1000-1-1 Policy Development, Revision & Publication

Policy

Policy Framework

1. Governance (i.e. Board) policies are established, overseen and administered by the Board of Governors. These policies provide strategic direction and guidance, and establish fundamental and key parameters for the institution.  They include the delegation of authority and responsibilities to the President.  The development, review and revision of Board policy are the responsibility of the Board of Governors and fall beyond the purview of this policy.
2. Administration (i.e. College) policies guide and direct the efficient and effective operation of the institution within the directions, parameters and limits established by Governance policy, College Mission, etc., and legislative requirements. Administrative policies reflect the responsibilities of the President, who is ultimately accountable for the policies and the implementation of them.  The development, review and revision of College policy are governed by this policy.
3. Departmental policies are established and implemented by individual Schools or Departments to provide detailed direction regarding operations and matters specific to that area. These policies, and the development, review and revision of them, are the responsibility of the administrator of the operational area. 
4. Department policies must be consistent with, and are subordinate to, College policies which, in turn, must be consistent with, and are subordinate to, Board policies. 

College Policy Development

5. The development of a policy is the responsibility of the administrator most directly responsible for the ultimate implementation of and/or compliance with the policy. This responsible administrator is identified in this policy as the “policy sponsor”.
   1. The policy sponsor will initiate, guide and oversee the creation, development and presentation for approval of the new policy.
   2. Before initiating the creation of a new policy, the Policy Sponsor will request approval to do so  from the responsible executive. The development of a new policy may not proceed without the approval of the responsible executive.
   3. During the development of a new policy, the policy sponsor will ensure that comment is sought, gathered and considered from College departments, individuals and groups who, it might reasonably be expected, will be impacted by the new policy.
   4. The policy sponsor developing a policy that has the potential for legal challenges or entanglements or controversy should, with the approval of the responsible executive, seek review of the proposed policy by legal counsel. 
6. A proposed College policy must be considered by relevant (one or more) vice-president advisory committees (e.g. Deans Council, Student Services Committee, and Administrative Management Team) for comment.
7. Evidence of consultations undertaken in the policy development process must accompany the proposed policy at each presentation of the policy.
8. When a draft policy has been sufficiently developed, the policy sponsor, or designate, will present it to the relevant vice-president advisory committee(s) for consideration for recommendation to the College Leadership Team (CLT) for its consideration.
9. A proposed College policy must be presented to the College Leadership Team (CLT) by the relevant vice-president, policy sponsor or designate, for its consideration for recommendation for approval to the President.
10. A proposed College policy, recommended for approval by the CLT, will be considered by the President for approval. 
11. A proposed College policy will become an official College policy on approval by the President, effective on the date established by the President.
12. The official policy will be published on the College website, and notification of the policy will be broadcast to the College community.

College Policy Review and Revision

13. Each and every College policy must be formally reviewed within a period not to exceed five years from the date of first issue or the date of the last review. It should be noted that, while a policy review may lead to a revision(s), a revision of a policy does not, per se, constitute a review and may occur without a formal review of the policy.
14. The President's Office will be responsible for monitoring, directly or through delegation, the policy review schedule and informing the relevant executive of impending required policy reviews.
15. The formal review of a policy may result in no change to the policy, revisions to the policy or the deletion of the policy. The policy review described below is inclusive of all three possible outcomes. 
16. It is the responsibility of the Executive Assistant, Senior Vice-President, Strategy & Corporate Services to ensure the currency of the policy by communicating that approaching need for a timely review of the policy. At a minimum, the timely review of a policy is dictated by the five-year period required above, and may be required sooner by changing circumstances, legislative requirements, board directions, etc.
17. The review of a policy will be undertaken and directed by the administrator most directly responsible for the implementation of and/or compliance with the policy (i.e. the policy sponsor).
    1. The policy sponsor may initiate and will guide and oversee the review of the policy for which he is responsible.
    2. During the review of the policy, the policy sponsor will ensure that comment is sought, gathered and considered from College departments, individuals and groups who, it might reasonably be expected, will be impacted by any change in the policy.
    3. The policy sponsor reviewing a policy that has the potential for legal challenges or entanglements or controversy should, with the approval of the responsible executive, seek review of the proposed policy by legal counsel. 
18. When the review of the policy is complete, the policy sponsor, or designate, will present the reviewed policy, with a recommendation for maintenance, revision, or deletion, to the relevant vice-president advisory committee for its consideration for recommendation to the CLT.
19. A reviewed College policy must be presented to the CLT by the relevant vice-president, or designate, for its consideration for recommendation to the President.
20. A reviewed College policy, recommended by the CLT, will be considered by the President for approval of continuation, revision or deletion, or not.
21. A reviewed College policy will replace current College policy or policies or be deleted on approval by the President, effective on the date established by the President, and recorded on the published policy.
22. The reviewed policy will be published on, or deleted from, the College website, and notification of a revised or deleted policy will be broadcast to the College community.

Revisions of Policy or Appendices

23. On occasion, a policy may be revised outside of the formal review process.
    1. If the revision(s) is (are) of a significant nature, then the revised policy must be presented to the vice-president committee(s), the CLT and the President.
    2. If the revision(s) is (are) of a minor nature, such that the significant values, expectations, directions, or procedures associated with or arising from the policy are unchanged, then the policy changes may be approved by the relevant vice-president and the revised policy published.
    3. The revision of the policy should be reflected in the "Last Revision" date box at the top of the policy. 
    4. The revision of the policy should be added to the next agenda of the related vice-president committee for information purposes only.
24. Information within policy appendices may be revised, from time to time, by the responsible administrator (i.e. policy sponsor), at the administrator's discretion, without proceeding through the formal policy revision steps described above.
25. The College community must be provided with appropriate notification of such changes.

Archiving of Policies

26. A policy, or version of a policy, that is removed from publication, i.e. from the College website, because the policy has been deleted, revised or replaced by other policy, must be maintained in a policy archive, available for College community reference, for a minimum of ten years.

Policy Format

27. A College policy must be published in the template and standard formatting established for College policies in order to ensure consistency, accessibility compliance, etc. The template is available by request to the Executive Assistant to the Senior Vice-President, Strategy & Corporate Services.
28. Policies must be written in plain English - free of jargon and legalese - and without unnecessary reference to specific, i.e. proper names of, positions, places, products, etc.
29. A policy may include one or more appendices that provide details or more detailed information, e.g. forms, website URLs, dates, etc. that may require occasional changes or updates.

Department Policy

30. The development of a department (including School) policy is the responsibility of the administrator who is responsible for the operation of the department(s) to/in which the policy applies.
31. The department administrator will initiate and oversee the creation, development, publication and implementation of the department policy.
32. The department administrator is expected to consult with College departments, individuals and groups who, it might reasonably be expected, will be impacted by the policy.
33. The department administrator must seek and receive approval from his supervisor for any new or revised department policy.
34. Department policies must be published and readily accessible to all relevant and potentially interested parties.
35. Department policy must be consistent with College policy, and is always subordinate to College policy.
36. The department administrators are responsible for ensuring the currency and relevancy of department policies for which they are responsible. Part of that responsibility is to ensure the timely review of the policies. 
37. A department policy must be reviewed within a period not to exceed five years of the implementation or most recent review of the policy, and may be reviewed sooner in light of changing circumstances, legislative requirements, professional requirements, etc.

Procedures

38. Procedures consist of detailed instructions, detailed steps, forms, etc. associated with a policy and/or necessary for the operationalization of the policy.
39. In most instances, procedures will not be part of, or attached to, a policy.
40. The policy will reference the procedures and their publication format and location.
41. In those instances, in which procedure is directly attached to and published with the policy, it will be contained in an appendix to the policy. 
42. Procedure associated with a policy does not require approval with the associated policy and, by extension, is not approved with the approval of the policy.
43. Notwithstanding the above, in those rare instances in which procedure is attached to a policy - in an appendix - the approval of the policy includes approval of the appended procedures. Such approval, however, does not preclude these procedures from being changed as described below, nor require that the procedure changes be approved by those authorities approving the policy.
44. Procedure is the responsibility of the administrator who is responsible for the associated policy.
45. The responsible administrator may change procedure at any time, with the approval of her supervisor.
46. Procedures must be published and easily accessible to users and interested parties. Notification of changes to procedure must be sent to procedure users and known interested parties.

Definitions

Executive

A position equal to or greater than a vice-president

Administrator

An administrative position equal to or greater than a manager or chair

Supporting Procedures & Forms

• Appendix A - Policy Development Flow Chart
• Appendix B - Policy Development Checklist
• Appendix C - Policy Review Flow Chart
• Appendix D - Policy Review Checklist
• Appendix E - Policy Template