Beginning on April 1, our Appraisal Teams will begin this fiscal year’s backlog records schedule reduction project. Backlog schedules are defined as those that are at least two years old and as of October 1, 2012, have an FY 2010 or older registration date. Based on lessons learned last year, this year the Appraisal Teams will also include FY 2011 schedules, those which are not actual backlog schedules, but will become part of next year’s backlog if not approved this year.
The backlog records schedule reduction project will include a 60-day focus from April 1 – May 31st on actual backlog schedules and all FY 2011 schedules. During this 60-day focus, appraisers will review all backlog schedules and take actions to move them forward as rapidly as possible for approval. Appraisers will continue to work with agencies on prioritizing other schedules and during this 60-day period we will continue to work on other schedules that are already in progress or others that agencies identify as high priority.
At the beginning of the fiscal year there were 90 open backlog schedules and 142 FY 2011 schedules. Currently, there are 52 backlog schedules and 79 FY 2011 schedules. The goal is to reduce the total number of backlog and FY 2011 schedules by a minimum of 75%, or 98 schedules remaining.
We are interested in reducing the number of older, open schedules in anticipation of the OMB/NARA M-12-18 directive requirement that all agencies schedule all Federal records by December 31, 2016. Having fewer open backlog schedules will increase our ability to more quickly process all incoming schedules.If you have any questions about your agency’s backlog records schedules, please contact your Appraisal Archivist. A list of Appraisal Archivists can be found at http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/appraisal/work-group-all.html.
For overall questions about the initiative, contact Margaret Hawkins, Director of Records Management Services, at (301) 837-1799, or by e-mail to margaret.hawkins@nara.gov.