Records should be created, organized, maintained, and disposed of in a consistent and systematic manner throughout their lifecycle.
This page provides guidance for managing records from the time they are created or received until their final disposition. Depending on their administrative, legal, fiscal, or historical value, records may be securely destroyed or transferred to the Center of Southwest Studies Archives for permanent preservation. For guidance on identifying official records and understanding retention requirements, please see the What Is a Record? and Record Retention Schedules sections of this website.
Effective records management supports compliance with College policies and legal obligations while ensuring that records remain accessible, reliable, and trustworthy over time.
Characteristics of Well-Managed Records
Effective records management ensures that records have:
- Authenticity: The record can be verified as genuine and shown to have been created or received by the person or office identified, at the time indicated.
- Reliability: The record accurately reflects the activities, transactions, or decisions it documents.
- Integrity: The record is complete and protected against unauthorized alteration or deletion.
- Usability: The record can be located, retrieved, understood, and used within its proper context.
Three Steps to Effective Records Management
1. Develop and Maintain a Records Management System
Departments should establish and maintain clear procedures for organizing and managing records. This includes:
- Understanding records management roles and responsibilities within the department.
- Maintaining and periodically reviewing an inventory of records, regardless of format, to identify records maintained by the department and their applicable retention requirements.
- Identifying where records will be stored and who is responsible for maintaining them.
- Training new employees on departmental filing practices and records retention requirements.
- Reviewing records responsibilities with employees who are separating from the College to ensure continuity and the appropriate transfer of records.
2. Create and Manage Records Using Best Practices
Records should be created at or near the time of the activity they document and should provide sufficient information to accurately reflect decisions, actions, and events.
When creating records, document (if possible):
- What occurred.
- What decisions, recommendations, or conclusions were reached.
- What instructions or guidance were provided.
- When the activity took place.
- Who participated or was involved.
- The sequence of events or decisions, when applicable.
Additional best practices include:
- Including relevant dates within the record itself.
- Identifying and maintaining one official record copy of each document.
- Establishing procedures for managing revisions, including who may make additions or changes.
- When digitizing records, using methods that preserve authenticity, integrity, reliability, and usability throughout the required retention period.
File Naming Best Practices
Consistent file naming improves retrieval and long-term management.
- Use dates in YYYY-MM-DD format, such as 2026-06-14-Meeting-Minutes.
- Avoid spaces and special characters in file names. Use hyphens or underscores instead.
- Use descriptive terms based on functions or activities rather than individual names.
- Use version identifiers such as v01, v02, and v03 rather than terms such as "new," "updated," or "final."
- Consider adding metadata, such as tags, titles, or descriptions, when available to improve searchability.
Examples:
- CSWS-Budget-Worksheet-FY2026.xlsx
- Provost-MOU-2026-HR.pdf
- Archives-Training-Presentation-2026-Faculty.pptx
Organizing Records
Records should be organized according to the functions and activities they support rather than by individual employees or organizational structures, which may change over time.
- Finance → Budget
- Finance → Accounting
- Human Resources → Recruitment
- Human Resources → Performance Reviews
- Sponsored Programs → Proposals
- Sponsored Programs → Grant Administration
3. Review, Store, and Dispose of Records Appropriately
Departments should regularly review and maintain records to support efficient access and compliance with retention requirements.
Recommended practices include:
- Maintaining the official record copy in approved departmental storage locations rather than on individual desktops or removable devices.
- Using existing folder structures whenever possible instead of creating new folders unnecessarily.
- Keeping reference materials and personal files separate from official College records.
- Removing duplicate materials, drafts, and working copies once final versions have been approved.
- Conducting annual reviews of records to identify materials eligible for destruction or transfer to the Center of Southwest Studies Archives.
- Closing inactive files at the end of each year and carrying forward only records that remain active.
Email Records
Emails that document College business are records and should be retained according to the applicable retention schedule. Important email records should be managed in a manner that supports retrieval and retention requirements rather than relying solely on individual inbox organization practices.
Storage and Security Guidelines
Records should be stored in a manner that protects them from unauthorized access, loss, damage, or destruction. Departments should notify the College Records Manager if records are damaged by water, mold, fire, or other emergencies.
Confidential and sensitive records should be maintained in secure locations with access limited to authorized personnel.
PHYSICAL RECORDS: Physical storage areas should:
- Protect records from fire, water damage, pests, mold, and environmental hazards.
- Maintain appropriate temperature and humidity levels for long-term preservation.
- Allow for safe retrieval and adequate ventilation.
- Keep aisles and access points free from obstruction.
- Store records off the floor and above potential flood levels.
- Limit access to authorized personnel only.
- Avoid locations where records may be exposed to moisture, direct sunlight, extreme temperature fluctuations, or leaking pipes.
DIGITAL RECORDS: College records and other electronically stored information should be maintained in Fort Lewis College-approved storage environments. Departments should:
- Avoid storing the only copy of records on local hard drives, removable media, such as USB drives, or non-networked devices.
- Use College-managed or institutionally approved storage solutions whenever possible.
- Ensure that records are included in institutional backup and recovery processes.
- Ensure that records stored with third-party vendors remain accessible, intelligible, and retrievable for the entirety of their retention period.
- Select storage solutions that meet College information security requirements and support the preservation of records throughout their lifecycle.
Annual Records Management Checklist
Departments should review their records management practices annually by completing the following activities:
- Review departmental records inventories.
- Identify records eligible for destruction according to approved retention schedules.
- Transfer records of permanent historical value to the Center of Southwest Studies Archives.
- Remove duplicate and convenience copies that are no longer needed.
- Verify that electronic records remain accessible and are stored in approved locations.
- Train new employees on departmental records management practices and responsibilities.