Policy G-28 G
Issued: 02 Jan 2011
Revised: 16 Jan 2020
Board Policy Guidelines
1.0 Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to define the process for developing, revising, or deleting of ASNT Board of Directors’ policies including the formatting requirements. For guidance in developing Purpose statement, see Appendix A.
2.0 Scope
Applies to ASNT Board of Directors’ policies. For guidance in developing Scope statement, see Appendix A.
3.0 References
3.1 ASNT Bylaws
4.0 Procedure
4.1 Policy Formatting
4.1.1 Left justification used for the entire document.
4.1.2 Font style shall be Times New Roman 12.
4.1.3 Titles of all policies shall be centered in bold capital letters.
4.1.4 A numerical technical style outline system shall be followed throughout the context of a policy. Letters and/or roman numerals shall not be used to outline policies; except as noted in 4.2.1.
4.1.5 All pages of a policy should be numbered. Page numbers shall be placed in parenthesis at the bottom center portion of the page indicating the appropriate page number out of the total number of pages within the policy. Example: (Page 1 of 3). Use the insert page numbering on each individual policy.
4.1.6 A policy number shall be placed in the top right corner of each page of the policy. The policy number shall be designated by a letter, which shall correspond to the category of policy, followed by the sequence number. For a revised policy the number will be followed by a revision letter. Policies will be numbered using 01, 02, 03…10, 11, 12, etc.
All policies shall indicate the policy’s initial issue date, all revision dates (maximum of 2 most recent).
4.1.7 The date of issue and any subsequent revision dates shall be the date the policy was approved by the Board of Directors and shall appear on the first page of the policy directly below the policy number. The most recent revision date should be the last date listed in the Revision Date Section.
Dates on all policies should use the following format: two (2)-digit month, two (2)-digit day, and four (4) digit year: XX/XX/XXXX
Example:
POLICY G-28
Issued: 03/21/1994
Revised: 04/14/2016
12/03/2019
4.1.8 When referring to the Board of Directors in a policy, the words “Board of Directors” needs to be written out instead of being referred to as the “Board”.
4.1.9 When referring to the ASNT Bylaws the words “ASNT Bylaws” should be in bold and italicized.
4.1.10 There should be a hyphen between the word “vice” and position. For example: Vice-President and Vice-Chair.
4.1.11 The term “Chairperson” is used when referring to the top position of the Board of Directors. The term “Chair” is used when referring to the top position of a council, committee, division, subcommittee, etc.
4.1.12 In Section 3.0 when referencing policies, the name of the policy needs to be in bold and then the name of the policy needs to be written out.
4.1.13 Formatting Appendices—refer to Appendix A of this policy.
4.1.14 After Board of Directors approval, all new and revised, policies shall be posted on the ASNT website in the form of the new/revised policy manual.
4.1.15 The first time an acronym is used in a document, the acronym should be placed in parenthesis directly after the proper name. Then the acronym can be used in place of the proper name for subsequent usages. The exception is the use of ASNT.
4.1.16 A complete set of master policies shall be maintained by the Executive Director at ASNT International Service Center (ISC). Any and all copies of archival information regarding policies shall be maintained within the master volume.
4.2 Developing New Policies
4.2.1 Each new policy shall contain as a minimum the following information, in the following paragraph numbering style:
1.0 Purpose
This is the Purpose of the Policy itself. Please use Appendix A of this policy for more detail.
2.0 Scope
This is the Scope of the Policy itself. This should include a list of any appendices within the Policy. Please see Appendix A of this policy for more detail.
3.0 Reference, Related Documents and Responsibility as applicable
References – documents referred to in the policy
Related Documents – documents with relevant content to the policy – This also needs to be listed on a separate page so that when policies are revised or deleted, it is known what other policies are affected and those policies also need to be revised at the same time.
Responsibility – assignments to positions or groups
4.0 Document Type (i.e. Policy, Procedure, Guidelines, Rules of Conduct, etc.)
4.1
4.1.1
a.
4.2.2 Policies with Appendices shall title each Appendix with the Appendix letter and title in all caps, as enumerated below.
APPENDIX A – PROCESS OR OBJECT BEING DESCRIBED IN FURTHER DETAIL.
4.2.3 Policies with Appendices shall be numbered in the following manner:
a. Appendices shall be assigned a capital letter alphabetically starting with A.
b. Numbering shall continue as outlined below.
A.1.0
A.1.1
A.1.1.1
a.
c. Each Appendix shall have a Purpose and Scope. Subsequent sections can be specific to the appendix, however multiple appendices in the same policy should contain headings which are as consistent as possible.
4.2.4 When a new policy has been written, it shall be submitted to the Governance Committee for review. Upon approval, the Governance Committee shall assign the new policy number. The Governance Committee shall then submit the new policy to the Board of Directors.
4.2.5 When a new policy is approved the Table of Contents for the policies shall be revised to reflect the new policy and its issue date.
4.3 Policy Revisions
4.3.1 Any addition made to a policy shall be indicated by underlining the changes. Any deletion shall be indicted by the use of strikethrough.
4.3.2 When a revision to a policy has been made it shall be submitted to the Governance Committee for review and approval. Upon approval by the Governance Committee the revised policy shall be submitted to the Board of Directors.
4.3.3 When a revised policy is approved, the Table of Contents for the policies shall be changed to reflect the revision and implementation date. All revisions shall be marked with a sidebar in the margin next to the affected paragraph to indicate the change in current revision until approved.
4.3.4 Policies editorially revised to correct errors such as grammar, spelling, typographical, only require approval from the Governance Committee. The policy revision level shall be as prescribed in Paragraph 4.1.4. If changes are made that the Board of Directors has approved and is needed to make policy current, but does not change the policy content, then the ISC may make the change and send out the new policy. Example: If the Board of Directors approves to increase the amount of money the President is given for travel expenses; the policy is not changing, but the amount that is given is; the ISC can make the change to the policy without going through the Governance Committee first; however, the Governance Committee needs to be notified of the change. The updated manual will then be distributed.
a. When policies are editorially revised and published, the date shall not change.
b. The Governance Committee needs to inform the Board of Directors when editorial changes are made to policies.
4.4 Policy Deletions
4.4.1 Deleted policies shall be maintained for archival information.
4.4.2 If a deleted policy is to be combined with another policy, it shall be indicated in the deleted policy as to which policy it was combined with.
5.0 Control and Distribution of ASNT Board of Directors Policies
5.1 The current list of Board of Directors approved policies shall be maintained on the ASNT website.
5.2 The current revision of each Board of Directors approved policy shall be accessible and available for downloading from the ASNT website.
5.3 When the Board of Directors approves the deletion of a policy, the policy shall be removed from the ASNT website
APPENDIX A
GUIDANCE WHEN DEVELOPING PURPOSE AND SCOPE STATEMENTS
A.1.0 Purpose
The process of this Appendix is to provide guidance on how to craft a purpose statement within proposed ASNT policies.
A.2.0 Scope
The scope of this Appendix covers best practices in describing the scope of a policy and some suggestions on how to craft a scope statement within proposed ASNT policies.
A.3.0 Guidance on Purpose
A.3.1 A Purpose statement is a declarative sentence which summarizes the specific topic and goals of a document. It is typically included in the introduction to give the reader an accurate, concrete understanding what the document will cover and what he/she can gain from reading it. To be effective, a statement of purpose should be:
A.3.1.1 Specific and precise - not general, broad or obscure
A.3.1.2 Concise-one or two sentences
A.3.1.3 Clear-not vague, ambiguous or confusing
A.3.1.4 Goal-oriented-stated in terms of desired outcomes
A.3.2 Some common introductory phrases for purpose statements include:
A.3.2.1 “The purpose of this policy/appendix is to...”
A.3.2.2 “This policy describes the…”
A.3.2.3 “The purpose of this policy is twofold: to ___ and ___”
A.3.2.4 “The purposed of this policy is to define the process for…”
A.3.2.5 “The purpose of this policy is to provide…”
A.3.2.6 “The purpose of the _____ committee is to…”
A.3.2.7 “The purpose of this policy is to outline…”
A.3.3 This is the purpose of your POLICY.
Try to answer - Why does your policy exist? Why is it necessary?
This is NOT the purpose of your group, position or anything other than the POLICY
A.4.0 Guidance on Scope
A.4.1 The Scope statement is to guide the development of a policy, provide a summary of a proposed policy, and ensure that those who might be affected by a policy are identified, considered, and consulted.
Some common phrases for scope statements include:
A.4.1.1 “The scope of this policy applies to…”
A.4.1.2 “The scope of the _____committee is to…”
A.4.1.3 “This policy specifies the responsibility of…”
A.4.1.4 “This policy is applicable to…”
A.4.1.5 “This policy establishes the criteria for…”
A.4.2 General Notes: This is the scope of your POLICY. This is NOT what your group does. Answer the question: To whom or to what does this policy apply?