In this section

• About the Simmons College Archives
  • College Archives Forms
• Collections and Resources
  • College Records
  • Manuscripts Collection
  • Historical Book Collections
  • Charities Collection
  • Notable Women of Simmons College Digital Scrapbook Collection
• Simmons College History
  • A Brief History of Simmons College
  • Presidents of Simmons College
  • Women of Simmons College, 1900-1920
  • Traditions of Simmons College
  • Buildings of Simmons College
  • History of Garland Junior College
• Records Management
  • Storage and Retrieval of Records
  • Records Retention Schedules
  • Electronic Records Guidelines
  • Vital Records Guidelines

Records Management at Simmons College

Managing Simmons College’s Records
Retention Schedules
Storage and Retrieval of Records
Three Helpful Hints for Filing
Electronic Records

Managing Simmons College’s Records

The Records Management program for Simmons College is overseeen by the College Archives and supports the operations of Simmons College—ensuring legal compliance with state and federal record-keeping requirements, identifying and preserving records of enduring historical and administrative value, and promoting efficiencient storage and retrieval of records.

The Records Management program is responsible for developing policies and procedures for records and record keeping and assists College offices in managing both active (frequently used) records and inactive (infrequently used) records.

Some examples of services we can provide are:

• advising offices on what records to keep and how long to keep them
• providing storage for inactive files
• offering assistance on designing office filing systems

The purpose of the Records Management Guide is to explain the basic principles of records management, outline the Records Management program’s services and procedures, and provide guidance on efficient and effective records management for College offices. The guide will be updated as necessary.

Records Retention Schedule

In order to operate your department or office efficiently, your personnel must not only have a knowledge of what records are generated in the course of doing business, but how they are organized and utilized in the day-to-day activities of your unit. This knowledge can best be obtained and remembered through the development of and reference to a records retention schedule.

The records management office will be conducting surveys of all College departments and offices to inventory their records, and to produce a records retention schedule for them. Records retention schedules are thoroughly researched, and an office's files are analyzed for legal, fiscal, administrative, operational, and historical/research value. All records schedules will be approved by the department or office head, and no records will be removed from your office or destroyed without your consent.

The purpose of a retention schedule is to:

 • establish an inventory of records within your department or office.
 • establish custodial responsibility for the various departmental records.
 • provide a management tool outlining individual record retention and safekeeping requirements.
 • list confidential records, thereby requiring special handling for release.
 • list those records which are vital to the business of the College and may require special handling procedures.
 • ensure that records are maintained to meet all legal guidelines and scheduled to be destroyed as perscribed by law.

A General Records Schedule listing records found in College offices along with their retention periods and dispositions has been prepared, as well as schedules detailing retention for records produced by academic and admissions offices.

Storage and Retrieval of Records

Records that might be considered for off site storage are those records that must be kept for a specific length of time, but are not designated to be kept permanently. An example of a good candidate for off site storage is a record series that has a five-year retention period, and is accessed less than twice a semester. Records that are used more frequently are best left in the office for easier access.

Simmons College has a contract with Iron Mountain to store non-permanent records at their facility in Boston. At this time there is no charge to your office or department for storing records at Iron Mountain.

Records may be retrieved from Iron Mountain at any time. To request a file or box, contact the Records Manager at x2441.

Preparing Records for Permanent Retention in the College Archives

• Request boxes from the College Archives at x2441.These boxes hold about 2/3 of a standard file cabinet drawer per box, and can accommodate both letter and legal size folders.

 • Arrange and pack the boxes, removing folders from hanging files and transfering label and date information to the folder if necessary. When possible, the order of the files should reflect the original order of the files in your office.

 • Label the boxes. On one of the short ends of the box, write the department or office name and brief description of box contents. In some cases, you may choose to prepare a detailed list of all files included in the box. In that event, e-mail this list to the College Archives and keep a copy for your records.

 • Call Unicco at x1000 to schedule a pick up for the boxes. Also, please call the Archives at x2441 to let us know how many boxes you will be sending over.

Preparing Records for Non-Permanent Retention

 • Request boxes from the College Archives at x2441. These boxes hold about 2/3 of a standard file cabinet drawer per box, and can accommodate both letter and legal size folders.

 • Pack only 1 type of record per box, and only a single year per box. Start a new box for a different type of record. For example, purchase orders should not be packed with student records. Similarly, each year (fiscal, academic or calendar, depending on the type of record) must be packed separately in order to ensure that records are destroyed appropriately.

 • Label the boxes. On one of the short ends of the box, write the department or office name and brief description of box contents. In some cases, you may choose to prepare a detailed list of all files included in the box. In that event, e-mail this list to the College Archives and keep a copy for your records.

 • Call Unicco at x1000 to schedule a pick up for the boxes. Also, please call the Archives at x2441 to let us know how many boxes you will be sending over.

Retrieving Records from the College Archives

Call the Archives at x2441 and let us know what box number and/or file you need.

We will retrieve it and call and email you when it is ready. The average wait time is one to two business days.

 

Three Helpful Hints for Filing

Keep records arranged by years. It will make sorting them for offsite storage much easier.

Be consistent with your filing, and make sure new staff is trained in your filing procedures.

If you have any questions at all, contact the Records Manager.

Electronic Records

 • The same principles behind the guidelines of records retention schedules—legal, fiscal, evidential, historical—apply to both paper and electronic records.

 • It is recommended that records of a clearly historical and significant nature—final drafts of reports, faculty meeting minutes, etc.—should be printed out and stored as paper files in addition to electronically.

 • Electronic Records of a temporal nature—memos, planning documents, etc.—should be deleted when no longer needed.

 • Care should be taken to ensure that electronic records are “organized” in a logical and easily understandable fashion. It is recommended that electronic files be organized using folders similar to the way in which your paper records are filed.

 • File names should be descriptive of the files’ contents, i.e. “grocerylist_Feb022006.doc” or “directreportsmeeting_minutes_Feb152006.doc”

 • When possible, the date should be included in the file name to allow for ease of “versioning” and determining the most recent draft.

 • Particular attention must be paid to the storage and accessibility of electronic records. Files of departmental business should be accessible by department members who may be require to access it. Departmental business which may be needed to be accessed by multiple staff members should be placed on the G: drive, and no departmental work should be stored on the C: (hard) drive. Provided no other employees require access in the course of normal business, individual’s projects may be placed on the Y: drive.

 • When working from remote locations, the use of remote.simmons.edu is encouraged, and if, while working on departmental business, the use of floppy discs, jump drives, e-mail, etc. is necessary, it is imperative that the G: drive be properly updated at the earliest convenience.



Guide to the Simmons College Records Management Program
Created by Kent Woynowski for the Simmons College Archives, December 2001;
updated by Jason Wood, Associate Archivist & Records Manager, June 2006.

Page updated: July 28, 2008