way, if we start to get behind, we will let you know.
(Move to next slide while they are filling out the assessment.)

2. Workshop Agenda Overview of Records Management
Demonstration: Matching records to disposition schedules
Setting up a “disposition friendly” filing system
Demonstration: What happens to records that are sent to the archives
Tour of Archives
We always start these workshops with an overview of the basics for those new to records management.

3. Maintaining University Records
University records are subject to many different kinds
of federal and state laws, regulations, and guidelines.
Some examples are:
North Carolina Public Records Law
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (student records)
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
State Personnel System Act (N.C.G.S. Chapter 126)
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
Grants
There are good reasons to maintain records such as efficiency in finding records, freeing up space, saving money on space, equipment, and time, but the primary reason that we offer these workshops is to help you keep compliant with all kinds of laws and regulations. It is a huge challenge to keep up with all of them. Here are just a few examples.

4. Maintaining University Records
North Carolina Public Records Law
G.S
“Public record” or “public records” shall mean all documents, papers, letters, maps, books, photographs, films, sound recordings, artifacts, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received pursuant to law or ordinance in connection with the transaction of public business by any agency of North Carolina government or its subdivisions.”
G.S
“(a) Prohibition. - No public official may destroy, sell, loan, or otherwise dispose of any public record, except in accordance with G.S and G.S. 130A-99, without the consent of the Department of Cultural Resources. Whoever unlawfully removes a public record from the office where it is usually kept, or alters, defaces, mutilates or destroys it shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor and upon conviction only fined not less than ten dollars ($10.00) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500.00).”
My job as University Records Officer is to act as the liaison between the University and the state’s Department of Cultural Resources. Part of my responsibility is to bring awareness of the North Carolina Public Records Law, and how to properly maintain the University’s Records.
Those that have attended past workshops you probably have this memorized by now. For those of you that have not attended one of my sessions before, GS tells us what a record is, and GS says that no record can be destroyed without the Department of Cultural Resources’ permission.

5. Records Lifecycle Creation Active Inactive
Records Management is simply maintaining a record throughout its lifecycle.
Creation
Active
Inactive
 Final Disposition
   
Archives Destroy
Permanent Storage
Creation: Records are either created or received for a business purpose.
Active Stage: The record is actively being used. The record is accessed frequently. Record needs to be in an easily accessible location.
Inactive Stage: The record is no longer being accessed frequently. It may still be needed for reference purposes, or for some other reason such as legal or financial requirements. Often, these records will be moved to less valuable space.
Final Disposition: Records that have no more business value and have reached their retention requirements are ready for their final disposition. They will either be sent to the archives, or the records will be destroyed or recycled depending on if they contain any confidential information.
The next step is the decision making step.

6. Maintaining University Records
To Destroy or Not to Destroy…
Is that Your Question?
The answer can be found in state and University approved Records Retention and Disposition Schedules.
The state uses a tool called a Retention and Disposition Schedule to give us permission about when records may be disposed of. An approved schedule has to have the signatures of the Secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources and either the President of the UNC System, or the Chancellor of a University depending on the type of schedule.
We have 3 types of schedules currently that are approved for UNCG.
Program or departmental schedules are custom made for your unique records. Unfortunately, most of these are terribly out of date and cannot always be relied upon. The good news is that we will be working on updating these beginning Fall If you want to get this done sooner rather than later, then send me an to get on my list.
The UNCG General Schedule focuses on records in common to most offices on campus and can be found on the its.uncg.edu website.
The UNC System General Schedule are records in common with each UNC institution. At past workshops, I have been passing along information that we will be getting an updated UNC System General Schedule in the near future. Please accept my apologies for being overly optimistic. I truly was hoping that we would be popping the cork and celebrating the new schedule at this workshop, but we are still not there yet. However, we are very close. Currently, the draft is complete and in the hands of General Administration Legal Counsel, Betsy Bunting, for the final legal review. As soon as the legal review process is complete, whatever changes need to be made will be done, and then it will go to UNC President Erskine Bowles, and the Secretary of the Department of Cultural Resources, Lisbeth Evans for their approval and signatures. As soon as this wonderful event happens, I will get the message out to all of you.
Today you will be getting a sneak preview of this draft in our next exercise.

7. Schedule Terminology Record Series Series Description Items
Disposition
When reference value ends
When administrative value ends
When superseded or obsolete
Closed fiscal years
Destroy in office
Transfer to University Archives
Original vs. reference **important**
Record Series refers to a group of records that are related or grouped together. They give meaning to the whole when they are together. For example the records that pertain to this workshop. It would include the invitation, campus weekly article, the course material, and this presentation. They give meaning to each other.
The Series Description and Items are there primarily to help you decide if the record indeed belongs to the series.
Series Description gives additional information to help you to identify records that may belong to the series as well as any laws that pertain to the series.
Items are examples of records that would belong to the series. It is important to note that this is not a comprehensive list. It gives you samples of records that would be fit within this series.
Here are some common disposition terms. Reference and administrative value gives the office the right to determine the time for destruction based on whether or not the item has any value left for the office.
Destroy basically means get rid of appropriately. Confidential records have to be destroyed, but records that do not contain confidential or sensitive information, we encourage you to recycle.
Original vs. reference
This is important. Certain offices are responsible for keeping “official records”. For example, the Registrar keeps the official undergraduate student records, and the Provost’s Office keeps the EPA Personnel records. Departments may have duplicate or “reference” files. It is important that information that needs to be put into the official record be transferred to the office responsible for maintaining that record.

8. Retention Schedule Exercise
“Alphabetical List of University Record Series”
Demonstrate finding records series
Group exercise
Find dispositions of records in the new “DRAFT” UNC System Records Retention and Disposition Schedule.
Disclaimer: The final version of the UNC System General Schedule might be different than the draft used in the workshop.
In your folder, please get out the Alphabetical List of University Record Series and the yellow sheet with the lines.
We are going to do an exercise where we identify records series, and then look up the disposition instructions and determine what needs to be done with the records. I will do a few, and then we will do a group exercise.

9. Filing Systems Reasons for setting up a good filing system
You can find what you need, when you need it
Others can find what they need, when they need it
Time saved looking through piles and files
Money saved on the time saved
looking for lost documents
Reduces stress and clutter!
Now that we know how we are to maintain records, lets look at setting up a “disposition” friendly filing system.
Slide  Reasons for setting up a good filing system
Let’s face it, information which cannot be found is worthless. As someone once said, “The best laid plans of mice and men are hidden somewhere in a file cabinet.”

10. Filing Systems Considerations when setting up a filing system.
Your filing system is part of the University’s memory.
Filing system must fit the business needs of the unit.
Information should be easy to separate out when its active life is over.
Electronic filing systems, when possible,
should “mirror” paper systems.
What is the best filing system? There is no “one system fits all” when it comes to filing systems, since functional needs do differ. Hopefully, many, if not most of you, have already figured out by trial and error, a system that fits your particular needs. We hope that our talk might spark an idea or two that may make your system even better. Others might have inherited a system that needs a total overhaul.

11. Filing System Ideas
Use functional “buckets” from the Retention Schedule
Administrative
Financial
Personnel
Student

12. Filing System Ideas
Then use “record series” that are applicable to your area’s records.
Administrative
Travel
Self Study
Complaints
Annual Reports

13. Filing System Ideas Tips:
Decide as a unit on a uniform functional framework that best fits your area’s business needs
Use color coded labels for different years
Use color coded labels for different functional records (Financial  Green)
Utilize red folders or labels for confidential/limited access or sensitive records
Have your electronic record filing system and filing system mimic your paper files as much as possible

14. Sample Filing System Keep a master list of your folder names.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
BUDGET
Budget
Salary – EPA
Salary – SPA
Student Fees
CHANCELLOR
COMMITTEE/TASK FORCE
Administrative System Sponsors Group
External Advisory Committee
Facilities Use Advisory Committee
Web Oversight Committee
DATA MANAGEMENT
ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT
FACILITY USE
Folder Tabs
Orange
White
Black
Yellow
Lavender
Once you have your master list all set up. I strongly recommend that you take a few minutes and match the records series with the state and university approved retention times and put the time next to the series titles. Then when you do your annual purge (which I also strongly recommend) it becomes a very efficient process.

15. Preparing Records for Archives
Transfer records from filing cabinet to a sturdy box.
Complete Records Transfer Form
Contact Archives
Arrange for physical
transfer
What about electronic records?
They need to be maintained similarly to paper records. That means to delete when they are ready to be destroyed, and send to the archives, those that need to be sent to the archives. In your folder you have a copy of the new Electronic Records Retention Policy. Please read it and pass it along to your supervisor if they have not already seen it.
At this time, I would like to turn the program over to Betty Carter who will give us some practical advice on how to prepare your records for trip to the archives and what happens when they get there.