This article is the second in a series of articles on the various components of Newport News Shipbuilding’s Records Management Program.

Retention Schedule Review:

A retention schedule review is initiated by O14 Records Management annually in November. At this time, O14 sends a copy of each department’s retention schedule to their respective records coordinator and manager.

During this review, individual department managers and records coordinators review the schedule for accuracy, completeness and make necessary revisions. If no changes are required, the record coordinator and manager sign the current retention schedule and return to Records Management noting “no changes necessary.”

When performing the retention schedule reviews, ensure:

• All records within the department are identified on the schedule (including copies of records that were routed through a department for processing purposes).
• That each line item identifies:
  • Use (administrative/contractual/financial)
  • Copy type(s) (original/copy/annotated copy)
  • Retention period
• Footnotes for each line item include:
  • Indexing method (The order in which the files are stored. Some examples include: by hull, date or work order/package number.)
  • Media type (electronic, microfilm, microfiche, etc.)
• Removal of any line items or footnotes that are no longer used.
  • Line Items may only be removed from retention schedules once all retention periods have been met and there are no associated records stored within the Records Center.

Individual departments are required to notify Records Management of all necessary changes to approved retention schedules. These changes include the addition or deletion of records, retention period changes, or reassignment of responsibility due to reorganization of departments.

The approval circuit must review/approve changes to existing retention schedules.

Note: This review period does not negate the requirement that individual departments notify Records Management of required changes as they occur throughout the year.