The Records Management and Maintenance Committee (RMMC) would like to remind you that now is a good time to review your files, both physical and digital, and determine what can be disposed of according to the University’s Records Retention Schedule. Yearly maintenance of your records not only keeps your physical and digital space free of clutter, it reduces the college’s data security risk. You can review records retention tips and information on the Business Office Website. Remember, you must complete, submit and receive back an approved Certificate of Records Destruction from the University Archivist before you securely dispose of your records. Please complete a Help Desk ticket for building services if you need additional shredding bins for proper disposal.

Proper management of documents, files, and data is vital to ensure efficient use of physical and digital space, effective information security, and compliance with laws and university policies. The university is a public institution subject to records retention requirements set by the state of Ohio. Retention of some types of records is further regulated by other entities, such as the federal government, and university policies. Before disposing of documents or files, whether physical or digital, determine what the retention requirements are, if any.

• Quick guide: what should I do with my document/file/data?

The college’s Records Management and Maintenance Committee can help you with any questions you have. Current members are Karla Gengler-Nowak (chair), Jim Woods, Becca Roby, Alex Vu, Jeff Walline, Carol Wilcox, and Jen Bennett.

As a public institution, The Ohio State University is subject to records retention requirements. What this means is that some of the documents (digital or paper) we create or receive need to be kept for a standard length of time and approval received before they can be destroyed. There are resources to help you understand what you need to do! Read up on your own: Learn what a “record” is and how long records need to be kept on the College of Optometry Business Office website. Get help from your colleagues: Contact any member of the Records Management and Maintenance Committee for help (Karla Gengler-Nowak (chair), Jim Woods, Jeff Walline, Cathy Beatty, Becca Roby, Jen Bennett, Carol Wilcox, and Alex Vu). Take a course and get some professional development: Go to BuckeyeLearn to take the course “Public Records” (25 min) or view a full presentation, “Paper and Bytes B&F recorded version.”

The college has seen a lot of positive change in the past two years, and the Records Management and Maintenance Committee is re-introducing our annual CleanOPT event to ensure that we keep our workspaces fresh! CleanOPT, our annual day for cleaning our workspaces and properly disposing of records, will be Monday, May 16. Over the next month, look for emails with reminders about the different kinds of university records you may have in your office or on your computer. We will have someone on hand from the archivist’s office to sign certificates or records destruction from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Also look for notice of a prize drawing! Contact any member of the Records Management and Maintenance Committee (Karla Gengler-Nowak, Jim Woods, Becca Roby, Cathy Beatty, Jeff Walline, Jen Bennett, Carol Wilcox, Alex Vu) with questions.

The college follows the university’s record retention policies and procedures, and an important aspect of this is managing the documents and files in the possession of employees who are departing or who have departed from the college. If one of your reports or you yourself are leaving the college, be sure to review the college’s policy and procedure, available in the College Documents/Personnel folder on the I drive. It would be very helpful if supervisors would email the chair of the Records Management and Maintenance Committee (RMMC; Karla Gengler-Nowak is current chair) of these departures. Members of the RMMC will work with supervisors and departing employees to ensure that documents are dealt with appropriately.

As a public institution, Ohio State must comply with laws governing public records. On Feb. 25 from 1 to 3 p.m., join an online instructor-led webinar that educates participants about university policies, legal requirements and best practices concerning the retention, management and disposition of records. You also will learn practical tips and techniques for managing email and organizing electronic records. Paper and Bytes is provided in partnership by University Libraries and the Office of Human Resources.

If you’re interested, please log into https://go.osu.edu/BuckeyeLearn and search for the “Paper and Bytes: Policies, Best Practices, and Resources for Managing Ohio State Records” training.

Did you know that the college can send documents that you need to keep but don’t need to access for the foreseeable future to off-site storage? The college contracts with Fireproof for secure “deep” storage, and the Records Management and Maintenance Committee has developed a procedure to use the service. The procedure is on the I:Drive (See the Policies+Guidelines folder of the College Documents folder), and it outlines how to send files to storage, retrieve them, and have them destroyed when appropriate. If you have files that you think are good candidates for this long-term storage, please put in a help desk ticket. Contact Mat Johnson or Karla Gengler-Nowak with questions.

The University Archives has updated the University Records Retention Schedule. As we prepare CleanOPT2020 it would be a good idea to review the changes. As you look through, you will notice that additions to the schedule are highlighted in green and changes are highlighted in yellow. Some key additions that might affect you are:

• Event/Special Project Files – Campus and community events, special projects, lectures, and exhibit files. These should be kept for the current calendar year plus three years and University Archives would like to review the reports, products or images for possible archiving.
• Presentations, Training and Workshop Files – Materials and information developed, or used to develop, internal and external presentations, trainings and workshops. Can include, but is not limited to: presentation, handouts, reference materials, logistical arrangements, copies of agreements and payment information, evaluations, promotion, registration, or attendance documentation.

These should be kept while active plus three years. Active means while training is being offered, until the event complete, or until revised, superseded or obsolete. Certain types of training, such as HIPAA, hazardous materials, etc. may require longer retention.

Are you getting ready to destroy university records? If so, you need to complete a Certificate of Records Destruction (CRD). University Records Management has issued an updated CRD form. The CRD is required to be submitted for Records Management approval prior to any records destruction/deletion. Please contact Karla Gengler-Nowak, chair of the Records Management and Maintenance committee, or any other member of the committee for help with retention requirements or using the form.

Did you know that records we all create in the course of doing our work fall under the university’s records retention policy? Different kinds of records have different retention requirements, and there are guidelines that must be followed before the record, whether physical or digital, can be destroyed after the retention period has passed. Not sure what counts as a record? Are you confused about how long you need to keep your records and what the process is for destroying them? Need help letting go of records that are past their retention period? Tamar Chute, the university archivist, will join us March 21 from 9 to 10 a.m. in Fry 235 to provide training geared toward staff. Contact Karla Gengler-Nowak with questions about the event. Karla also will take any record retention-related questions you already have and ensure they are answered during the training session.