Guidelines for Drafting and Editing Policies

I. On-line Resources for Drafting Policies:

• Policy on Policies (GOV-C07-001A)
• Policy Template
• Policy Review Checklist
• Worksheet Template

II. Draft Policies following the University Policy Template

Draft new policies in the template worksheet, filling in the information described below. With the exception of the Section Title and the Title of the Policy, all other sections of the policy draft should be written in Verdana size 11 point font.

A. "Above or In the box" Information: Guidelines for adding the policy information above and into the boxed area are as follows:

Section Title: The section titles on policy pages organize policies by their appropriate categories within the university's administrative structure. The section title must be one of the following, based on the area of policy being drafted: Academic Affairs, Business and Finance Operations, Facilities Operations and Construction, Governance and Administration, Human Resources and Safety, Information Technology Services, Library, Student Affairs, University Advancement and External Relations. Section Title should be written in Verdana 14 point font.

Title of the Policy: Policy titles should be descriptive and informative without being verbose. Policy titles should be written in Verdana 14 point font.

Policy Number: If the policy is new, then the policy number will be created for you. The number will consist of the section (three letter ID), the year of original approval (preceded by a c to indicate a campus policy) and a sequential number for that year. When a policy has been amended, an “A” is added to the number.

If this amended or revised policy, then add the corresponding policy number.

Effective Date: The draft version needs to anticipate the urgency of the policy, noting that there is a 30 day vetting period for comment.

Responsible Office/ Person: Names the office charged with the administration of the policy. In some cases, it will list the official (by job title and phone number) who is or will be charged with administration of the policy.

Related Policies: Lists any other related policies. Links to related policies will be created when the policy is added to the web.

Additional History: Lists any previous versions of this policy. It should include relevant information regarding the revisions to an existing university policy.  Links to previous policies will be created when the policy is added to the web. This section of the template may be left blank for a new policy.

Original Policy – the original version when the policy was first issued

Revised Policy – the revised or amended version of the original policy with date of approval. It is possible that there will be more than one revision. 

Inactive Policy – the policy is being replaced or will no longer be used, it will be listed in the archives as inactive

History of Policy – amendment information providing details of the revision.

Additional References: This section provides links to other related forms, guidelines, procedures, or other documents relevant to the policy. Drafts of relevant guidelines or procedures may be attached when the policy draft is submitted for approval.

B. General Formatting Guidelines: Drafts of new university policies should be submitted using Verdana 11 point font, and should be single spaced. There should be one return space between each paragraph of the policy. New paragraphs begin at the left hand margin, without a tab space.

Each section of the policy should be properly named and should be typed in bold font. Policy sections should be numbered with Roman Numerals.

Format

All policies or procedures documents will include the following seven sections:

                  I.   Policy Statement:  This section will define the campus’s position and expectations on a given issue or the Board of
                       Trustees policy addressed by the document

                 II.   Purpose:  This section will address what the policy or procedure intends to accomplish.

                III.  Definitions:   This section lists specific terms and their standard meaning. These will be listed in alphabetical order.

                IV.  Procedures:  This section will delineate the sequence of mandatory steps necessary to implement a policy (Board of
                      Trustees or campus based), or to manage a University activity. 

                 V.  Responsibility:  This section will specifically denote the University office and official(s) responsible
                      for implementing the provisions of the document.

                VI.   Attachments:  This section will list any supporting documents that are included with the policy
                       or to be made available upon request. 

               VII.  Approval and Effective Date:  This section will specify the date in which the policy or procedure will take effect, the 
                      Chancellor’s signature, and the date in which it was approved and signed.

  III. Completing the Policy Worksheet

A copy of the Policy Worksheet (attached at top) should be as complete as possible and should accompany the draft of the policy when it is forwarded to the Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance for consideration.