On the Record - August 24, 2020

August 24, 2020

We hope your summer has been safe and healthy. Here’s an update from Records and Information Management Services (RIMS).

COVID-19 Records

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered our way of life more profoundly than anything previously in the history of the university. The pandemic is impacting how we work, teach, and interact on a daily basis. Colleges, schools, and units are working nonstop to plan for the health and safety of our students, faculty, and staff members, while continuing to support the university’s mission of education and research. These are historical actions taken during historically significant times, and we are creating historically valuable records that will help tell the story of the university for years to come.

Departments should take steps to identify COVID-19 planning and communication records so they can be reviewed for possible historical preservation. As a reminder, health monitoring and work-place safety records may have additional retention requirements. RIMS will share further guidance as it becomes available.

Virtual Records Management Training

Records and Information Management Services (RIMS) new sessions to UT Learn for records management training through the next fiscal year. We offer two courses: 1) a 2-hour class with hands-on experience for department records manager and records management contacts (IG101) and 2) a 1-hour class for everyone else at the university (IG103).

Visit our website to learn more about the records and information management training courses, or visit UT Learn to find and register for one of the available sessions (EID required).

Consultations and Disposition

With the forthcoming fiscal-year end, now is a good time to start thinking about records retention and disposition. Take some time this fall to go through your paper or electronic files to sort, classify, and identify which records are eligible for disposition. If you are not able to go to campus safely, you can spend time cleaning up a shared drive or folder on UT Box. Remember, you don’t have to clean everything up at once: you can submit a request to dispose of records for each phase of your cleanup effort, and the disposition of convenience copies or transitory information does not require an authorized request to dispose.

RIMS is available to consult via Teams video or phone meetings to help you classify your files and categorize your records, and we can assist in completing a request to dispose of records. Reach out to us via email at rms@austin.utexas.edu to schedule a consultation.

UTRRS Recertification

RIMS submitted a revised version of the eighth recertification of the University of Texas at Austin Records Retention Schedule (UTRRS) at the beginning of August, in response to a request for feedback from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) received at the beginning of summer. Barring any new revisions required by TSLAC, RIMS hopes to  receive approval soon. Until the eighth recertification is approved by TSLAC, the UTRRS Version 7.4 (recertification 7, amendment 4) remains in effect. We will announce the new version of the UTRRS when it is available for use.