Â鶹ÊÓƵ

Many Â鶹ÊÓƵleaders are issued an individual account based on their name (i.e., jill_smith@sfu.ca) and a role-based account based on their business title (i.e., vpacademic@sfu.ca). Below are tips to help Â鶹ÊÓƵleaders manage emails sent and received in two or more Â鶹ÊÓƵaccounts.

• Individual accounts should be used for non-administrative communications only (e.g., personal appointments, personal correspondence with family members and friends, professional development activities, and teaching and/or research activities).
• All Â鶹ÊÓƵadministrative business should be conducted using a role-based account. This promotes the segregation of personal and professional correspondence and makes responding to FOI requests easier, facilitates operational continuity during offboarding and onboarding, and demonstrates accountable record-keeping.
• Any email related to administrative business received in an individual account should be forwarded to role-based account before it is responded to. 
• Email from role-based accounts should be retained or deleted following an approved Records Retention Schedule and Disposal Authority (RRSDA). 
• Transitory email (i.e., casual or non-substantive messages, including attachments, that are of only passing value and not needed to document an action or decision) should be routinely deleted from both individual and role-based email accounts. Examples of transitory email include announcements of social events, meeting arrangements, newsletters, spam, cc copies, and any other message that has no further value beyond an immediate and minor transaction. When in doubt as to whether an email is transitory, keep instead of deleting.
• All email, regardless of whether it is received in an individual or role-based Â鶹ÊÓƵaccount, is subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). This means that your email may be included in a FIPPA request and potentially disclosed to the public. By maintaining a professional tone, using professional greetings, and proofreading your messages before sending them, you can ensure that your email is an accurate reflection of the work that you do and the decisions that you have made. 
• Consider documenting substantive decisions in a note to file, memo or meeting minutes instead of in email. Substantive decisions include those that impact the evolution of the university's programs and policies; protect the legal or financial rights of the university or any person or group of persons that is directly and materially affected by the decisions; or are subject to internal or external evaluation, audit or review. 
• Allow administrative support staff to maintain role-based accounts by following Guideline 58, Email Management Best Practices and Guideline 56: Official, Transitory and Personal Records: A Guideline for Â鶹ÊÓƵEmployees. 

Transitory vs Official Email Records

In order to effectively manage email, it is useful for Â鶹ÊÓƵleaders and their support staff to understand the difference between transitory and official email records. 

Official records are records that are evidence of the university’s administrative activities, transactions, and decisions. Official records must be retained and disposed of in accordance with an approved RRSDA. Transitory Records are records that have temporary usefulness and are only required for a limited period of time, in order to complete a routine action, or to prepare a subsequent draft, etc.

Identifying and deleting transitory email records reduces the clutter in your email account(s), saves storage space, and helps you find needed information more quickly. It is recommended that you regularly schedule at time to review your inbox, sent items, and additional user created folders, to identify and delete transitory emails. 

Documenting Substantive Decisions 

If an Â鶹ÊÓƵleader creates a note to file, documenting a substantive decision, then many of the emails created and received leading up to that decision may be classified as "transitory" and deleted. 

Be aware of the following:

• The issue or matter must be finalized, and a formal decision document created before emails can be classified as transitory and deleted.

• The transitory nature of some emails may be hard to assess even after relevant actions are completed and a decision formally documented. A terminal decision document might not capture important details found in emails that may be needed for future reference, accountability, or legal defense purposes. Best practice is to perform a case file "autopsy" when a matter is concluded*, identifying and deleting transitory emails while keeping those that provide important context or supportive detail to the final decision's rationale. If in doubt, keep instead of delete. 

• Do not delete emails (even if transitory) if they are relevant to a current or reasonably anticipated FIPPA request or legal claim (lawsuit) discovery process.

• Emails often contain multiple addressees and deletion by one office and retention by others may create the impression of inconsistent record-keeping practices across the University. FOI applicants are likely to interpret such gaps in an unfavourable manner. 

Note that file autopsies can be a time-consuming activity and involve the exercise of discretion given the contextual nature of this record category. If there is insufficient administrative support to do this work/exercise this discretion, best practice is to: 

1. Create terminal decision documents, 
2. Keep all email correspondence professional in tone and on topic, and 
3. Retain email and trust that FIPPA exceptions to an applicant's right of access will provide sufficient protection for frank and candid discussion of sensitive decision-making processes.