425 Steenbock Library
550 Babcock Drive
Madison, WI 53706-1201
Phone: (608) 262-5629
FAX: (608) 262-8899
Email: Records Management
© 1996-2007 by the Regents of the
University of Wisconsin.
Last updated:
April 2007
Originally published:
prior to 2001
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General Outline of Events Leading to Records Disposition
The entire records process has many steps and can take many months. Once
your office has identified and/or created all of the appropriate records
schedules that apply to you, things go much more quickly. The records
process can vary from office to office based on how often they embark
on records management activities, whether or not they have RDAs on file,
and so on. Here, however, is the entire records process laid out step-by-step.
The Records Management Manual
has detailed instructions on how to complete each step of this process.
|
STEP |
DESCRIPTION |
1 |
Inventory |
A university office or department conducts a records inventory to determine what records they create and use. This also determines what records are active and which are inactive. |
2 |
General Schedules |
The office determines if its records fall under any of the general campus-wide or system-wide records schedules. If they do, skip to step 8. If not, go to next step. |
3 |
RDA |
The office drafts a Records Retention Disposition Authorization (RDA) (form available online) and sends it to the Records Management Office. If there are any questions during this process, the office should contact the Campus Records Officer, Nancy Kunde. The Campus Records Officer works with the submitting office to revise and complete the RDA. |
4 |
Signature |
When final draft is agreed upon, the submitting office signs the RDA. |
5 |
Campus Records Review Group |
The RDA is then submitted to the Campus Records Review Group, a campus entity which meets quarterly, for approval and signature. If there are any changes suggested at this time, the RDA will be sent back to the originating office for revision and approval. If approved, the RDA is forwarded to the Public Records Board, which also meets quarterly. |
6 |
Public Records Board |
The Public Records Board reviews the RDA, and upon approval signs off on it and returns it to the Records Management office. |
7 |
RDA |
The Records Management office sends a final copy of the RDA with all signatures intact to the originating office. |
8 |
Disposition |
The office may then transfer items to the State Records Center or University Archives, or destroy items, as indicated in the RDA. In order to send things to either the Records Center or the Archives, the records must be properly packed and labeled, and appropriate transmittal orders must be completed (available online). For more information on whether your records go to the SRC or the UW Archives, please consult the Records Management Manual. |
9 |
Off-Site Storage |
If the office does not already have someone set up as an official user of the State Records Center, they must first contact the Records Management office in order to determine who the office's records liaison will be. The Records Management office will then contact the SRC to inform them of the new user. For more information about liaisons, go to Fact Sheet: Department Liaisons. |
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