INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS The Best Place to Start For College Procedure 2.01.03.14, Policies and Procedures STYLE SHEET FOR REVISING AND WRITING BOARD POLICIES AND COLLEGE PROCEDURES Authorization: See College Procedure 2.01.03.14, Policies and Procedures, for information on the process by which Board Policies and College Procedures are created, developed, and approved. See also, at the end of this style sheet, the document Frequently Asked Questions about Institutional Improvement through the Review of Board Policies and College Procedures. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness (IE) is responsible for directing the foregoing efforts and may be contacted for assistance at 915-831-6740. Board Policies are approved by the Board; College Procedures are approved by the President. REVISING BOARD POLICIES AND COLLEGE PROCEDURES Using an editable version of the Board Policy or College Procedure provided by the IE Office, indicate by gray shading material to be added and indicate by strikeouts material to be deleted. The IE Office will provide the revision date after the revision is approved. Revision of a Board Policy requires that a Board Abstract be prepared to indicate the nature of the revision. See the discussion of Board Abstracts below. WRITING NEW COLLEGE PROCEDURES FIRST CONSIDERATIONS: The purpose of a procedure is to enumerate and describe the steps of a PROCESS. Non-process content would be more suitable for other publications, such as the College Catalog, a Board Policy, an existing procedure, or the College web page. The process must implement some aspect of a Board Policy and cannot contradict or go beyond a Board Policy. The IE Office will help the writer of a process to identify the applicable Board Policy. The writer of a procedure must be certain that the College has no other procedure with the same objective and that the process under consideration cannot be added to an existing procedure. The writer must consider whether to add one or more cross-references to other College Procedures whose processes may impact, or be impacted by, the contemplated new procedure. The procedure must clearly indicate the office responsible for the process and all the actions that the office must take to achieve the objective. As all College Procedures appear on the College web page, the procedure must be succinct and understandable to College employees, students, accrediting agencies, and the public. TYPE FACE AND FONT: College Procedures are written in Times New Roman 10-point type. The margins are: Top.5 ; bottom.5 ; left.7 ; and right.7. The text is single space with double spacing between paragraphs. FORMAT: College Procedures use an outline format, as exemplified by the template below. The IE Office will provide the standardized heading of the procedure s first page (e.g. College logo, section for number, title, and approval date). Z:RS/1POLPROCADM/WRITINGNEWPROCEDURETEMPLATE1-20-2011 1 of 5
PROCEDURE NUMBER: The number of the procedure will be supplied by the IE Office. The procedure number consists of the associated Board Policy number to which two or more digits unique to the procedure are added. TITLE: The procedure s title should accurately and succinctly identify the objective. APPROVAL DATE: The approval date will be determined by the President and added to the procedure by the IE Office. OBJECTIVE: Beginning with the word To, is a phrase stating what the procedure is designed to achieve. For example, College Procedure 2.01.03.14, Policies and Procedures, has the following objective: OBJECTIVE: To provide a process for the development, review, revision, approval, maintenance, dissemination, and deletion of Procedures and Policies. PROCEDURE: Following the objective is the procedure. Normally, the procedure consists of two parts. Part I: The first part is normally entitled General or General Provisions. This section is an introduction, which may contain a list of definitions, the rationale for the process, and/or other preliminary information needed to understand the context of the process. Part II: This section is the Process. This section identifies the steps of the process. If the process requires forms, the forms should be appended to the procedure and referenced in Part II. If referring to related handbooks, the writer should be aware that the College has no mechanism for reviewing and updating handbooks; thus, handbooks may become obsolete and/or irrelevant to the procedure. PROCEDURE TEMPLATE (Provided by the IE Office) EL PASO COMMUNITY COLLEGE PROCEDURE For information, contact Institutional Effectiveness: (915) 831-6740 [No. supplied by IE Office] [Title] Designated contact: [Contact supplied by IE Office] APPROVED: [Date supplied REVISED: by IE Office] Year of last review: [Date supplied by IE Office] AUTHORIZING BOARD POLICY: OBJECTIVE: To. PROCEDURE: I. General Provisions (e.g. Definitions, rationale, impetus (If any)) II. Process A. 1. 2. B. 1. 2 Z:RS/1POLPROCADM/WRITINGNEWPROCEDURETEMPLATE1-20-2011 2 of 5
Etc. WRITING NEW BOARD POLICIES FIRST CONSIDERATIONS: The purpose of a Board Policy is to state succinctly a broad College position or goal, such as the importance of academic freedom or the adherence to applicable state and federal laws. The policy normally directs the President to create procedures to achieve the goal. Thus, Board Policies do not describe processes, leaving them to the College procedures. Policies normally consist of no more than two or three sentences; the first sentences state the desired goal; the concluding sentence directs the President to create procedures to achieve the goal. The writer of a Board Policy must be certain that no other Board Policy states the goal under consideration and that the goal under consideration cannot be added to an existing Board Policy. As all Board Policies appear on the College web page, the Policy procedure must be succinct and understandable to College employees, students, accrediting agencies, and the public. The creation of a new Board Policy requires that a Board Abstract be prepared to indicate the subject of the policy. See the discussion of Board Abstracts below. TYPE FACE AND FONT: Board Policies are written in Times New Roman 10-point type. The margins are: Top.5 ; bottom.5 ; left.7 ; and right.7. The text is double spaced. FORMAT: Board Policies normally consist of no more than one or two paragraphs. If enumeration is required, a simple one level outline (e.g. I., II., III.) suffices. See the Board Policy template below. The IE Office will provide the standardized heading (e.g. College logo, policy number, and approval date). TITLE: The procedure s title should accurately and succinctly identify the objective. POLICY TEMPLATE (Provided by the IE Office) EL PASO COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT BOARD POLICY [Policy number provided by the IE Office] [TITLE] [Paragraph(s) stating the desired objective, concluding, if applicable, with the sentence The President shall develop procedures to implement this policy. ] Adopted: [Date provided by IE] Amended: [Date provided by IE] [Policy no. provided by IE] - 1 of 1 Year of Last Review: [Year provided by IE] Designated contact: [Contact supplied by IE Office] Z:RS/1POLPROCADM/WRITINGNEWPROCEDURETEMPLATE1-20-2011 3 of 5
PREPARING BOARD ABSTRACTS (See the following Board Abstract template) Use these instructions to complete the Board Abstract template below. The IE Office can provide the template. When working in the template, to tab to the next cell, press Tab. TITLE: Begin by typing in the appropriate section title in front of ABSTRACT. The abstract can be a Financial Abstract, Physical Facilities Abstract, Curriculum and Instruction Abstract, Student Services Abstract, or Community Services Abstract. The following list indicates the subject areas: Abstract Title Financial Abstract: Physical Facilities: Curriculum & Instruction: Student Services: Community Services: Subject Matter Finances or Information Technology Construction, building or grounds Classes or teaching Services for students, Continuing Education tuition rates Programs benefiting the community, etc. Resource Person: Explanation: Formatting: List names from highest ranking to lowest ranking with a Cabinet officer listed. Names are separated by a comma even if there are only two names. Budget information for any expenditure needs to be provided and funding source needs to be included. Budget box information needs to reflect the expenditures to date and the balance of the account being used. It is the responsibility of the budget head to provide this information and the responsibility of the VP/Cabinet member to ensure information is correct. The abstract should be properly prepared and grammar and spelling checked. Bid tabulation and analysis will be provided by the Director of Purchasing. The template provided to you has the correct fonts, indentations, spacing and line positioning. Z:RS/1POLPROCADM/WRITINGNEWPROCEDURETEMPLATE1-20-2011 4 of 5
[Title e.g. CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION] ABSTRACT Item(s) to be Considered: Consideration and deliberation on Amount: $xx,xxx Requestor: Area Responsible: Resource Persons: Purpose: To. Explanation: Recommendation: Approval by the Board of Trustees. Exhibit 7.x.1 [Provided by the President s Office] Z:RS/1POLPROCADM/WRITINGNEWPROCEDURETEMPLATE1-20-2011 5 of 5