Formation of Policies and Procedures Subcommittee

In mid-2024, a small subcommittee was formed to review, update and, if required, rewrite all the Policies and Procedures of U3A Manningham. This unenviable task was undertaken as it had become obvious that many policies and procedures, some written as far back as 2015, were no longer relevant to our organisation. Once updated, they will become a valuable training aid for those volunteer members after we ‘oldies’ retire!

One early decision made by the group was that any documentation created should use the Australian Quality Standard ISO 9001:2015 as its model. This standard is based on that developed in 1987 by the International Organization for Standardization. It is recognised worldwide for providing a framework for organisations to meet customer expectations and consistently improve their operations.

Progress to date

Over the last 18 months this group has met regularly to review all aspects of U3AM’s operation and has slowly worked through a myriad of issues. This culminated late last year with the completion of the first draft of the Policy Manual. Many procedures have been rewritten to bring them up to date, and a program has been established to write new ones not even considered necessary 10 years ago.

The Policy Manual is published on the website (https://u3amanningham.org.au/) at About Us > Policies.

The Procedures Manual is published in the Member Portal of Member Wizard. Inside the Portal, go to Documents > Procedures.

Enrolments and Priorities

Some procedures have not changed their content, merely being presented in a new format. One such procedure has taken 2 major topics, Enrolments and Priorities, and married them together because of their close relationship. They are now available as Enrolments and Priorities, Operations Procedure P035. Because of the issues with our software system last year, we were unable to present this to the membership before enrolments began last November, and for that I apologise. However, this Procedure now brings all the information of how U3A Manningham operates our Enrolments and Priorities programs together, as well as spelling out the benefits and opportunities for members.

I know many members may not like reading boring procedures, but please have a look at Procedure P035 and its attachments. They have not changed for some time but, from the many conversations I have had with members, it may help you in the future.

What’s next?

The next 12 months will be busy. There will be more Policies and Procedures released in the coming months by our subcommittee. With the transition to Member Wizard, all current Policies and Procedures are readily accessible to members via the website.

These documents form the basis for the conduct of our activities at U3A Manningham. I encourage all interested members to take a look.

Doug Wallace
Policies and Procedures Coordinator