Dept#: The number assigned to the department by the agency’s Record Officer.
Department Name: The division and/or sub-division that creates and receives the records within the agency.
RDA #: Unique, sequential number assigned by each agency’s Record Officer to a Records Disposition Authorization (RDA).
RDA Title: Brief description of the records included in the record series.
Retention: The length of time a record needs to be maintained before it can be disposed of.
CR (Creation): Is used when the creation of the record initiates the retention time period. (Example: If a RDA existed for ABC Annual Reports, the event might be written as CR + 3 meaning an ABC Annual Report must be retained for three years after it is created.)
EVT (Event): Is used if a specific event other than CR or FIS initiates the retention time period. (Example: A RDA that exists for a housing relocation program has the event written as "EVT + 5; Event=Approval Letter for Relocation Plan Date". In this scenario, it means all records associated with this RDA have to be retained for five years after the official letter was sent by the state to approve the relocation plan.)
FIS (Fiscal): Is used if the retention time period is initiated by the end of a fiscal year. (Example: RDAs that exist for annual budgets might be written as FIS + 6 meaning a budget would have to be retained for six years after the end of that fiscal year.)
Disposition: The treatment of records that have met their retention obligation.
DEST (Destroy): Records which will be destroyed after the retention time period has expired.
PERM (Permanent): Records will be maintained permanently by the agency.
SHSW (Transfer to State Archives): Records designated for transfer to the State Archives at the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) after the retention time period has expired.
UW-TRANS (Transfer to UW Archives): Records designated for transfer to the University of Wisconsin Archives after the retention time period has expired.
PII (Personally Identifiable Information): Wis. Stat. § 19.62(5) defines personally identifiable information (PII) as "information that can be associated with a particular individual through one or more identifiers or other information or circumstances". Although there are multiple references to PII in Wisconsin statutes, the definition in Wis. Stat. § 19.62(5) is applicable for records management purposes. If a record has personally identifiable information, it must be maintained and destroyed in a confidential manner.