Effective: 12/1/1984

Revised: 9/6/1996

CAM 201: Focus

To explain ways to focus a manual

Academic and Administrative Documents

The committee in charge of developing a new manual first establishes a focus for the manual. Having a clear focus for the manual helps greatly in the selection of appropriate information for inclusion. The manual’s focus is determined through identification of its purpose, users, and scope.

PURPOSE

Why is the new manual being developed? What does the group hope that the manual will accomplish? Answers to these questions should clarify the purpose of the manual. Knowing the purpose of the manual helps the committee choose for inclusion those policies and procedures that help fulfill the manual’s purpose.

USERS

Identifying the users is very important. Who will use this manual? Knowing the answer to this question will guide the committee in selecting the appropriate policies and procedures for the manual.

SCOPE

What do the manual users need to know? The answer provides the committee with the manual’s scope. The manual should feature information needed by the users and should not include information that the users regard as irrelevant. To determine the scope of the manual, the committee should ask a representative group of users what information they would find useful in a manual. The committee may want to construct a short questionnaire for the convenience of this group.

Note:

Please be advised that the policies and procedures used as examples in the CAM manual are often out of date and no longer applicable. They were chosen as examples when the CAM manual was revised in 1992. To access the current policies and procedures manuals, please go to http://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals.