Email is considered a record containing evidence of official University business. As such, email (along with other kind of electronic records), can be part of Public Records Requests. Every UW employee is individually responsible for handling and managing these records in accordance with existing policies and procedures.
From this perspective, there are two kinds of email: Transitory and Substantive. Transitory emails can be deleted as soon as their purpose is met. Substantive must be retained following UW’s retention policies.
| Substantive Content Examples | Transitory Content Examples |
| Policy
Procedure Approvals Invoices/Receipts Customized Responses |
Preliminary Draft
Routine requests Meeting scheduling thread Announcements, acknowledgments Copies, automated notifications, etc |