The PolicyOptions.org affiliates will manage a website and weekly email newsletter and discussion list.

The publishing process for the affiliaties will look like this:

• Community News Bureau:
  • Small team of college students who work 10 hours per week to update news & resources
  • Paid from work-study, AmeriCorps Education Awards, and/or service-based scholarship
• Policy Analysts:
  • Graduate or undergraduate students who research particular issue
  • Receive academic credit and opportunity to publish their research

We are piloting the collection process with the Trenton PolicyOptions.org bureau this summer. See more here.

Each affiliate campus we'll recruit and train several students who will do the bulk of the data entry of news and resources on their local PolicyOptions.org site.

Once they've logged into the content management page, they see the following options:

From this page they select the type of entry they will be doing and then fill in a database entry page, part of which you can see below:

Once they save this entry, they are able to see their recent work in the Site Overview page below:

They are also able to search for specific entries that might need further editing:

Finally, the editor for the particular site (in this case, Trenton NJ) will go in to approve entries for publication. They will first search for recent entries:

And then they will open each entry and approve them for publication:

The PolicyOption.org Issue Brief template provides a concise, informative analysis of a public policy topic on a local, state, regional, national, or global level. Our hope is that using a common template will facilitate communication and collaboration in researching and acting on this issues.

The goal of the issue brief is to help an individual, organization, or community make informed decisions. The issue brief answer eight questions:

1. goal statement
2. scope of the problem
3. past policy
4. current policy
5. policy options or model programs
6. key individuals/organizations
7. glossary of terms
8. bibliography

The central feature of the PolicyOption Issue Brief is the section on policy options (or model programs), which bring together the “best thinking” on each issue. This is accomplished by identifying and analyzing relevant solutions worldwide. These policy options or model programs are presented in a simple framework called a decision or planning tree. The planning tree format enables the reader to consider the range of different options for meeting any particular goal. They can then decide if they want to replicate a program that has worked elsewhere, or if they want to create their own program by combining elements of different solutions.

There are four steps in the development of an issue brief. These are, in order: Outline; Development; Planning Tree; and Verification. The time it takes a researcher or research team to complete all four will vary.

See the PolicyOptionsWiki.org website for the Guidelines for Writers & Editors.