Policy Process

The policy process supports the purpose of the Board of Trustee Policy on Policies to ensure that the Hastings College community has ready access to well-developed and understandable college policies. In keeping with that charge, the following understandings underpin the Policy on Policies:

Policies that are easily accessed and understood will:

  1. Support the mission of the college.

  2. Provide accountability by identifying the responsible departments and individuals.

  3. Provide employees and students with clear, concise and updated guidelines.

  4. Serve as documentation as to how the college conducts business.

College policies will be:

  1. Presented in a common format.

  2. Formally approved by the authorized body.

  3. Maintained centrally and accessible to all interested parties.

  4. Linked electronically to procedures for implementing the policy.

  5. Kept current within the framework of an organized system of change management and documentation.


Policies are distinguished from procedures in that procedures are guidelines or steps taken to implement the associated policy and are to be clearly identified, documented and linked to the applicable college policy and will be reviewed and updated as necessary for policy alignment.


The Policy SBAR template and template for new policies can both be found in the Google Doc template gallery. If you are proposing a new policy, you need to complete the SBAR when submitting your proposed draft to the committee. Amendments to existing policies can be made during the policy review period using the campus feedback form process or directly to the Policy Committee should there be an immediate need (legal, etc.) for a revision outside the regularly scheduled review timeline.


The Policy Committee, as detailed in the Policy on Policies, is the Administrative Council and the Policy Administrator is the Chief Information Officer.


Policy Development Process

Briefly:

  1. Policy developed and submitted to Policy Committee (using Policy SBAR and Standard Policy Template)

  2. Policy Committee reviews policy and process requirements.

  3. Upon endorsement by the Policy Committee, the proposed policy draft is posted on the Policy Library website for a 10-day campus feedback period.

  4. Policy Initiator receives feedback and any substantive revisions are re-submitted to Policy Committee and re-posted for further campus feedback. If there are no substantive changes recommended, the proposed policy is sent by the Policy Committee to the Policy Owner for final approval.

  5. The Policy Owner reviews the proposed policy draft considering the policy's likely impact upon members of the college community, including legal and, if appropriate, shared governance review.

  6. Once the policy is approved, the Policy Owner will forward an electronic copy to the Policy Administrator.

  7. The Policy Administrator will maintain copies of all approved college policies and revisions within the College's Policy Library website and will notify responsible parties when particular policies are scheduled for review or revision.


From Policy on Policies:

III. Procedures

A) Policy Development


Any Policy Initiator (any faculty, staff member, or student who identifies a college-level issue and develops a related policy proposal) may identify a college-level policy issue and develop it consulting with the required stakeholders into a policy proposal. The Policy Initiator will submit the policy proposal to the Policy Committee for review and endorsement using the Policy SBAR template located in the HC Google docs template library. If the policy is endorsed by the Committee, a draft policy is created using the official HC Policy template following the format outlined in Section IV of this Policy.

The Policy Committee will confirm that all affected or interest parties have been included for consideration in the Policy SBAR and Policy draft. Assuming all process requirements have been met as reviewed by the Policy Committee, proposed policy or revisions will be posted on the Policy Library website for a ten day campus feedback period. Any feedback received will be directed to the Policy Initiator for consideration. Any substantive revisions to the draft policy are then re-submitted by the Policy Initiator to the Policy Committee and the proposed policy is reposted for campus feedback until the end of the review period at which time the proposed policy is sent for final approval to the Policy Owner.

The Policy Owner will review the draft policy considering the policy’s likely impact on the members of the college community, including legal and, if appropriate, shared governance review. After review and input, the Policy is then formally approved .

Once the policy is approved, the Policy Owner will forward an electronic copy to the Policy Administrator.

The Policy Administrator will maintain copies of approved college policies and policy revisions and place an electronic copy on the College’s Policy Library website. The Policy Administrator also notifies responsible parties when particular policies are scheduled for review or revision. Any policy scheduled for review is sent to the original Policy Initiator as well as the Policy Owner and listed as open to campus comment on the Policy Library website. Any policy not approved by the appropriate authority or not yet entered officially into the College Policy Library is not viewed as official college policy.


Noncompliance: As identified in the particular policy, the responsible office will monitor compliance and facilitate remedies for noncompliance as directed by the policy.

All Academic and Department Policies must be consistent with laws, regulations, and applicable College policies. Academic and Department Policies may supplement but must not conflict with College Policies.


Exigency: At any time deemed necessary for the safety of college employees or students or for situations in which legal compliance necessitates immediate action, the President and/or the Oversight committee of the Board of Trustees as appropriate, reserve the right to bypass the policy review and revision procedure herein stated and have full authority to make and enact changes to current college policies. This decision/change needs to be reviewed in 6 months to become permanent or adjusted to the demand, following the procedure in this policy described.


Approvals Table