Checklist for Departmental Records Management Policy and Procedures

Departments are required to designate a Records Management Contact (RMC). It is the responsibility of the RMC to obtain training and information about university records management policy and procedures provided by Records Management Services (RMS). The RMC is also responsible to communicate records management information to department administration and staff. List the name of the RMC as part of the department records management policy. Roles and responsibilities for other staff tasked with records management responsibilities or duties should be outlined also.
Identify the records that are created and managed in your department. Some records are common to most departments:
- Human Resources records created in hiring and managing staff
- Financial records created in the acquisition of goods and services from outside vendors and university departments, as well as deposits and other financial records
- Correspondence
- Records from the business processes of the department (e.g., student records for academic departments)

Know where all departmental records reside and in which format they are created and maintained.
Once you have gained a sense of the records that you will be managing, classify them as records series listed in the University of Texas at Austin Records Retention Schedule (UTRRS). If you are managing a record that does not appear to be listed in the UTRRS, contact RMS; the university is not authorized to dispose of records not listed in the UTRRS.
The information gathered in steps 1-4 should be organized in a spreadsheet, database, or other format. This information will be used in records review and purges. It should be kept up-to-date. This document will be your department inventory or file plan. It should include the following fields:
- Record Title or Description (e.g., General Correspondence)
- UTRRS UT Code (e.g., AALL025)
- UTRRS Retention Requirement (e.g., one year)
- UTRRS Archival Requirements
- UTRRS Vital Records Designation
- Location(s) of Records or other pertinent information about management of the record or business process in which the record is created
- Medium in which the record is created or retained
- Master Copy, Convenience Copy, or Transitory Information
- Retention Notes:
  - for records with an AV retention code
  - for records that will be routinely retained longer than the UTRRS retention requirements

Document expected times for document destruction. Plan to review and purge records at least once annually following the university Disposal of Records requirements. One suggestion is to do this in the month of October which is close to fiscal year end and a bit after the fall semester has begun. Such a policy statement might read: A review and purge of records that have met retention requirements will be conducted every October. Further reviews may be conducted in March and July of each year if needed.

Some departments have a need to dispose of records on a monthly basis because they are managing a record series that requires immediate disposition of a master record once its purpose has been served. This should be noted as well.
If your department images records and retains the image as the master record, document the imaging process; see Guidelines for PDFs and Imaged Records. If you set automated disposition in accordance with the UTRRS, document the disposition protocols. Document measures to ensure the retention information from the UTRRS is updated when the UTRRS is recertified or amended. Document failsafe measures to suspend and then reinstate automated destruction of documents in the event of litigation, audit, or other actions involving the records.
Document any activity that results in the destruction of records.