About the Project

Meeting the challenge of managing digital information and records requires a high degree of planning and coordination. Records Management offers guidelines and tools to meet these challenges.

Caring for university information and records is each employee's responsibility; learn more by reviewing the Records Management Policy. While it is the responsibility of each individual, we play different roles. To better define these roles and to integrate requirements with campus operations, the Records Management Program will be implemented through a series of related projects, described in more detail below.

Business Need

Managing records is critical to the success of the institution in the following ways:

• Preserves collective memory, fosters trust and supports better decision-making by systematically maintaining evidence of activities, decisions, and transactions 
• Saves time and resources by introducing and maintaining a common vocabulary and structure to document key details about units’ records and recordkeeping, which improves information retrieval 
• Builds institutional resiliency to resume operations following staffing changes, natural disaster or other major disruptive event

Objectives and Outcomes

When done, we will have accomplished the following:

1. Developed a shared understanding around what records are and why recordkeeping is important
2. Understand the Records Management Policy and Procedures, including the University Records Retention Schedule
3. Developed unit-level procedures around record keeping 
4. Inventoried physical and electronic records at UO
5. Understand which software systems are used around campus, and the record-keeping functionality of those systems
6. Know how to appropriately dispose of records
7. Developed a vital records program

What’s Been Done

Phase 1: Planning and Building

• Gathered requirements by meeting with units across campus
• Created a Records Management Policy specific to UO
• Created a Records Retention Schedule specific to UO
• Developed and tested procedures and tools designed to support policy compliance – piloted programs with several units

Where Are We Now?

Phase 2: Mapping Records

Approximate timeframe: Beginning January 2020 – August 2023 target date for all campus

• Designate Records Stewards; establish a community of practice and provide training - Complete
• Records Stewards complete a procedures document for their units, using a template - Complete
• Records Stewards lead the mapping of all groups of paper and digital records (excluding individual email accounts) that document the core activities in which their units engage, as well as any personnel and student records 

What Lies Ahead…

Phase 3: Enhancing the Maps & Dispositioning Records

Approximate timeframe: September 2023 - December 2024 target date for all campus

• Records Stewards work with their units to address e-mail management, with support and training from Records Management
• Records Stewards work with Data Stewards to complete a software assessment for their units using a template
• Records Stewards use Phase 2 information to properly disposition records using a destruction log 
• University Records Manager uses Phase 2 information to partner with Safety and Risk Services and Information Services to introduce vital records program
• University Records Manager and the Records Stewards evaluate findings from Phase 2 to refine the program