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If you are responsible for drafting, reviewing, or updating policies at the University, it is important for you to read the University’s Policy on Policies and to make sure that you are using the approved University policy template.

The policy, template, and additional guidance can all be found on the Information Management team’s Policy webpages. These documents aim to help achieve consistency across the institution in terms of the approach to and format of University policies, as well as to ensure that best practice is followed and that policies are reviewed regularly to avoid them becoming out of date and ineffective.

Even if you have read these documents before, the Policy on Policies and policy template guidance have both recently been updated – so please do take some time to revisit these documents and familiarise yourself with them.

Importantly, the standard timeframe for review of policies (i.e. how often they should be routinely checked for accuracy and to ensure they are still fit for purpose) has changed, and there have been some updates to the approval process for existing policies that have been reviewed and only require minor updates.

New guidance has also been issued to help those using the University’s policy template – this is now much more comprehensive, with a focus on the common areas around which colleagues usually have queries or request advice.

Karen Blackman, Information Manager (from the Information Management team, within the Division of the General Counsel, Governance and Compliance), has responsibility for policies at the University and you can always contact her for advice in the first instance when drafting policies or if you have any queries about the policy or about how to use the template.

Karen is also currently in the process of carrying out a policy ‘audit’ across the University, starting with policies owned within her own team (all of which have just been reviewed and updated) and division, which will ultimately result in the creation of a central University ‘policy bank,’ making policies easier for staff and others to access. If you are responsible for policies within your own School or Division, do get in touch with Karen to discuss this work further.