Policies

Administrative Policy Creation, Revision, and Rescission Guidelines

Section: General Index: A-37

Policy

This policy describes the process for creating, revising, publishing and rescission 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 (VPAF). The creation of new policies, as well as revisions to and rescissions of existing policies, will be coordinated through the Office of the Vice President for Administration and Finance using procedures described in this policy.

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 of the Vice President for Administration and Finance, Vice President for Academic Affairs/Provost 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.

Policies and associated procedures shall be reviewed on a regular basis. The review cycle may vary depending upon the policy type, scope or the volatility of information within, with no more than five (5) years between reviews. Refer to Policy Matrix for current policy review cycles.  A revision or rescission 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. (References)

Responsibility

President

• Final approval of all campus policies by signature.

President's Cabinet

• reviews all posted policies, recommending approval with or without additional changes, disapproval, or tabling of the policy.

Provost

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

Vice President for Administration and Finance

• reviews all policies
• 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, Supervisors and Compliance Officer

• Compliance Officer (or designee) acquaints new employees, as part of New Employee Orientation, with UHV Policy and Procedures and how employees can access this information
• Department Heads and Supervisors keep departmental employees updated, i.e. should routinely discuss new or changed policies at departmental meetings and the impact, if any, upon departmental operations

Employees

• employees are responsible for familiarizing themselves with university policies and to ask questions if unsure about the meaning of a policy to ensure compliance

Authority Of UHV Administrative Policies and Procedures

• In the event of a conflict between a UHV policy and any other oral or written policy or procedure within the University (e.g. student catalog, student handbook, General Operating Procedures (GOP), etc., the UHV policy will govern and the superseded policy or procedure will be revised to bring it into compliance with official UHV policy.
• In the event of a conflict between any UHV policy and a policy or procedure promulgated by a higher authority (e.g. federal law, state law, Coordinating Board policy, Board of Regent policy or UHS Administrative Memorandum (SAM), the higher authority will govern and the UHV policy in question will be revised to reflect the policy or procedure of the higher authority.
• UHV policies can be more restrictive that counterpart UHS policies (SAMs) but cannot be less restrictive.
• Circumstances may require that a UHV policy be issued immediately (before the review process can be completed) or for a finite amount of time, after which the revised documentation is no longer necessary. Such a document will be issued as an “interim” policy. Interim documents will be assigned an expiration or replacement date. If the interim document is not replaced with an official document with the expiration or replacement date, the interim document will expire and will not be subject to the official rescission processes.

Review Authority

The President delegates primary responsibility and authority for policy content. Delegation guidelines follow:

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.

Higher authority: In this context, federal or state law, Coordinating Board policy, Board of Regent policy or UHS Administrative Memorandum (SAM) are considered higher authority and require changes in campus policy should there be a conflict.

Procedures

Preparation and Review

1. It is important that UHS Administrative Memorandums be checked prior to policy development/review to insure compliance and consistency. UHV policies should also be checked to determine whether any related policies need to be revised. (References)
2. The originating party will create a draft policy and accompanying procedure (new policies) or create revisions by tracked redline copy for existing policies 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 new or red-line draft, a signature-ready draft and a policy review form. (References)
3. The draft policy will be forwarded electronically in Microsoft Word format to the Policy Coordinator. In the case of revisions, the originator will provide a redline draft (in Microsoft Word format) and synopsis of changes to the Policy Coordinator.
4. New policies or those with substantive policy or procedural changes will be posted for ten (10) days on the University website. The Policy Coordinator will make available a link to the VPAF website to UHV employees for review of the existing policy and the proposed policy Employees will have 10 calendar days to comment to the originating party. (Policy revisions incorporating minor or non-substantive changes or those where the required changes are not open for interpretation or debate (e.g. changes in legislation or higher authority), the policy will not be subject to the standard 10 posting and review process. Instead the policy will be revised and submitted directly  to the President, Vice President for Academic Affairs/Provost and the Vice President for Administration and Finance for approval.)
5. 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 if additional review time is required.
6. The originating party will determine which suggested changes, if any, to include in the draft. Once any 10-day review changes have been made to the draft policy, 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.
7. The policy and accompanying documents will be forwarded to the VPAF for review and signature. The VPAF 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.
8. Once reviewed by the VPAF, the policy and accompanying documents will be forwarded to the Provost for review. After review by the Provost, the policy and accompanying documents will be returned to the Policy Coordinator for further processing.
9. The Policy Coordinator will prepare the policy, contact the President’s Executive Assistant for placement on the Cabinet agenda, notify the originating party the date for presenting the policy, and forward the updated “draft” policy to the President’s office to retain until the next Cabinet meeting. All suggested changes, included or not, will be passed along to the President's Cabinet and notification made to the reviewer.

The Review Cycle

The review cycle will vary depending on the policy type and subject matter nature. Early review will be required if information within the official policy become obsolete due to changes in legislation, UHS policy, other higher authority or changes in organizational structure, administrative initiative or substantive procedural changes defined within the policy.

For existing policies, the review period will be based on a policy matrix reviewed by the Vice President for Administration and Finance and approved by the President. (References).

For new policies, the review cycle will normally be three years, with no more than 5 years between reviews. The policy originator will recommend an appropriate review cycle as part of the policy coversheet. The President will approve the final review cycle.

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 the final decision.

Distribution, Filing and Revision Log

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. (References)

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 may offer training or other employee guidance, as appropriate, upon approval of the policy.

Rescinding Policies

Only the President has the authority to rescind policies and does so only when reasonable justification exists.

Rescission proposals may be initiated by any department but should be forwarded by the originating party for review. If the proposal moves forward, it will be submitted to Cabinet for recommendation to the President. Upon rescission, notification will be communicated to all employees by the Policy Coordinator.

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. Procedures may incorporate or point to other university documents.
• Review - A review identifies the originating party for review and a review cycle.
• Approval - A Signature line is provided for formal approval by the President

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.
• Header and Footer: Header: Policy index number and name (e.g. A-6 Campus Safety); Footer: Policy index number and name; Page number and total number of pages of policy (e.g. A-6 Campus Safety    Page 1 of 5)
• 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 existing policy, and an electronic version in Microsoft Word to the Policy Coordinator in the Office of the Vice President for Administration and Finance.

References

1. UH System Administrative Memorandum (SAM)
2. Policy Review Form
3. UHV Policy and Procedures
4. Policy Review Matrix

Approved by:

Signature Obtained                      12/2/15 
Raymond V. Morgan, Ph.D.        Date
Interim President

Next review date: June, 2018
Origination: Vice President for Administration and Finance