Developing Administrative Policy

Determine need for new policy or major revision to an existing administrative policy

1. The policy owner identifies a policy gap, either in an existing policy or identifies a need for a new policy that meets the administrative policy criteria:
   • support the University’s mission and strategic positioning goals;
   • apply institution-wide;
   • impact a substantial number of the University population;
   • promote consistency, efficiency, and effectiveness and/or mitigate or manage significant institutional risk; and
   • derive from the authority of Board of Regents policies, including specific delegated authority to manage the institution, or comply with federal or state laws, rules, or regulations.
2. The policy owner, with University Policy Office assistance, reviews related existing policies to determine if they could be combined.
3. If no, the policy owner drafts the proposed policy statement and policy reason. This information will be needed in the policy plan.

Prepare and submit a Policy Plan

1. The policy owner notifies the Director of the University Policy Office (UPO) that a request for a new or significantly revised policy will be forthcoming.
2. The policy owner discusses the request and receives approval from the appropriate Responsible University Officer.
3. The policy plan is completed and forwarded to the UPO Director.
4. An initial review is conducted by the Director to ensure that all the information is provided and identifies any adjustments needed prior to the review with the Policy Advisory Committee (PAC).
5. The Policy Advisory Committee will meet with policy owners to review the policy plan to ensure policies are needed and aligned with institutional mission, goals, and priorities. If need be, they will also review subsequent policy drafts to ensure policies are concise, consistent in format and scope and easy to understand.

   a. Once complete, the PAC will make recommendations for action to the PPC.

6. After receiving the input from the PAC, the policy owner will update the policy plan and policy statement as needed.

Draft the Administrative Policy

1. The policy owner completes a draft of the proposed policy or policy revision along with the associated procedures, using the Standard Policy Template.
2. The policy owner forwards the policy draft to the UPO Director, who convenes a meeting with the PAC and the policy owner.
3. The policy owner presents the policy draft. The PAC provides specific suggestions as to language, level of detail, readability. After receiving the input from the PAC, the policy owner will update the policy draft as needed.
4. The revised policy draft is posted on the Administrative Policy website for a 30-day public comment period.
5. The policy owner, the UPO Director, and the President's Policy Committee Chair review comments received from this public comment period. A determination is made as to what modifications to the policy draft will be made.
6. The final policy is submitted to the PPC for approval to publish.

Implementation

1. The final policy is sent to the UPO for updating to the production policy web site.
2. If the new policy information requires formal training, the policy owner works with the appropriate training specialists to ensure that it is deployed (e.g., changes or new financial policies should also go through Training Services so that training materials and/or associated courses reflect the most current information.)
3. A variety of communication vehicles are used to disseminate the policy information to the appropriate audiences. The Policy Office will assist both with the language and the actual distribution of the communication.
4. Policy owners should identify their targeted audiences (e.g., travel policy changes might be sent directly to those individuals who travel on University business, in addition to general population awareness.)
5. The policy is published and communication is made broadly to the University.