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 University of Houston-Victoria administrative 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 that office.

Policy and procedural modifications necessitated by higher authority, immediate need or operational emergencies, or changes of a non-substantive nature may be revised and distributed directly by the Policy Coordinator upon review by the Executive Committee and approval by the President.

 Policy exceptions will be initially routed to the VPAF. The VPAF may escalate for President to sign if, VPAF is out of the office or the policy exception request warrants review by the President for final approval. 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. The maximum review cycle length is five (5) years between reviews. Refer to Policy Coordinator for current policy review cycles.  

The University of Houston-Victoria is committed to providing policies that are accessible to individuals with disabilities. All new policies and internal attachments will be accessible before publishing. Existing pages will be made accessible as they are updated or as required by law and/or necessity. Policy links to third party sites not under the University’s domain or control may not be accessible to all individuals, but alternative sources of information should be offered in such instances.

Responsibility

President

• Final approval of all campus policies by signature Unless that authority is temporarily delegated by the President. The President may (1) approve a policy with or without additional changes, (2) disapprove a policy or require resubmission of the policy, (3) approve a policy on an Interim basis or (4) table the policy.
• Authority to rescind a policy.
• Can authorize an exception to a policy or procedure when the exception is justified and in the best interests of the University.

Provost

• Reviews policies only pertaining to Academic Affairs. Determines if other academic review is required.

Executive Committee

• Authority to review and approve policy changes necessitated by higher authority, immediate need or operational emergencies, or changes of a non-substantive nature without a ten (10) day review. The Executive Committee consists of the President, Provost, Vice President for Administration and Finance, Vice President for Advancement, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Vice President for Student Affairs. The President is the final approval authority.
• Can authorize an exception to a policy or procedure when the exception is justified and in the best interest of the University.

Originator

• As policy “owner”, initiates the review and editing of policies as necessary.
• Ensures policy content is in compliance with UH System Policies and does not otherwise conflict with state or federal law.
• Ensures policy and internal attachments meet accessibility standards. This requirement does not apply to policy links to third party sites not under the University’s domain or control that may not be accessible to all individuals.
• Where possible, provide an alternate source of information or format for inaccessible third-party material that is required for university constituents (e.g., admissions process, financial aid applications, etc.). If the alternate source of format is not possible (e.g., state, or federal forms that do not allow alteration), includes information on how to contact the third party for accessibility requests or complaints.
• Ensures references to forms or other supported documents housed on the UHV intranet are not directly linked within the policy.

Vice President for Administration and Finance

• Reviews all policies.
• Oversees the campus administrative policy structure.
• Can authorize an exception to a policy or procedure when the exception is justified and in the best interest of the university.
• 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.
• Maintains the university repository for master original signed policies, original policy review forms and related documents.
• Monitors policy review dates and provides a monthly notification of policies due and overdue for review.
• Provides notification of new, revised, or rescinded policies to university employees

Department Heads, Supervisors and Compliance Officer

• The 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 on new or changed policies that may affect department operations.

Employees

• Employees are responsible for familiarizing themselves with university policies and to ask questions if unsure about 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 than counterpart UHS policies (SAMs) but cannot be less restrictive.

Definitions

Accessible: Accessibility requirements are determined by law and codified in the Texas Administrative Code (TAC) as referenced by UH System Administration Interim. See SAM 7.A.9

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, 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

For all policies, substance and clarity are more important than style.  Different policies may have different methods of explanation that serve the purpose of the policy or guidelines.

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.
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 redline copy and a signed copy of the policy review form, available from the Policy Coordinator.  
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 a ten (10) day campus review. The Policy Coordinator will make available a link to the administrative policy website for UHV employee review of the proposed policy. Employees will have ten (10) calendar days to comment to the originating party.
5. The Vice President for Administration & Finance and the Vice President for Academic Affairs will determine if faculty and staff council need to review the draft policy.  If a review is necessary, the council chair must notify the Policy Coordinator if additional review time is required.
6. The originating party will determine which suggested changes, if any, to include in the draft. If any changes are made to the posted draft policy, the originating party will forward a revised red-line draft policy and all review comments to the Policy Coordinator.
7. The policy and accompanying documents will be forwarded to the VPAF for further review.
8. Once reviewed the VPAF, will decide if the policy needs to be sent out for 10-day campus review or if President review only, the policy and accompanying documents will be returned to the Policy Coordinator.

9. The Policy Coordinator will prepare the policy for review and final approval by the President. Comments received during any ten (10) day review period will also be provided to the President’s office.

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, 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 review matrix maintained in the VPAF Office.

For new policies, the review cycle will normally be three (3) years, with no more than five (5) years between reviews. The policy originator will recommend an appropriate review cycle as part of the policy coversheet.

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. Rescission recommendation proposals should be forwarded on a policy review form by the originating party when reasonable justification exists. If the proposal moves forward, it will be submitted to Cabinet for recommendation to the President If rescinded 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 including a brief rationale for the policy is mandatory.
• Definitions - Definitions of the critical terms that appear in the policy when necessary.
• Procedures - The procedures describe necessary steps for carrying out the policy statement. Procedures may incorporate or point to other university documents.
• Supporting Documents - References to procedures, attachments or links to other governing policies or law to provide clarification.
• Approval - A Signature line is provided for formal approval by the President.

Supporting Documents

1) Interim SAM 7.A.9

Approved by:

 Signature Obtained 06/20/2023

Robert K. Glenn, PH.D.
President

Next Review Date:  May 2028 (5 years)
Origination: Vice President for Administration and Finance