AC 10.2021
November 19, 2020
MEMORANDUM TO FEDERAL AGENCY CONTACTS: Annual Federal Agency Records Management Reporting
The records management reporting period for CY 2020 will soon begin. This year, all Federal agencies will have from January 19, 2021, to March 19, 2021, to submit the required reports. Agencies will be receiving additional communications with full details and instructions from our office, including copies of the questions and templates. Our plan is to share more information at the next Bimonthly Records and Information Discussion Group (BRIDG) meeting on December 16, 2020, and to provide the templates to you via email on or prior to the start of the reporting period.
While NARA recognizes and appreciates the extraordinary challenges Federal agencies are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, annual reporting is an essential tool for reporting to Congress and the public on the state of records management across the Federal Government. To help us understand the impact COVID-19 has had on the ability of agencies to create, maintain, and provide access to records, agencies will have the opportunity to convey this information in both the 2020 Records Management Self-Assessment (RMSA) and the Senior Agency Official for Records Management (SAORM) Annual Report. The Federal Electronic Records and Email Management Maturity Model Report will remain unchanged.
We will require agencies to submit the following:
- Senior Agency Official for Records Management (SAORM) Annual Report: This report gathers data on agency progress towards the goals of the OMB/NARA memorandum Transition to Electronic Records (M-19-21) and other important records management initiatives. SAORMs will receive instructions and the template for the report at the beginning of the reporting period. SAORM reports will be posted to NARA’s website soon after receipt.
- Federal Electronic Records and Email Management Maturity Model Report: This report, based on a maturity model, is designed to evaluate how well federal agencies are managing their electronic records and email. The survey tool information will be sent to Agency Records Officers at the beginning of the reporting period. Agency responses will be posted to NARA’s website soon after receipt.
- Records Management Self-Assessment (RMSA): The annual RMSA asks questions that assess compliance with records management statutes, regulations, and NARA policies and guidance. Information about accessing the survey tool will be sent via email to Agency Records Officers of all federal agencies and those designated to respond at the beginning of the reporting period. After completing the assessment, agencies will have access to an individualized report of their results.
Questions about annual reporting should be sent to rmselfassessment@nara.gov.
If your agency’s contact information for any of these reports has changed, please contact us immediately at the email address above to ensure instructions, copies of the questions and templates, and survey tool links are received.
In FY 2021, NARA will issue a consolidated records management report that summarizes and analyzes the data gathered from all three of the above reports. Previous annual reports are available on NARA’s records management website at https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/resources/saorm-reports.
LAURENCE BREWER
Chief Records Officer
for the U.S. Government