COURSE REQUIREMENTS

The emphasis of the course is on the required readings, the project, and the exams. Guest lectures are an important part of the course and not an "extra." They give students the opportunity to better understand specific records management activities, and they afford some insight into the organizations and personnel that practice records management.

Exams: (500 points)

1. Mid-term exam: March 4 (250 points). Multiple choice and true/false. Questions will be derived from the text as well as from the readings and from class lectures and speakers.
2. Final exam: May 13 (250 points). Multiple choice and true/false. The final exam will not be comprehensive but will focus on material studied since the mid-term.

Projects: (500 points)

Project 1 Records Retention Schedule Project - Due March 18 (250 points)

You will receive an alphabetical list of file folder titles as they appear in a straight alphabetical filing system and will be required to develop a retention schedule for the titles using your textbook, books on reserve, reading packet, and Web resources. As we will have discussed in class, some of the items are records series, while other items are non-record items, and others have outlived their useful information life. For this project, you will be required to develop a records retention form on which to list the records series and the retention periods. Also, you will be required to cite the legal citations for the decisions that you recommend.

Project 2 Filing Project - Due April 29 (250 points)

Use the same list of file folder titles provided in the Records Retention Schedule Project. Based upon the rules and guidelines presented in class, you will be required to identify the weaknesses and flaws in the organizing scheme as it exists and to indicate what you would do to remedy the scheme and to make it more workable and more efficient.

The projects can be completed by one or two students; however, only one grade will be given per project. Each project is to be prepared on a word processor following an accepted style manual such as A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations by Kate L. Turbian or The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White. If a project is not handed in on time, it will receive a lower grade. If a project is handed in after the class meeting at which it is due, but still on the same day, 10% will be deducted automatically from the paper grade. If it is submitted a day late, 25% will be deducted automatically from the paper grade, and an additional 25% will be deducted for each additional late day.

Distribution of Grades:

Grades will be calculated based upon the total number of points accumulated. Total points: 1,000
A = 900-1000
B = 800-899
C = 700-799
D = 600-699
F = below 600