Electronic mail systems, commonly called email, have become the communications method of choice for many University employees. Email messages are often used as communication substitutes for the telephone as well as to transmit substantive information or records previously committed to paper and transmitted by more traditional methods. Email messages can contain records, and in many cases, may be the only record created documenting a transaction, an action taken or a policy determination or interpretation. This combination of communication, record creation and record keeping has created ambiguities on the status of email messages as University records. 

The management of email touches on nearly all functions on which a University department is dependent for recordkeeping: privacy, administration, vital records management, administrative security, auditing, access and archives. The need to manage email messages properly is the same as for other recordkeeping systems to ensure compliance with federal and state laws and University policies concerning the creation of, retention of and access to records. 

University departments that use email have an obligation to make employees aware that email messages, like paper records, must be retained and destroyed according to established records management procedures. 

Email Policy 

The University of Missouri System encourages the use of information technology resources to support its mission. See Collected Rules and Regulations 110.005 and Email Policy.  

Email Records v. Non-Records 

It is important to understand the distinction between records and non-records. A record is documentation created or received and used by a department in the conduct of University business. It provides evidence of business-related activities, events and transactions with ongoing business, legal, compliance, operational or historical value. To be an accurate and authentic record, the documentation must contain sufficient content, context and structure to provide evidence of an activity. 

Not all email messages document University business. Departments must be aware of their responsibility to manage email records accordingly. See the Records General Policy for the definition of a University record. 

Records of Official University Business 

Email messages that document decisions, policies, procedures, resource expenditures, operations or delivery of services are evidence of official University business. They focus on decision making, financial and business analysis, forecasting and reporting, customer service, compliance and protection of the University's legal interests. Departments must ensure that these messages are appropriately stored, organized, retained and disposed of according to their approved Records Retention Authorization.  

Examples of email messages that document official University business: 

  • General correspondence regarding management, financial, operating procedures or policy matters such as purchase orders and meeting minutes. 

  • Interoffice messages regarding management, financial operating procedures or policy matters such as timesheets and travel vouchers. 

  • Messages regarding University policy or the policy process such as minutes of meetings. 

  • Messages posted in an official capacity such as job announcements. 

  • Messages that are relied upon in the development of management, financial, operating procedures or policy matters.

Visit Electronic Records Management to determine if a message is a record. 

Non-records 

Email messages may have an official context but not be part of a business transaction. Those messages are non-records, and should not be retained in a recordkeeping system.  

Examples of email with an official context, but no value beyond reference: 

  • General department correspondence regarding routine business activities.

  • Interoffice messages regarding:

    • Employee activities (e.g. holiday parties)

    • Phone calls

    • Invitations and responses to work-related events

  • Listserv messages, unless the messages are relied upon in the development of management, financial, operating procedures or policy matters.

  • Preliminary drafts of letters, memoranda, reports, worksheets and informal notes which do not represent significant basic steps in the preparation of the record document. 

Personal Transactions 

Any email message that is neither created nor received in the course of routine or official University business should be disposed of immediately. 

Filing and Maintenance 

Only the official copy of an email record must be filed and maintained in a recordkeeping system. Additional copies are considered convenience copies and are considered non-records, which may be disposed of when they are no longer needed. 

Recordkeeping systems may be paper-based, electronic or a combination of the two. If a department chooses to maintain printed copies of email, the procedures must include the appropriate transmission data, attachments, calendars and task lists. 

Maintain a filing and classification scheme that will facilitate access, retention and disposition. Record emails should be filed in a way that enhances their accessibility and facilitates the records management tasks. Departments should create a filing system for email that parallels related filing structures for hard copy files. Filing practices should separate personal messages so they can be routinely deleted. Departments should also establish a department-wide naming convention for electronic filing systems and electronic records. Regularly delete non-records. 

Best Practices 

Before conducting University business using email, assess the business needs of the department and the type of information to be communicated to determine whether email is the most suitable method of communicating the information. A complete email record must incorporate the address, identify the intended recipient(s) and the message content. The message should consist of: identification of the sender, meaningful subject line and signature block. If a record copy of an email message is printed, all components need to be printed to have a complete record. 

Email has the capability of being copied and forwarded to numerous individuals, and messages may be retained long after the intended function has been completed. Keep email free of personal opinions and inappropriate commentary. Never create a message that you would not want to appear on television or in the newspaper.
If you sent to a distribution list, you must also keep a copy of the members of that list for as long as you are required to keep the message itself.
If an email has an attachment, the content of the attachment will determine if it is a record. Attachments may be integrated directly into the department/user's filing system, multiple attachments or attachments in multiple formats may be associated with an individual message, or the body of the message itself may contain information associated with the attachments. In these cases, if the attachment is a record, the message should be treated as a compound document, and the relationships between all components of the message must be maintained to ensure a complete and accurate record. Retention should be defined by the longer of (1) the retention requirements for the message, or (2) the retention requirements for the attachment.
Usually, drafts are not retained as official record copies because they do not represent the final, authorized position of the organization. Drafts should be purged immediately after the final version has been approved.
Departments commonly use email to disseminate information to groups of personnel. This practice results in the creation of multiple copies of the same message. The official record copy is usually the creator's copy and the creator is responsible for retention of the record. If the message and/or the attachment is edited and then forwarded, the forwarding individual (rather than the message creator) is considered the official record copy owner and responsible for the record's retention. All other copies of the message should be deleted as soon as they are no longer needed by the recipient.
A thread is an email conversation of at least one response on a similar subject. The conversation can be broken or continued over time, or the topic changed during the conversation. After the last email message on the original topic is sent, the individual responsible for maintaining the record copy shall file the thread according to content, not necessarily by subject line. The date field is the start trigger for the retention period. All other participants in the message thread should delete their copy as soon as it is no longer needed.
Copyright laws apply to email. Unless the email has been placed expressly in the public domain or the use is fair use, the user must seek permission from the copyright holder to use their copyrighted work.
Do not use email to communicate confidential or sensitive records. In the University environment, there are three major categories of records and information that are confidential by law: medical information, student educational records and personally identifiable employee and student information, but there are other types of records that are also confidential.

Retention and Disposition

There is no single retention period for email messages. The value of email messages is based upon their informational content. Messages that are deemed to be records need to be retained the same length of time that they would be retained if they were hard copy. Because most frequently the user will determine the record status of an email message, University employees need to acquaint themselves with institutional records retention policies. The University has retention schedules that cover most records common to all departments as well as campus and department specific records retention authorizations. These authorizations apply to all records covered by them regardless of the record media.

Email records must be maintained in a usable format throughout the approved retention period. If the record is to be maintained in an electronic format, it must be migrated to new software and storage media as upgrades occur.  

Email records should be deleted promptly as soon as the approved retention period has expired. Deleting records systematically and promptly limits University risks in the retention of records that are no longer needed and significantly reduces space and cost requirements to maintain the email.

Approved retention times must also be applied to backups containing copies of the email records. If the records continue to be maintained on backups beyond the approved retention time periods, the information still remains accessible and subject to discovery and open record requests.

Access

If you receive an open records request for records contained in your email system, you are obligated to respond in the same fashion that you would a request for paper records. If you have questions about the application of the open records law (Missouri Sunshine Law), contact the General Counsel's office before your respond.

Email users do not own their email messages and should not assume their communications are confidential or private. Email users should exercise great care in using email as it is not confidential.  

Through an open records request, members of the public may seek information found in electronic files. In litigation pursuant to a discovery action, someone may access information from your electronic files. Under certain circumstances, the University may access electronic files. The University's Acceptable Use Policy outlines instances when the University may access faculty and staff electronic files.

Preservation

Those email records appraised as having long term, permanent or historical value to the University must be retained in a medium that will be useable for future generations. Since there is no national standard for permanency of electronic records medium, it is not considered acceptable for permanent record storage. Therefore, email records that are of permanent value must be transferred to another acceptable medium for preservation.