In This Issue

• Staying Connected with RIMS
• New Year, New Inbox
• Upcoming Training Sessions

Staying Connected with RIMS

Are you receiving this newsletter for the first time and wondering why? Congratulations! You are likely listed in the Organizational Hierarchy System (OHS) as a Departmental Records Management Contact (DRMC). Several times a year, Records and Information Management Services (RIMS) communicates important updates and information about records management at UT though our “On the Record” newsletter. DRMCs are a vital part of that communication network and are required to be on our mailing list. You can learn more about being a DRMC in the Handbook of Business Procedures, section 20.4.1, and we are also happy to answer any questions.

New Year, New Inbox

Whether you are the type to make resolutions for the new year or not, there does seem to be a bit of a boost that comes when January 1 rolls around. If you are looking for a good target for all of that new year’s energy, why not do a little email cleanup?

Managing your email may seem like an impossible task. For every email that you file or delete, three more pop up in its place. Many of your emails are master records that need to be managed just like you would any other record in your possession, but a lot of emails are convenience copies, transitory information, or non-records that you can delete without any extra steps or approvals. Check out these five emails that you can delete for a quick inbox refresh:

1. Email Blasts: Emails including announcements and newsletters are sent to large batches of people, which means lots of convenience copies! Unless you (or your department) are the sender of that email blast, your copy is a convenience copy that you can delete after you are done with it. 
2. Unsolicited Vendor Emails: If you’re lucky, many of these emails are already heading straight for your junk folder. But if you are receiving unsolicited emails from vendors advertising their services, go ahead and hit delete! These are non-records and do not have to be kept.
3. Delivery or Read Receipts: Outlook gives you the option to request a confirmation when an email that you send is delivered to or read by a recipient. This can be a really helpful tool, but you can also end up with a lot of extra emails! Unless there is a business reason for you to have that confirmation, go ahead and delete these transitory emails when you don’t need them anymore.
4. Personal/Non-Business Emails: While policy does allow limited personal use of your UT Austin email address, emails that do not contain UT business should be deleted as soon as possible. This can also include non-business emails between your friends at work (like planning a lunch outing or chipping in for a coworker’s baby shower).
5. Meeting Invitation Responses: If you are someone who sets up a lot of meetings, you’re probably familiar with the emails that you get when someone accepts or declines your meeting. Unless additional information is added by the respondee, these transitory emails can be deleted, as can your own meeting invitation responses that are in your Sent Items folder. Need to see who accepted your meeting invitation? Check the Tracking tab on your calendar item.

Many of these emails come from the same email addresses or have the same subject lines, so it is easy to search for and delete many at once. If you are an advanced Outlook user, you can set up rules to file or delete emails for you based on the subject lines or the sender’s email address. If you’ve never used rules before, be careful! These are powerful tools that can’t be “undone” if you set your rule up incorrectly. Outlook may slow down for a brief time the first time you run a rule. 

You do not have to submit a Request to Dispose Form to RIMS for approval when deleting convenience copies, transitory information, or non-records. You do have to submit the Request to Dispose Form when deleting emails that are master records. Reach out to rims@austin.texas.edu if you have any questions!

Upcoming Training Sessions

The following sessions are coming up and still have seats available. Get registered today through UTLearn.

• IG101 Records and Information Management for Department Records Managers
  • Required for all Departmental Records Management Contacts (DRMCs)
  • Tuesday, January 30, 2024, 1:30-3:30 p.m.
  • Presented virtually through UTLearn
• IG103 Records and Information Management: What Everyone Needs to Know about University Records
  • Recommended for all UT Faculty and Staff
  • Friday, February 2, 2024, 2:00-3:00 p.m.
  • Presented virtually through UTLearn

Coming in April is Records and Information Management Month, when we will present our regular trainings plus some new sessions that will be shorter and more focused on a single topic. All the details will be available in the next “On the Record.” Stay tuned!