What is a Records Retention Schedule?
Records retention schedules, or Records Retention and Disposition Authorizations (RDAs or RRDAs), dictate to offices throughout the state of Wisconsin how long to keep their records (called the retention period) and what to do with those records once that time has passed (called the disposition instructions). Most retention schedules are designed to apply to records common to many UW institutions or even across Wisconsin state government agencies. Some units at UWM may also be covered by specific records schedules, which dictate retention and disposition of records for that office only. Under Wisconsin state law, records may not be destroyed unless they have been scheduled under an approved records retention schedule. All records schedules sunset, or expire, after 10 years, at which point their associated records groups must be re-scheduled.
Functional Schedule Groups
The official records schedule documents, published as PDFs, are available on the UW System Records Management site (for UW System schedules) and the state Department of Administration site (for state schedules). They are grouped by broad institutional function and usually sorted by schedule number, and sometimes include some additional information such as example records for each series. These can be useful if you need to browse numerous similar schedules.
Office-Specific Records Schedules
Records schedules can be created by UWM which apply only to a particular office, department, or other campus unit, often referred to as “local schedules.” Please contact the records officer for a list of your specific office’s schedules.
What if my records have no associated retention schedules, or the schedules are expired or otherwise in need of updating?
Contact Records Management to set up an appointment for a records survey. Please fill out a Record Series Description Worksheet and email or send a hard copy via campus mailer to the archives in advance of your appointment in order to expedite the process.