AC 04. 2020

AC 04. 2020

November 13, 2019

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 13, 2020, to March 13, 2020, 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 more information at upcoming Bimonthly Records and Information Discussion Group (BRIDG) meetings and to provide the templates to you via email prior to the start of the reporting period.

We will require agencies to submit the following:

• Senior Agency Official for Records Management (SAORM) Annual Report: This report gathers data on agency progress towards the goals of the OMB/NARA memorandum Transition to Electronic Records (M-19-21) and other important records management initiatives. 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. 
• Federal Electronic Records and Email Management Report: This report, based on a maturity model, is designed to evaluate how well Federal agencies are managing their electronic records and email. 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. 
• Records Management Self-Assessment (RMSA): The annual RMSA 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 annual reporting should be sent to rmselfassessment@nara.gov.

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

In FY 2020, 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/saorm-reports.

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