Policy Review

Effective policies set institutional expectations for members of the university and ensures compliance with applicable laws and regulations It is important that these policies adapt and align with current laws and regulations, reflect new systems or practices and   management decisions and directives.  As a Policy Owner, comprehensive review process provides an opportunity to take a deep look at university policy and procedures under your purview and to answer some core questions regarding the policy. It is recommended that policy owners conduct this review at least every 4 years.  Use the Policy Review Checklist below to conduct a comprehensive policy review.

Policy Review Checklist

The following questions may be of value to you as a policy owner when beginning a comprehensive review of existing policies. This document is for your use only and does not need to be submitted to the University Policy Manager.

1. What is working well with the policy? Does this policy have known points of failure, and if so, what improvements would reduce these failure points?
2. Do you measure compliance to this policy to assess its effectiveness? If so, how do assess the effectiveness of the policy?
3. What is the potential impact of this policy on the Western community, particularly under-served and marginalized individuals and groups?
4. If there could be a negative impact, identify the equity impact and the plan to eliminate/mitigate the barriers and/or impact in the policy. Does the policy align with other related policies?
5. Are there audit findings to consider?
6. How does your policy compare with peer institutions?
7. What common questions have been asked since the last review or since the policy was developed?
8. Do you need to revise the policy to incorporate responses to the questions?
9. Are existing supplemental documents, such as procedures, guidelines, standards, or forms, still correct?
10. Are new supplemental documents needed?
11. Based on the responses to the questions above, is there a need to revise or cancel the policy?
    1. In no, please let the University Policy Manager know that you have reviewed the policy and there is no need to revise the policy at the time of the review (Email: policies@wwu.edu)
    2. If significant changes are needed, complete Policy Impact Statement -New or Major Revision form
    3. If minor changes such as updates to unit or office names, personnel titles, updating links to laws and regulations, or other external source information are needed, complete the Policy Impact Statement-Minor Revisions form.
    4. To cancel a policy, complete Cancelling University Policy form.

For all other questions, please contact Director, University Policy at policies@wwu.edu.