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Policy on Policy Management

POLICY STATEMENT

Policies of Delta State University will be made available electronically at 2385.daves-studio.com/policies and in hard copy in the Human Resources Department. Policies of Delta State University will be reviewed on a regular basis by the appropriate members of the President’s Cabinet. Requests for changes to existing policies, addition of new policies, and deletion of current policies will be provided to the appropriate governing group (President’s Cabinet or Academic Council) at least one meeting prior to request for action in order to allow all members to review the requests.

DEFINITIONS

Policy Manager: The University office responsible for managing the university’s overall policy, providing guidance and coordination in the policy process, and communicating new policies to the University community in a timely manner. The Policy Manager coordinates the process for creating and revising policies; assists in the drafting of policies; catalogs the current policies; manages University policy web pages and links to other pages on the University’s web site; and, maintains an archive of retired policies.

Policy Owner: The specific person who is responsible for maintaining the accuracy and completeness of policy information. This person will be asked periodically to confirm that the current information is up to date. There may be co-owners of policies and procedures.

Responsible Office: The University office, department or official that is the primary contact for questions concerning the implementation and administration of a particular University Policy. The Responsible Office also assures that a particular University Policy is reviewed consistent with the University Policy’s Scheduled Review. The Responsible Office is typically the office, department or official at the University that is most directly responsible for implementing and administering a particular University Policy. The Responsible Office may be designated by the Governing Group.

Governing Group: The group that approves the proposed or edited policy for the institution (President’s Cabinet or Academic Council).

PROCEDURES and RESPONSIBILITIES

Policy owners are accountable for the timely review and dissemination of policies and procedures for their respective areas. Additionally, when developing policies and procedures, the policy owners have a responsibility to determine how the policy will affect other areas and involve them in the development. Policy review should reflect any changes by the Mississippi Legislature or Institutions of Higher Learning’s Board of Trustees.

Recommended changes will be presented to the appropriate governing group (President’s Cabinet or Academic Council) for review and approval before being added to the existing policies. Policy changes must reflect the date of change and the name of the governing group that granted approval. Academic Council shall consider all policies affecting academic issues; President’s Cabinet shall consider all policies affecting all other issues; each governing group may refer a policy to the other governing group for joint approval.

Each area should establish internal procedures for the review and updating of policies and make requests in accordance with the time established in this policy.

The Human Resources Department will be the coordinating entity for all university policies and the Director of Human Resources will serve as the Policy Manager. Any changes to be made to the university policies must be submitted to Human Resources upon approval by the appropriate governing group (President’s Cabinet or Academic Council). The actual change will be made by a designated staff member of Human Resources.

Maintenance and Publication of University Policies

The University’s Policy Manager shall maintain an original and the revision history of all University Policies. The Policy Manager shall work with Office of Information Technology to publish and maintain on the University’s website a searchable electronic policy directory of all University Policies. This Policy Directory shall include a link to the Policies and Bylaws of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.

All University Policies to Include Certain Information

University Policies shall include the following information, some of which may be assigned to a policy by the Policy Manager:

Policy name
Policy Statement
Definitions or terms in policy
Procedures and Responsibilities
- Responsible Office
- Policy Owner
Related Documents
Status
Date(s)

The University Policy Directory provides a template for submitting and revising policies.

Development and Approval of University Policies

Unless otherwise provided in another, more specific University Policy for the development and approval of a particular category or type of University Policies, University Policies are initiated, developed, and approved according to the following process.

a. Policy Idea. If a member of the University community (“Proposing Member”) wishes to propose a new policy or a change to an existing policy (“Policy Idea”), the Proposing Member shall submit the Policy Idea to the Responsible Office. If the Proposing Member is not certain which University office, official, or department is the Responsible Office, then the Proposing Member shall submit the Policy Proposal to the head of the Administrative Division that the Proposing Member believes would be most directly responsible for implementing and administering the Policy Idea. When the head of an Administrative Division receives a Policy Idea, the Administrative Division head shall determine the Responsible Office for the Policy Idea.

b. Proposal Evaluation. The Responsible Office shall initially determine if the Policy Idea has merit and whether to further develop and pursue the Policy Idea. If the Responsible Office determines that the Policy Idea does not have merit and should not be further developed and adopted, the Responsible Office shall report this determination to the head of the Administrative Division to which the Responsible Office reports.

c. Policy Development. If the Responsible Office or the head of the Administrative Division to which the Responsible Office reports determines that the Policy Idea has merit, the Responsible Office shall develop a Policy Proposal based upon the Policy Idea. In developing a Policy Proposal, the Responsible Office shall consult with appropriate University Standing Committees, University departments, offices or officials, and University advisory or representative bodies as may be necessary to provide appropriate expertise or input from various University constituencies.

d. Policy Approval. After the Responsible Office has developed the Policy Proposal, the Responsible Office shall submit the Policy Proposal, on the policy template found at the University’s Policy Directory, to the head of the Administrative Division to which the Responsible Office reports for consideration. If the head of the Administrative Division determines that the Policy Proposal has been fully developed and is ready for consideration, the Administrative Division Head may submit the Policy Proposal to the appropriate governing group. The governing group may approve the Policy Proposal, reject the Proposal, or return the Policy Proposal to the Responsible Office for additional development or consideration.

e. Submission of University Policies to Policy Owner. After a policy has been approved by the appropriate governing group, the Administrative Division Head shall forward the University Policy on the policy template found on the University’s policies webpage, to the Policy Owner for publication and maintenance consistent with this Policy. In the event that external approval is required for a particular University Policy, the Administrative Division Head shall submit the University Policy to the appropriate external entity for its consideration and approval. Until external approval is received by the Administrative Head and forwarded to the Policy Owner, the Policy Owner shall publish the University Policy with its status as “inactive” rather than “active”.

Regular Review of University Policies

Before approval of any proposed University Policy, the proposed University Policy shall be assigned a Responsible Office. In most instances, the Responsible Office shall be the University office most directly responsible for implementing and administering the policy. Each University Policy shall have a regular schedule for review by the Responsible Office to assure that the policy remains useful and consistent with applicable federal and state laws and regulations, IHL Policies and Bylaws, and other University Policies. If the Responsible Office determines that changes to a University Policy are necessary or prudent as a part of the Scheduled Review or at any other time, the Responsible Office may propose a policy change consistent with this Policy.

Responsible Office and/or Policy Owner: President’s Cabinet