DID YOU KNOW?
Electronic records and emails are part of the records management process.
When retiring or mutating to another role/department, it is important to review emails and electronic records to remove non-record materials and duplicate copies of emails that are no longer relevant. In the process, we gain space and a lean inbox, ready for the new role.
Preparing for retirement in the office can be both exciting and unnerving at the same time. If you are not sure what records to keep or toss, or what’s even in your office, we can help!
Be sure to contact your RMLO to learn about the public records requirements and procedures before any disposition.
Virtual assessments can be done in 15 mins increments or 30 mins in-person to assist you with some quick guidelines and best practices to help you save time.
Records Management Liaison Office
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Records Management Awareness Day
Each new year brings its own new challenges along with new opportunities to explore.
Records Management is a tool we can use to help us reevaluate which records we need to keep and which ones to toss. Records that are no longer needed or that have met their retention periods can be disposed of. Especially those that have calendar or anniversary year retention. As we reassess the records to dispose for this year, we must consider their sensitivity and confidentiality.
To help you better understand this process, you are invited to take advantage of our annual shredding event on campus.
Any Faculty and Staff can bring personal sensitive records to be shredded on campus at no cost.
See the flyer for more information.
FIU Annual Records Management Awareness Day 2024
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Confidential Records ≠ Sensitive Records
So, what’s the difference?
Any information that is kept private and can only be shared with specific people on a need to know basis is considered confidential. This may refer to information about an individual and/or a business that is protected by a law or an agreement between specific parties. Meanwhile, sensitive information is information that could be damaging to an individual if that information were to fall into the wrong hands. Common examples would be financial information such as credit card info, social security card, or any three personally identifiable information (PII).
Confidentiality involves the protection of information that is prohibited from disclosure to unauthorized individuals or entities.
Sensitivity relates to the nature of the information itself, which may be personal or private.
It is essential to protect the University’s records appropriately through records management best practices to prevent harmful security breaches of confidential and sensitive records. Consider disposing of confidential and sensitive records as soon as they have met their retention periods.
The disposition of FIU’s confidential and sensitive records must be properly recorded.
If you are ready for a disposition project, contact your
Records Management Liaison Office
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As a Matter of Faculty Records
CLASS, COURSE, ROOM, AND FACULTY SCHEDULES (Item #48) are now ready for disposition.
This record series documents class meeting times and days for each course, room assignments, and teaching schedules, including office hours. See the retention schedule GS5 FOR PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES (floridados.gov) for more information and other records that are no longer needed at the end of the semester.
RETENTION for Item #48
- For Record copy. Retain until end of semester (meaning, once the semester is over, these records can be deleted or recycled).
- For Duplicates. Retain until obsolete, superseded or administrative value is lost (in other words, once the records are no longer needed, they can be deleted or recycled).
We must document the disposition of large batches of records accumulated overtime in order to be compliant with the State’s Public Records Law. Inactive records that were stored for a period of time could have been retained due to legal or audit hold or they may have historical value. Contact the RMLO for guidance or assistance.
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Sensitive information must be kept confidential for many obvious reasons.
But did you know that disposing of sensitive and confidential records is a security measure against identity theft and security breaches?
Once the records have met their retention periods, that means they are no longer viable for business. However, the sensitive information that some records contain can still pose a threat. So, keeping them longer than necessary will increase the risks of being discovered, accessed and misused by unauthorized users; and worst, the information can be used for criminal activities. Consider managing the University’s sensitive records appropriately by re-evaluating your department’s records annually.
Take advantage of our shredding event during the FIU Annual Records Management Awareness Day to better understand the process.
See the 2023 RM Awareness Day in 30 seconds
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Records used for convenience have no retention
Certain records are more valuable than others as they may have administrative, fiscal, legal or historical value and need to be kept for a period of time. The Florida Public Records Law requires that the records used to document the University’s decisions and activities are kept for public access for a scheduled amount of time. On the other hand, there are those records used only for our convenience and therefore, are less valuable. Some examples are printed copies of an electronic record downloaded from a portal, or duplicate copies of documents for distribution. Records that were not generated by FIU or received for University business related activities are considered convenience or non FIU records. Convenience records can be destroyed as soon as they are no longer needed.
How do we know how long to keep the records, you asked?
We use the General Records Schedules established by the Florida Department of State Library and Archives
as our reference to know how long we need to keep FIU records.
Tip: When using the general records schedules, select the PDF file and use your keyboard CTRL+F (control find) to search for your record series by typing keyword descriptions of the record.
The following are the most used schedules by departments:
GS1-SL for State and Local Government Agencies
GS5 for Public Universities and Colleges
If you are ready for a disposition project, contact your Records Management Liaison Office.
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Personal documents are NOT Public Records
Most of us tend to accumulate some personal records over a period of time in our workspace or office.
Personal documents are those records that are not used to conduct FIU business. These would include personal papers or materials brought to the office, from home or a previous employment for convenience and/or reference. Some examples of personal documents are non-published personal notes, correspondence (non-FIU emails, messages not related to business), journals, and any other materials relating to someone’s private or professional life outside of FIU.
Personal documents (electronic or paper) are considered as non-public records.
It is important to be intentional about keeping personal documents separate from business records.
Personal records should not be stored in FIU’s physical or digital space.
Consider performing a quick assessment of your records regularly to remove any personal documents from your workspace.
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You don’t have to keep library fines and replacement records for more than 3 fiscal years.
As of July 1, 2021, records relating to payments for fines and replaced library materials dated 2018 and older are eligible for disposition.
Interlibrary loan (ILL) request forms are OSA, meaning they have no retention period. Physical or electronic forms used by the library to request the loan of books or materials from another library can be recycled or shredded once they are no longer needed.
To find out how long to keep your library records take a look at the Records Schedules for Public Libraries (GS15).
The disposition of FIU’s public records must be properly recorded.
If you are ready for a disposition project, contact your Records Management Liaison Office.
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The Records Management Compliance Training is online 24/7!
We ask everyone to support our efforts to maintain the University’s compliance with the Public Records Law through the work of well-trained personnel. Anyone who participates in the training will earn two (2) credit hours of Professional Development and a certificate of course completion. Administrators are encouraged to promote this training within their administrative units and thereby enhance the staff’s professional development.
Please click here https://develop.fiu.edu/browse/compliance/courses/records-management-com... to enroll in the Records Management Compliance Training.
For Records Management Inquiries: Rose Nicholson, Compliance Coordinator | RMLO Email: recordsmanagement@fiu.edu or 305-348-1377
For University Archival Records: Althea Vicki Silvera, University Archivist & Head of Special Collections Email: silverav@fiu.edu or 305-348-3136
For Public Records Requests: Lizvette Torres, Paralegal Email: lizvtorr@fiu.edu or 305-348-2103