Spring cleaning took place a little early this year on Grounds. Various University offices destroyed 9,500 pounds of paper records as part of Records Management Day.
The event's goal was to help University offices dispose of records they no longer needed and to promote proper record management processes.
The Office of Records Management organized the event, which took place Jan. 15. Director of Record Management Caroline Walters said the event was "very successful," noting that some of the documents shredded were more than 30-years-old, including several time sheets that dated back to 1975.
"We're here to help them figure out what they need to keep, and what they can get rid of," Walters said.
Stacey Rittenhouse, office manager for the Office of the Comptroller, agreed that the event was a success. Her office removed more than 128 boxes of superfluous documents.
Walters said a large part of her job is to help office managers, like Rittenhouse, understand that it is appropriate to dispose of older documents.
"They don't know how long to keep them, so they just kept them," she said.
The results of this "culture of keeping" can be dramatic. Walters said one office freed an entire room, and during a previous Records Management Day in June last year, more than 29,000 pounds of paper were shredded.
Officials also use Records Management Day to promote the services that the Records Management Office offers, such as record management training for faculty and staff.
Walters said such training can help prevent fears of disposing of documents that might contain personal information, like social security numbers, which she cited as a major cause for the clutter.
The Office of Records Management is planning another shredding event for this July, after the University's fiscal year ends.
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