Documentation Standards
(Cycle Support)
Each department should have a hard copy or electronic (or both)
document which describes the technically driven processes and reports that are
required at predictable intervals. This Cycle Support Documentation should be
ordered in terms of daily, weekly, monthly, semesterly, yearly and periodic
processes or reports.
Other important information that should be included in each Cycle Support Document should be:
Name: The name of report or process
Description: The description of report or process
Responsible Position or Office:> Who
knows about and runs this report or process
How: Process steps, where to locate and execute reports, etc.
This document in not only useful in the day-to-day technical environment but can also serve as a planning document. If, for example, the College does a major upgrade of software during the summer, a department can quickly check the Cycle Support Document to determine what reports and processes will be needed immediately following the upgrade to be sure that they are tested first.
We recommend that where ever possible, that technical documentation be web-based. The advantages to web based documentation is its ease of use from almost anywhere on campus (and sometimes off campus). Also, links to other documentation can be created within a document, allowing the reader to get more detail if needed.