Framework Recommendations Instead of Templates

In conversations and webinars with other policy administrators, the debate about whether or not to use templates for writing and developing policies continually comes up. A number of institutions mandate the use of one or more templates for their users who want to develop policy and/or procedures documents.

I've worked for the past 25 years in the administrative policies office for Washington State University. We've chosen not to use a template for developing the administrative policies and/or procedures our office publishes. We do have a style guide, but it’s mostly involved with formatting and layout so that sections and policies have a uniform “look.” Our choice has predominantly been based on the idea of providing flexibility to our subject expert departments as they update or add new sections to our long-established administrative policy manuals.

In accordance with WSU's executive Policy on Policies (EP5), departments may begin development of their administrative policy/procedure rough drafts prior to bringing my office into the process or may request our assistance with developing the drafts from the beginning. As subject expert administrators get started, we do occasionally get requests for policy framework guidance from those who are new to policy writing and development.

Here’s a general outline that my office recommends for writing a new policy or policy/procedure section for placement in one of our administrative manuals:

• Overview and/or Policy Statement
  
  It’s sometimes useful to have both. If a section is especially long, placing a set of links to subsections in the document in the overview can be useful. For examples, see the beginnings of WSU's policy sections EP8 and EP38.
  
  In a section that's predominantly procedural, an overview might be more appropriate as a place to provide a summary of or references to the applicable policy.
  
  
• Purpose
  
  A purpose statement provides a brief description of the purpose of the policy and/or activity. In some cases, a purpose statement is provided in an overview or policy statement.
  
  
• Scope
  
  A scope statement describes the limitations or boundaries of the policy/procedure. Some writers choose to combine scope statements/subsections in either an overview or policy statement or within an applicability statement.
  
  
• Applicability
  
  An applicability statement or subsection describes the members of the institution's community (internal and/or external) directly impacted by the policy and/or expected to follow the policy/procedures.
  
  
• Roles and Responsibilities
  
  Roles and responsibilities statements provide a summary of the actions and/expectations each employee or role category is expected to fulfill with relation to the policy/procedures.
  
  
• Requirements
  
  Policy requirements are provided in this subsection. If procedures are included, any required procedural steps would be provided in the order the actions are to occur.
  
  
• Procedures (if applicable)
  
  Some institutions choose to keep policies and procedures separate. At WSU, we have quite a number of combined policy and procedures sections in our administrative manuals. For the most part, we recommend publishing procedures and policy/procedures within our business and safety manuals. However, we do have a small number of executive policies in which the executive administrators insisted upon including both policies and procedures.
  
  
• Definitions
  
  We recommend providing definitions applicable to the policy/procedures in their own subsection, especially if terms are used that are specific to a subject and/or include jargon. If there are only one or two terms that need to be defined, the definitions may be included directly with the reference.
  
  If this subsection is short, it might be placed after the applicability statement. However, if the definitions list is longer than a page, we often recommend placing the subsection at or near the end and providing an internal document link and/or reference, if needed, earlier in the policy.
  
  
• Additional Resources
  An additional resources subsection provides descriptions or lists and references (e.g., website URLs) including, but not limited to, supporting department contacts, state and federal agencies' websites, other supporting or related institutional policies and procedures.

Every policy office and institution handles their policy development process differently, and there's really no right or wrong answer. Does your institution mandate policy/procedure templates? Or make framework recommendations? Things to consider for both you and your users…

NOTE: ACUPA members have access to a number of resources, including templates, samples, and other tools that you may find useful in writing and developing your policies and procedures. To access the Templates and Tools under the Resources tab, sign in as a member.