Submission Guidelines for Manual Revisions

Effective: 7/1/1998

Revised: 7/31/19

Overview of Revision Process

Records retention requirements

The policies of ASU are considered public records. In accordance with the public records laws and requirements of the State of Arizona, a printout of the online text kept at ASU Libraries, University Archives serves as the official record, and is available for public inspection.

Publication procedure for manual revisions

Publication by the Office of General Counsel (OGC) involves the following:

Note:

Manual coordinators must supply accurate URL addresses to sites outside the policy manual web space and notify OGC at policymanuals@asu.edu of changes in such addresses. OGC is not responsible for the accuracy of links to nor the content of sites outside our departmental control.

copyediting (checking organization, grammar, syntax, spelling, accuracy, consistency, style, etc.)
HTML formatting according to an approved manual template, using specific coding routines for consistency throughout the manual system
proofreading
submitting drafts to manual coordinators and OGC for review
copyediting, incorporating, and formatting changes
inserting, correcting, and removing entries in the Index of Policies by Subject as revisions are made
checking hypertext links for accuracy and currency across the manuals system
posting on the web in the ASU policies and procedures manuals website
and
making print outs from the source text and transmitting them to University Archives with documentation of chain of custody.

Manual Revision Schedule

All revisions including any updates, additions or deletions are due to policymanuals@asu.edu two months prior to the next posting date. This is to allow sufficient time for proper reviews, approvals, and edits. Although policy updates can be sent at any time, any updates that are received after the submission deadline shown below may not be posted until the next posting date.

Manual posting date	Submission deadline
November 1	September 1
March 1	January 1
July 1	May 1

OGC makes every effort to accommodate policy updates regardless of when submitted and to work with manual coordinators to ensure that manuals are as up-to-date as possible. However, policy updates submitted after the submission deadline may not be processed until next revision period as all policies must also go through a review and approval process. For urgent needs, refer to the interim posting process and/or contact OGC at policymanuals@asu.edu for assistance.

All policies for a particular manual should be submitted simultaneously to expedite review. Additional policies submitted after an initial review draft has been created and sent back for review may not be reviewed before the next posting date.

Manual revisions submitted on time will be posted to the manual website according to schedule, although delays may occur on occasion. Common causes of delays include failing to return the review draft to OGC by its due date or making extensive changes to the review draft in a constricted time frame or close to the posting date. Revisions submitted after the deadline (2 months prior to posting date-September 1, January 1 and May 1) will be processed in the next revision period, unless previous arrangements have been agreed upon or work on all previously submitted revisions is complete and sufficient time remains to complete the publication procedure for an earlier posting.

Document Preparation

For more information about how policies should be structured or formatted, refer to the information on the policy template and/or contact OGC at policymanuals@asu.edu for guidance.

Effective and Revised Dates

The manual coordinator must ensure that the correct effective and revised dates (months, days, and years) are indicated on every policy submitted to OGC. Every policy has an effective date, the date on which the first policy/procedure on this subject became effective, and is not necessarily the posting date or publication date of the policy. Once a policy takes effect, this date never changes; it remains the same throughout the life of the policy, no matter how many revisions are made. The revised date indicates the date on which the policy/procedure was most recently updated. It is always different from the effective date, and is not necessarily the posting date or publication date of the policy. Therefore, it may occur earlier than the posting date, but it is never earlier than the effective date.

Revising Posted Policies

The departmental designees responsible for specific policies should prepare revisions for the manual coordinator by marking changes in red ink on printouts of the currently posted policies or submitting changes using Word's track changes functionality. The deadline for submitting revisions is two months prior to the next posting.

The manual coordinator gathers all the edited policies from departmental designees, checks over the policies for accuracy of edits and any conflicts between/across policies, creates a draft of a Manual Revision Notice summarizing the changes for all policies in one document, and forwards a readable, decipherable electronic copy of the policies (ideally, in Word with track changes activated showing edits), including any updated or new exhibits if necessary, and the MRN to OGC via policymanuals@asu.edu. Note: Documents that are improperly prepared or unreadable will be returned to the manual coordinator for correction, and will be placed at the end of the queue when resubmitted for editing and production.

Note:

Documents that are improperly prepared or unreadable will be returned to the manual coordinator for correction, and will be placed at the end of the queue when resubmitted for editing and production.

After copyediting, HTML formatting, and proofreading, OGC prepares review drafts of the policies submitted and sends the drafts (typically in PDF format with highlighted changes and notes/comments) to the manual coordinator and the appropriate attorney in OGC, specifying the return date necessary to process changes.
The departments, through the manual coordinator, indicate changes, and return the drafts to the manual coordinator who then submits them OGC at policymanuals@asu.edu before the due date.
OGC attorney will approve final draft of policy prior to the due date.
OGC prepares the final versions and posts them to the ASU website on the designated posting date. At the same time, OGC prepares and delivers a printout of the manual for University Archives in accordance with the archive requirements.

Developing the Manual Revision Notice (MRN)

Each submission must be accompanied by a manual revision notice (MRN). For revisions to posted policies and exhibits, describe the change and the reason it was made. For new policies, include a statement of why the new policy is being included in the manual. In addition, OGC will edit/update the submitted MRN text to match the style of the manuals and the content of the policy updates. For example, refer to a sample MRN.

Note:

The MRN always has an effective date equal to the posting date; it never has a revision date, because each MRN is created specifically for each posting.

If you need assistance with creating entries for the MRN, contact OGC at policymanuals@asu.edu.

Revising or Creating Exhibits

“Exhibits” are often charts that illustrate departmental organization or flowcharts showing how some action proceeds through different steps. Exhibits are also useful to show how to complete a form by filling out a sample with hypothetical information. All exhibits that are forms have the word “Sample” printed across them. Exhibits may also be appropriate images that illustrate/demonstrate something in policy.

Exhibits are not blank forms intended for downloading. Forms for downloading should be accessed from a departmental website. By putting such forms on the department’s website, the department can change the forms as necessary. The manual coordinator should indicate where a link to the form should be inserted in the policy text and OGC will format the links according to the manual standards.

Updated or new exhibits, in electronic formats, such as Word or PowerPoint documents, which can be converted to PDF (or other appropriate format) by OGC, should be submitted.

OGC does not prepare or correct original documents or art/images for exhibits. The manual coordinator must submit copy suitable for posting.

Procedure for Updating Manuals Outside the Revision Cycle

In order to address those instances when it is absolutely necessary to post new or changed policies and procedures or to delete policies and procedures outside the review cycle, the following procedure has been approved. It is intended for issues of a magnitude that necessitate posting as soon as possible. The responsible executive for the manual in which the change will occur will make the exception based on the following criteria:

Criteria

The new or revised information has such an immediate and significant impact on university employees or students that it must be communicated in the manual as soon as possible. If this revised information does not appear in the manual before normal submission would result in its publication, individuals or the university will be disadvantaged.
Absence of the new or revised policies or procedures will result in legal liabilities for the university, the employees, or the students.
The new or revised policies and procedures result from state or federal legislation, Arizona Board of Regents’ (ABOR) policy changes, or legal interpretation that has a direct and immediate impact on employees or students.
If a question arises concerning whether a change meets the above criteria, the determination will be made by OGC in consultation with the executive responsible for the affected manual.

Process

The responsible executive (e.g., vice-president, provost, vice-provost) with authority for the manual in which the update is to be posted determines whether the policy change meets the foregoing criteria. If so, and if all appropriate approvals for the change have been acquired, the manual coordinator forwards an electronic copy of the policy (in Word with track changes activated showing edits), including exhibits if necessary, and a draft of interim posting notice to the OGC via policymanuals@asu.edu. The manual coordinator should also indicate appropriate approvals have been given for this posting as interim. The interim posting will be edited for style, format, or links at that time, and include an “Interim Posting Notice” on the manual’s table of contents, an “Interim Posting Alert” on the main manuals page and a statement about the interim posting at the beginning of the policy, all of which will be removed at the time of the next scheduled posting. To view how interim posting notices should be formatted, refer to the policy template information.

OGC will provide a printed copy of the newly updated policy (included as a part of the manual) to University Archives with the next scheduled posting, in compliance with the records retention schedule established with the State of Arizona. Policies posted as interim become a part of that manual’s official updates at the next scheduled posting.

Need Additional Information?

The ASU system of academic and administrative manuals is maintained by OGC. Contact us.