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Posted By Deborah Bartlett, Washington State University,
Monday, October 11, 2021
Updated: Sunday, October 10, 2021
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Meeting the Requirements of the Administrative Procedures ActMy office, Procedures, Records, and Forms (PR&F), is responsible for managing administrative policies and procedures for Washington State University (WSU). Administrative policies and procedures at a state institution like ours involve both policies and procedures that require just an internal review process and those that require internal review along with public notification and public comment. Like all state higher education institutions, Washington state colleges and universities are regulated according to the laws passed by the legislature and by administrative rules put in place to enact applicable legislation. The federal government and each state in the U.S. have passed administrative procedures acts, which provide requirements for establishing, updating, and repealing administrative rules to enact legislation and operate federal or state agencies. In the state of Washington the laws passed by the legislature are codified in the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), and the administrative rules are codified in the Washington Administrative Code (WAC). Generally, actions that will or may impact members of the public or customers are established as WAC rules. Each state of Washington agency has their own "Title" in the WAC, which the agency is responsible for establishing and updating in accordance with the requirements of the Washington Administrative Procedures Act ( RCW 34.05). The act provides an exception for Washington higher education institutions to allow establishment of academic and administrative policies that involve admissions standards, academic advancement, graduation, the granting of degrees, employment relationships, and/or fiscal processes without going through a public review process. WSU's WAC rules ( WAC Title 504) include policies that affect student living groups, standards of conduct for students, student education records, health and safety regulations, facility use rules (both those involving free speech activities and those not involving free speech activities), parking and traffic regulations, board of regents meetings, practice and procedure for adjudicative hearings, library policies, course materials, public records, state environmental policy act rules, and small works contracting. Additionally, the Washington legislature recently moved responsibility for administering the state's renewable energy system incentive program from the state Department of Revenue to WSU's Energy Program, which required us to establish a new chapter of administrative rules to govern this program. Our internal administrative policies are prepared, reviewed, and approved in accordance with our Policy on Policies ( Executive Policy EP5). In accordance with RCW 34.05, the process for WAC policies, rules, and regulations involves internal administrative review and approval, public notification, and except in limited cases, public hearings, as well as adoption action by our Board of Regents. Exception: Our Regents delegated authority to the WSU President to adopt parking rules. Due to the strict deadlines for filing public notifications, required waiting times to allow for public notification or comment at each stage of the process, and the limited number of Regents meetings available for adoption actions, a normal WAC amendment process takes about seven to eight months. Administrative determination to make changes based on public comments can add another three to six months to this length of time. We work with the state Code Reviser's Office, which is responsible for managing and publishing all proposed changes in the Washington State Register (WSR), and all adopted changes in the WAC. When a WSU administrative unit notifies us that they want to make changes to the WACs, my office first asks for an idea of when they'd like the rules to become effective. We then work backwards to run a timeline that indicates dates for the necessary Regents' adoption action, the public hearing and filing deadlines, and the review process deadlines for the internal review and approval of the rules language. (We also include deadlines for the applicable vice president to provide notifications and materials and present the proposed changes to the Regents for applicable future action and action items.) The WAC process requires a general summary preproposal notification statement to the public. Then in order to file the amendment proposal we must have all of the specific rules language completely prepared and approved internally up through the administrative chain of command to include the University President. The amendment proposal is presented to the Regents for adoption action after the public hearing and end of the public commenting period. I'm sure many of you experience the need to push your reviewers to respond to policy/procedures drafts. Add in the need to complete each stage of the review process by strict deadlines in order to meet public notification filing requirements, and you'll find you really need to increase your level of "squeaky wheelness." We've found that having our legal counsel, the State Attorney General's Office—WSU Division, on our side throughout the development and review process for WACs is of great assistance with ensuring reviewer responses to WAC drafts. WSU's WACs process was transferred to my office from our Office of Finance and Administration back in 2004. Since then we've learned a great deal about state requirements for processing such changes, as well as holding and documenting public hearings and comments. WAC processing is definitely a juggling act, with many different "balls in the air" to keep track of at the same time. How are publicly-reviewed policies, rules, and regulations handled at your public institution? Does your administrative policies office manage this process, or do you have a separate office that facilitates these changes? Even if you don't work for a public university or college, you might find it interesting to check into how publicly-reviewed policies and rules are managed at the state or even federal level. I know that my experiences working with WSU's WACs have made me much more aware of the strictures that all public agencies must follow in order to change their operating rules.
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administrative code
administrative policies
Administrative Procedures Act
adoption
amendment
Deborah Bartlett
filing deadline
policies
policy
procedures
public
public comments
public hearing
public notification
public review
publicly-reviewed
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Posted By Jessica Teets CCEP, Purdue University,
Monday, September 13, 2021
Updated: Monday, September 27, 2021
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Learn All You Can so You Can Forget It The views expressed in this post are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of ACUPA or Purdue University. “Jack of all trades, master of none.” That saying is one I use frequently to describe my job. As a policy administrator, I need to learn all that I can about whichever policy or policies are being developed or revised at a given time. The more I know, the better support I can provide to the policy owner with regard to language, organization of information, and stakeholder input. Researching policy topics is what makes me a jack of all trades. One of the main ways I learn more on a topic is to look at other institutions’ policies. Benchmarking allows me to identify commonalities with regard to scope, affected groups, exclusions, definitions, etc. ACUPA forums are an easy way to get a handful of policies to review. I also have the policy websites of peer institutions bookmarked, so I can search for topics. Often, there are relevant laws or regulations that need to be considered. I have the U.S. Code, the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, and the Indiana General Assembly websites bookmarked – talk about some dry reading! Government agency and institute websites provide a fair amount of information in the form of brochures and FAQs, which makes it much easier to get an understanding of the main points. Once a policy is approved, I move on to the next one. It’s a cycle that has both pros and cons. I enjoy learning new things, so researching policy topics gives me an opportunity to do that. What I don’t enjoy is realizing a year later that most of the information I packed into my brain has disappeared. That is what makes me a master of none. I’m OK with that, because what never changes in this cycle is that drafting and editing policies is like putting together a puzzle. I am continuously gathering all the pieces and figuring out how to put them together so that they create a cohesive image. Maybe that makes me a master of puzzles.
Tags:
benchmarking
Jessica Teets
Policy Administration
research
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Posted By Lisa Biagas, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,
Monday, August 16, 2021
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Complicated, but has a Positive Impact
The summer of 2020 was tumultuous for many reasons. Our campuses were trying to respond to increased racial tensions, managing the pandemic, and we were working hard to make changes as a result of the new Title IX regulations that would keep our campuses compliant. The Title IX regulations that took effect on August 14, 2020, had a significant impact on the manner in which our campuses investigate and address claims of sex discrimination and harassment. Until now, there have been no binding federal regulations related to sexual harassment under Title IX, only administrative guidance issued by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The new regulations expanded the requirements for Title IX grievance procedures, which required significant policy and procedure revisions, and training. Below are a few of the 2020 changes: - Narrowed the definition of sexual assault under Title IX
- Limited the obligation to investigate complaints only to conduct that occurred in the college’s program or activity (and not to unrelated off-campus conduct)
- Mandated response obligations of colleges (i.e., providing supportive measures)
- Provided more detailed grievance procedures
- Made hearings optional
- Allowed colleges to choose what standard of evidence to use (e.g., the preponderance of evidence v. clear and convincing)
- Required colleges to offer both parties an appeal from a determination regarding responsibility
- Implemented an evaluative/vetting process to ensure that the Title IX Coordinator, investigator, decision-maker, or any person designated by a recipient to facilitate an informal resolution process does not have a conflict of interest or bias for or against complainants or respondents generally or an individual complainant or respondent
- Required training for Title IX Coordinators, investigators, decision-makers, and any person who facilitates an informal resolution process
These changes were greeted with much consternation and controversy on many campuses. We have been operating under the new regulations for one year now while still navigating a global pandemic. If, for a moment, we review the Title IX guidelines through a historical lens, there is a complicated but positive impact. When you look around our campuses today, you will see a very different view than what you would have seen in the early 20th century. American society had a definite idea of what a woman's life should look like: wife, mother, homemaker. Women were generally not considered equals. They were expected to marry and raise children, not go to college. Those who did go to college were only allowed to participate in certain fields, such as teaching, nursing, home economics, child development, or social work. Fast forward to 1972, as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title IX effectively leveled the playing field. Title IX prevents discrimination based on sex, ensuring that no person in the United States will be excluded from participation or from receiving benefits while pursuing an education in any program receiving federal financial assistance. In a historical context, Title IX became a triumph for women and girls who faced more gender barriers and restrictions than men. However, it is a common misconception that Title IX is for girls and women. The law actually benefits everyone, because it effectively eliminates discrimination based on gender--female, male, transgender and gender nonconforming. It is crucial to understand different perspectives of what the August 14, 2020, regulations mean for students and the changes that campuses had to make. As stewards of education, we must ensure the best experience possible for our students, faculty, and staff. In the coming weeks, as we start the new academic year, please remain dedicated to learning about Title IX and brushing up on regulations periodically so that you can provide a safe and equitable learning environment for all who seek it. Our chapter in history depends on it.
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grievance
Lisa Biagas
procedures
regulations
sexual harassment
Title IX
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Posted By Deborah Bartlett, Washington State University,
Monday, July 19, 2021
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How Safe Is Your Data? And Who Do You Tell If It's Not? Data security and data privacy issues aren't new to higher education. But the pandemic years ramped up remote access to all institutional systems and increased administrative awareness of the compliance risks which accompany our increased electronic operations. Not only are administrators increasingly concerned with addressing these risks, but state and federal legislation has increased the requirements for the management and protection of institutional data, as well as notification to members of the public (including students and other clients) regarding data breaches. My institution, Washington State University, beefed up its policies and procedures on system data and information security in 2020. Along with revising two executive policies (EP8 on data policies and EP37 on information security), our administrative policy office published a new chapter on information security in our Business Policies and Procedures Manual (BPPM) with seven new information security sections. (See BPPM Chapter 87.) And at the end of 2020, we published an executive policy on the requirements and responsibilities related to the university's designation as a HIPAA hybrid entity. (See EP40). Our administration recently provided the rough drafts of two new BPPM policies to my administrative policy office for draft preparation and approval routing. One is a policy with related procedures regarding responses to information security incidents and breaches. The other concerns responses to breaches of protected health care information (PHI), which is planned for insertion into a new BPPM chapter on information privacy. The two policies will be linked through a new investigation process which is extensively outlined step-by-step and is to be used for both types of information privacy/security breaches. We hope to have these new policy/procedures sections approved and published by the fall, so you're welcome to revisit our BPPM for reference. In conjunction with these new policies and procedures, our administration is updating the WSU system data and information security policies and procedures to address issues such as protection of WSU systems, services, devices, and data, including systems and data managed for the university by third parties and external cloud systems. I'm sure that we're not the only institutions who are working on these types of policies. Are you and your administration working on data security and data privacy policies? Have you addressed how your institution will respond to data breaches? In trying to understand the reasoning behind our administration's request for these policy changes, I did some looking around to see what recently published news and resources might be available. Here's what I found – I hope this information is useful to you.
Tags:
breach investigation
breach notification
breach response
breaches
cloud
data
data security
Deborah Bartlett
HIPAA
information privacy
information security
institutional data
IT
personal health information
PHI
portal
privacy
research data
security
system data
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Posted By Jessica Teets CCEP, Purdue University,
Monday, June 21, 2021
Updated: Monday, September 27, 2021
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Can a policy management system track as well as I can? The views expressed in this post are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of ACUPA or Purdue University. I track a fair amount of data with each of the policies in the Purdue University policy library. Currently, I use Excel to manually track all my data. Even to me, this seems a bit archaic with the variety of policy management systems out there. I have looked at a couple vendors, but have stopped short of pursuing a contract because I am afraid I won’t be able to capture all my data. Some data are pretty standard, such as the date of issue, the responsible executive, the responsible office, and the volume and chapter (see my post from October 2020 on Organizing a Policy Catalog to learn more about the last two). It’s easy to designate a field that captures these data. It is also easy to track the date a policy was last revised. Even systems that are not designed exclusively for policy management can track version dates. Where I run into trouble is finding a way to automatically track the last date a policy was reviewed. Policies get revised all the time. Titles, phone numbers, and email addresses change frequently, which require an update to the affected policy, and thus, a new version date. Most of the time, however, these small administrative updates do not coincide with a comprehensive review of the policy. If I were to use the version date to determine when a policy is due for review, I would likely have a lot of policies that never get reviewed because the version date never falls outside the review period (which, at Purdue, is every five years). I also get tripped up when a policy supersedes another policy. This can happen for a number of reasons, such as the title of the policy changing, two policies being combined into one or vice versa, old memos being updated into policies, etc. With my Excel spreadsheet, I am able to track a current policy all the way back to its origin, even if that is a memo from 1952. I can tell you the name and number of the policy or memo that addressed a given subject on a given date, and I can find a copy of that document in our e-archives. I have not had to track anything back to 1952, but I have had instances when our legal counsel needed all the versions of a policy going back several years. I just don’t see how a system could track this kind of serpentine information. Last, but not least, we allow for interim policies. This means a policy can go into effect without having gone through all the required steps. The policy owner then has six months to finish all the steps and finalize the policy, or request an extension of the interim status. I mark policies as interim and track the six-month deadline in Excel. It seems to me that I would have to continue to track this sort of thing manually even if I had a policy management system. Maybe I am making things too complicated. Maybe I need to let something go. What do you think?
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data
Jessica Teets
policy management
policy process
policy tracking
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Posted By Lisa Biagas, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,
Monday, June 7, 2021
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The COVID-19 Mandate QuestionTo be, or not to be, that is the question.” Sorry for the Shakespeare reference, but Hamlet’s soliloquy has application to every campus this year: Should campuses mandate COVID vaccinations for students? For faculty and staff (employees)?
As
this debate wages on, I’ve begun daydreaming in my endless Zoom meetings and webinars. I’m having flashbacks of my college literature lectures on how Shakespeare creates a balance with the first six words that Hamlet utters. As Hamlet ponders life
and death, he asks which of the two alternatives is nobler, whether to suffer the cruelties of fate silently or to put up a fight against the misfortunes of life that afflict one. This soliloquy’s dramatic purpose is to explain Hamlet’s procrastination
in carrying out his purpose, and the mental torture and anguish Hamlet feels if he does not.
As we grapple with the COVID-19 vaccination question, ought we remain steadfastly committed to our purpose to keep our campuses safe? Should we
mandate the COVID vaccines as a means to assure our communities? If we don’t, what will happen? Of what great consequence?
The question to mandate the vaccine dominates college plans to shift back from remote to in-person instruction and
from remote working to hybrid or fully on campus. Some colleges have held vaccination clinics to get students and employees immunized before they leave for the summer. Many colleges now see that the only way to return to normal and get back to campus
is through a required vaccination program as the answer. The goal is to help build confidence that students, faculty and staff will be safe on campus.
I am not a lawyer, and I am not making a legal argument. But we do look to federal, state,
and local authorities and the law--Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC)--for guidance to inform
our decision-making.
First, protecting the privacy rights of our students and employees is of the utmost importance. We treat COVID-19 testing, temperature screening results, reports of symptoms, contact tracing, vaccination, or declinations
as confidential medical records stored separately under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
But what happens to the prescreening for COVID-19 when the benefits diminish as rates of vaccination increase? Our
campus policies need to be consistent and communicated clearly. Some states mandate temperature screening before work shifts, while the CDC recommends the continued utilization of prescreening.
With OSHA in mind, we have a duty to keep
our communities free of recognized hazards, and we can consider the COVID-19 virus a danger or a risk to our communities. In so doing, if we adopt a policy that mandates all students and employees must receive the COVID-19 vaccine, the policy must
have express medical and religious exemptions. The medical exemption stems from the ADA, which prohibits discrimination against individual medical conditions and requires us to provide individuals with health conditions a “reasonable accommodation.”
The religious exemption is protected by The Civil Rights Act of 1964. If you choose to mandate vaccines as a condition of employment, adverse reactions are OSHA recordable events.
Other questions to work out if you decide to mandate. Is
there a blanket policy that all employees need to work regardless of vaccination status? Is letting the employee work from home a “reasonable accommodation”? What accommodations will you allow for students? If students don’t comply, are they barred
from residence, classes, or entirely from campus? Will you provide paid time off for employees to receive and recover from the vaccine?
One last Hamlet reference. Whatever you decide to do, there will be “slings and arrows” of those who
believe mandating the vaccine is an assault on their liberties and others who will think you haven’t done enough to keep them safe if you don’t.
Please keep a watchful eye on the Chronicle’s “List of Colleges That Will Require Students or Employee to Be Vaccinated Against COVID-19.”
Often our best lessons are those we learn from our sister institutions.
I wish you well as you grapple with these questions on your campus, and I am confident you will find the best solution to keep your community safe. Be well.
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Lisa Biagas
pandemic
policy
vaccines
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Posted By Gina Kennedy, NOSM University,
Tuesday, May 25, 2021
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Accelerate your Membership Experience by Gina Kennedy This past year has proven that no matter what happens, there is always a way to get through it. Working in an academic institution, the halls are usually buzzing with chatter from students, faculty and visitors, but now, just silence for the most part. A year ago, if you had a question or wanted to share an idea, you walked down the hall, but now you Zoom. We are all learning how to do the same work differently. Of course, it can be scary – most changes are – but that does not mean it will not lead to something amazing, right? Reflecting on this year, I will try to value the human connection a little bit more. I am grateful for my ACUPA membership connection to help during these unprecedented times. ACUPA represents more than 150 institutions in the USA and abroad, and I miss the in-person conferences when I could connect, break bread, share a favorite story and learn something new. When we can get together again, we will…but for now we all Zoom. As policy professionals we navigate around the emerging changes and concerns, we are always evolving and moving forward. Being a member of ACUPA gives me a forum to solicit advice and share policy issues with ‘like’ colleagues (we really are policy unicorns). In our supercharged Zoom world, it is hard not to feel distanced or that there is too much change, frustrated that we cannot conference or socialize, it gives me Zoom fatigue sometimes just thinking about it. Socrates writes, "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new." These are sage words to live by, and a great way to kick-start something with new perspective and a heavy dose of positivity. So, here are four ideas on how to make the most of your ACUPA membership. 1. Member Spotlight It’s important in a group as large and diverse as ACUPA to put yourself out there and introduce yourself. Each month, ACUPA spotlights one individual in an effort to bring you, our unique and diverse group of members, together to network, share, and acquire knowledge. To be a spotlight participant, send us your information. 2. Be Prepared and Make Every Meeting Valuable Many do not realize the preparation that should go into each meeting role. The better prepared you are for a position, the more you can learn, help others, contribute to the meeting, and energize the organization. Share your ideas – creative members make all the difference to strengthen the connection. 3. Turn Challenges into Opportunities Now more than ever, the challenges of COVID and post-COVID provide policy administrators with a wealth of new tools, and I am sure some old tricks of the trade have been used to migrate through the changes needed for our organizations. Having a resource organization like ACUPA established to explore policy processes and to discuss specific policy issues is a great reason to ensure your membership is up to date, that you are participating and that you promote the organization with other policy administrators so they too can turn challenges into opportunities. 4. Be the Dose of Positivity - Engage and Inspire Do you have a story to tell? Write a guest blog, offer to do a presentation, share with your colleagues!
Tags:
Collaboration
membership
policy administration
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Posted By Deborah Bartlett, Washington State University,
Monday, May 10, 2021
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Articles on topics that may affect your organization’s policies As we move into the summer semester, the Blog Committee would like to share some of the articles we’ve been reading that relate to policy administration in higher education. - Title IX Public Hearing Scheduled for June
By Alexis Gravely, Inside Higher Ed, May 7, 2021 - What Colleges Require the COVID-19 Vaccine?
By Staff Writers, Best Colleges, May 6, 2021 - Johns Hopkins Increasing Minimum Wage to $15
By Mychael Schnell, The Hill, May 6, 2021 - Students Are on the Move. Their Financial Aid Is Not
By Juana Sanchez and Lara Couturier, Inside Higher Ed, May 6, 2021 - COVID-19: Updates for Canada’s Universities
By UA/AU, University Affairs, May 5, 2021 - At Some Colleges, Remote Work Could Be Here to Stay
By Lindsay Ellis, The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 5, 2021 - Hundreds Protest over Yale Contract Talks
By Mary E. O'Leary, New Haven Register, May 1, 2021 - COVID-19 Has Altered Student Expectations for Data Privacy
By Adam Stone, EdTech Focus on Higher Education, April 28, 2021 - Keeping an Eye on Biden Administration's Higher Education Policies
By Anna Mazarakis, Princeton Alumni Weekly, May 2021 Issue - Protecting and Ensuring Student Privacy
By Mary Ellen Buzzelli, Inside Higher Ed, April 16, 2021 - Mandatory COVID Vaccines for Students: Legal Pain Point or Panacea?
By Michael Vernick, Brennan Meier, Molly Whitman, and Jessica Mannon, University Business, April 16, 2021
Tags:
Canada
COVID-19
cybersecurity
data
employment contract
financial aid
free speech
gap
gender
hot topics
HR
information
IT
legal
minimum wage
news
pandemic
phishing
policy
policy in the news
poverty
privacy
records
remote work
sexual harassment
students
Title IX
vaccines
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Posted By Megan Jones, Metropolitan State University of Denver,
Monday, March 29, 2021
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Get to know new members of the Policy Matters teamACUPA’s professional blog, Policy Matters, began as a quarterly newsletter in 2013 and transitioned to the blog format in 2018 to reflect changing methods of communication. Read on to learn more about new members of the Policy Matters editorial team in their own words. Gina Kennedy Governance Practitioner, Policy Wonk, disAbility Advocate, Good listener-Hear differently #cochlear bionic (ear) 2020 and gifted napper. After 16 years in the university corporate governance sector, I want to “rumble with vulnerability,” so when I saw the call out to be a member of this committee, I thought this was an excellent way to start a longstanding desire on my endless list of ”must do”! I also asked myself, if I was new to the sector or to the board, where would I start? A blog is a great way to share knowledge, insight and try something new. Rosalynn Feagins Rosalynn Feagins from Texas here. Currently serving the University of Denver as assistant treasurer and formerly a banking professional. My first love is traveling, using unusual words and learning something new every day! I’m excited to share and add to my policy knowledge. Dr. Lisa Biagas I am the current Senior Vice President of Human Resources at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA). A strategic and hands-on leader, I have proven experience developing and executing impactful people strategies and DEIB programs. I am a thought partner, a change agent, and a consensus builder. On a personal note, I am grandmother to 6-year-old, Cassidy, and her dog, Taco. When not losing to Cassidy in a marathon game of Uno, I spend my Saturdays as an amateur landscape architect. I get great joy in planning the design, then toiling the soil and planting new trees and shrubs. When not in the yard, I can be found reading a mystery novel, specifically crime fiction and thrillers, and watching British detective TV shows. Hot TopicsPolicy work happens in an everchanging environment. Let us know what topics you’d like to see covered in future blogs by submitting a comment below.
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Blog Committee
Gina Kennedy
Lisa Biagas
policy expert
Policy Matters
policy wonk
Rosalynn Feagins
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Posted By Deborah Bartlett, Washington State University,
Monday, March 15, 2021
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Considering the Words We Use
An important aspect of policy writing and editing is wordsmithing, i.e., making changes to improve the clarity and style, as opposed to content. The language choices we make can affect a reader's impression of our organization and affect their emotional, as well as intellectual, ability to "hear" the information we're trying to convey.
The words we choose may change over time, as our understanding and appreciation of the impact of our language changes. As my administrative policy office approaches writing and editing new policies and/or updating existing policies, we try to use "new eyes" to view and plan for changes to the words we include, as well as the content we're asked to communicate.
While the wording in an existing or new policy may have been through a number of iterations and appear to still be applicable or agreed upon, it can be useful for policy administrators to review the language for possible updates. Here are some choices to consider:
Inclusive language -- Use inclusive language, replacing oppressive terms with terms that support persons and reduce bias. Inclusive word choices reflect awareness of and respect for the differences inherent in all individuals. Approaching language from a perspective of kindness and respect makes it easier for our audiences to feel safe and more open to accepting the content. It's important to remember that understanding is a function of the heart, as well as the mind.
Plain talk – Plain talk allows readers to find what they need, understand what they find, and be able to use what they find to meet their needs. Even if not mandated for your institution, as it is for federal agencies and Washington state agencies, following plain talk guidelines can greatly increase the usability of your policies and procedures.
Jargon -- Avoid jargon (special words or expressions used by a particular profession or group that are difficult for others to understand), when possible. Define the words when jargon terms must be used. When writing for institution-wide audiences, it's advisable to write your policies and procedures to be read and understood by non-subject matter experts.
Positive vs. negative -- Make positive statements, rather than negative statements, whenever possible. Positive phrasing is easier to understand than negative. And a positive tone affects how readers react to the writing, even just subconsciously.
Useful References
Here are some related references you may find useful:
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anti-racism
bias
Deborah Bartlett
emotional
equity
inclusive
jargon
language
oppressive
plain talk
respect
wording
words
wordsmithing
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