What is a retention schedule?
A retention schedule is a list of types of records (record series) created, received, and used by an institution along with information on how long a record must legally be kept and whether a record is Archival. Records Management Services create the retention schedules that are legally approved by the State of Washington for use at the University of Washington.
Why do we need retention schedules?
As a state agency, any recorded information created, received, or used by the University community is considered a record. Every record has a specific amount of time it needs to be kept before it can be destroyed. Records retention periods are approved by the State Records Committee as required by RCW 40.14.050. Records are expected to be destroyed/deleted or archived at the end of their legally -approved retention periods.
Records are grouped together based on common function or subject. These record groupings are called "Record Series". Record series form the basis of retention schedules at the UW. Records Management Services creates General Records Retention Schedules and Departmental Records Retention Schedules. To figure out how long a record needs to be retained before it can be destroyed, you need to map the actual records in the office to their corresponding record series on the appropriate records retention schedule.
General Records Retention Schedules
The UW General Records Retention Schedule is the primary source of retention requirements for records created, received, and used by the University of Washington. Organized by sections, based upon the function of the record, the General Schedule contains record series that are common to most University offices.
These retention schedules are constantly updated as we learn about new records created and received by the University as well as changes to existing business processes that affect current records. If you have any questions, suggestions, revisions, or additions regarding the schedules, please contact us at recmgt@uw.edu. have any questions, suggestions, revisions, or additions regarding the schedules, please contact us recmgt@uw.edu
Departmental Records Retention Schedules
Departmental Retention Schedules are supplemental documents created for a specific office, department, or program that have a specific function and therefore made up of unique records. Use the Departmental Schedule Search to verify if your office uses a Departmental Schedule in addition to the UW General Records Retention Schedule. If your records are not covered under any record series on the General Records Retention Schedule, contact us to create a customized retention schedule for your office so that all records are covered under a retention policy.
Top 5 tips for figuring out retention:
1.) Go for quick wins. Be aware that some records at the UW (like drafts and duplicates) are transitory and do not actually have to be retained. This is the lowest hanging fruit that cuts across any/every job. Check out our complete list
2.) Make an inventory. It’s easier to map record types to our retention schedules when you have similar records stored together and have them organized by key data points that make sense for those records (by year, person, or type of record). We have many resources on this topic, such as Structuring Electronic Files. We can also help you with this.
3.) Try a search. Sometimes records on the retention schedules get called out specifically, and sometimes they fit into a larger bucket. To search for a specific record, you can search keywords, such as a heading that is listed out across a document like “Faculty Request for Outside Work Approval (Form 1460)” or terms that represent the function of the record such as “liability”. For figuring out the function, it could be helpful to think of what happens to that record before or after it is received by your office, or what work process it is documenting.
If searching for a specific heading doesn’t find you the record series, try general terms like: Financial Record, Student Folder, Volunteer Records, Personnel File, Research Records, or Advisor’s Files.
4.) Browse the sections. Not sure what the function of a record is? You can browse the broad categories. You are looking for the description to match what this record shows the proof of. Where the series has headings that say: “Official Copy” and “Other Copy” you are also looking to make sure that matches what office you are in (College/School or Department is common, which would include everyone else besides the specifically called out office).
5.) Contact us. If you truly can’t find what you are searching for, email us at recmgt@uw.edu. We can help you as well as update our information to make sure everything is clear. We work towards a goal for all records at the UW to have a retention policy that covers them.