Email Management Guidelines for Microsoft 365 Web Version
Electronic messages, such as email, texts and instant messages, are a convenient way that we convey
information, similar to sending paper mail through the postal service. If an electronic message documents
university business, it must be managed as a university record. Not all records are equal in value or retentionperiod. The retention period for each message is based upon the content and informational value of themessage, not the technology through which it is transmitted or stored.
Keep in mind that email and other electronic messages are comprised not just of the textual message andattachments, but also metadata (to, from, subject, time, date, system, etc.) about the message and itstransmission.
The key to effectively managing the plethora of email and electronic messages that pass through our accounts
is to be proactive. Delete the non-records and transient/transitory records that have outlived theiradministrative value so that what remains is the small percentage of records, sent or received, that retention
schedules require to be managed on an ongoing basis.
The management of email and electronic messages should be approached in a manner similar to how paper
mail is processed at work and at home. It starts by reviewing the message’s content! There are some steps
that you can take to identify, organize, and clean-up your email folders to keep everything manageable.

Determining if an electronic message (email, text, etc.) is a record and therefore should be
retained per University records retention schedules.
••“Record” defined by Ohio Revised Code 149.011(G)o “…any document, device, or item, regardless of physical form or characteristic,o created or received by, or coming under the jurisdiction of, any public office of the stateor its political subdivisions,o which serves to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures,operations, or other activities of the office.”
Questions that can help with this determination:o Does it document a business activity, transaction or decision?
o Is it proof of a business-related event or activity or evidence of work completed?
o Do you need it to identify who participated in a business activity or had knowledge of an event?
o Does it have legal or compliance value?
o Does it support facts you claim to be true, since the person with the direct knowledge of thefacts is not available?
o Could it help resolve a dispute in the future?
o Does the law expect that the University will retain it?
o Do you have the only copy within the University? (ex. It was received from an external source)o Are you the author responsible for managing it and its responses?
o If it were in paper form, would it be retained?

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Email Clean-up Strategies

Be a proactive manager of your inbox and sent mail and reap the benefits of efficiency in numerous otherareas of your daily work.
••••

Don’t attempt to do it all at once
– Start with today’s emails and move forward– Then gradually work on the email backlog
Set aside a regular time to file. Smaller chunks are more manageable and less tedious.
– Every Friday 4:00-5:00– Every day 1:00-1:15
Delete what you know can be deleted. This will make what remains to be filed less daunting.
– Quick ways to slim down your email• See Transient and Non-Record Tip Sheet• Sort by Type, shift+click the first and last meeting appointment, delete (the officialappointment is on your calendar)• Search by name and/or keyword such as “name.# and starbucks” or “name.# and walk”
to weed out potential non-record emails between colleagues going to lunch or taking awalk, for example. What words do you use frequently in non-record emails?
• Emails that are copies of what is in another university system (eLeave, eRequest, IT
help tickets, etc.). The auto-generated emails notify you of an action or update in thosesystems, but you can always log into the system to see any needed information.
File what you know must be retained– According to record retention schedules (see OSU General Retention Schedule or request yourunit’s unique schedule)

Identifying the Official Copy of an Email or Electronic Message••

Sender typically has the official copy of an email, since they are the author/creator.
– Filing your “sent” messages is important!
Recipient can have official copy if:– Email received from external source– Required for documentation– If action will be taken based on a collection of responses, such as to a question or poll.

Simple Decision Tree2

Managing Email Threads

Often, a single email conversation, or thread, contains multiple emails. Whether all of the emails in a thread areretained, or just the last one, depends on a number of factors.
••

Retain only the last email in the thread if:
o The email thread is transient (ex. Colleagues determining availability to have a meeting)o The thread is not needed as evidence or proof
Retain all of the emails in a thread if:
o One of the participants does not use the reply all feature, thus not all of the threads contain theirresponseo Multiple participants are responding to the same email at the same time, thus each response
will be separate instead of in a single threado The thread contains attachments. When responding to an email, the physical attachments to notstay with the thread.
o The emails are needed as evidence or proof. Anyone responding to a thread has the ability toedit any part of the email thread, including what others have said. In some instances, emails
may need to be compared to ensure that nothing was changed.

Filing Methods for Inbox and Sent Items Folder•••Drag and Dropo Select the email, or emails (Ctrl+click), to be filed into a single folder
o Drag the emails to the Outlook folder
o Drop them in the folder
Move To Feature from Toolbar
o Select the email, or emails, to be filed intoa single folder
o In the top toolbar, select the Move To
drop-down menuo Choose your folder from the drop-down list of your Outlook folders
 The last several folders that you filed in (through this process) will be listed, or Select the Move to a Different Folder to go to a list of all of your Outlook Folders
 Select the folder in which to file the email
 Another option is to search for the folder that you want by typing words from the folder
name into the search box at the top of the drop-down menu
Move To Feature from an individual Emailo Place the cursor in the right corner of the email you want to file. A menu will appear (tocustomize the menu, see Establishing Custom Settings).

ooSelect Move To
Choose your folder from the drop-down list of your Outlook folders
 The last several folders that you filed in (through this process) will be listed, or3

Select the Move to a Different Folder to go to a list of all of your Outlook Folders
Select the folder in which to file the email

Establishing Custom Settings

You have the ability to customize the actions that you can take on an email. You may need to add thesesettings prior to using them for the first time. To customize settings:
oooo

Go to the Settings gear in the upper right cornerAt the bottom of the Settings box, select View All Outlook SettingsEnsure that Mail is highlighted
Select Customize Actions
 Under Quick Actions select the following to add quick action features to your emailpreview: Move to a Folder (you may choose to add other quick actions as well) Under Message Surface, select the following to appear on the message window: Assignpolicy (you may choose to add other actions as well)

File Structures for Outlook

Creating file structures for email in Outlook is not unlike creating file structures for shared drives, as presented
in the records management tip sheet File Organization Best Practices. It can be done in these simple steps:•Create folders based on record series (records created for the same purpose that capture the sametypes of information) that you frequently create or receiveo See the OSU General Retention Schedule and your unit’s unique schedule for record series

Ex. Invoices, Workshop files, Grant Files, Sick/Vacation Leave Requests, Contracts, AdvisingFiles•o Avoid using employee names as high-level folderso Avoid naming folders “miscellaneous”, “general”, “stuff”, etc.
Create sub-folders by retention trigger date•

Create additional sub-folders as needed, for organizational purposes or for actions pending completion•oEx. Calendar year, Fiscal year, Year Closed, Year Separated, etc.

oEx. Active/Inactive, Open/Closed, etc.

By filing this way, when the current folder closes, the oldest folder has met retention and can bedeleted.
o A new folder for the new current year can be created(File structure example on next page.)4

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Applying Retention Rules using Microsoft 365 Web Version

Automated retention rules can be applied at the folder and individual email level in Outlook 365 web version.
Because the retention clock runs based on the email date stamp, this is best used for record series that have aflat retention period (1 year, 3 years, 5 years, etc.) or a CR+ (creation date +) retention period. It is not yet
recommended for record series with an ACT+ (Active +) retention period.
1. Right click on Outlook subfolder to which to apply a retention policy
2. In the drop-down, select Assign policya. Select a Retention Label that corresponds with the retention period to assign the folder

3. Subfolders will default to the Use Parent Folder Policy (same retention as parent folder). To give asubfolder a different retention period from the parent folder, repeat steps 1-3 above.
4. To assign a retention period to an individual email, right click on the email then select Advanced
Actions  Assign Policy  Retention Label from the drop-down menus.
5. When retention policies are assigned, emails automatically are deleted upon expiration of theretention time (it may take 24 hours)

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To Text or Email?
It is okay to send a quick, transient text message
such as:“Stuck in traffic. Running late.”

Official business should be conducted via
university email, where it is captured onuniversity servers. Examples include:
Documents a business transaction, activity, ordecision“Sick child, won’t be in today.”

Legal or compliance implications“Ready for lunch?”

Could be needed or used as evidence or proof“What time is our meeting?”

Would someone expect you to have it?

Could the transient message be conveyed via post-it
note?

If it were in paper, would you retain it as a record?

Questions: Pari Swift, University Records Manager, swift.102@osu.edu, 614-292-4092

Related Records Management Resources:••••

OSU General Records Retention Schedule
OSU Certificate of Records Destruction
OSU Records Management Tip Sheets and Guidance Documents
Ohio Electronic Records Committee (OhioERC)

Created: March 2020, Updated May 2020, Updated November 2023

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