Development and Oversight of University Policies

Board of Regents/University System of Maryland Policy: a policy that has been approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland. These policies provide the framework and guiding principles under which institutions in the University System of Maryland are responsible for implementation and compliance.

Department, Office, College or School Policy: a policy that departments, offices, and University schools or colleges may develop that govern their specific areas. When there is a discrepancy between a University policy and a department, office, college or school policy, the University Policy shall govern.

Executive Committee: a standing committee of University senior leadership, who meet to review recommendations of the Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) and who provide final approval of all University policies. The Executive Committee consults with the President on policy matters that involve a substantially new direction or major impact on the University; approves new policies and substantive amendments to existing policies; assesses and determines the institution's administrative policy needs; and ensures policy development and management plans are appropriate for the administration of policies. The Executive Committee may choose to deny a request for a policy or policy change, as well as authorize elimination of policies. The Executive Committee may also implement policies on an interim basis without going through the formal review process.

Expedited Review: is a process completed by the Executive Committee. After approval by the Executive Committee, the policy is published to the campus community for a comment period.

Labor Management Committee: consists of members of the non-exempt bargaining unit and representatives from the Human Resources Office. The Labor Management Committee shall work in partnership with Policy Owners to provide feedback on draft policies that will be submitted to the Executive Committee.

Non-Substantive Change: is any revision or revisions related to grammar, formatting, URL updates, titles and/or individual contact information needing to be updated, material appearing only in an appendix, and other changes of similar impact.

PAC Chair: supports the PAC, Policy Owners and Responsible Departments throughout the policy development, review, implementation and management process. The PAC Chair assists with disseminating information regarding new and amended policies to the broader University community; assists with maintaining an easily accessible, user-friendly electronic catalog of policies on a central website; and monitors review schedules.

Policy: a brief statement that describes the policy and why it exists. It provides direction as to who and what is governed under the policy.

Policy Advisory Committee (PAC): a standing committee consisting of the PAC Chair, a representative from the Provost’s Office, designees from the various shared governance groups, and a representative from the Office of General Counsel. The PAC shall work in partnership with Policy Owners to review draft policies for clarity and consistency, and to make recommendations for action to the Executive Committee. The PAC meets on an as needed basis.

Policy Owner: the Policy Owner is any faculty, staff or student organization that identifies a University level matter of concern and develops a new policy proposal or proposes to amend an existing policy.

Procedures: are specific actions to be taken to help implement a University Policy. Procedures include information on who, what, when, and where as it relates to the policy.

Responsible Department: an organizational entity within the University with responsibility for the implementation, compliance and revision of a University Policy. The Responsible Department assists in educating the target audience and Stakeholders on the policy and procedures, monitors compliance and evaluates feedback.

Stakeholders: Stakeholders are University community members who are affected by development and/or revision of the University policy.

Substantive Change: is any revision or revisions constituting impactful change on implementation or compliance with a policy.

University Policy: a policy that provides guidance on conducting the affairs of the University. It applies broadly throughout the University and requires the review and approval of the Executive Committee. These policies typically: (1) are governing principles that mandate or constrain actions, (2) have institution-wide application, (3) change infrequently and set a course for the foreseeable future, (4) help insure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and (5) reduce institutional risk.

1. The Policy Development and Approval Process is described below
2. Determine the Need for a Policy and Obtain Approval
   1. A document being formulated as a University Policy shall be developed by a Policy Owner best aligned with the subject area. A University Policy may also be developed by a collaboration of faculty, staff and/or student organizations.
   2. After a Policy Owner has identified a need for either a new policy or a need to update an existing policy, the Policy Owner must obtain approval from the dean/vice president (or equivalent) of their department/college/school, or the appropriate shared governance body/committee in order to proceed with drafting or revising the policy.
      1. If it is determined that the policy need is a Non-Substantive Change, the policy change will follow the process outlined in subsection (B)(1) below.
      2. If a Policy Owner is seeking to make Substantive Changes to an existing policy, the Policy Owner should create a revised version, using the track change feature in Word on the existing policy to highlight the specific language changes proposed. Policies that are proposed for elimination need not be marked up.
   3. The Policy Owner, with the assistance of the PAC Chair if necessary, should determine: (i) if a University Policy already exists, (ii) if a related policy already exists, (iii) if there is a USM policy on the subject area, and (iv) if there are any institutions within the USM that have a policy related to the subject area.
3. Drafting the Policy
   1. After reviewing existing University policies, USM policies, and policies from other institutions within the USM as well as any policies from another institution of higher education related to the subject area, the Policy Owner should engage key Stakeholders in the development, writing and review process for the policy proposal. The PAC Chair can assist in identifying key Stakeholders.
   2. The Policy Owner completes a draft of the proposed new or revised policy, using the template provided in Appendix B, along with any necessary and associated forms, and forwards all documents to the PAC Chair for review.
   3. The PAC Chair conducts the initial review. If additional information or changes are needed, the PAC Chair will consult with the Policy Owner. Once the draft is ready, the PAC Chair will schedule the policy to be reviewed by the PAC at an upcoming meeting.
   4. After initial review is conducted by the PAC, the PAC Chair provides feedback to the Policy Owner as necessary. If changes are needed, the PAC Chair, in consultation with the Policy Owner, make adjustments and resubmits the policy to the PAC.
4. Policy Draft Review
   1. When the PAC Chair submits the policy to the PAC for review, the PAC will review and provide suggestions regarding content, language, level of detail and readability.
      1. As part of the PAC’s review, proposed policies will be disseminated to shared governance groups for feedback. Applicable policies will be disseminated to other key Stakeholders for feedback as well. For example, policies will be submitted to the Labor Management Committee if required by a collective bargaining agreement.
   2. After receiving input from the PAC and any Stakeholders, the PAC Chair will update the policy draft as needed.
   3. Once all updates have been completed, the policy is forwarded to the Executive Committee for review and consideration.
5. Policy Implementation
   1. If the Executive Committee approves the policy, the policy is sent to the PAC Chair to publish the policy to the campus community on the University’s website in a centralized location where all policies can be easily found, and/or the faculty, staff, student handbooks or other documents, as may be applicable.
   2. Policies that are approved for retirement or elimination will be removed from the University website, faculty, staff and student handbooks, or any other documents to the extent possible.
   3. The Responsible Department will use reasonable methods to disseminate the approved policy to the appropriate audiences.
   4. If the Executive Committee does not approve the policy and recommends further revisions, the policy will be returned to the PAC Chair who will work with the Policy Owner and the PAC in making the necessary changes. Once changes have been made, the policy will be resubmitted to key Stakeholders, where appropriate, then resubmitted to the Executive Committee for approval.

1. Non-Substantive Changes: the Office of General Counsel, in coordination with the Policy Owner and/or Responsible Department, may make Non-Substantive Changes to a University policy without the need for any further review. Once a Non-Substantive Change has been made, the revised policy will be posted to the University’s website and an announcement will be made to the campus community.
2. Substantive Changes: Substantive Changes to a University policy may be made by (a) following the process for policy approval set forth above, or by (b) following the process for Expedited or Interim Policies as set forth below.

1. The Executive Committee may approve an Interim Policy when legal requirements or an institutional risk exists and there is insufficient time to complete the standard review and approval process before publishing. If approved, the policy will go into effect immediately.
2. Once the Interim Policy goes into effect, the PAC Chair shall publish the Interim Policy on the University’s website for a thirty (30) day comment period. An announcement regarding the Interim Policy will be made to the campus community that the policy has been posted.
3. The PAC Chair will review comments received and present them to the Executive Committee for consideration to determine what, if any, modifications to make to the policy. If a modification is made, the amended version of the policy will be published to the University’s website and an announcement will be made to the campus community.

1. Departments, Offices, Colleges and Schools may develop local policies whether or not a corresponding University policy exists. However, Departments, Offices, Colleges and Schools may not create a local policy under the following circumstances:
   1. When it is prohibited by an existing University policy; or
   2. When the proposed policy is inconsistent with or less restrictive than a USM Board of Regents policy.

1. To facilitate uniformity, all University policies will follow a standardized format that includes the following sections, where applicable:
   1. Policy Statement;
   2. Purpose;
   3. Definitions;
   4. Procedures;
   5. Appeals;
   6. Violations and Sanctions;
   7. Responsible Department;
   8. Appendices; and
   9. Approved by, Effective date, and Amended Date(s), where applicable.
2. A sample template is contained here, Template for Policy Development.