Slushy Forecast, Clear Retention Schedules

Live Zoom Event about Third-Party Applications

When: January 22, 2pm

Where: Zoom

Click on the link on our Trainings page to add it to your Outlook calendar.

Join a live Zoom event as we kick off an initiative all about what third-party applications are being used to store and manage University records. Learn best practices and have the opportunity to ask questions. When armed with practical and timely advice, your office can ensure that data being stored in those systems is being managed appropriately, and that it’s configuration addresses information governance, access, security, and privacy concerns. For more information on this topic, check out our resources on Third Party Software Best Practices as well as Choosing the Right Electronic Storage Location.

This event will feature guest stars including representatives from the UW Privacy Office, the University Archives, and the Office of Public Records, as well as experts in the area of digital accessibility.

If you have a third-party application that your office is using that we may not have on our tracking list for this initiative, contact us at recmgt@uw.edu and we would be happy to incorporate it into our project.

A Toast to Turning Clutter into Order

The start of a new year marks the first day of the rest of your life. January is a great time to re-affirm the goals you already have and get started towards making progress! It’s all fine and good to have a broad New Year resolution in theory like “do a better job with managing the records in your office”, but what’s even better is to actually accomplish specific tasks that will lead you to that goal.

Luckily, we’ve made this resource to break it down:

Year in Records: Reminders to Add to Your Calendar

Download the Outlook calendar items, follow them when they pop up throughout the year, and you’ll make progress towards your goal without going too far out of your way or having to block out too much time.

National Data Privacy Day  

January 28 is Data Privacy Day according to the National Cybersecurity Alliance.

Here are a few things you can do to celebrate:

• Take control of your data by committing to not entering details of your personal appointments into your UW Outlook calendar. In general, it’s a good practice to keep work and personal-life information separate. Check out our resource on  Text Messaging At The UW: Best Practices for more information on this topic.
• Be intentional about where you save different kinds of records. Check out our Choosing the Right Electronic Storage Location
• Update the offboarding procedures in your office to make sure your office’s records stay in your office.
  • This means people who move to another position elsewhere in the UW should not hold on to your office’s substantive records within retention in the OneDrive or email.
  • For email, Instead they should make a .pst file and save it somewhere that allows for continued access or share the email folders with people still in the office
  • Add the link to our Offboarding: Cleared for Takeoff to your procedures
• Keep in mind that prompts entered into AI platforms are UW records It is important to know whether the prompt written by the UW employee is being retained and/or used by the companies that power these platforms. Review our ever-updating AI Guidance resource for more on this!

Reach out to the UW-IT Privacy Office at uwprivacy@uw.edu if you have questions relating to privacy-related topics.

Upcoming: Annual Records Authority/Records Coordinator Audit  

On February 1, our office will conduct its annual review of Records Authority (RA) and Records Coordinator (RC) contacts to ensure compliance with state statutes and keep information current after year-end staff changes.

If you are currently listed as an RA or RC, you will receive an email asking you to verify your contact details.

Some things to keep in mind:

• One person may hold both roles; only two individuals max per unit.

• Students cannot serve in these roles.
• RA/RC should have a solid understanding of all records in their unit, regardless of format or location (e.g. DocFinity, University Records Center, filing cabinets, etc.)

If you have any questions, please email us at recmgt@uw.edu