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RECORDS MANAGEMENT POLICIES and PROCEDURES

The purpose of the Records Management Program is to promote economy and efficiency in the creation, organization, maintenance, retention, use, and disposition of records. These records include all papers, maps, photographs, sound or video recordings, machine-readable records, or other documentary material, regardless of physical form, created or received by an employee in connection with the transaction of school business. The records management policy provides for the following: 

a) orderly and periodic transfer of inactive records from office storage space or inadequate remote storage to the records center;

b) systematic destruction of noncurrent records that have outlived their administrative usefulness;

c) identification of records that are of sufficient and continuing administrative and historical value to warrant their transfer to and preservation in our archives; and

d) assistance and advice to administrative and academic personnel about efficient record-keeping practices.

e)  for electronic records: all servers are backed up on a daily basis.  These tapes are kept in rotation and IT has a monthly backup (end of month) that is kept for a year.   

RECORDS MANAGEMENT

RECORDS STORAGE
Watkins Education Center, 2^nd Floor, Rooms 207, 208 220 and 224 

WHAT RECORDS TO SEND
All records that have official retention schedules may be stored on site with Records Management. This includes most records commonly found in all departments and many records specific to a single department. 

PACK RECORDS IN BOXES
When sending records to Records Management the records must be properly boxed. A complete, descriptive list of the contents of each box must also accompany the transfer to the Records Management Section.  Records Management will experience great difficulty in locating document records, which are not properly boxed and listed.  Records should be boxed in a systematic way (alphabetically, chronologically, or numerically), with records of the same type or series grouped together. Transfer records, including folders (NO HANGING FOLDERS) from file cabinets to the boxes. When placing records in boxes, it is important not to over-fill the boxes. A box, which is too full, is more likely to burst. Leave one-half inch of space in each box for ease of reference. Do not tape the box closed.

1. Use a standard 15 x 12 x 10-inch records storage box. DO NOT use long storage boxes or copy paper boxes. We will provide empty boxes of the proper dimension ONLY for documents, intended for transfer to the Records Management.

2. DO NOT mix different types of record series in the same box. Place only one type of record in a box.

3. Use a "Records Inventory Worksheet" for each type of record.   More than one fiscal year may be listed on the worksheet. If all boxes do not have identical dates list each date separately. Indicate if records are grouped by Fiscal Year, Academic Year or Calendar Year. It is required that you list the beginning date of the records.

4. Review your "General Records Retention and Disposition Schedule" for the correct Record Series Title.

5. Type a list of the contents of each box separately, and then use these lists to complete the Records Inventory Worksheets. General words such as "Accounts Receivable" are not acceptable without a detailed description.

6. Place a copy of the Records Inventory Worksheet on the box label to the small end of the box, next to the handhold. Please place the label on the side of the box towards which the contents face. Secure firmly.

7. If the records are not considered master records for the Department, please give the location of the master records. DO NOT USE THE WORD "VARIOUS." Indicate the exact location.

DISPOSITION
When the stored records at the Records Center have reached the disposition stage, a "Request for Destruction of Records" is sent to the department.  When you receive the "Request for Destruction of Records", please review each entry on the form to ensure that the records listed are in fact due for the action indicated on the certificate. If all is correct, please sign and return to the Records Center.

TO RETRIEVE BOXES OR FOLDERS FROM RECORDS MANAGEMENT
Requests for the return of records from the Records Center may be submitted in any of the following ways: walk-in, distribution or e-mail. Complete one “Request for Records Form" for each file or box you are requesting. If requesting a file or document, be sure to include identifying information in the "Description" box. In Person: If picking up records in person, please call extension: 183.  When you have finished using the records, please return them promptly. If records are to be kept permanently in the department PLEASE forward written notification. 

MANAGING PHYSICAL RECORDS

Managing physical records involves a variety of diverse disciplines. Physical records must be organized, indexed, and identified. This is usually a matter of filing documents and making them available for retrieval.  

STORING RECORDS

Records must be stored in such a way that they are both sufficiently accessible and are safeguarded against environmental damage. A typical record may be stored on ordinary paper in a locked file cabinet in an office. However, many record file rooms employ specialized environmental controls including temperature and humidity. Vital records may need to be stored in a disaster-resistant safe or vault to protect against fire, flood and earthquakes.

CIRCULATING RECORDS 

Records are stored because they may need to be retrieved at some point. Retrieving and/or tracking the record while it is away from the file room, and then returning the record, is referred to as circulation. Circulation is handled by manual methods such as writing down who has a particular record and when they should return it.

DISPOSITION OF RECORDS

Disposition of records does not always mean destruction. Disposition can also include transfer of records to our archive or the records center. When physical records are destroyed, the records must be authorized for destruction by law, statute, regulation, and operating procedure. Once approved, the record must be disposed of with care to avoid inadvertent disclosure of information to unauthorized parties. The process to dispose of records needs to be well-documented, starting with a records retention schedule and policies and procedures. An inventory of the types of records that have been disposed of must be maintained, including certification that the records have been destroyed. Records should never simply be discarded as any other refuse. NMSBVI will use paper shedding as it’s method of destruction.

MANAGING ELECTRONIC RECORDS

 The general principles of records management apply to records in any format. Digital records (almost always referred to as electronic records) raise specific issues however. It is more difficult to ensure that the content, context and structure of records is preserved and protected when the records do not have a physical existence. Guidance on the management of electronic records can be found in Records and Information Management Manual on the website of New Mexico State Records Center and Archives.

Unlike physical records, electronic records cannot be managed without a computer or other machine. Functional requirements for computer systems that can be used to manage electronic records have been produced by the US Department of Defense DoD 5015.2.

Particular concerns exist about the ability to retain and still be able to access and read electronic records over time. Electronic records require appropriate combinations of software versions and operating systems to be accessed, and so are at risk because of the rate at which technological changes occur.