February 2022
UTMail Storage Reduction - RIMS Guidance.
In This Issue
What’s Changing
Google storage for UTMail accounts will no longer be unlimited beginning Jan. 1, 2023. Information Technology Services (ITS) will implement storage quotas for all UTMail users on Nov. 1, 2022.
ITS Announcement: https://it.utexas.edu/projects/utmail_storage_reduction/overview
What this Change Means for You
Each user must reduce their storage by moving or deleting email and files to meet their new quotas by Oct. 31, 2022. University faculty and staff that have used UTMail for official university business must consider university retention and disposition rules when deleting this type of content.
| ** University retention and disposition rules do not apply to student, former student, or alum accounts. Contents of those accounts may be deleted or managed at the discretion of the account owner. ** |
Note that retirees may still have official university records if their account was used for official university business purposes. For any university records that remain in your account, you must follow the guidance below in the Action to Take section.
Actions to Take
If you are using your UTMail account to conduct university business, you will need to manage these emails and files as university records.
In response to this required change, the University Records Management Officer has authorized the deletion of inactive university records dated prior to December 31, 2017 for this UTMail reduction initiative only. Records from that period pertaining to active business issues should be transferred to another university storage account such as UTBox, OneDrive, or SharePoint.
University business records dated after December 31, 2017, are not authorized for deletion. They must be transferred to another university storage account.
You must consult with Records and Information Management Services (RIMS) rms@austin.utexas.edu or submit a request for authorization to dispose before deleting any records other than the ones approved in this one-time approval.
You may dispose of all records and emails not conducting university business up to the present day including:
- Personal use emails, photographs, and other personal files
- Department social emails e.g., “cookies at the front desk” or “It’s Ben’s retirement party!”
- Memos from other university departments
- Unsolicited advertisements
RIMS Can Help!
If your business processes result in records that routinely require retention of more than 4 years, and you need to plan for their disposition, please contact RIMS rms@austin.utexas.edu for guidance. Such records may include:
Contracts
Planning records
Records related to research
Departmental personnel records
We also have a helpful Consultation Request Form to answer any questions regarding university records.
Remember
Not all locations are appropriate for creating and maintaining university records:
UTMail and the Google Education Suite - per RIMS guidance
Personal Accounts of any kind – by state law, when official university records are kept in a personal account, that account becomes subject to open records requests and other investigations.
If you are currently using UTMail, Google, or a personal account you should move your records and business processes to an approved third-party service, such as UTBox or any of the Microsoft 365 suite, including Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, SharePoint, Microsoft Forms, and many more.
Resources
News and information from Records and Information Management Services
If you are not a designated department records management contact (DRMC) listed in the OHS and would like to receive records management news and information updates, subscribe to our RM Contacts mailing list.