Records Management

As a university employee, you create and receive records that document the activities of the university, and many of these are public records. You are responsible for:

• Identifying and managing public records created and received as part of your job. You can find a searchable spreadsheet of all records schedules active at UW Parkside here.
• Filing and organizing records (paper and electronic) in a way that is readily accessible
• Retaining public records for the appropriate length of time (See
• Disposing of public records according to their Retention Disposition Authorization (RDA), also known as a record schedule
• Maintaining confidential and sensitive information appropriately
• Disposing of information that is not a public record
• Knowing where to go for help

Electronic records are required by Wisconsin Administrative Code, Chapter Adm 12 to be organized and managed in a way that ensures they are accessible, accurate, authentic, reliable, legible, and readable throughout their entire lifecycle. File organization goes hand in hand with folder/file naming conventions as outlined later in this document. Checklists of best practices can be found in the Chapter Adm 12 guidance document, and listed below are basic file organization tips.

• Centrally manage records in shared locations: This allows for easy access and management by all staff, reduces duplication, and aids in locating records.
• Use a hierarchical folder structure: This structure starts with a broad category at the topmost folder, and becomes more specific as subfolders are added, but it is good practice to limit the depth of file structures to four or five levels.
• Use versioning for drafts: For most records, only the final version needs be kept, and previous drafts can be deleted once the final version is complete.
• Separate supplemental materials: These materials, often used for reference or convenience, should be stored in a separate subfolder to make deletion easier.
• Minimize copies and duplicates: Copies and duplicates are not public records and do not need to be saved.
• Use notes to document folder contents: a README or text document can be used to give information on the contents of a folder, possibly including how the files are organized, naming conventions, relevant record retention schedules, etc.

A consistent file naming convention is essential to effectively managing electronic records, and helps with organization, accessibility, and maintenance. Naming conventions should work with file organization conventions, and should be well documented within your unit.

• Descriptive names: Folder names should describe the contents, and file names should be descriptive enough to exist outside of the original folder location, in case it is moved or copied to other folders.
  • Try to incorporate department/unit or program names
  • Include type of document (agenda, speech, minutes, etc.)
  • Avoid using “Misc.” or other generic file names
• Dates: If dates are part of the file name, use format yyyymmdd. This keeps records in chronological order and makes disposition according to retention schedules easier.
  • For records that are date specific, put the date at the beginning of the file name, such as 20250617_LibraryMinutes.doc.
  • For records that are more likely to be searched for by the title, put the date at the end of the name, such as LibraryCollectionPolicy_20250617.

Emails are a public record—except for those that are a non-record, for example, those received as a mass-mailing, spam, communication of a completely personal nature, and similar material (see Non-Records below for more information).

There are minimum legal retention periods for public records in email, ranging from date of creation to three years, and you are responsible for the retention and destruction of your email records.

Tips:

• Use Microsoft rules, retention settings, and AutoArchive (depending on which version of Outlook being used) to organize your inbox.
• Save routine emails in your inbox or in subject folders and delete items over 6 months old.
• Delete transitory emails and empty deleted items and junk mail weekly.
• Put historical emails or items you are still using in a separate folder.
• Dean-level Administrators and above:
  • Delete emails of a purely personal nature or transitory emails as defined above
  • Contact the Archives to transfer your emails periodically, or at least at the time of retirement or separation from the University, according to the Administrative Records GRS.

Examples of non-records:

• Mass mailings or emails
• Junk mail
• Courtesy copies
• Convenience copies
• Drafts
• Personal notes
• Personal materials unrelated to your office
• Reminder emails
• Student work that had been graded and returned to a student
• Expired parking passes
• Duplicate copies of publications such as catalogues, directories, or class schedules unless they are produced by your office