01.001:  Preparation of Policies and Procedures

All policies and procedures are to be updated minimally every five years, or sooner at the request of the President or the Executive Vice President. Notices will be forwarded to departments regarding the update requirement, based on the policy and procedure's "Date of Approval Following Last Full Review." Failure to update the policy and procedure on time may result in the elimination of that policy and procedure.

Policy and procedure statements' initiation, revision, and elimination are to be approached as an ongoing process. (See Policies and Procedures, subsection II, sub-subsection D, and Policies and Procedures, subsection VI, below.)

Policies and procedures may be initiated by a department, a planning unit head, including deans and associate provosts, and by Executive Staff Officers. Because of the Initiator's role in Policy and Procedure 01.003, "Exceptions to or Restrictions of University Policies," the Initiator must be an administrator with responsibility for the area addressed by the policy. Senates and committees may stimulate creation or revision of a policy by working through the appropriate responsible Executive Staff. The responsibility for the preliminary development of the policy and procedure rests with the Initiator. Final approval is the responsibility of the Executive Staff PRS, the Executive Vice President, and the President. The following process will be used to initiate a policy change:

I.  Initiating Creation, Revision, or Elimination

1. Anyone who recognizes the need for a policy change (creation of a new policy, revision of an existing policy, or elimination of an existing policy) should contact the Initiator, if that person can be identified; otherwise, contact the administrative head of the responsible unit. Issues that are unresolved after such discussions may be addressed by going up the Initiator's administrative chain-of-command, or by contacting the Executive Vice President and requesting Executive Staff PRS attention.

2. A department head, a planning unit head, an Executive Staff Officer, or a senate or committee working with the appropriate responsible administrator, may initiate a new policy and procedure or revise an existing one. The person identified as the Initiator of the policy will take primary responsibility for this role.

3. The new, or revised, policy and procedure will be typed into the standard policy and procedure template, which can be obtained by following the link in the "Forms" section, below.

4. After the new or revised policy has been prepared in accordance with subsections II through V, immediately below, it will undergo the review and approval process described in subsection VI, below.

5. Elimination of an existing policy proceeds according to subsection VII, below.

II.  Primary Sections

The policy and procedure statement will include the following five primary sections:

A.  Purpose

Describes why this policy has been developed.

B.  Plan

1. States Ohio University's position, values, and beliefs on a given topic.

2. Provides the reasoning for the policy and procedure, and describes the intended outcomes in general terms.

3. Establishes legal and ethical evaluative criteria for assessing appropriateness of actions.

C.  Policies and Procedures

1. Identifies the participants and their responsibilities, lines of authority, and the materials and documents needed to carry out the policy and procedure.

2. Specifically describes appropriate protocols, practical methods, or step-by-step instructions, explaining how to carry out the policy and procedure.

D.  Reviewers

It is imperative that new, or revised, policy and procedure drafts be circulated to all interested parties, both individuals and groups (e.g., departments, senates, and planning unit heads), for review and comments. During the standard review process, described in subsection VI, sub-subsection A, below, this review by interested parties is to be accomplished in three phases: first, during an early, on-going, informal review, while the successive iterations of the policy and procedure are being written, as described in subsection VI, sub-subsection A, item 1, below; second by the Executive Staff Officers, Executive Vice President, and President; and third, after the Executive Staff review, through the role of the Policy and Procedure Review Committee, as described in subsection VI, sub-subsection A, items 5 and 6, below.

Subsection VI, sub-subsection B, below, describes the optional fast-track review process that may be used for simple, non-controversial changes that do not require such extended review.

To ensure that new policy and procedure statements, and revisions thereof, are reviewed appropriately, the list in the Reviewers section should include at least:

1. All offices and individuals (e.g., the Bursar, or the Director of Campus Safety) who are identified by title in the Plan or Policies and Procedures sections as having specific roles.

2. The Executive Staff Officers, including the Executive Vice President and President. (The Executive Staff Officers will conduct their review primarily through the Executive Staff PRS, chaired by the Executive Vice President, with membership as agreed among the Executive Staff Officers.)

3. The Policy and Procedure Review Committee, which will include specific members appointed by the President from various constituent groups who have relevant knowledge and experience of Ohio University's operations, and familiarity with its policies and procedures, so as to be able to assist in providing technical analyses, coordination, and formatting.

E.  Forms

This section either

1. States that there are no required forms associated with that policy statement, or

2. Includes a numbered list of all the required forms.

   The listed forms may include both blank forms and filled-out example copies. For each form, the list of forms will either specify the URL of the online version, or provide instructions on how to obtain a printed copy, or both.

III.  Organization and Format

The following formatting rules will provide a readable, uniform display of the policy across the widest possible range of Web browsers. Because the display is uniform, unambiguous citations easily can be made to refer to any part of a policy and procedure statement. This policy illustrates the application of these rules.

1. The title of the policy and procedure should be specific but informative. The title will include neither the word "policy" nor the word "procedure," except for the following three policies:
   • Policy and Procedure 01.001, "Preparation of Policies and Procedures."

   • Policy and Procedure 01.002, "Policy and Procedure Numbering System."

   • Policy and Procedure 01.003, "Exceptions to or Restrictions of University Policies."

2. The Signature Block will be similar to that at the top of this policy:
   • The status of the policy will specify the date, preceded by either "Draft of," "Approved on," or "Re-Approved on."

   • If the policy is re-approved with no substantive changes, then the effective date given is the effective date of the prior version; otherwise, the effective date will be either "when approved," "30 days after approval" (to comply with HB 187), or some later specific date.

   • The date of approval following the last full review is not changed when the policy goes through the Fast-Track Review process, described in sub-subsection B, of subsection VI, below. This ensures that the requirement for a full review every five years is more easily achieved.

   • The right column will be blank in the online version -- it is used on the printed copy during the formal review and approval process, as described in subsection VI, below.

   • Each person will be identified by job title, in order to guide people needing advice about the policy, in order to facilitate the next revision cycle, and in order to facilitate the implementation of Policy 01.003.

3. Any of the five primary sections (as described in subsection II, above) may be organized into subsections, which may in turn have sub-subsections.

4. All subsections will be provided with titles and identified by sequential capital Roman Numerals, starting with "I" for the first subsection of each main section.

5. All sub-subsections will be provided with titles and identified by sequential capital letters, starting with "A" for the first sub-subsection of each subsection.

6. A section may have un-labeled introductory text prior to the first subsection, and a subsection may have un-labeled introductory text prior to the first sub-subsection.

7. All section, subsection, and sub-subsection titles will be presented in boldface.

8. An "itemized list," such as this paragraph is part of, is a set of items that do not each have their own title (unlike sections, subsections, and sub-subsections). Only one numbered, itemized list may occur in any one titled section, subsection, or sub-subsection, in order to permit unique identification when referring to each item.

   If an itemized list consists of a modest number of items that are all so terse that none will wrap to a second line of text, it may be presented with the browser's default graphic bullets, rather than numbers. All other itemized lists, including all step-by-step instructions, will be formatted with "hanging indents," and numbered with Arabic numerals, each such list starting with "1." (Hanging indents with Arabic numerals starting with "1" are a feature of all Web browsers. Hanging indents with letters, or with Roman numerals, or with other starting values than "1" are features of some Web browsers, but not of others, and hence will not display uniformly.) A numbered item of such a list may consist of more than one paragraph, as this one does.

9. Words and phrases may be emphasized by using boldface. Italics will not be used for emphasis, because they are harder to read on-screen. Underlines will not be used for headings, nor for emphasis, because of the likely confusion with selectable links in the online version.

10. All cross-references to other Policy and Procedure statements, to online forms, and to Web pages, will be selectable links in the online version.

    In order to simplify detection of typographical errors, the first reference to any other Policy and Procedure statement will be in the form,

    Policy and Procedure 01.001, "Preparation of Policies and Procedures"

    specifying both number and full title, with the number being the selectable link in the online version (e.g., subsection V, below, and item 1 of this list, immediately above). Later references to that same policy may be in the form, Policy 01.001, without specifying the full title.

    References to forms will include the full title of the form.

IV.  Content Considerations

The policy and procedure should be brief and user-friendly. The new policy, or revision, should take into account:

1. Legal and ethical implications

2. Fiscal implications

3. Personnel or human resources issues

4. Gender and diversity considerations

5. Simplicity in technical explanations

6. Cross reference of related, or companion, policies

7. Identification of an appropriate reference for questions and clarification

8. Definition of terms

9. Reference to a department Web site as appropriate

V.  Numbering

Policy and Procedure 01.002, "Policy and Procedure Numbering System," provides for the assignment of numbers to new policies and procedures.

VI.  Review and Approval

The Initiator chooses between the two alternatives for reviewing proposed policy changes: the standard review process (see sub-subsection A, immediately below), or the fast-track review process (see sub-subsection B, below).

The standard review process is used for:

• the first approval of all new policies,

• all eliminations of old policies, and

• complex or contentious revisions of existing policies.

The fast-track review process allows the Initiator to submit simple, non-controversial changes quickly and directly for Executive Staff Officers review. The Initiator may choose to use the fast-track process only if the policy was approved or re-approved through the standard review process less than five years ago, and each of the proposed changes falls into one of the following categories:

• It is a non-substantive change (e.g., updating position titles or Web links; for details, see the discussion on the Policy Initiators' Resources page on the password-protected review site, which is accessible to all policy Initiators:   http://www.ohiou.edu/policy2/resources.html).

• Immediate action is needed to comply with federal, state, or local legal mandates.

• It is a straightforward, simple, non-controversial change, to update policy to more accurately describe actual current practice (e.g., a simple clarification or the policy says to send in a form, but now people should submit the information online, etc.).

• The Executive Vice President has approved the Initiator's request to use the Fast Track Review Process for that change, even though it might not meet the other criteria.

The Initiator examines the policy and the proposed revision, in light of the above requirements, and then decides to use either the standard review process or the fast-track review process.

When the Initiator uses the fast-track review process, the changes should be accepted or rejected on their own merits, without regard to other issues that may be identified with the policy, and the needed update immediately put in place. After that has been done, the Initiator should promptly begin work to address any other issues that have surfaced.

The Policy and Procedure Review Committee will work with people designated by the Executive Staff to maintain online, as part of the Policy Initiators' Resources page, linked above, further information, instructions, and guidelines for both the standard and the fast-track review processes.

A.   Standard Review Process

1. After preparing an initial draft of a new or revised policy, the Initiator invites feedback and comments from an appropriate group of reviewers. The invitation specifies the method for communicating the comments and the deadline for their submission.

   The reviewers consulted should include the individuals and groups identified in the "Reviewers" section of that policy statement; see subsection II, sub-subsection D, above. Although listed as Reviewers, the President, Executive Vice President, other Executive Staff members, and the Policy and Procedure Review Committee need not be consulted during this first step, because they will review the policy in steps 3 through 5, below. If the President, Executive Vice President, or any member of the Executive Staff has a role defined in the policy, or is otherwise a particularly interested party, then they should be consulted during this step.

   The Initiator keeps his or her supervisor informed during this step, and obtains the approval of the planning unit head before proceeding to the next step.

2. The Initiator prepares a brief cover memorandum, using the template linked from the Forms section, below, explaining the need for the new or revised policy and procedure, and identifying the reviewers consulted during step 1, above. If the Initiator believes that any reviewer would not support the policy as it is submitted, then the cover memo identifies the reviewers in question and summarizes the issues that are still unresolved. The Initiator simultaneously provides a copy of the cover memo and policy, as submitted to the Executive Vice President, to those reviewers not supporting the policy.

3. After the formatting and the language developed for a new or revised policy are complete, the Initiator forwards the new or revised policy and procedure, with the cover memorandum, and with copies of any forms that are not already available online, to the Executive Vice President, for review by the Executive Staff PRS, and simultaneously e-mails a copy to the Policy and Procedure Review Committee (policy@ohio.edu) if the submitted draft of the policy is not identical to the version already online as part of the password-protected review site.

4. If the Executive Staff Officers' review identifies any issues that should be addressed, the Executive Vice President informs the Initiator, and provides guidance as to their resolution.

5. After the Executive Staff Officers' review and endorsement by the Executive Vice President, the Executive Vice President instructs the Initiator to provide any changes from the text submitted in step 3 to the Policy and Procedure Review Committee in electronic form, for final technical analysis and formatting. If the committee identifies any issues that should be addressed, they work with the Executive Vice President and the Initiator to resolve them. The Executive Vice President informs the President of the proposed changes; they may decide that resolving an issue requires further discussion by the Executive Staff PRS.

6. After the committee has completed its work, the Chair works with Office of Information Technology ("OIT") staff to incorporate any final changes in the online version, for indexing and publication on the University's Policy and Procedure Web site, at http://www.ohiou.edu/policy/.

7. OIT staff print the policy and procedure from the Web and send it to the Initiator, who signs in the "Initiated by" section on the printed policy and procedure. The Initiator then sends the policy and procedure to the Executive Vice President.

8. The Executive Vice President signs as the Endorser of the printed policy and procedure, and takes it to the President for the final signature certifying approval.

9. The President then forwards the fully signed policy and procedure to the designated OIT staff member. OIT staff arrange for hardcopy duplication and distribution to the Executive Staff Officers (including the Director of Legal Affairs), and the University Archivist; update the public Web site accordingly; and notify University Communications and Marketing.

10. University Communications and Marketing informs the University community of the new or revised Policy statement.

B.   Fast-Track Review Process

1. The Initiator prepares the updated policy and completes the Fast-Track Form, affirming that the criteria described above do apply, and then submits the revised policy, with the Fast-Track Form serving as the cover memo, to the Executive Vice President, for review by the Executive Staff PRS, by e-mail to provost@ohio.edu, simultaneously sending copies to all listed Reviewers, to the Policy and Procedure Review Committee (policy@ohio.edu), and to the Initiator's administrative chain of command, up to and including the planning unit head. The cover e-mail will include a verbatim quote of both paragraphs of step 2, immediately below.

2. Any recipient who opposes the proposed change informs the Executive Vice President and the Initiator promptly.

   Any recipient who identifies other issues of concern with the policy contacts the Initiator directly; they work together to establish a timetable for addressing those concerns (whether by the standard review process or the fast-track review process) independently of the fast-track review process for this change; and they inform the Executive Vice President of the issues and their intended timetable. In the event that unresolved issues remain, the provisions of subsection I, step 1, above, do apply, including the option to notify the Executive Vice President.

3. The Executive Vice President either takes the policy to the Executive Staff PRS for review, or informs the Initiator that this change should proceed using the standard review process.

4. The Executive Staff PRS may:
   • approve or reject the proposed change outright;

   • direct that the change go through the standard review process;

   • approve the change with specific modifications; or

   • approve the change, and direct that other issues be addressed promptly.

   In the last two cases, the Executive Vice President provides the Initiator with guidance about Executive Staff PRS concerns; about what actions are required from the Initiator to address those concerns; and about the expected timetable for those actions.

5. After the Executive Staff review and endorsement by the Executive Vice President, the Executive Vice President instructs the Initiator to provide any changes from the text submitted in step 1 to the Policy and Procedure Review Committee in electronic form, for final technical analysis and formatting. If the committee identifies any issues that should be addressed, they work with the Executive Vice President and the Initiator to resolve them. The Executive Vice President informs the President of the proposed changes; they may decide that resolving an issue requires further discussion by the Executive Staff PRS.

The rest of the fast-track review process is identical to the standard review process, proceeding with step 6 and onward.

VII.  Policy Elimination

A department head, a planning unit head, a senate chair, a University standing committee chair, the President, the Executive Vice President, or an Executive Staff Officer, working with the appropriate Reviewers, may initiate elimination of an existing policy and procedure. The Chair of the Policy and Procedure Review Committee may also act as an Initiator of a policy and procedure elimination.

Elimination is the ultimate revision of an existing policy and procedure. Once Initiated, as described in the prior paragraph, the elimination process follows the steps established in the previous subsection for the standard review process, except that in step 7, OIT staff print a Policy and Procedure Elimination Cover Sheet for that policy (instead of a new or revised policy and procedure statement), to be signed by the Initiator, the Executive Vice President, and the President.

1. President

2. Executive Staff Officers

3. Executive Vice President and Provost

4. Policy Initiators

5. Policy and Procedure Review Committee

1. The generic Policy template, a 33 KByte Microsoft Word (".doc") file, is online at:
   http://www.ohiou.edu/policy/00-000.doc

2. The generic Policy Cover Memo template, a 20 KByte Microsoft Word (".doc") file, is online at:
   http://www.ohiou.edu/policy/cover.doc

3. The Fast-Track Form, a 20 KByte Microsoft Excel (".xls") file, is online at:
   http://www.ohiou.edu/policy/fast-trackform.xls