How to Assess and Develop Policy: An Overview 

1. Assess and Identify Need and Purpose of New Policy or Policy Edits

2. Review Relevant Policies: SUU and USHE

3. Determine Purpose of Policy

  • USHE directive or legal requirement?
  • Does it promote operation efficiency and effectiveness?
  • Does it mitigate risk?
  • Does it standardize processes across units?

4. Determine Who at University is Responsible for What in the Policy

5. Draft the Policy or Edit the Existing Policy

6. Assess Need for and Create Forms and Approval Processes

  • These may include checklists, agreements, or other documents/forms that can be linked from Policy, streamline policy implementation, and/or reduce policy language needed

7. Submit through Policy Review and Approval Process

Understanding what needs to happen next will help you plan your timeline better. Here is a summary of the approval process. Review the Policy on Policies in whole. Overall, unless the policy is submitted as a temporary/emergency policy, plan on 3-6 months before the policy is officially enforced if it is new or has a substantive revision.