In order to ensure every UW department and unit complies with state and federal laws and regulations relating to the records, information and data they create, receive, manage, and use, our office relies on Records Authorities (RAs) and Records Coordinators (RCs) to act as liaisons for their units. The specific responsibilities for RAs and RCs are as follows:
Records Authorities are responsible for:
- Approving changes, updates and subsequently the implementation of Departmental Record Retention Schedules
- Drafting, updating and subsequently implementing department Scanning Policies
- Approving the disposition of department records located at the University Records Center
- Sharing this information this with your colleagues, and ensuring everyone in the office understands their responsibilities
Records Coordinators are responsible for:
- Assisting the RA in their roles listed above, serving as a backup where needed
- Administering day-to-day transactions associated with the office’s records-related functions
- Acting as a liaison with Records Management Services staff
- Records Authorities and Records Coordinators should be individuals in a permanent position, not temporary or student employees
If your office is a current UW Document Management System (DMS) user, Records Authorities and Records Coordinators will be trained in how to use the system as well as their responsibility in the disposition process of records stored in DMS. For more information, visit our DMS Resource.
In order to fulfill these responsibilities, we recommend RAs and RCs:
- Sign up for our RMS newsletter to stay up to date on the latest policy changes, new cutting-edge resources, and training events.
- Notify Records Management Services when records stored in the URC or in DMS are subject to a litigation, public record request, or audit.
- Respond promptly to our annual Records Authority & Records Coordinator audit in February and better yet, inform our office of all RA & RC changes promptly when an RA or RC leaves their position.
- Meet with Records Management Services on a biannual basis to ensure retention schedules are up to date and are being followed.
- Establish onboarding procedures informing all employees of their individual responsibility for records management. Add a link to our Onboarding Resources to any new employee checklist.
- Establish systematic offboarding procedures to preserve records with remaining retention periods and records subject to destruction holds. Add a link to our Offboarding Resource to any offboarding employee checklist.
- Schedule clean up days with your unit to manage paper or electronic storage locations. Contact the ROT Squad for tips on how to get started or for assistance on the cleanup day.
If you have questions about your responsibilities or if you need to update your unit’s contact, please contact us at recmgt@uw.edu