The retention for email is based on the content of each individual email.
Emails that simply request or provide information are transitory and can be deleted as soon as a reply is given or received. Examples of transitory emails include emails that:
E-Record Policies must include specific information on the following topics:
We encourage you to use our E-Record Policy Builder to help create an effective and comprehensive E-Record Policy for your unit.
You must identify any and all responsive records and ensure they are not altered or destroyed while on the destruction hold. For best practices and guidance on how to organize digital records on a destruction hold, please refer to our Destruction Holds Resource.
Consider the experience of the user and how they need to access the records. Create folders to file similar records together. Arrange by function and then chronologically. Reference our resource that includes file structure examples by record type. Also check out our tips on how to name files and folders.
On average, over 80% of emails are transitory and can safely be deleted before an employee leaves your department. However, the remainder of records with continuing retention requirements must be transferred to another repository so that they are able to be searched, read, and produced for the full retention period (refer to Section 6 of the University Email Policy).
When you record a meeting via a video conferencing platform like Zoom, Teams, or Skype, you are creating a record. Like other University records, it must be retained for the legally-approved retention period and may be releasable if requested under the Washington State Public Records Act or under Federal FOIA. It is University best practice to avoid recording meetings unnecessarily. If you do record your meeting, you must:
Any records created or received by your office must remain findable and accessible for the full retention period. This is not always straight forward in OneDrive/Google Drive. Keep in mind when using these systems:
When you drag-and-drop an email from Microsoft Outlook it saves the email and any attachments as a .msg file. This file format is acceptable in most cases, but for records with retention periods of 10+ years, or if you have people in your office who do not use Outlook for email, converting emails to PDF is the preferred solution.
The following is a list of situations where it makes sense to move emails to a more enduring, shared location:
If the messages are sent, received, and archived in connection with the transaction of University business they are considered a public record; therefore, they should be retained using an approved UW Records Retention Schedule