Email Retention Improvement

The Public Records Act requires that an agency conducts an adequate search for records that are responsive to public records requests. The University Policy and Public Records Office coordinates the response to requests.  One step in the process of responding to a public records request involves searching for responsive records, including engaging University employees to search their records.  Emails are one of the largest body of records created at Western.  Some of the challenges with employee emails include the sheer volume of email saved making it difficult to find relevant email, lack of adherence to retention policies, and saving email in inaccessible locations.  In addition, record loss is experienced when employees leave the University and their account is deleted along with their email.  Relevant emails with student employees are further complicated with the co-mingling of their student record-related email that are covered by FERPA privacy.

Addressing the challenges with public records requests that involve employee email will improve the process, accuracy, and thoroughness of our university response to public records requests.

Educating and changing the behavior of a large number of people is a hardy task.  As such, small, incremental improvements are desirable.