HomeMy WebLinkAbout115.002 - Policy Update Process
ADMINISTRATIVE MANUAL
STANDARDIZED DOCUMENTS
115.002 POLICY UPDATE PROCESS
EFFECTIVE: APRIL 2018
Current Revision Date: 1/28/19 Next Revision Date: 1/28/20
Author’s Name/Rank: Kerri L. Donis, Fire Chief Level of Review: 1
PURPOSE
This policy provides a standardized format and process to update and/or create
policies produced by the Fresno Fire Department (FFD and/or Department).
APPLICATION
All existing and newly created Department policies and/or forms will be processed in
the same manner.
OPERATIONAL POLICY
All policies and/or forms shall be monitored, updated, altered and/or created using
the process as outlined in this policy.
OPERATIONAL GUIDELINE
Owners of policies should endeavor to equally apportion work to those within their
chain of command.
PROCESS
1. Manual Policy Update Assignment: The Policy Committee will assign a task,
level of review, and a specific review cycle to an Owner via an email routing
form.
2. Task Assignment to an Author: The Owner will assign a task to an Author
and supporting administrative staff via an email routing form. Any special
instructions will be provided by the Owner.
Section 115.002
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The email routing form will contain necessary instruction to
successfully complete the task. A review level and due date will be
assigned and monitored through a tickler/reminder system.
o See review levels below.
o Unless otherwise assigned, a 14-day review cycle is the
“normal” cycle applied to all tasks.
3. Assignment entered into Tracking Log at:
Administrative support staff will update the tracking log found at L:\All-
Div\Manual Revisions Spreadsheet prior to issuing documents to team
members.
4. Email Routing Form:
a. An email routing form issued by supporting administrative staff will
begin a normal 14-day review cycle. The following information will be
included in the email:
The subject line of an email will contain the words DOCUMENT
REVIEW (followed by specific assignment information).
A current version of the document to be updated (retrieved from the
master document folders by administrative support staff).
A copy of Administrative Manual, Section 115.002, Manual Policy
Format (in WordDoc format) to be used to create a working draft
document. This is accomplished by cutting and pasting from the
old document into the new manual format.
5. Manual Revisions Spreadsheet: Administrative staff will ensure the
assignment is entered into the tracking log found at L:\All-Div\Manual
Revisions Spreadsheet and maintain the log with update status information.
6. Draft Documents: The Author will edit the existing policy per request using
the “Track Change” feature in the new format. Numerous exchanges may
take place between the Owner, Author and/or SMEs before administrative
staff is asked to produce a final draft document.
7. Policy Work Folders – Archived Draft Documents: The numerous draft
documents exchanged throughout the update process are archived by
administrative staff and can be found at L:\All-Div\Policy Works.
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a. At all phases of the update process, administrative staff will edit a draft
document (i.e., check for punctuation, proofread for spelling, check
formatting, etc.) when producing a signature ready document for
review, approval and signature.
8. Publication of an Updated and/or New Document: The following must occur
prior to the publication of a new master document:
a. Creation of a New Master Document:
Upon approval of a document for publication, administrative staff
will create the new template and save it to the master folders in the
L drive.
b. Table of Contents and Index: The appropriate table of contents and
indexes are also updated to include new documents, revision dates,
etc., in preparation for publication via special notice.
c. Removal and Replacement of a Policy:
An obsolete policy and/or form will be archived in the L drive master
template folders and replaced by a newly updated master
document.
An obsolete policy and/or form will be removed from the LMS
system and replaced by a newly updated master document.
An obsolete policy and/or form will be removed from the hard copy
binders and replaced by a newly updated master document.
d. Special Notice: A special notice is created, the new master document
is attached, and presented to the Fire Chief or her designee in
signature ready format.
e. LMS Publication and Assignment: The Training Division will publish
the special notice and assign it as a task in the LMS system.
INFORMATION
The following levels represent the document review process. Each policy or process
in the Department is assigned a Level of Review by the Policy Committee. The
intent is to streamline the process of change and assist the Author(s) in identifying
steps required to complete an update.
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1. Level 1:
There are minimal updates/changes to an already existing policy.
A normal review cycle is automatically applied.
The established chain of command will be used to present
administrative staff with a finalized draft document in order to produce
a final document for approval.
The Fire Chief will sign all special notices unless the publication of the
notice is urgent or the Fire Chief is unavailable to sign, at which time
her designee will execute on her behalf.
A special notice will be created by administrative support staff and
managed through publication.
2. Level 2:
There are extensive updates/changes to an already existing policy.
A special review cycle may be applied at the time of assignment.
The established chain of command will be used to present
administrative staff with a finalized draft document in order to produce
a final document for approval.
The Fire Chief will sign all special notices unless the publication of the
notice is urgent or the Fire Chief is unavailable to sign, at which time
her designee will execute on her behalf.
A special notice will be created by administrative support staff and
managed through publication.
3. Level 3:
This requires the creation of a new policy.
The policy will have minimal or some other impact to operations or
other policies.
A special review cycle may be applied at the time of assignment.
The established chain of command will be used to present
administrative staff with a finalized draft document in order to produce
a final document for approval.
The Fire Chief will sign all special notices unless the publication of the
notice is urgent or the Fire Chief is unavailable to sign, at which time
her designee will execute on her behalf.
A special notice will be created by administrative support staff and
managed through publication.
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4. Level 4:
This level may be applied to an already existing policy or the creation
of a new policy.
There are extensive updates/changes to the policy.
A special review cycle may be applied at the time of assignment.
The established chain of command will be used to present
administrative staff with a finalized draft document in order to produce
a final document for approval.
A Division Chief will review this draft prior to submittal to the Fire
Chief.
The Fire Chief will review and approve this draft prior to submittal to
the City Attorney’s Office for review.
The City Attorney’s Office may review the draft prior to submittal to
the LMC for a meet and confer process.
If changes are needed to the draft document at any time throughout
the various stages of the update process, a new review cycle is
applied. The Author will manage the changes and provide a
completed draft to administrative staff to produce the finalized
document for approval.
The Fire Chief will sign all special notices unless the publication of the
notice is urgent or the Fire Chief is unavailable to sign, at which time
her designee will execute on her behalf.
DEFINITIONS
1. Definitions: Words and/or terms with supporting definitions are listed in this
section in numerical outline format.
2. Policy Committee (Committee): The Committee will manage the update of all
Department policies and/or forms, and assign tasks to be disseminated
through an established chain of command. All update assignments will
include a level of review and specific review cycle. This Committee is
responsible for the completion of all assigned tasks.
3. Subject Matter Experts (SME): Department SME(s) are consulted when
updating a policy and/or form. An SME(s) is responsible for the completion of
all assigned tasks.
4. Owner: An Owner may be of any rank and is assigned the task of updating a
selected section of policies and/or forms. An Owner has the authority to
distribute the task of updating a policy and/or form to a selected Author and
supporting administrative staff and is responsible for the completion of all
assigned tasks. An Owner is responsible for the completion of all assigned
tasks.
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5. Author: An Author is given an assignment to update a policy and/or form and
works closely with SME(s) through this process. An Author is responsible for
the completion of all assigned tasks.
6. Administrative Staff: Administrative staff will receive an assignment to assist
an Author through the process of updating a policy and/or form. This includes
the initial preparation of a draft through publication of same. Administrative
staff is responsible for the completion of all assigned tasks.
7. Email Routing Form:
a. The original email routing form is issued by administrative staff and will
contain the following:
A current version of the document to be updated in WordDoc format;
“Track Change” feature activated.
b. Email language:
1. Subject Line will include the following information:
DOCUMENT REVIEW: 115.001; 115.002
Section 115.002
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2. Body of the email will include instructions as follows:
(Owner’s name) is copied here to ensure this request is processed in a
timely manner. Thank you!
c. Tickler/Reminder: Administrative staff will issue and manage a
tickler/reminder system to ensure due dates and deadlines are met.
Owner and/or Author will arrange with respective administrative support
staff the tickler/reminder system to be used so all team members are
using the same system.
d. “Track Change” feature: This is a feature in Word that tracks all changes
in a document, including additions, deletions and format changes. This
feature must be activated when updating all documents.
To activate the “Track Change” feature in Word in order to see the
new changes made to a document:
o Click the “Review” tab (located at the top ribbon of a
document)
o Click the “Track Changes” tab (for drop down options)
o Then again, click “Track Changes” (to activate this reviewing
tool)
o You’ll notice the icon is now highlighted in orange to indicate
it has been activated
LEVEL OF REVIEW: 1, 2, 3, or 4
(as assigned by the Policy Committee)
INSTRUCTIONS: Please review the attached draft policy and/or form in
its entirety using the “Track Change” feature to make
your edits in the document(s). The “Track Change”
feature has been activated in this document(s) and will
indicate any changes made with a line in the left margin
REVIEW CYCLE: 14-days
(or as assigned by the Policy Committee)
Please submit your draft document to (email of
assigned administrative support staff) no later than
(05/02/18).
TICKLER DATES: Example: Author may request other reminder dates to
include:
04/18/18: 14 days prior to due date
04/25/18: 7 days prior to due date
05/02/18: Due date
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e. Policy Work Folders: All draft versions are dated and archived in working
folders found at L:\All-Div\Policy Works. These folders contain the various
drafts created through an update process and are managed by
administrative staff.
f. Master Template Folder: These secure folders contain the master
templates of all Department policies and/or forms; they can be found on
the L drive. They are managed by administrative staff.
g. Manual Revisions Spreadsheet: This tracking tool is maintained by
administrative staff and reflects update status of a document through
publication; it can be found at L:\All-Div\Manual Revisions Spreadsheet.
The Committee may review this tracking tool as well.
8. Level of Review: There four (4) levels (or degrees) of review in the document
update process. In every instance, the Fire Chief will approve all updated
policies unless otherwise assigned. Levels of review are assigned by the
Committee as follows:
Level 1: Lowest level of review to an already existing policy with a 21-
day review cycle. The chain of command applied is as follows:
o Policy Committee (will assign policy updates to Owner)
o Owner (will manage the update process and/or assign to an
Author)
o Author (will manage the update process with SME/team
members)
o Owner (for a final review prior to sending on to administrative
support staff)
o Administrative Support Staff (final document preparations for
approval by the Fire Chief)
Level 2: Extensive updates to an already existing policy; special
review cycle may be applied. The chain of command applied is as
follows:
o Policy Committee (will assign policy updates to Owner)
o Owner (will manage the update process and/or assign to an
Author)
o Author (will manage the update process with SME/team
members)
o Owner (for a final draft review prior to sending on to
administrative support staff)
o Administrative Support Staff (final document preparations for
approval by the Fire Chief)
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Level 3: The creation of a new policy is required and it will have
minimal or some impact on operational or other policies; special review
cycle may be applied. The chain of command applied is as follows:
o Policy Committee (will assign policy updates)
o Owner (will manage the update process and/or assign to an
Author)
o Author (will manage the update process with SME/team
members)
o Owner and/or SME (for a final draft review prior to sending on to
administrative support staff)
o Administrative Support Staff (final document preparations for
approval by the Fire Chief)
Level 4: The creation of a new policy is required and it will have
minimal or some impact on operational or other policies; special review
cycle may be applied. The chain of command applied is as follows:
o Policy Committee (will assign policy updates)
o Owner (will manage the update process and/or assign to an
Author)
o Author (will manage the update process with SME/team
members)
o Owner and/or SME (for a final draft review prior to sending on to
administrative support staff)
o Administrative Support Staff (final document preparations for
approval by the Fire Chief)
CROSS-REFERENCES
(Sample of cross-reference format:)
Administrative Manual
Section 115.001, Manual Policy Format
Section 115.002
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