CHAPTER ONE: 1460
HISTORY, MISSION, GENERAL ORGANIZATION, AND GOVERNANCE
July 2006
1460
UNIVERSITY-WIDE POLICY DEVELOPMENT STATEMENT AND PROCESS
PREAMBLE: To promote consistency in the
development, modification, and presentation of university-wide policies, this section was
adopted in the fall of 2005. This section establishes a process
for the creation and change of all university-wide policies;
there is a policy coordinator in the person of the faculty
secretary, a web-based tracking system for new and changing policies,
and a web-based tool for offering comments on policies as
they are developed at
http://www.webs.uidaho.edu/uipolicy/.
A. General:
This section contains the process applicable to the
adoption of new or amended university-wide policies and
procedures. The university anticipates that the
development and amendment of unit level policies will
follow similar review processes for notice and
coordination, as appropriate in each case.
A-1.
Adopting Policies: All university-wide policies are
adopted in a common format and in the manner described
below, in order to promote consistency amongst
university-wide policies. This process also insures
that there is general knowledge within the campus
community of how to adopt a concept into policy and how
to access the policy-making and policy-amending process.
A-2.
Context of University Policies: All university
policies fall within a greater hierarchy of laws,
statutes and regulations. University policies are
subject to compliance with laws and regulations
instituted by higher governing authorities in the
following order of hierarchy:
1. Federal
laws and regulations
2. State
laws and regulations
3. Board of
Regents/State Board of Education policies and
procedures
4.
University-wide policies and procedures
5.
Divisional/College policies and procedures
6.
Departmental policies and procedures
B. Definitions:
B-1. Draft
policy format: the form in which all proposed new
and amended university policies shall be submitted for
review and approval. The draft format is set out at the
end of this chapter.
B-2. Minor
amendment: any change to an existing policy that is
limited to making the policy or policies consistent with
controlling legal authority, including Board policy, or
that is a clerical or grammatical change or correction
that does not change the intent, scope, application or
meaning of the policy.
B-3. Originator: a
person(s) or group of person(s) with a proposed new or amended policy.
[add. 4-07]
B-4.
Policy: a governing principle that embraces general
goals and mandates or constrains actions. All proposed
policies should include any general procedures necessary
for implementation. [ren. 4-07]
B-5.
Policy Coordinator: the Faculty Secretary; he or she
is responsible for coordinating, assisting with, and
tracking all university-wide policies. The faculty
secretary may delegate policy coordinator duties as
necessary within the office of faculty secretary. [ren. 4-07]
B-6. Policy Sponsor:
the responsible unit administrator having responsibility with the subject
area of a proposed new or amended policy. [add. 4-07]
B-7.
Procedure: a statement(s) that prescribes specific
actions to be taken to implement established policies. [ren. 4-07]
B-8.
Responsible Unit: an office within the university
with primary responsibility for a specific area of
focus. An example of a responsible unit is the office of
Human Resources, which has primary responsibility for
employment, benefits, and training and development
issues. [ren. 4-07]
B-9. Reviewing Body:
typically a university standing committee or ad hoc task force created to
review a proposed new or amended policy. [add. 4-07]
B-10.
University-wide Policy: a policy that has
application across the institution. [ren. 4-07]
C. Creation or Amendment of University-wide Policy
C-1.
Initial Policy Development or Amendment
i) A
person(s) or group of persons (originator) with a
new policy or policy amendment concept or proposal develops the concept into a
draft policy format and discusses the policy with the
responsible unit administrator, as applicable, having
responsibility within the subject area of the proposed
policy. This unit administrator becomes the policy
sponsor with responsibility to work with the originator(s) to evaluate the concept or proposal, and
to facilitate appropriate and timely action. [ed. 4-07]
ii) The
policy originator in coordination with the sponsor is
responsible for drafting the proposed policy. Upon its
completion in approved format, the policy sponsor
coordinates with the policy coordinator.
C-2.
Policy Review, Comment, and Approval
i) Policy
Coordinator: Upon receipt of a proposed new or amended
policy, the policy coordinator reviews the policy and
decides whether the necessary broad review has been
completed, the policy is in the proper format and, if
an amendment, to determine whether the amendment is a
minor amendment. As needed, the policy coordinator
will confer with the provost to decide on appropriate
review steps.
a) All
proposed new policies and amendments, other than
minor amendments, are referred to the appropriate
reviewing bodies as identified by the policy sponsor
and the policy coordinator. Policies within matters
of faculty governance are referred to the Faculty
Council. The review status of all proposed new
policies and amendments is posted and kept current
on the policy web site.
b) All
minor amendments are approved by the policy
coordinator once in final form and posted on the web
site.
ii) At a
minimum, the review process includes general notice of
the policy, and an opportunity for those interested in
the policy to comment on the policy. The policy
sponsor seeks to inform and solicit comments from the
appropriate individuals or groups/committees of the
university community, including the groups and
individuals most affected by the proposed policy
within the faculty, staff, students and
administration.
iii) The
policy sponsor and any designated review committee
review the comments, make recommendations on the
policy based on its review and the comments received,
and incorporate any revisions into the draft policy.
iv) The
final revised policy is made generally available and,
if within the purview of faculty governance, submitted
to the Faculty Council for review and recommendation
through the general faculty to the president. All
other policies shall be submitted by the policy
sponsor to the president for approval and signature.
The President’s Office forwards policies to the State
Board of Education/Regents of the University of Idaho
for notification and approval, as necessary.
v) Once
the president takes final action on a university-wide
policy or the policy coordinator takes final action on
a minor amendment other than a permissible clerical or
grammatical change, the policy coordinator places the
results of the final action as an information item on
the next available agenda of the Faculty Council, the
Staff Affairs Committee, and the Associated Student
University of Idaho (ASUI) and posts the results on
the policy web site. (See FSH
1420 for time periods
for presidential action on Faculty Council items).
C-3.
Temporary Emergency Policy
i)
Notwithstanding subsections C-1 and C-2, the president
may adopt, amend or suspend a policy without prior
notice and comment, or upon any abbreviated notice and
comment that is practicable, if it is established that
a failure to act promptly will result in serious
prejudice to the interests of the university or of the
parties concerned.
ii) A
policy adopted, amended or suspended under this
subsection is temporary and may be effective for a
period of not longer than 180 days. Action under this
subsection does not preclude the subsequent adoption,
amendment or suspension of an identical policy under
subsections C-1 and C-2. [ed. 7-06]
D. Policy
Implementation: All new and amended policies go into
effect on July 1, or January 1, whichever arrives first
after final approval, unless otherwise specified in the
policy. The policy coordinator tracks all new and amended
policies approved by the President and makes the new
policy available on the web by the effective date.
The Cover Sheet form (click
here) is also available at
the policy website which provides further instructions. Please go to this website at
http://www.webs.uidaho.edu/uipolicy/ to begin process.
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