Written decisions made by those in authority to direct the actions of others. They generally contain guidelines to govern, and set limits within which individuals are expected to operate.
A policy is an upper-level command as to what should or should not occur. It is not a specific step-by-step outline that someone can follow to complete a task. Instead, the policy operates as a control or command that staff will implement as they see fit. For example, an Internet use policy may declare that the practice logs all Web surfing traffic. The policy does not address how to do this or to what extent; the specifics are up to the staff responsible for the hardware and software that will perform the logging.
A policy is not a step-by-step guideline. It is an upper-level command.
Policy Advisory Group (PAG)
A generic name for many work groups at WEDI and elsewhere.