Implementing a "Policy on Policies"

If you've been in the policy administration business for any length of time, you've likely heard about, considered, and/or implemented a "policy on policies" at your institution. For those of you who don't already publish such a policy, I thought I'd discuss why I believe that it's a valuable tool to have in place.

Policy development is an important function, but getting administrative buy-in and notice of the importance of consistent policy development and tracking is sometimes difficult. Having a "policy on policies" provides an agreed-upon process for developing, reviewing, and approving policies, and ensures better compliance with the rules, regulations, and agreements that govern the business of higher education.

Here are some things to consider when creating or updating a policy on policies at your institution:

• Applicability
• Equity Review
• Required Policy Review and Approval Steps
• Templates or Framework

I'm also providing brief descriptions below of how we've chosen to handle these considerations here at Washington State University (WSU).

Applicability

Do you want a policy on policies that applies to all or only some policies?

At WSU, as with many public research universities, we have many types of institution-wide policy publications in place -- administrative policy manuals, academic policies and procedures, personnel manuals, research-related manuals, and our Washington Administrative Code (WAC) regulations.

When we first published an executive policy on policies, our administration decided to apply it to all policies except academic and single-unit or single-campus policies and procedures. The policy at that time outlined a draft/review/approval process that all policy publication departments were required to follow. Our policy on policies was revised recently to apply only to policies intended for publication in the four administrative policy manuals and the WAC regulations, which are managed by my office.

Equity Review

Do you want to include an equity review requirement in your policy on policies?

Our administration, including academic leadership, recently approved an equity review process, which includes an equity lens tool. My office agreed to publish the equity lens tool from our new Policy Development website, and to include discussion of the required process in the policy on policies.

Equity lens review includes review and approval both during the policy discussion phase and during the formal drafting and review phase of policy development.

And in the interest of increasing transparency and WSU community input, our Policy Development website includes descriptions of administrative policies under development and copies of drafts of the policies under review. (Copies of administrative policy drafts are available to WSU members only.) Copies of proposed WAC amendments continue to be published through the Washington State Register (WSR), and our Proposed WACs website links to the WSR proposals and public hearing information.

Required Policy Review and Approval Steps

Do you want to include specific actions for policy developers to complete when requesting new or revised policies, or removing policies? Do you want to have separate processes for major revisions and minor revisions?

In order to ensure that steps such as conducting the equity review, involving my office (for preparation and process oversight), and obtaining approvals from necessary administrators are completed, we decided to include step-by-step process instructions in our updated policy on policies. Our administration agreed to allow an abbreviated approval process for minor revisions.

Our policy on policies also includes periodic review requirements. For the most part it was decided to make the applicable administrative departments responsible for periodic review, as my office has a very limited staff (just two of us).

Template or Framework

Do you want your policy developers to use a template, or will you provide a policy framework to them for reference?

As I wrote in a previous blog a year or so back, we had for many years not required templates for policy development, but instead provided framework recommendations upon request. However, our compliance administration decided to implement a template for our executive policies and a template for our business and safety policies and procedures. (Links to these policy templates are available from our Policy Development website In the interest of moving forward with the updated policy on policies requirements as soon as possible, we have not applied the templates to our existing policies, but plan to restructure our policies as revisions occur. (Again, this is mainly due to staffing limitations and workload.)

In conclusion, if you haven't already implemented a "policy on policies," I highly recommend doing so. Having one in place greatly assists both policy developers and members of the policy administration office, by providing readily-accessible guidance and structure.

Note to ACUPA Members

Be sure to look at the ACUPA Templates and Other Tools webpage for samples to use to guide policy development, revision, review, and removal. These templates, guides, and tools have been developed from samples provided by policy administrators at multiple institutions and can be invaluable resources.