AC 04.2019

November 13, 2018

MEMORANDUM TO FEDERAL AGENCY CONTACTS:  Annual Federal Agency Records Management Reporting

The annual records management reporting period will soon be open. This year, all Federal agencies will have from January 7, 2019, to March 8, 2019, to submit the following required reports to NARA. 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 the templates with you via email prior to the start of the reporting period.

We will require agencies to submit the following:

Records Management Self-Assessment (RMSA): The annual RMSA, covering activities in FY 2018, 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 the RMSA may be sent to rmselfassessment@nara.gov.

Federal Email Management Reporting: This survey is designed to evaluate how well Federal agencies are managing their email records at the time the survey is completed, according to the Criteria for Managing Email Records in Compliance with the Managing Government Records Directive (M-12-18). 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. Questions about the email survey may be sent to rmselfassessment@nara.gov.

Senior Agency Official for Records Management (SAORM) Annual Report: This report gathers data on agency progress towards the goals of the OMB/NARA Managing Government Records Directive (M-12-18) and other important records management initiatives as identified by NARA, covering activities in CY 2018. 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. Questions about the SAORM report may be sent to prmd@nara.gov.

If your agency’s contact information for any of these reports has changed, please contact us immediately at the email addresses above to ensure instructions, copies of the questions and templates, and survey tool links are received.

In FY 2019, 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/inspections.html.

LAURENCE BREWER
Chief Records Officer
for the U.S. Government