You Don’t Have to be Cal Raleigh to Hit a Home Run With This Guidance

Process vs Product Live Zoom Event

We all leave a trail of transitory records in our wake as we work towards our finalized work products. These materials can be hard to track and determine the value of, especially if a significant amount of time has passed since you completed the project. Join us for our live Zoom event, Process vs Product, to learn some records best practices relating to stages of a project, with real-life examples (a substantive record and the bulk of transitory records that it took to get to that point), and practical tips we’ve gathered from relevant situations.

When: September 16, 2pm

Zoom Link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/98643092096

Save it to your Outlook Calendar by clicking on the link to our Trainings page

GenAI in the News

Everything created and received by the UW is considered a record, must be retained according to a legally approved records retention schedule, and is subject to potential disclosure under the WA Public Records Act. Records created in and created by generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) platforms are no different. UW employees therefore must be aware of these standards when they use UW-approved GenAI platforms and follow UWIT General Use Guidelines to avoid unauthorized release of university data. Users therefore must warrant caution about how they are using GenAI platforms.

GenAI tools are fantastic ways to brainstorm, to draft content, and to help answer routine requests for information. In doing so, employee inputs and their outputs are short-term records that can and should be deleted quickly. GenAI should not be relied upon for the sole creation and storage of a finalized product. GenAI outputs, must be reviewed and ideally edited by UW employees before use or publishing and should not replace human judgement in decision making. Recent examples in local government use of GenAI around the region are stark reminders that users need to be aware that their inputs and outputs are subject to potential disclosure, but that if used appropriately in accordance with UWIT & Records Management Guidance, can be sources for increased productivity. Records Management Services is working diligently with UWIT partners to ensure UW-approved GenAI platforms do not over-retain chat inputs & outputs to align with records management principles and to reduce data privacy risks.

Hold Tight

Destruction holds can feel sudden, overwhelming and overbearing. Our Records Management Resources on Destruction Holds was created to cut through the confusion and help units who receive Document Preservation Notices due to subpoenas, litigation, investigations, or public record requests.

Once locating all the records matching the scope of a matter, it is imperative to preserve those records until the destruction hold is lifted. Destruction holds take precedence over retention periods, meaning that once a destruction hold is received, you must save all those records even if the retention period had already passed or passes during the length of the hold. Just hold and retain the records until the destruction is lifted.

Another concept to remember is that the function of a record does not change as a result of being subjected to a destruction hold. A personnel record is still a personnel record, even if pieces of it are copied & provided to attorneys. A financial report should still be treated as a financial report, even if a copy of it is requested through a public record request. Once the matter is resolved, all parties are notified and the destruction hold is lifted, the original department records should be viewed and analyzed under their original function (ex, personnel record or financial report) and return to their normal retention period lifecycle.

Record Rookies: Step Up to the Plate and Swing

Starting a new job at UW is exciting and potentially a little overwhelming. If your rookie is also new to working at a state agency, there’s so much to take in.

With so many people to meet, workflows to learn, and trainings to attend, records management might not seem like a top priority, but it’s worth the early investment.

Records management can be a wild and complex beast: it looks different in every office and can come at you hard and fast. What if we told you that it doesn't have to be that way? That’s why it’s helpful to build a basic understanding from day one.

Under RCW 40.14, all UW employees - whether faculty, staff, or researchers - are responsible for managing the records we create as part of our work. (And yep, that includes emails. Those count too.)

A great place to start is our New Employee Resources. You’ll find useful information, such as:

• Your responsibilities as a UW employee
• What is a record?
• What is a retention schedule?
• Upcoming live trainings and on-demand videos

Help your new colleagues start off on the right foot and tame that records beast early