Swimming in Paper

[Matterhorn Fan]

Well, it's too rainy and lightningy here to go swimming in a pool, plus I was at work, so I decided to swim in paper this afternoon.

For a while now I've been putting old student work in my file cabinet. The way it's currently "organized" (i.e., barely at all), I'm out of room. There's huge stacks of stuff that I can now throw away, but I wish there was less to sort through.

I'm required to keep all of this stuff (for a year, I think). I suppose I could dump all of it. But if I did, I'm certain some student would show up demanding things that had already been taken to the dump and I'd somehow get in trouble.

I have enough of my own stuff that needs to be filed and stored--I wish I didn't have to store so much of other people's stuff.

So, I'm entering my plea to students everywhere: We know you probably don't want this stuff either. But coming back to get it makes it look as if maybe you do care, and that's a good thing for everyone (even if you put it in the trash just outside the building door).

And if anyone wants to come over and do my at-home filing, I've got plenty of that, too . . .

[Ghoulish Delight]

And if anyone wants to come over and do my at-home filing, I've got plenty of that, too . . .Sure. For the small fee of two (2) plane tickets from any major Southern California Airport to your vicinity, lodging for two (2) adults for the duration of three (3) weeks, and Walt Disney World Resort entrance media to allow two (2) adults access to all Walt Disney Company owned and operated theme parks at the resort for the duration.

[Matterhorn Fan]

How about transportation for two (2) from MCO to my apartment, lovely couch and aero-bed accomodations for two (2) in my living room, and I'll give you the phone number of a cast member whom you can beg to sign you in some day?

You must not be allergic to dust.

Or maybe you'd just rather go to Paris?

[Cadaverous Pallor]

How about transportation for two (2) from MCO to my apartment, lovely couch and aero-bed accomodations for two (2) in my living room, and I'll give you the phone number of a cast member whom you can beg to sign you in some day?Hell, you need to sign up with Expedia - that's a pretty good deal.

Random person in Missouri:
"Hey, look here honey...we can stay in this person's house and sleep on their Aerobed for FREE! Yeah, we'd have to do some minor house cleaning and organizing, but still, you can't beat that....don't worry, we'll get the kids to do the filing.....hey Tiger, Princess! We're going to DisneyWorld!"

Or maybe you'd just rather go to Paris?Heh. Yeah. ;)

[Ghoulish Delight]

Or maybe you'd just rather go to Paris?Alright, I'll cut you a deal. We go to Paris, you do the filing, and we'll call it even.

[Prudence]

Have I mentioned that I love setting up filing systems? (Why yes, I did focus on cataloging in library school. How did you guess?) And I have a WDW AP, so I don't someone to sign me in...

[€uroMeinke]

So....Why do you need to keep this stuff? Shouldn't this be returned to the student, or held by the school itself? Are these duplicate records for your benefit? I think you may just need to invest in a larger shredder.

[MouseWife]

Oh. I feel your pain. I have to 'file' all of our schtuff.

I spent a whole day shredding last week and had the other papers organized. Until the cat came along. I gave up. Now I have to go through it all again.

But, what to keep? I have insurance papers, but, I've upgraded. Should I keep them to refer to when I see a price hike and say 'Wait, what's up?'

The hubster says I need to keep everything. " :confused: " I shred shred shred and the damn thing gets clogged on me sooo often because I have so much to shred.

How long are we supposed to keep things?

And, I have three kids with school papers. I like to keep examples of their work as well as their report cards, etc.

And, the cat loves to help me. :rolleyes:

I am okay with it because he is the only one who does.

I'd come out to help you but you might be stuck with me forever. :D

[Matterhorn Fan]

Alright, I'll cut you a deal. We go to Paris, you do the filing, and we'll call it even.Deal. But I might put off the filing for a while longer. Surely a bit more dust can't make the job any worse than it currently is.
So....Why do you need to keep this stuff? Shouldn't this be returned to the student, or held by the school itself? Are these duplicate records for your benefit? I think you may just need to invest in a larger shredder.Someone somewhere decided that we can't just throw it away.

Yes, it should be returned to the student, but they way the academic calendar is here, stuff ends up coming in during the last few days, and by the time I can grade it all, classes are over and students have disappeared.

No, they're not duplicates for my benefit. They're the originals. But the students don't want 'em--it's on their computers. I'd love to trash 'em all, but occasionally someone comes back wanting their stuff. One came in today (probably 2-3 per semester do that).

Strangely, my department does not have any shredder. There's not even a recycle bin (ok, there are recycle bins, but they're just blue trash cans--nothing gets recycled). I guess I'll tear the now-trashable stuff in half and throw the left half away one week and the right half the next or something. *shrug*

[€uroMeinke]

Someone somewhere decided that we can't just throw it away.

You must change this policy


Yes, it should be returned to the student, but they way the academic calendar is here, stuff ends up coming in during the last few days, and by the time I can grade it all, classes are over and students have disappeared.


Tell your students you will destroy any uncalimed papers - if they will be out of town, let them give you a stamped self-addressed envelope if they want their "orioginals" back.


No, they're not duplicates for my benefit. They're the originals. But the students don't want 'em--it's on their computers.


If they have a copy on their computers, yours is a duplicate - though I suspoect your copy might be marked up and graded making it a unique original


I'd love to trash 'em all, but occasionally someone comes back wanting their stuff. One came in today (probably 2-3 per semester do that).


And if you didn't have it? Sad perhaps for the the student seeking it, but maybe they'll be more responsible next time around. Honestly, I can't envision march harm to the student for your failure to provide this storage and retrieval service.


Strangely, my department does not have any shredder. *shrug*

With privacy laws coming into effect, I'm surprised - you are far more at risk from not shredding personal information, that not providing requested records back to the students.

I'd wash my hands of the mess

[Not Afraid]

OK. That was a message brought to you by The Professional......dumdumdum.

[Matterhorn Fan]

Yeah....Maybe next he'll tell us how long to keep bank statements? How about utility bills from old addresses? ;)

The shredding has begun.

[€uroMeinke]

Yeah....Maybe next he'll tell us how long to keep bank statements? How about utility bills from old addresses? ;)

The shredding has begun.

I tend to keep my bank statement for a tax year - really the only reason you need them is to verify that your bank is correctly debiting and crediting your account, so you could probably be safe with a shorter time frame if you are dilligent about balancing your check book.

On the other hand, sometime you will need them to demonstrate your income and cash flow - such as when purchasing property, usually 3 months history is sufficient, but if you have a more irregular pay cycle - i.e. you own your own business, then you will probably need to keep them much longer (three to six years would be the max).

Utility Bills again are only needed to verify payments recieved and charges acrued - if everything is fine, you don't need them. The utilities themselves are only required to keep the stubs 6 months. Depending on your State, there is a statute of limititations of 2 to 3 years to recover costs from erroneous billing, so that would be the maximum you'd need them. I keep mine for 3 months.

Cheers,

€, CRM

[Ghoulish Delight]

I've started a simple system. I have an accordian folde with 12 divisions, labled with each month. I just batch all our statements and bills by month (I do it by due-date). I started in April, so one next April rolls around, I'll just pull out the April '05 documents, get rid of them, and start anew. That way always have exactly one full year of records, and you don't have to go looking all over the place to find stuff that you can dump, it's all right there ready to be shreded.

[Matterhorn Fan]

Hmmm . . . interesting . . . that would leave all sorts of room in my new file cabinet (matches my swank Target desk) for other things I shouldn't be keeping.



(hehehe, I originally typed "bee keeping." Maybe I should put some honey in my tea?)