SECTION: GENERAL INDEX: A-37

SUBJECT: ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY CREATION, REVISION, AND RECISSION GUIDELINES

POLICY

The University of Houston-Victoria will create, revise or cancel administrative policies to facilitate compliance with Federal and State laws and regulations, Board of Regents By-Laws, UH System Administrative Memoranda and institutional concerns.  This policy describes the process for creating, revising, publishing and canceling of official campus policies, as well as, structure, training, and periodic reviews.  No policy shall supersede any provision of the Federal and State laws and regulations or Board or System policy.

A master copy of the UHV Administrative Policies and Procedures shall be maintained by the Office of the Vice President for Administration and Finance.  The creation of new policies, as well as revisions to and rescissions of existing policies will be processed through the Office of the Vice President for Administration and Finance using procedures described in this policy. 

Policy and procedural changes may be required to ensure that operational needs, or compliance with Board, System or other higher authority requirements, are being addressed and followed.  Policy and procedural modifications necessitated by higher authority, operational emergencies, or changes of a non-substantive nature may be revised and distributed directly by the policy coordinator upon the review and approval of the President, foregoing the standard review process.

The President or Vice President for Administration and Finance may authorize exceptions to any policy or procedure, providing exceptions are justified, in the best interests of the University and do not contradict State or Federal law or Board and UH System policies. 

All policies shall be reviewed every two (2) years by the originating department or sooner if required. A revision or recission will be conducted in the same manner as a new policy approval.  The originating department will initiate the review and follow the procedures described in the section on Preparation and Review.  Only the President has the authority to rescind policies and does so only when clear justification exists. 

RESPONSIBILITY

President

• approves and signs all campus policies

Provost

• reviews all policies
• determines whether other academic review is required

Vice President for Administration and Finance

• maintains the campus administrative policy structure and prepares administrative policies for review, distribution and maintenance
• determines whether further additional reviews are required by Legal Counsel, Risk Manager, Staff Council, Human Resources Officer, Affirmative Action Officer or other administrative groups or employees

Senior Administrative Assistant to the Vice President for Administration and Finance

• serves as policy coordinator for the University
• assigns policy categories and policy number
• serves as the university repository for master original signed policies and original Policy Review Form
• monitors policy review dates
• prepares draft policies for Cabinet review
• provides notification of new, revised or rescinded policies to University employees

Department Heads and Supervisors

• acquaint new employees with UHV Policy and Procedures and how employees can access this information
• keep departmental employees updated; i.e. discusses new or changed policies at departmental meetings and their impact, if any, upon departmental operations

Employees

• are responsible to familiarize themselves with university policies to ensure compliance.

REVIEW AUTHORITY

The President delegates primary responsibility and authority for policy content as follows:

PROCEDURE

DEFINITIONS

Policy:   A statement of principles and values to guide the performance of activities toward institutional goals.  A policy has broad application and helps to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, promotes operational efficiencies, and reduces institutional risks.

Procedures:  A defined course of proceeding - often composed of steps, using established forms or methods to carry out a particular policy.

Originating party:  The office which has been delegated responsibility for a given policy area.  The originating party may also act as subject-matter expert for a particular policy.

 PREPARATION AND REVIEW

1. The originating party will create a draft policy and accompanying procedure.  The originating party may form an ad hoc group to address all issues related to a policy.  The originating party will forward the following to their cabinet-level supervisor:  the red-line draft and a signature-ready draft; a policy review form (Attachment A).
2. The draft policy will be forwarded electronically in Microsoft Word format to the policy coordinator who will make the draft policy available for university review via the web site.  In the case of revisions, the originator will provide a redline draft (in Microsoft Word format) and synopsis of changes to the policy coordinator.  The policy coordinator will make available the redline draft and signature-ready copy for university review via the web site.  All reviewers will have 10 calendar days to comment to the originating party.
3. Faculty and Staff Council chairs will determine if councils need to review the draft policy.  If a review is deemed necessary, the council chair must contact the originator and notify the originator of additional review time which may be required. 
4. The originating party will determine which suggested changes, if any, to include in the draft.  All suggested changes, included or not, will be passed along to the President's Cabinet and notification made to the reviewer.  The originating party will forward the changes to the policy coordinator for inclusion in the policy.  Once any 10-day review changes have been made to the draft policy, the policy coordinator will return a red-lined and signature-ready draft to the originating party.
5. The originating party will obtain cabinet-level supervisor's signature and forward to the policy coordinator the red-line draft policy (if applicable), signature-ready draft, Policy Review form, and review comments.
6. The policy and accompanying documents will be forwarded to the Vice President for Administration and Finance for review and signature.  The Vice President for Administration and Finance will determine whether the proposed policy should be reviewed by the Office of General Counsel for compliance with state and federal and other Board of System policy.
7. Once reviewed by the Vice President for Administration and Finance, the policy and accompanying documents will be forwarded to the Provost for review.
8. After review by the Provost, the policy and accompanying documents will be forwarded to the President's office for inclusion in the President's Cabinet agenda.  The Signature-ready policy and redlined version along with the policy review form will be included in President's Cabinet agenda. 

APPROVAL

The President's Cabinet may (1) recommend approval with or without additional changes, (2) recommend disapproval, or (3) recommend tabling the policy.  The President always has final decision.

DISTRIBUTION AND FILING

The policy coordinator will maintain the master set of the Policies and Procedures manual.  Copies of UHV Administrative Policies and Procedures shall be available on the campus web site for employee access at http://www.uhv.edu/fin/policy/index.htm.  

The policy coordinator will notify all employees of the new or revised policy by e-mail including the synopsis of  the policy or key changes.

TRAINING

The originating party will offer training, as appropriate, for any affected individuals within 30 days of the approval date of the policy.

RESCINDING POLICIES

Rescission proposals should be forwarded to the originating party for review.  If the originating party accepts the proposal, the proposal will be submitted to Cabinet for recommendation to the President.

Upon rescission, notification will be communicated to all employees.

POLICY FORMAT

Policies shall be developed and published in the format indicated by this policy and consist of the following key elements:

• Policy statement - A policy statement is mandatory.  References to procedures, other governing policies or law and attachments to provide clarification may be added if necessary.
• Definitions - Definitions of the critical terms are used in the policy when necessary.
• Procedures - The procedures describe necessary steps for carrying out policy statement.
• Review - A review identifies the originating party for review and a review cycle.
• Approval - A Signature line is provided for formal approval.

To ensure uniform policy format and appearance, adhere to the following guidelines:

• Use Microsoft Word software.
• Use 1" top, bottom, left and right margins on the policy. Attachments may use any variation of margins.
• Policies should be typed in Times New Roman font. Headers should be typed in bold font and the body should be typed in regular font.
• Forward the draft policy or redlined version of the policy, and an electronic version in Microsoft Word to the policy coordinator in Office of the Vice President for Administration and Finance.

Approved:

Signature obtained            10/31/2006
Tim Hudson, Ph.D.            Date

Next review date:   October 2008
Origination: Vice President for Administration and Finance