Tips for Maintaining Your Office’s Policies &

Procedures Manual

Rick Shipman & Derek AndersonMichigan State University

Survey• How many of you have a policy and

procedures manual in your office?

• How many of you would say that your policy and procedures manual is both comprehensive and actively maintained?

BackgroundThe US Department of Education requires schools to maintain written policies and procedures used to administer federal Title IV financial aid. This requirement is laid out in 34 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) in the Administrative Capability subsection 668.16(b)(4) and, in part, states:

“The Secretary considers an institution to have that administrative capability if the institution—Has written procedures for or written information indicating the responsibilities of the various offices with respect to the approval, disbursement, and delivery of Title IV, HEA program assistance and the preparation and submission of reports to the Secretary;”

Importance• Auditors need to know your

processes so they can determine if those processes are being followed

• Staff should always have something in writing that they can refer to

Tip #1: Leverage Technology• Talk to your IT department

• Ask them about “collaborative editing” or “wiki” software

Tip #1: Leverage Technology• Talk to your IT department

• Ask them about “collaborative editing” or “wiki” software

• MediaWiki (Free)www.mediawiki.org

• Confluence (Paid) www.atlassian.com/software/confluence

Tip #2: Use A Template• Saves time and effort

• Helps identify “blind spots” in your written procedures

• Available from IFAP and NASFAA

Tip #3: Teamwork• Don’t make it one person’s responsibility

• Create a work group/committee

• Assign sections to different people

Caveat: Designate one person to be the P&P manual “czar”

MSU Timeline & Statistics• Web application developed over the course of two

months (July 2013 to September 2013)

• The 2013-14 Policies & Procedures Manual was completed in August 2014 after 11 months of work

• 16 major sections composed of 191 subsections• 149 linked files • 157 linked web pages • 20,637 words added • 1,595 edits

Tip #4: Avoid Repetition

• Each policy or procedure should exist in one place only

• Use links – never copy/paste text

Tip #5: Preserve History• Consider tying your P&P manual to the

aid year

• At the end of each year, create a new copy of the manual and “freeze” the old one (no further changes allowed)

Tip #5: Preserve History• Consider tying your P&P manual to the

aid year

• At the end of each year, create a new copy of the manual and “freeze” the old one (no further changes allowed)

• Maintain a “change log” – what changed, when did it change, and who changed it?

Recap• Tip #1: Leverage Technology

• Tip #2: Use A Template

• Tip #3: Teamwork

• Tip #4: Avoid Repetition

• Tip #5: Preserve History

Other Useful Features

Lessons Learned

• Search feature would improve usability

• Staff must have an incentive to use the P&P manual

• P&P Committee should pull from all areas of the office and be reconfigured annually

• Support from the top is crucial

Questions?

Thank You!

Derek Anderson: ande1214@msu.edu

Rick Shipman: shipmanr@msu.edu