Policy Matters

Administered by the Blog Committee, Policy Matters posts are written by members on a variety of topics. From think pieces to how-to's, editorials to news round-ups, there is something for every policy administrator. Interested in contributing a post? Let us know by emailing admin@acupa.org.

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ACUPA Website Features

Posted By Joshua Adams, Cornell University, Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Getting the Most Out of ACUPA Forums and Blogs

To satisfy your desire for a blog post describing some of the features of our website, my next few posts will address a bit of what is offered at acupa.org.

Blogs and forums have the same purpose, to promote communication between members and share information. However, the order and structure of communication is different between the two. They also differ in how you are notified that someone has posted to a forum or blog.

Forums

Forums are threaded ongoing discussions. Any member in good standing can begin a new topic in a forum, or post a comment in any forum discussion. By default, the latest post displays at the top of the list within a forum. Replies within a forum topic are sorted chronologically, so the most recent reply always appears at the bottom. Forums allow for internal quoting and the member’s profile photo is displayed in their forum posts.

The best way to stay on top of discussions in the forums is to subscribe to those that interest you. You can subscribe to get instant updates in your email anytime a forum has a new post. Or, you can subscribe to the digest, which will email you no more than once per day when a forum has a new post. To learn how to set up your forum subscriptions, hover over the “Forums” option in the top navigation and click on “Forums: How-to” from the drop-down menu.

Blogs

Blogs are always organized so that the latest post is at the top of the page, regardless of the addition of comments. Blogs do not pull member profile pictures, but do link to the posting member’s profile. The site-wide blog, to which all members are subscribed, is called Policy Matters. You receive an email notice whenever a new blog is posted. If you would also like an email notice about any comments made on the post, follow these steps from the Policy Matters screen: 1) Click on “Manage Subscriptions,” 2) Click on the speech bubble icon so that it turns green.

Currently, only members of the Blog Committee can post to Policy Matters, but if you would like to write a blog post, the committee would be happy to publish it for you on the Policy Matters blog. If you are interested, please contact Jessica Teets at teets@purdue.edu.

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Welcome to the New Blog!

Posted By Joshua Adams, Cornell University, Thursday, October 18, 2018
Updated: Thursday, October 18, 2018

Blog Replaces ACUPA Newsletter

We're excited about our first post in the new blog, Policy Matters!

As you know, policy administrators and others spend considerable time populating the ACUPA website to enable information sharing among the association’s members. Behind the scenes in ACUPA, virtually or in person, groups from around the world meet regularly with each other to think of ways to bring you useful and timely news and tools, all while juggling their “day jobs.”

Until recently, the Newsletter Committee of ACUPA brought you a triannual publication, ACUPAexchange. Now, to address the needs of our members and maximize the efficiency of our processes, we have decided to begin publishing the ACUPA newsletter as a blog.

Policy Matters, taking the place of ACUPAexchange, will still be your member-populated periodical for articles on policy management and policy subjects, as well as a place for discussion, through comments, and for communicating other useful material. We will regularly populate the site with posts and articles that we believe will be of interest to our members.

Discussions among committee members and the ACUPA board of directors yielded a list of topics, as detailed below, and members of the committee agreed to a regular rotation, the result of which will be bi-weekly posts on the site. All ACUPA members will receive notification when there is a new post, and are encouraged to go to the site, read, and comment. If you decide you would rather not receive notifications about new posts, you can unsubscribe from the blog.

At this point, nothing is “written in stone”; we appeal to you, our members, to help us decide whether we have brought you this new feature in the most useful way. Please contact any of the committee members with your feedback, or ideas for topics that would be of interest to you.

Finally, while we know you are all busy, your submissions are encouraged and welcomed. All of ACUPA would love to see blog posts about your organization’s challenges, accomplishments, solutions, or other interesting perspectives on what we do. Send them anytime to any member of the Newsletter Committee for publication!

Policy Matters content ideas:

Announcements about ACUPA events
Updates from the board
Editorial or article about a policy-related issue
"How We Did This” – descriptions from ACUPA members on how they implemented a policy, process, etc.
Interviews with ACUPA members on relevant issues
Blog posts with policy-related links
Rants from members
Satirical/ humor posts
Other office-related posts, such work tools, workplace ideas, office trends, accommodating different generations, workplace diversity, etc.
Member human interest: profiles/spotlights of members
Policy Watch: what should policy administrators be looking for (e.g., new proposed guidelines regarding sexual assault.