Policies and Procedures Policy (Draft)

Purpose:

This policy describes the rules, rights, obligations, and expectations involved in creating, reviewing, approving, publishing, and maintaining university policies and procedures at Winona State University (WSU).

Rationale for Revision and Major Changes:

(This is for stakeholder review, not for publishing)

This policy draft is a proposed update for

• WSU 1-1 Policies and Procedures Policy

The policy has been updated for greater clarity and succinctness. It removes duplicated language and moves all of the previous list items of “Policies/Procedures must:” into the text of the policy. (Some of those list items referred to qualities, others referred to processes.) The policy now identifies the WSU All-University Policy Committee, the Policy Coordinator, and Responsible Officers as important actors playing a role in the review and approval process. It only includes definitions used in the policy; others are properly defined in the “Procedure” document. The titles of both the policy and the procedure have been massaged to follow a common format, removing “Policy On: [topic]” to be “[topic] Policy/Procedure.”

The procedure has been updated for greater clarity and succinctness. It removes duplicated language; refers to “new/revised policies/procedures” as “requests” from the Responsible Officer and “recommendations” from the Committee or Cabinet; and defines two initial “mini-procedures” for proposing new or repealing existing policies before advancing to the same major review/approval procedure. It also removes references to the “Council of Administrators” (which was never involved in this process) and “relevant stakeholders” (as all stakeholders have been traditionally invited to provide feedback).

One major goal of this revision involves describing the processes as they have actually taken place over the past five years or so, removing steps and dictates that have not been followed in practice. The previous procedure indicated that all policies and procedures are automatically “opened for review” when “it has been five years or more since the policy/procedure was last reviewed.” This has never taken place in the way it was described, and in the new version policies/procedures will be explicitly and formally opened for review based on a recommendation from Cabinet (usually provided by the Committee). This will provide the Committee more latitude to set its priorities and establish its workflow.

The Committee will be formally authorized to make minor adjustments (e.g., outlining, providing (sub)section headings, or correcting typos) for initial document submissions before recommending they be sent out for stakeholder review. The Committee will also be formally authorized to refer the original author to a copy editor when it deems this necessary. During its initial review, the Committee will no longer be expected to check the documents for “WSU contractual requirements” as its members cannot be expected to be experts in this area; this is more appropriately a stakeholder responsibility. During its final review, the Committee may recommend that a revised set of documents be sent to stakeholders for another round of feedback review if it feels that previous concerns were not adequately addressed.

Responsible Officers will be asked to provide a rationale for proposing new, existing updating, or repealing current policies, procedures, and/or regulations along with a narrative of major changes when appropriate. These rationales and narratives would be provided to stakeholders for their feedback review.

Finally, this revision reduces the standard review/feedback timeline from 45-90 academic calendar days to at least 30 academic calendar days (roughly 6 weeks); stakeholder requests for extensions will still be normally granted as in the past. It refers to setting “suggested feedback deadlines” instead of “proposed timelines,” reducing ambiguity.

Suggested Stakeholder feedback deadline:

Feedback should be provided using this WSU form by 11/01/2024.

Policy:

All WSU policies and procedures have a clearly defined purpose, and they are written in a common format using accessible language.

WSU policies are clear, short, and succinct statements of the rules, rights, and obligations that apply university wide. Policies establish and communicate WSU’s position on specific topics, and they outline expectations for administrators, faculty, staff, students, and other members of the WSU community. They define who is responsible for oversight and maintenance.

WSU procedures are clear explanations providing relevant details regarding the implementation of their authorizing policies. Procedures have a clearly defined purpose, and they can be revised as institutional practices evolve.

WSU Responsible Officers propose recommendations regarding new/revised/repealed policies, procedures, and regulations. These recommendations are reviewed by all WSU stakeholders before being formally approved by the President. The All-University Policy Committee, assisted by the Policy Coordinator, oversees the processes for reviewing and approving these recommendations. All approved policies and procedures are published and publicly accessible on the WSU website.

Related definitions:

[1-1] All-University Policy Committee:

A committee consisting of representatives from all bargaining units (IFO, ASF, MAPE, AFSCME, MMA), student senate, and the administration.

[1-1] Clarity:

Something is clear, in the context of this document, when it is unambiguous and relatively easy for its intended audience to understand. Different standards of clarity may be necessary for different audiences.

[1-1] Policy Coordinator:

A University employee who has been designated to facilitate the creation, review, and maintenance of policies at WSU.

[1-1] Regulation:

The term that previously referred to all policies and procedures adopted by the university. According to Regulation 1-1 (adopted 12/28/1978 and last revised 9/17/2008), “The term University Regulations refers to those policies and administrative procedures established for the internal operation of WSU under the authority delegated by MnSCU. Encompassed in these regulations are those procedures adopted by the President to facilitate the routine and continuing functions of the University and to implement the governing rules, the internal rules, the system policies, state statutes, state agency rules, and collective bargaining agreements.”

[1-1] Stakeholder:

A group (such as a collective bargaining unit or Student Senate) identified by the All-University Policy Committee as having a personal stake in the development and implementation of a university policy or procedure. For this policy and procedure, the All-University Policy Committee and its members are defined as stakeholders and may participate in these processes.

[1-1] University Policy:

A set of principles, positions, and rules having application throughout the university and intended to govern the actions of all employees, faculty, students, visitors, and others who come in contact with the university.

[1-1] University Procedure:

A clear explanation of how a policy is generally implemented at WSU.

Subsequent Procedure:

• 1-1A Policies and Procedures Procedure (Draft)

History:

Date of Revisions: 09/17/2008, 06/23/2017, 07/28/2020

Adoption date: 12/28/1978
Implementation date: 01/01/2099