Take a memo through approval

Every memo and circular is approved before anyone else sees it. This page is for the officers who approve memos, and for authors and secretaries who follow one through to circulation.

How the approval route works

The template decides the route. An Internal Memo goes to the author’s head of unit; Internal Memo — DA Final goes to the head, then the Director of Administration; a Circular from the CMD goes to the CMD. See the table in Write and send a memo.
The author never approves their own memo. A secretary drafts, the principal approves.
On final approval the memo is circulated automatically. Its status changes to Circulated, the audience is notified and it appears in their For me list.

Status	Meaning
Draft	Being written. Only the author sees it.
In progress	Submitted and with the approvers. It cannot be edited.
Approved	Approved but waiting for someone to select Publish (only for templates set up that way).
Circulated	Sent to its audience.
Rejected	Sent back to the author with a comment.
Archived	Taken off the staff lists, kept on record.

For approvers: find the memo

You are notified when a memo reaches you. You can also find it in two places:

My Desk, under Action required. Set Module to Memos to see only memos.
Memos & Circulars, on the Awaiting approval tab.

Select the memo to open it.

For approvers: approve or reject

An internal memo from the Director of Administration waiting for the CMD, with the decision box above the memo.

Your decision. Which step you are deciding.
Comment. Required for every decision at UATH.
Reject sends it back to the author.
Approve moves it on, or circulates it if you are the last approver.
Approval chain. Who has decided so far, and who is next.

If you also hold the next level, a box You also hold the next level offers to record the same decision there too (see When you hold more than one level). Where the route allows it, Delegate hands the memo to a colleague instead.

Read the memo. It is shown below the decision box exactly as it will print, on the letterhead, with its reference number.
Check who it goes to. About this memo on the right shows Sent to (for example All staff) and the priority.
Type your comment.
Select Approve (or Reject if it needs to change), then confirm in the box that opens.

If you reject it, write in the comment exactly what needs to change: the author sees it in the notification and on the memo’s approval chain. Memos have no Return for correction; Reject does that job, and the author can edit and resubmit.

If you are the last approver, the memo is circulated as soon as you confirm. Make sure the audience and the date are right before you approve.

Opened from My Desk, a memo appears on a task page with the same decision box. After you decide, the next task opens by itself. See Payments and memos for the extras there, such as Delegate.

For authors: follow the memo

Open it from Memos & Circulars › Written by me.
Look at the Approval chain. The step with Awaiting decision is where it is now, with the approver’s name.

Withdraw it

While it is In progress, select Withdraw from approval on the approval chain. Give a reason if you like, then select Withdraw from approval again. The approvers are told no action is needed and the memo goes back to Draft.

If it is rejected

Read the comment in the notification or on the approval chain. The memo shows This memo was sent back.
Select Edit and make the changes.
Select Save draft, then Submit for approval and Submit. It starts the route again.

Publish an approved memo

All UATH memo templates circulate the memo automatically on final approval, so you normally do nothing. If a template is set to be published by hand, the author is told “…” is approved and ready to publish. Then:

Open the memo. Its status is Approved.
Select Publish. The box Publish this memo? warns that everyone it is addressed to is notified straight away.
Select Publish to confirm.

The author or anyone with permission to publish memos can do this.

After it is circulated

It appears under For me for everyone in its audience, until its Shown until date if one was set.
Anyone can select Print for a paper copy on the letterhead.
To change it, select New version: a copy goes through approval again. To withdraw it from staff, select Archive.