Records management is the application of management principles to the systematic control of the life cycle of all records created or received in the course of an organization’s business. It provides measurable benefits in many areas, including cost reduction and avoidance, protection of vital records needed in case of disaster, systematic policy-based destruction of records which become obsolete after their retention requirements are met (about 95% of total volume), and the preservation of historical records (about 5%).

Colleges and universities have been adopting records management as a management function since its initial implementation in higher education (1963) by Clark Kerr, then-president of the University of California. Among institutions adopting records management to address records needs is the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). UTK is a Carnegie Research I institution and the state’s senior public research university.

Records Storage Savings

One approach to cost avoidance and reduction is centralized storage and handling of inactive records. In 1997-98, UTK’s Records Management Office (RMO) – with a staff of four and a customer base of over 215 campus organizations – received 8,646 cubic feet (cu. ft.) of boxed (1.0 cu. ft. boxes) inactive records for storage in its high-volume low-cost records center. Analysis of this single feature of their services points to significant cost-reduction and avoidance achievements.

If those 8,646 cu. ft. of inactive records had been retained at their offices of origin and had those offices acquired 1,441 four-drawer vertical filing cabinets to house the inactive records in their offics, the cost of the cabinets alone would come to $224,796.¹

A related consideration is the value of floor space. Each 4-drawer vertical file cabinet requires an allocation of 9.6 sq. feet of floor space.² Average replacement or new-building cost in the Knoxville area is $41.31 per sq. ft. for commercial-type buildings (Facility Managers’ Cost Book for local area). The floor space required for 1,441 cabinets would be 13,834 sq. ft. X $41.31, a value of $571,483. This is space which cannot be allocated to more valuable programmatic functions.

The conservative cost figures applied here for filing equipment and floor space represent a gross savings of $796,279. After subtracting RMO’s 1997-98 budget ($128,306), the net savings or avoidances realized from this one service are $667,982. With records volumes typically growing at 25% per year, centralized management of inactive records becomes increasingly attractive.

Even the simple matter of storage boxes for inactive records suggests the benefits and economies of scale in centralized records services. Campus offices often buy typical “Bankers Boxes” (1.0 cu. ft.) for inactive records. These are available locally @ $2.64 (includes discount). The cost of these boxes of the same size for the 8,646 cu. ft. at UTK would be $22,825. However, the more sturdy and reusable boxes bought by RMO with volume discounts @ $ .96 would cost $14,525 less.

Lest these figures seem out of line:

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration reports that in FY 1998, one cubic foot of records could be stored in a federal records center for $1.59 annually while that same cubic foot of records cost $23.10 to maintain in typical office space and equipment. The savings, then, in the UTK analysis would be greater if all other direct and indirect costs were applied.

Records Storage Savings

A related cost-saving service is the scheduled, timely, systematic, and supervised destruction of thousand of cubic feet of inactive records annually at the expiration of the retention period approved by the unit head and the university administration. On average, RMO staff annually destroy 2,300 cu. ft. of UTK records. To achieve unassailable grounds for records destruction, RMO researches statutes and regulations, reviews practices at other universities, and factors in UTK policies. Records disposition – based on sound, policy-based records schedules – provides audit, risk management, and litigation support by ensuring that destruction is done systematically, in a timely manner, and using approved and secure methods.

An effective records center program also eliminates departments guessing how long records should be retained. It puts an end to hundreds of hours needlessly spent by campus office staff who must:

(1) review retention schedules,

(2) review office records covered by various periods,

(3) search for the records,

(4) physically pull the records from their locations, and

(5) destroy – or have destroyed – records rendered obsolete under the applicable schedules.

Costs for these activities would include supervisory and clerical time as well as overhead. This effort could reasonably be unit-costed at $10 per box for steps (1)--(5), above. This unit cost, applied to the 2,300 boxes to be destroyed, would amount to $23,000 in annual savings.

Participation in records management by state agencies is required by law (Tennessee Code Annotated §10-7-301/308). UTK campus units, however, have never been required to use RMO’s services. Some 215 of them, however, participate because doing so makes compelling economic and legal sense. In fact, they receive services of a higher quality and get them more quickly delivered than they could doing the work themselves.

Opportunities to reduce operating costs–conserve space, reduce information handling costs, improve efficiency, enhance accountability – would be welcome at any university. On the grounds that sound records practices are an important campus-wide goal, there are no charges for 98%³of RMO’s customers.

¹ 18,646 cu. ft. ÷ 6.0 cu. ft. capacity per 4-drawer cabinet = 1,441 cabinets X $156 (mid-range discounted price per 4-drawer cabinet). This is a conservative figure since offices might elect to buy more expensive 4- or 5-drawer lateral cabinets ($500-$600 after discount).

². 9.6 sq. ft = cabinet base (2.7 sq. ft.) including drawer pulls + aisle space for drawer pull-out (2.4 sq. ft.) + aisle space for consultation of records (2.25 sq. ft.) + passageway allocated for other staff (2.25 sq. ft.). Access space requirements vary with local fire codes.

³Administration of the four-campus University of Tennessee System and other non-campus functions are housed on the Knoxville campus and pay a small fee for records management services–as they do for use of other campus-based services.

To find out more about information management and records management, please visit a link below:

    What is information management?

    Information management questions and answers

    Presentations on imformation management

    Do you need information management?

    What does records management do?

    Records management facts, laws, statistics, and wisdom

    About retention schedules