A topic that appeared throughout the survey comments this year was the need for clarity on who exactly is responsible for the records we create. In this post we will be discussing what is the OPR and what they do.
When looking at a Retention and Disposition Schedule (RDS), aside from the time-period that units must retain the records, the RDS also specifies the Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR) for each set of records. Understanding OPR is crucial because offices have a tendency to retain everything “just in case”. Enter OPR. What does it mean and how can understanding it help you?
You can see highlighted in yellow in the image above that the Office of Primary Responsibility will be listed in every Schedule in the top right corner. The OPR for a record series is responsible for maintaining the full and complete set of records for a specific function. The OPR is also sometimes known as “source of truth.” For instance, the Records Management Office within the University Archives is the OPR for Retention Schedules (as defined in BoG Policy GA4), which means it is our responsibility to create and maintain them. But we don’t keep or maintain landscaping records, for example, as the OPR for those records is Campus and Community Planning and Building Operations. If our office happens to have landscaping records, we could dispose of them confidently because they are not our responsibility. Our version of landscaping records would be a reference copy (since we are not OPR) and copies can safely be destroyed under the Transitory Records schedule when necessary.
However, each unit is responsible for the records they create, regardless of whether they are transitory, operational, or archival. It is important to know what your unit has responsibility to keep and what records are retained for reference or convenience only. If you believe your unit should be the OPR for specific records and it currently isn’t, please reach out, we will update them as needed. To clarify, convenience copies can be destroyed sooner than defined in the RDS because a more complete set of records is being retained by the OPR. Unless otherwise noted in the RDS, units holding copies of records should retain them according to the transitory records schedule.
Further reading:
More information can be found in the Records Management Manual. For any other questions, the Guidelines page and the FAQ have other guides and step-by-steps to assist you. If you think the RMO has left your office out of the OPR list for a given records series, please contact us.