The management of your area's records is an extremely important function. Misplaced or lost documents and files can hinder effective decision-making and can put the University at risk.
Records management program
The Records Management Program at UTS is designed to implement and maintain sound records management that improves business practices, assists in the capture and maintenance of corporate memory, and ensures compliance with the State Records Act 1998 and other relevant legislation.
UTS has a devolved records management system in which each area is responsible for creating and maintaining their records in accordance with a pan-University framework. This framework includes a quality management component comprising audits and self-assessment to facilitate the ongoing sustainability of faculty and unit records management systems. Additionally, there is a risk and disaster management plan to help areas identify risk that may affect their records and assist in recovery of records in the event of a disaster.
The Records Management Program also provides:
- procedures for the management of records within faculties and units
- training for staff responsible for records management in areas of the University
- Records Management Awareness Sessions for all staff.
For more information about records management, contact your Records Advisor.
Local area responsibilities
Within the devolved records management systems, each area has delegated records contacts. Each area should ensure responsibilities are delegated to records contacts within their areas. University Records must be informed if local records contacts change to ensure the records management system is sustainable.
Primary Records Contact
The Primary Records Contact is usually a senior officer with the faculty or unit. In faculties, it is usually the faculty manager or a senior officer under the faculty manager. In administrative Units, it can be the director or office manager, or even an executive assistant where there are no other support staff.
The Primary Records Contact is responsible for overall recordkeeping across the faculty or unit. They are the point of contact for major faculty or unit wide issues, or changes in policy and legislation.
Secondary Records Contact
The Secondary Records Contact is usually a senior officer within an individual area. For example, a faculty will have one Primary Records Contact but may have ten Secondary Records Contacts, one for each individual school or department, etc.
The Secondary Records Contact is responsible for recordkeeping in individual areas, as well as audit and self-assessment activities.
Local Records Contact
The Local Records Contact can be any member of staff. Individual areas may have multiple Local Records Contacts. It is advisable that areas have at least one Local Records Contact and a backup person. University Records will provide specific training for the Local Records Contacts.
The Local Records Contacts are responsible for day-to-day records management activities, such as creating files and registering them in the area's records database template on request by other staff. The Local Records Contacts are often also responsible for organising disposal activities and archival storage.
