Very interesting - I did not know until now that I have such a horrible
and thankless job as a RIM in Higher Education!  

I've sat quietly by while others talk about how they view the
differences, but now I just have to weigh in on my chosen career.

I've worked in RIM in Higher Education for over 20 years, and I'm still
at it.  While some of what has been discussed is true, there may also be
some misperceptions out there. 

First of all, I will start by saying that it all depends on where in the
organization the RIM program is housed.  I report to the General Counsel
at Minnesota, and when I was at Florida, I reported to the Provost.  I
have other colleagues that report through the library as part of special
collections or University archives.  They probably have more challenges
than I do because RIM is seldom a priority of the Library.  

Secondly, Universities do have to follow many of the same laws as
corporations, and in many instances have more regulations.  That makes
RIM even more important to the University community right now.  We have
to follow the new Red Flag Rule from the FTC, and also
Gramm-Leach-Bliley, HIPAA, the various privacy laws out there, both
state and federal, credit card standards, and in large universities, we
have numerous other regulations.  We do follow SOX, because we do have
auditors and outside directors and because many of our constituents
expect non-profits to be more transparent.  We are indeed a very large
city, sometimes with our own utilities, hospitals, telecommunications,
ambulance and police departments.  We do research in many different
areas using many different technologies, chemicals, animals and drugs.
Each of these pieces of our University pie involves different retention
schedules based on different regulations, best practices, state and
federal laws, and research needs.  And it's all intertwined. It's a
myriad of different things every day that a RIM in higher education
faces, and it is truly never boring.  There is always something new that
comes along, even after 20 plus years.  

For the most part, Universities are highly decentralized.  That's always
been very hard to explain to people, especially vendors, who want to
sell us some kind of enterprise wide system.  We typically have
centralized student, human resources, payroll and financial systems.
Most of our other records are kept in various ways by various people on
various systems.  When someone asks me if the University is using X, I
can usually say probably.  Departments and colleges and other units can
buy whatever they want and install it for the most part, and maybe we
know about it and maybe we don't.  There are numerous email systems out
there, most being managed locally.  However, as bad as it sounds, it is
somewhat of organized chaos because we do have rules that they have to
follow and at least at the University of Minnesota, we have security
that has to be followed.  So, we know more than we used to know about
what and how people are managing the information.  

Research is always a concern, however most Universities now have
policies that spell out what belongs to whom, and it is not a given that
faculty take their grants with them when lured away by better money and
facilities.  There are typically agreements between the Universities,
granting agencies and researchers and these are getting more and more
common.  Most research is highly regulated, and PI's have to follow the
rules or risk losing the grant dollars.

Training is very big at Universities.  We've done all sorts of training
courses, both online and in person.  We'll be doing even more online
training as we implement more fun tools through the learning management
systems and course management systems.  

Still not convinced that this is a great place to work?  Let's try this
- I have a whole lot of freedom in what and how I do my job.  I can call
anyone I need to talk to without getting permission, and I can do any
presentation and say anything in that presentation without getting
permission.  The University community supports involvement in
professional associations, and there is ample opportunity to expand
horizons by taking any kind of class free.  I can use all the resources
the library has to offer and can check out books for months at a time.  

I think the best part of being a RIM in higher education is that I'm
never bored.  It's always something new, there's always someone new and
interesting to talk to, and there is always something new being tried.
I may not get as much money as someone in the private sector, and I
certainly can't say that I have a model RIM program, but I've learned
how to convince, cajole, and lead; I know when to use a "big stick" and
when it is best to try something else; I understand when to try again
and when to walk away; and I have learned how to listen to others and
tie their concerns and needs into RIM.  I've also learned to prioritize
and not let those things I can't do keep me from moving forward.  As I
tell everyone I know, I live in a gray world - an unstructured, quickly
changing, always moving, priority-shifting existence.  

Anyway, that's my take on how higher ed works, at least in the
Universities in which I've been involved. But, like corporations, each
situation will be different and like a corporation - you get back what
you put into it.  

Susan




Susan McKinney, CRM
Director, Records & Information Management
University of Minnesota
502 Morrill Hall
100 Church St. SE
Minneapolis, MN  55455
(612) 625-3497
(612) 626-4434 (FAX)
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