The purpose of this policy is to describe essential elements of all Hanover College policies, to define a manner in which policies are maintained and published and to promote the regular review of policies.

Hanover College policies must be thoroughly reviewed, maintained, and made available to the College community to promote practicality, compliance, and accountability.

The office that develops and administers the policy will be accountable for the accuracy of its subject matter, its issuance, and timely updating.

All divisions of the College. Faculty, staff and students.

Individuals who are considering issuing, revising, or assisting the drafting of institutional, departmental or program related policies.

The following definitions specifically refer to all the fields within policy:

• Name : The official display name of the policy
• ID Code : The ID (identity) Code is a three part, unique identity code for the policy. The first part consists of the department code assigned to the creator (owner) of the policy. The second part is a three digit, zero filled number which is automatically set to increment by 10 digits between each new policy created; this number can be manually set only when creating a new policy and as long as an existing policy does not share the same three digit number. The third part is a zero-filled, auto-incremented, two digit "revision" number which advanced by one with every new policy revision; initial value when creating a policy is "00".
• Responsible Office : The department or office assigned to the creator of the policy.
• Owner : The creator of the policy.
• Effective Date : The date the policy is to be in effect.
• Revision Date : The (revised) date the policy was last submitted for approval to the designated VP. Also known as Submitted date.
• Creation Date : The date the policy was created.
• Changed Date: The date the policy was last saved. Also known as Saved date.
• Approved Date: The date the policy was approved by the designated VP.
• Approved By: The display name of the designated VP which approved the policy.
• Reviewed By: A listing of name/date pairs of persons who reviewed the policy.
• Keywords : The keywords are a comma separated list of words which are used to describe a policy for use in searching, identifying and filtering policies.
• Category : The category field is intended to provide a way to group similar policies together, via a word or phrase, when displaying or filtering policies.
• Addendum : The addendum field is intended to provide additional content or details about a policy but is not required or essential to the policy itself.
• Editors : List of users added to a policy which allows them to edit any policy field and save the policy.
• Supplemental Files : Files to be uploaded that contain information or content that cannot be directly added to the policy statement (as, or converted to, HTML) or is too extensive to be included as plain-text in the policy addendum.
• Notes : Notes are only visible while editing a policy and intended for internal use only.

The following steps summarize the key stages involved in developing policies and adding approved policies to the Policy Management System:

1. Identify Need - Policies can be developed in anticipation of need and in response to need. Departments need to constantly assess its activities, responsibilities and the external environments in order to identify the need for policies and procedures.
2. Identify who will take lead responsibility - Delegate responsibility to an individual, working group, sub-committee or staff member, according to expertise required.
3. Gather Information - Do you have authority or legal responsibilities in this area? Is your understanding accurate and up to date? Have other departments or organizations tackled the same issue? Are there existing templates or examples you can draw on? Where will you go for guidance?
4. Consider whether procedures are required - Procedures are more likely to be required to support internal policies. Consider whether there is a need for clear guidance regarding how the policy will be implemented and by whom. Who will be responsible for developing these procedures? When will this be done? What will be the process for consultation, approval and implantation?
5. Consult with appropriate stakeholders - Policies are most effective if those affected are consulted, are supportive and have the opportunity to consider and discuss the potential implications of the policy. Depending on whether you are developing policies to govern the internal working of the college or external policy position, you may wish to consult the following:
   • Staff and volunteers
   • Committee members
   • Directors and cabinet members
   • Students
   • Vendors
6. Create the policy

   The following outlines the details for creating a policy via the Policy Management System:

   • The user creating an initial policy, called the policy draft, is designated as the policy owner with full access to the policy; the policy department code will be set to the department code associated with the owner. Only the policy owners can publish, delete and deactivate policies within the Policy Management System.
   • Multiple editors can be added to a policy by the policy owner; editors can edit any field except "People Affected" field and "Editors" field.
   • In addition to the content of the policy, the policy "Name", "ID Code", and "Effective Date" fields are required to create a policy.
   • After a policy is created, supplemental files may be uploaded with a policy.
   • There are two methods for saving changes to a policy. The "Save" button simply saves the current policy information. The "Publish" button saves the current policy information but also automatically increments the Policy Code Revision Number by one every time the policy is published, thereby indicating a new revision have been created for the policy. A policy is not visible, and remains in a "draft" state until it has been published for the first time.
   • A policy can only be deleted during its "draft" state. After a policy has been published, it can only be "deactivated" which removes the policy from all access and view – essentially archiving it, all previous revisions, and supplemental files.
7. Submit policy for approval - After the policy has been created, edited and is ready to be approved, it can be submitted to the VP for approval.

Determine how the new or revised policy will be communicated and to whom.

Evaluate if training is required to support the implementation of the policy among employees, students, vendors, etc.

Review and revise policies yearly or when organizational or legal guidance require policy updates and communication.

Evaluate whether modifications of policies require director or cabinet approval prior to posting revisions within the Policy Management System and communicating it to the appropriate parties.