Policies and Procedures Procedure (Draft)

Purpose:

This procedure provides details on how policies and procedures are created, reviewed, repealed, approved, published, and maintained at Winona State University (WSU). These procedures involve several different WSU actors, including the President’s Cabinet (Cabinet), the WSU All-University Policy Committee (Committee), the Policy Coordinator (Coordinator), and all WSU stakeholders.

Rationale for Revision and Major Changes:

(This is for stakeholder review, not for publishing)

This procedure draft is a proposed update for

• WSU 1-1A Policies and Procedures Procedure

The procedure has been updated for greater clarity and succinctness. 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 proposed revision streamlines the procedure by: (1) removing duplicated language; (2) referring to “new/revised policies/procedures” as “requests” from the Responsible Officer and “recommendations” from the Committee or Cabinet; and (3) defining 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).

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.

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.

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.

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 reviews 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.

Procedure:

A. Policy Format

All WSU policies have a common format with the following components as described below:

• • Identifying Number
  • Title
  • Responsible Office and Responsible Officer
  • Purpose
  • Policy
  • Related Documents
  • Subsequent WSU Procedure(s)
  • Definitions

B. Procedure Format

All WSU procedures have a common format with the following components as described below:

• • Identifying Number
  • Title
  • Responsible Office and Responsible Officer
  • Purpose
  • Procedure
  • Related Documents
  • Authorizing WSU Policy
  • Definitions

C. Policy and Procedure Components

1. Identifying Number

Each policy/procedure has a unique identifying number consisting of an administrative unit number and a policy/procedure number. Administrative numbers refer to divisions of the university as follows:

1. 1. All University
   2. Finance and Administration
   3. Academic Affairs
   4. Enrollment Management and Student Life
   5. Human Resources
   6. University Advancement
   7. Information Technology Services
   8. Miscellaneous

The policy number appears after the administrative unit number; for example, identifying number 3-4 indicates that the policy is the fourth listed Academic Affairs policy. The administrative unit number and procedure number are inherited from its authorizing policy; a procedure is differentiated from its authorizing policy by adding a letter following the number. For example, the first subsequent procedure associated with Policy 3-4 is Procedure 3-4A.

2. Title

The policy/procedure title indicates its subject matter and differentiates it from all other policies and procedures.

3. Responsible Office and Responsible Officer

The administrative office and the position title of the officer or administrator responsible for the policy/procedure.

4. Purpose

For policies, the statement of purpose describes the issues covered and the scope of the policy. For procedures, the statement of purpose briefly describes the practices or processes detailed in the procedure.

5. Policy

The statement of policy communicates WSU’s position on the issues identified in the statement of purpose. Any relevant rules, responsibilities, obligations, conditions, or expectations imposed on administrators, faculty, staff, or students are briefly described in the statement of policy.

6. Procedure

The statement of the procedure is a clear, detailed description of how the associated policy is implemented at WSU. Procedural information includes, for example, the steps followed in a process, the roles of various offices or individuals involved in completing those steps, and/or a description of relevant forms and tools used in implementing the procedures. If the procedure refers to a specific form to be used to execute the procedure, the components of that form should be listed and described as necessary.

7. Related Documents

Any other relevant associated documents, such as statutes, guidelines, forms, or related policies or procedures.

8. Subsequent WSU Procedure(s)

Most policies are accompanied by one or more associated procedures that explain how a policy is implemented at WSU. The names and identifying numbers of any associated procedure(s) are listed under this heading. This section should always be included; if there are no associated procedures, it should list “None.”

9. Authorizing WSU Policy

The number and name of the policy associated with a procedure.

10. Definitions

Any unique or confusing terms, or words that have a special meaning within the context of the policy/procedure, are clearly defined. Definitions are uncontroversial, short, and direct. They add to the reader’s understanding of the policy. No statements of rules, rights, obligations, or expectations should appear in definitions. Terms adequately explained within the policy or common knowledge are not included in definitions.

D. Policy and Procedure Creation and Revision

The following process initiates the creation of a new (or revision of an existing) policy/procedure:

1. The Responsible Officer or a designated policy/procedure author drafts the new or revised proposed policy/procedure document(s) and submits them to the Committee. The draft should include a rationale for creating the new policy/procedure or, for updating existing policies and procedures (or for converting existing regulations), a statement describing the major changes in this revision from the current versions.

2. The Committee reviews the documents and determines if they conform to the approved format described in Policy and Procedure 1-1 and 1-1A. The Committee does not provide feedback on or edit the content of the documents. If the format does not conform to established standards, the Committee may make minor adjustments (e.g., outlining, providing (sub)section headings, or correcting typos) or forward the documents to a copy editor to work with the documents’ author to revise them.

3. Once the documents are in the approved format, the Committee assigns or confirms an identifying number to the policy/procedure and starts the review and approval process described below.

Any WSU stakeholder may submit a request to create/revise a policy/procedure to the Committee via the Coordinator. The Committee reviews the request and makes a recommendation to the Responsible Officer, including an anonymized copy of the request from the stakeholder and the Committee’s recommendation.

E. Policy, Procedure, and Regulation Repeal

The following process initiates the repeal of an existing policy, procedure, or regulation:

1. The Responsible Officer submits a request to repeal the policy, procedure, or regulation to the Committee, providing a rationale for this request.

2. The Committee reviews the request.

3. Once the request has been approved, the Committee starts the review and approval process described below.

Any WSU stakeholder may submit a request to repeal an existing policy, procedure, and/or regulation to the Committee via the Coordinator. The Committee reviews the request and makes a recommendation to the Responsible Officer, including an anonymized copy of the request from the stakeholder and the Committee’s recommendation.

F. Policy and Procedure Review and Approval

1. Committee Initial Review; Recommendation to Cabinet

The Committee reviews the request from a Responsible Officer for a proposed new, revised, or repealed policy/procedure/regulation to ensure that formatting guidelines are satisfied in the applicable documents.

The Committee suggests a deadline for stakeholder review with adequate time to provide feedback. The deadline should allow for at least two readings at regularly scheduled Faculty Senate and Student Senate meetings, typically at least 30 academic calendar days.

The Committee forwards a recommendation to Cabinet to review the request, including the suggested feedback deadline.

2. Cabinet Review of Recommendation

Cabinet reviews the Committee’s recommendation and, if approved, directs the Coordinator to circulate it to all stakeholders with the suggested deadline for submitting feedback. The policy, procedure, and/or regulation of the recommendation is then “open for review.”

3. Stakeholder Review

The Coordinator notifies all stakeholders of Cabinet’s recommendation and the suggested feedback deadline, providing access to any associated draft documents. The administration may additionally notify the stakeholders of these recommendations directly during their regular Meet & Confer proceedings.

Stakeholders review the recommendation and provide feedback to the administration and the identified Responsible Officer through the Coordinator. Stakeholders may additionally submit their feedback directly to the administration during their regular Meet & Confer proceedings. Stakeholders may submit a request to the Coordinator for an extended deadline; such requests shall normally be granted.

4. Committee Feedback Report

The Committee creates a report summarizing the stakeholder feedback received by the Coordinator and provides it to the Responsible Officer. If the stakeholders did not provide any feedback, the Committee may move to step 6 to make a final recommendation to the President.

5. Responsible Officer’s Final Edits

The Responsible Officer edits the documents, providing responses to the feedback received, and submits the final drafts to the Coordinator to be shared with the Committee.

6. Committee Recommendation for Final Draft

The Committee reviews the Responsible Officer’s final documents. If the Committee has concerns that any significant issues raised in the feedback report have not been adequately addressed, it may recommend that Cabinet redistribute the current version and feedback report to all stakeholders, sending the process back to step 1.

If the Committee is satisfied with the Responsible Officer’s response to the feedback report, it forwards the final drafts and the feedback report to the President with a recommendation for final approval.

7. Presidential Review and Approval of Recommendation; Publication and Dissemination

The President either approves or rejects the Committee’s recommendation. If the President approves the recommendation, the Coordinator updates the WSU policies website as necessary and notifies all stakeholders of the recommendation’s final disposition. The policy, procedure, and/or regulation is then “closed for review.”

G. Policy/Procedure Changes outside of this Cycle

The All-University Policy Committee only meets during the nine-month academic year. If a legal mandate or other extenuating circumstance requires a policy be implemented, revised, or repealed outside of the academic year, the following steps shall take place:

1. The Coordinator (or designee) will contact the leadership of all stakeholders and inform them of the need for the change in policy/procedure.

2. The policy/procedure change will be provisionally implemented.

3. At the start of the next nine-month academic year, the new/revised policy/procedure will go through the full review and approval process described in this procedure.

Related definitions:

[1-1] 9-Month Academic Year:

The approximately 9-month period between the first day of Fall classes and Commencement Day.

[1-1] Academic Calendar Days:

Weekdays during the fall and spring semesters when the university is open for regular business and faculty members are on duty, excluding holidays.

[1-1] Administration:

The offices and roles listed in WSU’s ‘Administrative Leadership’ webpage.

[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] Cabinet:

The individual administrators designated as members of Cabinet on WSU’s ‘Administrative Leadership’ webpage.

[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] Faculty Senate:

The policy-making body of Winona State University’s Faculty Association.

[1-1] Feedback Report:

A report summarizing the feedback received on a specific policy/procedure as well as the Responsible Officers’ responses to that feedback. The creation of these reports is overseen by the All-University Policy Committee.

[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] Responsible Office:

An office of the Administration primarily responsible for developing, maintaining, and upholding a university policy and implementing a university procedure.

[1-1] Responsible Officer:

A role within a responsible office vested with the authority to uphold a university policy and implement a university procedure housed within that office.

[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] Student Senate:

The governing body of the Winona State University Student Association.

[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.

Authorizing Policy:

• 1-1 Policies and Procedures Policy (Draft)

History:

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

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