Pg. 7 of 10 - How to RAMP - Appraisal

By using the RAMP retention schedule, you can become your agency’s expert in appraising the value of your records. In the previous activity, we asked you to classify some records. I'll appraise some of them now, and then you’ll get to do a couple on your own. 

OK, let's start with...Working Files are typically the documents that are created in the lead-up to a report, or publication. Odds are, a good portion of records you'll encounter may fit this classification. So, let's take a look at the RAMP schedule. Here we are, on the table of contents, and I have located the Administrative Management section. Working files are the parts that make up a publication, or a report. Section 1.4 looks to be the place we should dig deeper! Here on the first page of the section, we find the schedule for- Working Files. As you can see, we hang on to these records for 1 year, then destroy them. Let's try appraising another record together. 

Audit Files! 

Audits are generally inquisitions into the usage of assets. So, let's look there first. 2.2, Auditing, Equipment & Inventory seems to be our destination this time. Audit records are found here. This seems pretty cut and dry, however, let's look at our appraisal. As you can see, you should retain these records for 10 years. These records should be kept permanently. You can also see that after 10 years, these documents should be transferred, and stored in archives. As always, this is a process that I can help you out with. Knowing the value of our records, and how they should be retained is vital. Now it's your turn to appraise a couple of example records. Good luck!

 

ACTIVITY

Below we've embedded the RAMP schedule. You can also download it or open an additional tab to do the activity below. This is for you to familiarize yourself with the RAMP schedule. 

1) Using Control F, search the RAMP document for "Retirement"

  • You will see 3 instances of retirement in the RAMP. 
    1. 3.3.6 is GRS-1877. This type of record is kept for 3 years, then destroyed.
    2. 4.1.19 is GRS-1905. This type of record is retained for 65 years, then destroyed.
    3. Refers to how long after the retirement of an employee, that their records are destroyed. 

2) Using Control F, search the RAMP document for "Trust".

  • How many instances of trust are there in the RAMP?
  • What is the corresponding GRS number?
  • What is the retention and disposition of this record type?

3) Your turn! Use Control F to search for a record typically used in your section.

  • What is the corresponding GRS number?
  • What is the retention and disposition of this record type?

 

 

PRO-TIP

Using Control F will allow you to search the RAMP document for key terms.

RAMPRetentionSchedule.pdf Download RAMPRetentionSchedule.pdf