UNIV--113 Policy on Policies and Procedures
Policy for the Initiation, Revision, and Review of Policies and Procedures
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Date Originally Created: 08/02/2019
Revised: 10/12/2020
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**Important Note: The effective date of this policy is 01/01/2021. Until that date, all policies and procedures will continue to be reviewed and approved by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.**
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Review the SACSCOC statement on good practices in developing policy and procedures documents: http://www.sacscoc.org/pdf/best%20practices%20for%20policy%20development%20final.pdf.
Definitions:
University policy is a comprehensive framework including all of the rules of governance and operation of conduct of every facet of the institution. Any specific policy must fit coherently within overall university policy structure without duplicative, redundant, or conflicting mandates such that each individual policy and the entire framework provide clear guidance as to the expectation of university operations. Policies describe what is expected, why this is the expectation, and who is responsible for the execution and review of the policy.
A procedure is a set of action steps or requirements that detail a procedure needed to implement a specific policy.
Below, “policy” shall refer to both policies and procedures.
Two policies are defined below, one for policy proposals (i.e. new policies or revisions to existing policies), and one for policy reviews (i.e. an ongoing process to ensure the currency, utility, and relevance of existing policies).
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Policy Proposals:
I. All policy proposals will be submitted to the office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for review using the Cumberland University Policy template. This template is available from the Provost’s office only. No proposals for policy change or review will be accepted unless this template is used.
a. All policies must support the mission of the university and adhere to the University Policy Principles delineated in the Cumberland University Policy Template.
II. Policy proposals will be reviewed by the University Policy Committee, which shall be called as needed by the office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
a. The University Policy Committee (the Committee) shall be composed of the following:
i. The initiator of the new or revised policy;
ii. The Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, who will chair the committee;
iii. One academic dean;
iv. The president of the Faculty Senate;
v. One Vice President;
vi. One Executive Director.
b. The Committee may render the following decisions:
i. Deny the proposal
ii. Require revision and resubmission
iii. Approve the proposal
c. A review of any proposed new policy or procedure, or changes to existing policies or procedures, must be completed by the University Policy Committee two weeks prior to the scheduled publication date of the forthcoming University Catalog.
i. Any proposed new policy or procedure, or changes to existing policies or procedures, cannot take effect in the forthcoming catalog unless the process described is completed pursuant to this timetable.
III. A responsible university office or officer will be identified in each policy, known as the policy officer. Policy officers will be identified by position title.
a. As appropriate, other standing university committees, e.g. the Deans’ Council, may be identified as responsible for proposing new policies, revising existing policies, and annually reviewing existing policies.
IV. Unless otherwise stated in the policy, policies are considered to be in effect for the term of the current academic catalog.
V. All policies shall be published in one of two places:
a. Academic policies shall be published in the university catalog.
b. Non-academic policies shall be published under that heading (“Non-academic policies”) on the university webpage entitled “All Catalogs.”
i. Non-academic policies shall be hyperlinked directly below the current catalog.
VI. Other means of dissemination: The Office of the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs is charged with communicating new or revised policies to the persons, departments, offices, or schools that are impacted by the new or revised policy.
Policy Reviews:
I. Policy officers will submit a review of each policy for which they are responsible to their supervisor on an annual basis unless otherwise specified in the policy proposal or pursuant to a review.
a. All policy reviews are due to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs by May 15th each year, or the closest weekday if the 15th falls on a weekend.
i. If no evidence of a policy review is submitted by the policy officer and submitted to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs office, the policy shall not be published or be considered to be in effect for the period of the following university catalog.
ii. The timeliness and thoroughness of annual policy review will be considered in the annual evaluation of policy officers.