Policy without (much) pain - University of Ballarat

Policy without (much) painIn the past decade many institutions have introduced a ‘policy on policies’, or a ‘policy frameworkpolicy’, setting: a standard definition of policy across the institution a standard process and format for developing and reviewing policies and procedures.Such institutions may require that the term ‘policy’ be used only for institution-wide policies. Yet itis a very large task to bring all policies for a big institution into a standard format andnomenclature. Many institutions have succeeded partly in doing this, but not fully.If the above is not sufficiently confusing, we should also note that the term ‘tertiary educationpolicy’ is used for government policy on tertiary education – the major changes in approach tofunding and regulation of the whole sector that are introduced by national and (in Australia) stategovernments from time to time. ‘Tertiary education policy’ has a significant impact on ‘tertiaryinstitution policy’, but they are different animals.From the above, it will be seen that the term policy is slippery: its meaning can vary depending oncontext. This slipperiness perhaps reflects the contested nature of policy in attempting to shapehuman activity.In the title of this book we use ‘policy’ in the general or umbrella sense, to mean all textsproduced by the institution to define and control its activities. The advice in this book should beapplicable to any institutional policy project, whether it is to develop a new piece of institutionallegislation, 2 a high-level institutional policy, a low-level procedural document, or a document thatapplies only within a faculty or business unit.Key points/tips:‣ At least three meanings of ‘policy’ are current in tertiary education.‣ We use ‘policy’ in the general or umbrella sense, to mean all texts producedby the institution to define and control its activities2 Delegated legislation, however – institutional statutes, regulations or rules – is drafted by legal staff. Policy developers can assist with researchand consultation to establish what changes to legislation are needed – and for this work the ideas in this booklet may be helpful.~ 7 ~