Click here to ask a RMR question.
- What is the difference between a record and a non-record?
- What is a confidential record?
- What is destruction of a record?
- What is disposition?
- What are record retention and disposition schedules?
- Where do permanent records get transferred to?
- What are the retention requirements for E-Mail?
- What if we have records that cannot be viewed due to out-dated systems or no longer having the required equipment (readers)?
- What happens when records are involved in litigation?
- The retention requirement for my document is “until audit report released for year in which records created”. How can I determine if the audit report has been released?
- How should I pack records for storage?
- May I put different record series within a box or number of boxes?
- Does Instant Messaging constitute a record?
- What if my NMSU records were destroyed following the Records Management & Retention (RMR) requirements and now I have received legal notice for a litigation hold?
- Can I scan my records and get rid of the paper?
- Departmental leave records are created by the department and a copy given to the employee. Which is the original department record?
- The Performance Evaluation was created from work papers. Are the work papers considered records?
- Is there a charge for the destruction/disposition process for the department?
- Can record series/titles be mixed within the same box?
- Our department is a subdepartment (i.e. Special Education is sub to Education), is our copy a record?
- Do I have to follow the NMSU FSA-RMR process with rejected applications?
- We have application copies made for the Search Committee. Once completed, can these be destroyed by the department? What about the copies sent by email?
- What do you mean by “enforcement” to ensure departments are following NMSU FSA-RMR procedures?
- What if we want to keep records longer than the retention requirement?
- If we print an E-Print statement, is it a record?
- For Academic departments, are test records considered records?
- We are required to keep hard copies of the final grades. Why, if they are kept in Banner?
- Who picks up the boxes to go to the F.A.T.E. Warehouse?
- How should we destroy non-records that contain confidential information?
- What is the difference between a record and a non-record?
- What is a confidential record?
- What is destruction of a record?
- What is disposition?
- What are record retention and disposition schedules?
- Where do permanent records get transferred to?
- What are the retention requirements for E-Mail?
- 1.15.3 NMAC - GRRDS, GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS (FOR USE BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS)
- 1.15.5 NMAC - GRRDS, GENERAL FINANCIAL SCHEDULE (INTERPRETIVE)
- 1.15.7 NMAC - GRRDS, GENERAL PERSONNEL (INTERPRETIVE)
- 1.20.3 NMAC - EDRRDS, NEW MEXICO COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
- E-mail as public records: E-mail and attachments identified as public records shall be retained and stored for as long as required under the appropriate retention period. E-mail that are public records include but are not limited to:
- policies and directives;
- correspondence or memoranda that contain final directives, determinations, instructions or guidance regarding public business;
- minutes of governing boards, advisory groups, ad-hoc committees or work groups developing programs;
- messages that authorize, establish or complete a business transaction; or
- final reports or recommendations such as to legislative committees or produced by task forces or study groups.
- Non-record and transitory e-mail: Non-record and transitory e-mail do not set policy, provide directives, establish guidelines or procedures nor do they certify transactions; they may be destroyed without the prior approval of the state records administrator. Non-record and transitory e-mail include but are not limited to:
- duplicate copies of messages sent to multiple people;
- personal messages and announcements not related to official agency business;
- preliminary drafts of letters, reports and memoranda;
- messages considered brainstorming or preliminary thought processes in nature, reflecting the exchange of ideas preliminary
to the development of a final decision or position of the agency; - transmittal e-mail that do not add substantive information to the attachment(s) being transmitted;
- copies of documents distributed for convenience or reference;
- announcements of social events, such as retirement parties;
- spam (unsolicited, commercial e-mail); and
- messages to or from e-mail distributions lists (listserv) not directly related to agency business.
- Steps to filing e-mail
- e-mail should be filed in a manner that enhances accessibility and assists in records management and retention.
- e-mail should be categorized according to the NMAC’s disposition and retention schedules.
- the attachment an e-mail contains falls under records management, not the e-mail which transmits it unless the body of the email adds substantive information to the attachment.
- What if we have records that cannot be viewed due to out-dated systems or no longer having the required equipment (readers)?
- What happens when records are involved in litigation?
- The retention requirement for my document is “until audit report released for year in which records created”. How can I determine if the audit report has been released?
- How should I pack records for storage?
- Do not mix confidential records with non-confidential records. (Please see RMR-Office for exceptions)
- Place only one type of record series in each box (If possible).
- Identify each box with your office name, the record series, and the date range of the records.
- Place the records in the box vertically and in the same order that they were kept in the office.
- May I put different record series within a box or number of boxes?
- Does Instant Messaging constitute a record?
- What if my NMSU records were destroyed following the Records Management & Retention (RMR) requirements and now I have received legal notice for a litigation hold?
- Can I scan my records and get rid of the paper?
- Departmental leave records are created by the department and a copy given to the employee. Which is the original department record?
- The Performance Evaluation was created from work papers. Are the work papers considered records?
- Is there a charge for the destruction/disposition process for the department?
- Can record series/titles be mixed within the same box?
- Our department is a subdepartment (i.e. Special Education is sub to Education), is our copy a record?
- Do I have to follow the NMSU FSA-RMR process with rejected applications?
- We have application copies made for the Search Committee. Once completed, can these be destroyed by the department? What about the copies sent by email?
- What do you mean by “enforcement” to ensure departments are following NMSU FSA-RMR procedures?
- What if we want to keep records longer than the retention requirement?
- If we print an E-Print statement, is it a record?
- For Academic departments, are test records considered records?
- We are required to keep hard copies of the final grades. Why, if they are kept in Banner?
- Who picks up the boxes to go to the F.A.T.E. Warehouse?
- How should we destroy non-records that contain confidential information?
A record is business information preserved by any technique in any medium now known or later developed, that can be recognized by ordinary human sensory capabilities either directly or with the aid of technology (according to NMAC 1.13.30). Records have a life cycle that is governed by a disposition schedule. Non-records are those records for which the loss of the record presents no obstacle to restoring daily business and have no retention requirement.
“Information provided to, created by or maintained by a government agency and that is exempt from release under state or federal laws, because disclosure would cause substantial harm or constitute an invasion of privacy or is otherwise prohibited by law.” NMAC 1.13.30.7
Personal identification information – name, social security number, military identification number, home address, telephone number, email address, fingerprint, photograph, state identification number, including driver’s license number; information deemed confidential by law.
Destruction means the process of totally obliterating information on records of no further value by any method (i.e. shredding, pulping, electronic overwrite) to make the information unreadable or unusable under any circumstances (according to NMAC 1.13.30).
Disposition is when electronic or paper records have reached their retention period and they are either saved to archives or go through the destruction process.
Records retention and disposition schedules are rules adopted by the state commission of public records pursuant to Section 14-3-6 NMSA 1978 describing records of an agency, establishing a timetable for their life cycle and providing authorization for their disposition. A department may have a different retention schedule than a central office.
The FSA - Records Management and Retention (RMR) office and the NMSU Library Archives & Special Collections department are collaborating to ensure the business needs of the university are met for all official records and compliance is achieved with regards to maintenance, preservation and disposition of university documents in accordance with state and federal statutes. For information regarding archive materials please contact University Archives.
Regulations concerning email are published in:
1.14.3 NMAC - RECORDS MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTRONIC MESSAGING
E-mail may include public records or transitory information. Only those e-mail classified as public records must be retained based on established retention periods published in:
The content of e-mail may vary considerably; therefore, each e-mail shall be evaluated to determine if it meets the definition of a public record as defined in the Public Records Act and 1.13.4 NMAC. Please see "What do I do about Email?". Non-records or transitory e-mail that do not provide evidence of official agency policies or business transactions may be deleted.
If you know what kind of records they are and the dates of the records , you do not have to be able to read them. The Retention requirements and destruction process can be determined with this information. If you do not know what kind of records they are, contact the RMR office for assistance.
As soon as you are aware of any litigation, you are required to put a hold on all records involved in the litigation. Once the litigation is over, the retention schedule for the records starts over.
a. The best way to determine if the annual financial statement audit has been released is if the PDF is posted on the below-listed website:
http://www.nmsu.edu/~boffice/financials/
b. For all other audits, the best way to determine if an audit report has been released is to contact the Audit Liaison, Meghann Hutchison.
When packing records for storage:
For additional guidelines specific to packing confidential records for storage, please see the boxing requirements.
Only if the documents are non-confidential records. If different record series are in one box, it is acceptable to use fractions of boxes in listing each record series on the NMSU Request for Disposition of University Records Form. When added together, the fractions must equal the total number of boxes being submitted for approval.
EXAMPLE:
Record Series No. and Title |
Retention Period |
Volume (# Bins/Boxes) |
|---|---|---|
| 1.20.3.114/Telephone Billings File | until audit report released | ¼ box |
| 1.15.5.303/Purchase Orders (Purchase Documents) | 3yrs after close of FY | 1 ½ boxes |
| 1.20.3.115/Work Orders File | until work completed | ¼ box |
| 1.15.3.109/General Correspondence Files (Non-Executive Levels) | 1 yr after close of FY | 1 box |
| 1.15.5.505/Vouchers (Journal) | 3yrs after close of FY | 2/3 box |
| 1.15.3.107/Administrative Reference Files | no longer needed | 1 1/3 boxes |
TOTAL |
5 boxes |
Please see the information provided by the National Archives by clicking here.
Your prior records (ones already destroyed) or information are no longer available; the information has been purged or disposed of in the routine (normal ordinary) course of business operation for RMR/RIM (records information management).
1.15.5.8 INSTRUCTIONS:
F. Retention periods shall be extended until six months after all current or pending litigation, current claims, audit exceptions or court orders involving a record have been resolved or concluded.
You may scan your records for your convenience, however you must retain the original paper record.
Only records that have been scanned into the Banner Document Management Suite (BDMS) may be destroyed following the NMSU FSA-RMR Office process. According to 14-3-15 NMSA 1978, all imaging, microfilm or computer output microfilm systems must be approved by the state records administrator prior to the destruction of source documents. Only the NMSU FSA-RMR Imaging system and plan have been certified and approved by the New Mexico State Commission of Public Records, State Records Center and Archives in Santa Fe.
The record kept by the department is the original record.
If the information on the work papers is identically reflected on the evaluation, then the work papers are not considered records. However, if the information on the work papers is not identically reflected on the evaluation, the work papers are considered records. They should be maintained with the Department Personnel file.
For confidential records, the FSA-RMR office has negotiated with the State of New Mexico Records Center and Archive (SNMRCA) to piggyback off their contract with CINTAS for the destruction of confidential records. There is no cost, at this time, to the University for this service. The department is responsible for delivering the records to the F.A.T.E. warehouse once they receive notice that the boxes passed the condition assessment.
For non-confidential records, the department is responsible for destroying the records once permission from SNMRCA has been received. If there are any expenses related to the destruction of the non-confidential records, it is the department’s responsibility to pay those expenses.
It is preferable not to mix record series. However, if you do not have enough records to fill the box, just note the fraction of the box for each record series/title. The total must equal one (i.e. 1/3 and 2/3 = 1).
Your copy is a non-record. The record is the one sent to the main department (i.e. the Education Department).
Yes, the department copy has a record retention of “three years after rejected”. Please see NMAC 1.15.7.102 Rejected Applications.
The copies may be destroyed by the department. Only the original needs to be maintained. Those sent by email should be deleted from the email.
For those departments that have attended the information sessions, we will be following up to see how they are progressing with meeting the requirements, following the procedures, and answer any questions they may have. For those departments that have been unable to attend an information session, we will arrange to meet with them and educate them on the new requirements and the NMSU FSA-RMR procedures. Following the NM Administrative Codes is not optional, it is the law.
Keeping records longer than the retention requirement puts the University at risk. The department must have a valid business or operational need to retain records past the retention requirement and obtain approval through the FSA-RMR office.
The E-Print statement you printed is not a record. However, if annotations are made on the E-Print statement for reconciliation purposes or to conduct further business, it then becomes a record and has a retention requirement.
Yes, they are a record according to NMAC 1.20.3.304 Completed Examinations File with a retention requirement of “one year after end of term for which created”.
This appears to be a departmental requirement. The official system of record is Banner.
Once the Condition Assessment has been passed and permission has been given by the FSA-RMR office, each department is responsible for making arrangements to deliver their boxes and scheduling delivery with the FSA-RMR office at least 24 hours in advance of delivery. The OFS moving department is available to assist with delivery of the boxes. A representative from the department must be present at the F.A.T.E. Warehouse when the boxes are delivered to sign off on the delivery.
Non-records that contain confidential information should be shredded appropriately.