Policy Style Guide & Best Practices

STYLE GUIDE

The Policy Style Guide is intended to establish clear and consistent standards for writing and formatting in the University’s policy repositories – KU Policy Library and KUMC PolicyStat. 

This style guide is intended to encompass both the Lawrence Campus and all reporting units’ Style Guide and the KU Medical Center and all reporting units’ Style Guide (Login required). 

BASIC REQUIREMENTS

▪ Policy at the University of Kansas (KU) and the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) follow APA guidelines. 

▪ Policy should be written at approximately a 9th grade level as anyone must be able to understand policy regardless of language skills, education, or field of work.

▪ Always use working titles rather than individual names.

▪ Maintain Gender neutral language. 

▪  If requesting action of an individual within policy (e.g., submission of form, requesting email, submitting results or invoice) always provide contact information and/or submission instructions. 

▪ Always follow accessibility guidelines when creating materials. 

    Links |  Tables | Images | Documents | Linking to Inaccessible External Content

DOCUMENT TYPES

▪ Policy: Mandates what one must do or what one is prohibited from doing upon the approval by the appropriate authority. Examples include Bylaws, Code and Handbook.

▪ Procedure: Operational processes necessary to implement institutional policy or carry out specific institutional functions. Typically used to identify broad/generalized processes. Examples include Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and Plan.

▪ Charter: Sets expectation of an organized body's structure and function. Examples include Committee Structure and Statement.

▪ Guideline: Recommendation of best practices. Typically used to encourage preferred action.

▪ Resource: Structure and tools available to support policy. Examples include Brochure, Form, Index, Frequently Asked Question (FAQ).

University of Kansas

  • Lower case “the”
  • KU or University after first reference has been spelled out

          Not Accepted: Kansas University 

 

University of Kansas Medical Center

  • Lower case “the”
  • KUMC only after the first reference has been spelled out
  • KUMC acceptable in legal and policy documents; preferred is KU Medical Center 

          Not Accepted: KU Med, the med ctr, KU Medical, or UKMC

 

The University of Kansas Health System

  • Uppercase “The”
  • After first reference, can use “health system”
  • Avoid TUKHS abbreviation
  • Avoid KU Health System

          Not Accepted: Considering the health system the same as the medical center, using KUHS

 

Kansas Board of Regents

  • After first reference, can use KBOR 

          Not Accepted: Board of Regents, Regents, KS Board of Regents, the Board

▪ Title and email are required

▪ Recommend using titles rather than personal names

▪ When possible, departmental emails should be used for contact

▪ Physical addresses and phone numbers are optional

 

The following format should be used when multiple contacts are identified. 

All University:
Office of the Chancellor
230 Strong Hall
1450 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence, KS 66045
kuchancellor@ku.edu

 

Lawrence Campus and All Reporting Units:
Office of the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
250 Strong Hall
1450 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, KS 66045
785-864-4904
provost@ku.edu

 

KU Medical Center Campus and All Reporting Units:
Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor  
3901 Rainbow Blvd., 2032 Murphy Administration Bldg.
Kansas City, KS 66160
913-588-0146
evco@kumc.edu

▪ Use numbers instead of spelling it out (e.g., “40” rather than “forty”)

▪ Use “must” or “shall” as both indicate requirements; avoid “will.” 

▪ Use active voice instead of passive voice (e.g., “go” instead of “went”)

▪ Write in third person, present tense. (e.g., The employee is responsible for submitting any leave requests; They must reach out to their supervisor for clarification.)

▪ Write out acronym meanings on first use with acronym following in parenthesis (e.g., Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA))

▪ Field-specific words should be defined in the Definitions section

▪ Avoid using jargon (e.g., matriculation, e-PO)

▪ Additional grammatical guidance found online:

   Ampersand | Commas | Hyphens | Capitalization

▪ Should not be the full URL rather, hyperlink the title of the resource to meet accessibility standards

▪ In public documents, always note if a link requires Login so users don’t think the link is broken

▪ Always verify links work during each review period

Tags can be used in both policy libraries. 

Tags must be:

▪ 1 word

▪ Reflect common language

▪ Spelled correctly, no slang or abbreviations unless commonly understood (e.g., HLC, SOM, FMLA)