Policy for Developing and Maintaining University Policies

 

Policy Statement

Southeastern’s Policy for Developing and Maintaining University Policies governs the process for development, adoption, and management of university policies. University policies adopted in accordance with the policy procedures outlined herein will be retained in a designated repository and posted on the official University Policies and Procedures website. Individuals tasked with the development and maintenance of university policies will follow the policy procedures outlined below for the adoption and approval of new university policies and the amendment or repeal of existing university policies.

Southeastern is part of the University of Louisiana System (ULS) and is governed by a Board of Supervisors - one of four higher education management boards in the state of Louisiana. The management boards supervise and manage the institutions within the four systems with regard to degrees, student fees, employment, acquisitions, and financial operation of schools while the Louisiana Board of Regents (BOR) serves as the statewide higher education coordinating body. Policies at Southeastern comply with relevant policies of the BOR and/or the ULS.

 

Purpose of Policy

Policies connect the university’s mission to individual conduct, institutionalize expectations, support compliance with laws and regulations, mitigate institutional risk, and enhance productivity and efficiency of the university. The purpose of this policy is to ensure effective communication of university policies and to support the identification and use of approved university policies. This policy is designed to provide a uniform university policy format, ensure a consistent review, adoption, amendment and repeal process, and provide for the dissemination and management of university policies.

 

Applicability

This policy applies to all university-level policies – those approved by the President or the Academic Affairs Council.  It does not apply to the policies of individual departments/units which, by definition, are subordinate to university policies.

 

Policy Procedure

The following procedures are required for approval of all university policies:

1. University policy proposals or revisions are brought to the appropriate approval body by a vice president or a designee of the responsible office. Depending on the scope of the policy, it may also be reviewed by any or all of the following: Academic Affairs, Faculty Senate, Council of Department Heads, Provost’s Council, Student Government Association, President’s Staff, BOR and/or ULS, or other appropriate entities.

Policy proposals or revisions affecting academics must be approved by the Academic Affairs Council. Policy proposals or revisions affecting faculty, staff and students of a non-academic nature are approved by the President following review by the President’s Staff and/or other individuals or groups as appropriate.

2. University policies should be submitted on the official policy template which includes the following information:
   1. Policy Title
   2. Document History
      1. Responsible Administrator - All university policies are assigned to at least one member of the institution's executive leadership for implementation, maintenance, and review.
      2. Responsible Office
      3. Effective Date
      4. Approved by
      5. Date of Revision/Review
   3.  Policy Statement
   4.  Purpose – This should be a concise statement that explains the purpose of the policy and an assurance of its alignment with federal, SACSCOC, Board of Regents, and University of Louisiana System regulations, as well as institutional or unit purposes and include the verbiage and/or link to the specific directive.
   5. Applicability – State to whom the policy applies.
   6. Policy Procedures – This section should include a description of the procedures and a timeline for completion, a method for monitoring and reporting compliance with the policy, and a schedule for reviewing the policy and procedures.

 

Approval / Revision

Signed authorization by the President or minutes from the Academic Affairs Council document approval of university policies. Approved policies should be submitted to the provost’s office for posting on the University Policies and Procedures website. Minor policy revisions do not require additional approval unless the intent of the policy significantly changes. Minor revisions are submitted by the appropriate vice president to the provost’s office for posting on the University Policies and Procedures website. Minor revisions include changes which are: a) editorial, b) related to an organizational/position name change, c) made to update a contact, resources or link, or d) made to provide clarity or improve grammar.

All policy revisions should contain information regarding appropriate approval as well as the date of revision.

 

Dissemination

Policies approved through this process are distributed via the University Policies and Procedures website and university-wide emails.

All departmental and support unit web pages shall contain links to the official University Policies and Procedures website instead of posting their own versions of university policies.

Printed versions of university policies may be included in faculty, staff and student handbooks as well as other university publications, but these versions must include a disclaimer that the University Policies and Procedures website should be consulted for the official university policy.

 

Evaluation and Review

It will be the responsibility of each responsible office to ensure that their university policies are reviewed every three years or sooner if there is a change in the law or other circumstances that necessitate review or possible revision. The revision/review date should be noted in the Document History.