Responsible Office: Academic Affairs
Policy Administrator: Chief Academic Officer
Scope: |Faculty |Staff |Student

Approved By: President's Council

Approved Date: 7/26/2017

Effective Date: 7/26/2017

Category: Institutional

Description/Purpose:

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the Saint Francis University community has ready access to well-developed and understandable University policies.

Consequence:

Details:

Definitions

A policy is a statement of management philosophy and direction, established to provide guidance and assistance to the university community in conducting university actions. University policies are those with a scope that ranges from minimally applying to individuals or groups in more than one division or college to maximally applying to all faculty, staff, students, and visitors. University policies are reviewed and approved through the processes outlined in this policy.

 A university policy:

• Is a governing principle that requires action;
• Has an institution-wide application;
• Changes infrequently and sets a course for the foreseeable future;
• Helps ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
• Reduces institutional risk, and;
• Is approved at the executive levels of the University (President, Chief Academic Officer or Vice President), legal counsel, or the Board of Trustees.

Policy

Saint Francis University 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 control;
6. Clearly distinguished from related procedures.

Individuals who are responsible for writing, updating and distributing University policies shall comply with this policy.
 
Internal policies that apply to the operations of individual units or departments may not conflict with University policy, but may be more restrictive.

Policy Development

The Policy Initiator may identify a university-level policy issue and develop it into a policy proposal. The Policy Initiator will submit the policy proposal on my.francis.edu for review and endorsement to a Policy Officer. If the policy is endorsed, a draft policy is created following the format outlined in this Policy.

Policy Approval

The Policy Officer will review the draft policy on my.francis.edu, consult with various stakeholders regarding the policy's likely impact on the members of the Saint Francis University community. The Policy Officer will also indicate via my.francis.edu if the policy requires legal review and/or Faculty Senate review and the level (Institutional (PC and/or BOT), Divisional or Departmental) of the policy. The level will determine the review and approval steps of the policy. The levels and approval steps are defined below:

• Institutional (PC or BOT) - A policy that encompasses the overall operations of the University including all stakeholders. These policies require legal review and require approval by the Office of the President, President's Council and/or the Board of Trustees.
• Divisional - A policy that encompasses the standard operating procedures and processes of either a division or multiple departments that fall within the specific division. These policies could possibly require legal review, approval by the Vice President of the division and if needed, President's Council.
• Departmental - A policy that encompasses the standard operating procedures and processes within a department. These policies most likely do not require legal review and will require approval by the Vice President of the division the department reports to.

The policies that apply to the operation of a division or departments may not conflict with university-wide policy, but may be more restrictive.

After the policy is accepted by the Policy Officer, the policy will be open for campus wide review and comment for 30 days. An automated email will be generated to the campus community communicating the open review period for the policy. After the 30 days have passed, the submitted comments and policy draft will be reviewed for approval by the designated Policy Officer and/or appropriate group (Office of the President, PC, BOT, etc.).

Once the policy is approved, the Policy Officer will update the status of the policy online which will publish the policy. If a policy is designated as "internal" it will only be viewable to the campus community with a registered my.francis.edu log in. If a policy is designated as "external" the policy will be available for public viewing.

Policy Communication

Once the policy is approved, an automated email will be generated to the campus community notifying them of a newly approved or updated policy. Users with a University user id and password will also be able to subscribe or unsubscribe to policy updates based on the policy category.

Policy Review
Policies can be reviewed and revised at any time but at minimum an annual review should be completed by the Policy Officer and/or the Office Responsible. 

Policies will be available for review and comment by the identified Stakeholders and/or the campus community for 30 days. Exceptional circumstances may preclude the 30 day review period. Responsible offices may forego the review period and approve a policy via an expedited process when necessary. Special situations where this is likely may include a change in federal or state law, a significant and immediate financial opportunity, or a significant institutional risk.

Please note that all comments received are advisory in nature and will not obligate the University to make any changes in its recommendations concerning the policy under consideration.

Policy Maintenance and Archive

The Finance & Administration Division will oversee the management and maintenance of the University Policy webpage and database. The Policy Officer and/or the Office Responsible shall review policies on an annual basis and submit any approved policy changes online at my.francis.edu. If the Responsible Office concludes that a policy within its area has no continuing applicability, it may propose retirement of the policy through the same review and approval channels set forth in this Policy. Retired University policies will be archived but accessible from the University Policy website. All previous versions of amended or revised policies must be archived.

Policy Format

A standard policy format ensures clarity and consistency. Although not all policies will contain all of the format elements, University policies will be written and maintained in the following format described below:

1. Header Information: (mandatory elements)
2. University Policy Name
3. Policy Officer
4. Responsible Office
5. Scope: Identification of those the policy covers
6. Approved By
7. Effective Date(s): Initial effective date of policy, and latest revision date, if applicable
8. Purpose: (mandatory element) Purpose of the policy and the statement of philosophy, position, rule, regulation and direction
9. Definitions: (mandatory element) Meaning and interpretation of terms used in the policy
10. Policy Statement: (mandatory element) Body of the actual policy.

Location of Policies

To ensure ready access to Saint Francis University policies, the Finance and Administration Division will maintain a University Policies web page with links to applicable procedures. This will serve as the official electronic depository for Saint Francis University policies.

To maintain an organized system of change control, and to ensure consistency throughout the University, individual departmental websites should not contain separate copies or versions of University policies or applicable procedures. Instead, departmental websites that reference University policies and procedures must use hyperlinks to the documents on the official University Policies webpage. This does not preclude departments from maintaining internal departmental policies and procedures on their websites, provided the internal departmental policies and procedures are not identified as official University policies and procedures, and do not conflict with official University policies.