Review of Unit Policies
PURPOSE
The process for submitting updates regarding policies related to faculty Appointment, Promotion and Tenure as per the Faculty Code is quite structured to ensure a systematic review by the Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure (APT) Committee.
Adhering to these guidelines ensures that policy updates are managed efficiently and with transparency, facilitating the APT Committee’s role in maintaining the integrity of academic standards and procedures. Compliance with the submission process is essential for the timely and proper review of policies.
Exceptions
This procedure does not apply to fixed-term faculty personnel guidelines.
SCOPE OF APPLICABILITY
This procedure will apply to all schools, units, and divisions within the University that have faculty policies and procedures related to Appointment, Promotion and Tenure.
Procedure Statement
This procedure will document the process required to submit personnel policy changes to the Office of Faculty Affairs.
Submission Window
Policies must be submitted for review between July 1 through December 31 – policy reviews submitted after the submission window will take place in July of the following year. This will avoid the APT Committee’s high volume dossier review period.
Method of Submission
Policies must be uploaded to the appropriate SharePoint Policy Revisions folder for the submitting unit.
Review Requirements
- All policies submitted for review must be submitted in Word document format with changes reflected using track changes. This is crucial as the reviewer must know what procedure language is being updated.
- Policies without tracked changes will be returned without review. It is also acceptable and helpful to include a summary of the changes in a separate memo accompanying the revised procedure that provides context or rationale for the recommended changes.
- Any recommended changes by the Office of Faculty Affairs, Office of University Counsel, and/or the APT Committee will be sent back to the department for consideration and incorporation into a revised draft.
- All revised files must include the word “revised” and the date of the last revision at the end of the file name. (Example: Department/Unit/Division Name-Procedure Name-Revised-MM-DD-YY)
Approval Process
- Policies will receive initial review by the Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA). The unit may be provided with preliminary suggestions for revisions.
- The draft will be submitted to the Office of University Counsel (OUC) for legal review. Again, the unit may be asked to make or approve amendments to the draft at this step.
- Once the draft has incorporated feedback from OFA and OUC (if applicable), the draft policy will be routed to the APT Committee for review and comment.
- If no revisions are required, the policy will be submitted to the provost for their review and approval to route to the Board of Trustees as an informational item on the agenda.
- If revisions are suggested, the draft will be sent back to the unit for incorporation of the committee’s feedback. The draft containing the final amendments will be routed to the provost for their review and approval to route to the Board of Trustees as an informational item.
- The final version, without markup, will be routed to the unit for its records and posted to the Office of Faculty Affairs website.
Please note that until final approval of the proposed amendments is granted, units must continue to follow the existing version of the guidelines. Any changes are not in effect until the updated policies have completed the full review and approval process.
Definitions
APT: Appointment, Promotion and Tenure
BOT: Board of Trustees
OFA: Office of Faculty Affairs
OUC: Office of University Counsel
PTR: Post Tenure Review