Don’t wait until there’s a records mess to get your office on track with best practices. If you manage your records bit-by-bit over time it will become a systematic process that can feel like a normal part of your day, helping you succeed at records management while balancing it with all of your other work.  Add these items to your Outlook calendar. Use them as a reminder to work on records-related tasks throughout the year. Records management, like all good habits, is an ongoing process. Click on each task below to download them and set your future self on the right track.

January

Delete your Outlook calendar from prior years to the previous year. If it’s January 2025, delete your calendar from 2023. See more info here.
Delete records with the cut-off of “end of calendar year” from whichever year is applicable based on the retention schedule. Refer to our General Records Retention Schedule series here. 
 

February

Celebrate National Clean Out Your Computer Day. Review this list of items that can be deleted regardless of their date.  Scour your Downloads, Desktop, screenshots, and emails.
Click here to download the Outlook reminder item to add it to your calendar

March

Host an office spring cleaning project. Get your whole office involved! Refer to our resource: Plan Your Shared Storage Location Clean-up.

Click here to download the Outlook reminder item to add it to your calendar.

April

Encourage people in your office to sign up for our newsletter.  We don’t have April Fool’s jokes but we do have punny titles! Sign up.

Click here to download the Outlook reminder item to add it to your calendar.

 

May

Book a ROT Squad Consult for summer clean out of either paper or electronic records! Set it up on this page.
Focus on Offboarding: if anyone is retiring or departing from your office, have them take our online Offboarding training at this link.

Click here to download the Outlook reminder item to add it to your calendar.

June

Delete records with the cut-off of "end of academic year" from whichever year is applicable based on the retention schedule. Refer to these record series here.
Once graduation rolls around again, delete records relating to series on the Student Records section of the General Records Retention Schedule for students who have graduated or have had their last contact with the department. 
Click here to download the Outlook reminder item to add it to your calendar.

July

Delete records with the cut-off of "end of fiscal year" from whichever year is applicable based on the retention schedule. Refer to the records series here.

Click here to download the Outlook reminder item to add it to your calendar.

August

Complete an archival transfer. If you have archival series like annual reports, accreditation records, or anything else identified as "Transfer to University Archives" on a retention schedule, contact the University Archives for appraisal. Check these series here. Find their information here.
Click here to download the Outlook reminder item to add it to your calendar.

September

Set up a folder structure for the coming academic year. For guidance, check out these resources: Educators' Toolkit, Recommendations on File/Folder Naming Conventions, and Managing Student Records.

Click here to download the Outlook reminder item to add it to your calendar.

October

Deal with old paper! Some of your old records can probably be destroyed.  Contact the ROT Squad for help. If all your paper is still within retention, you might want to scan it -- and there is a UW Scan Center that can help. Check them out here.

Click here to download the Outlook reminder item to add it to your calendar.

November

New employee round-up! Take a moment to make sure all the new employees in your office have taken our Introduction to Records Management training.

Click here to download the Outlook reminder item to add it to your calendar.

December

Does your office need a Departmental Records Retention Schedule? We are happy to create one if you have records in your office that are not covered by our General Records Retention Schedule. Search or browse for record types here. Contact us at recmgt@uw.edu for more information.
If your office has a Departmental Records Retention Schedule, does it need updating? Search your office here.

Click here to download the Outlook reminder item to add it to your calendar.