The Relationship between Policy and Audit
Across time the Audit and Destruction practices should feed back into the institution's records management practices and produce modifications. If necessary these can in turn feed back into institutional policy.
The Starting Point
Whatever the formal title of the person made responsible for conducting the audit, a number of preliminary tasks will need to be done:
Obtain, or draw up, a plan of the institution's existing management structure and identify the key players who can be helpful and who should be involved. Keeping this group informed of progress both formally and informally is a key element in a successful audit.
In a large institution it may be useful to identify champions in particular schools or departments, who can be brought together to discuss issues, and who can help at the gathering information stage.
Draw up a preliminary plan, with a rough idea of timings and costs (this will certainly be modified as the audit progresses).
Identify known storage areas for 'old records'.
Do not start with these. Always start with the current business structure and processes.
It is almost certain that the majority of records in store will form part of working series and sequences that are easier to identify from current business practices than in isolation.
Your work will begin in the same way as a Process Review.
Draw up a formal Project Management plan for the audit to control timings, effort and key stages. You can get more information on how to do this in the Project Management infoKit. This has the advantage of being able to give particular departments or schools both an indication of priorities and the probable date of the audit reaching their patch. It has the additional advantage of helping to avoid disruption to business at difficult times. For example, no Finance Department would welcome the audit during the annual financial audit. It permits timings to be negotiated, and if necessary, changed without disruption to the overall schedule.
Identify two or three quick wins, probably in the central administration. This has two purposes:
Political - to give a demonstration of what is possible
Practical - to try out a do-able part of the audit as a method of testing techniques. This will show up where the methods need modification.
You should have a look at the Appendix to the Study of the Records Lifecycle. It gives an indication of the general headings and categories of record which might be expected in particular areas of a college or university. It will also help to shape the questions which should be asked as part of the audit.
