Paula J. Johnson said

" I certainly would be glad of your feedback, from your varied
experience
steps for managing email in a real world working situation, where by
policy the recipient is the records custodian and has to make the
determination."  


Paula,
As we developed our Records Management Guidelines
<http://www.utsystem.edu/records/documents/Guidelines.doc> , we realized
that the custodian concept breaks down in the arena of email.  While IT
is the physical custodian of the email system and the file system used
to store electronic files including .pst files (if used), the end user
actually is what I would refer to as the "determinative custodian",
because the control of the delete button or any filing decisions resides
with that end user.  Therefore, the concept of ownership becomes very
important because there must be an understanding at the business process
level of which records are necessary/required to be maintained, how long
they need to be kept, etc. and the responsibility for ensuring this
takes place must be decentralized down to the management of the
individual department or unit.  We have put that responsibility on the
end user, with oversight by the department head and records coordinator
for that department.

The guidelines were just introduced last month so the jury is still out
as to how well this will play out in practice.  It does provide an
opportunity/necessity for lots and lots and LOTS of user education, and
still does not assure that we are keeping what we need to keep without
overwhelming our systems with the glut.  I believe that coupled with the
compliance monitoring we will do, it will make some inroads, however.

Wish I had a simple answer - in fact I wish ANYONE did.  In the
meantime, I appreciate what I learn from my peers and am willing to
share any tiny steps that are successful as well.

Mary Hilliard, CRM 
Records Manager, Records Management Officer 
University of Texas System Administration 
210 West 6th Street 
Austin, TX   78703 
512-499-4557

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