Policy No. FSEC.1998.002
1.6 FORMATTING, TRACKING, MAINTAINING, AND DISSEMINATING UHCL POLICY DOCUMENTS
Approved by University Council, November 13, 1997
1. Purpose
This document describes the procedures for formatting, tracking, disseminating, and maintaining university policy documents.
2. Fomatting
The usual format for a policy document is as follows:
2.1 Title - Name of the policy
2.2 Purpose - a brief statement describing the reason for the policy.
2.3 Definition(s) (Optional) - list of terms or words contained in the policy that are specific to this policy or have special meaning with regard to this policy, plus their definitions.
2.4 Policy - A statement of the official UHCL position on a particular subject.
2.5 Policy Provision(s) or Procedure(s) - Section describing specific requirements that apply to the policy or outlining how the policy will be implemented at UHCL, including responsibilities of various administrators or departments.
2.6 Exhibit(s) - display of any forms required to implement the policy.
2.7 Approval, publication destination, and date block(s) - block for the President to sign if approving the policy, a block to indicate the publication destination, and a block to indicate the date the policy is approved and the sunset date.
3. Tracking
3.1 The policy development process can be found in the faculty senate constitution.
3.2 The cover sheet shown as Exhibit A will be attached to and accompany all policy proposals throughout the review process in order to maintain a record of action regarding the proposal.
3.3 When the policy is approved at University Council, those responsible for handbook publication will fill out the publication destination checklist and provide insert locations for the document in the appropriate Table of Contents.
The list of officers responsible for handbook publication is as follows:
Student Life Handbook - Associate VP of Student Services
Employee Handbook - Director of Personnel
Faculty Handbook - Associate VP of Academic Affairs
UHCL Catalog - Associate VP of Academic Affairs
3.4 Following approval by University Council, the policy will be submitted, on computer disk with cover sheet attached, to the President for signature and dissemination. The heading and signature sections shown as Exhibit B will be added to official policy documents when they are approved by University Council and before they are sent to the Computing Center.
4. Maintaining
4.1 The Office of the President will maintain an archive of all policy documents approved by University Council. A hard copy will be maintained in the UHCL Library.
4.2 The Office of the President will be responsible for maintenance of official policy documents. These will be maintained both on computer disk and in hard copy in a notebook(s). The computer and hard copy files will contain an index, cross-referencing all policies by
4.2.1 Number
4.2.2 Alpha by title
4.2.3 Alpha by subject
4.2.4 Date approved
4.2.5 Sunset review date
4.3 The President's Office will assign a number to a policy document after it has been signed by the President. The number will be placed both in the upper right corner of the policy and the cover sheet. The numbering system will include a letter code representing the governance committee from which the policy originates, followed by a number indicating the year, followed by a number indicating the sequence of its development:
Example: Policy No. XXXX.YYYY.ZZZ
XXXX = Governance Committee Letter Code
YYYY = Year
ZZZ = Numeric Sequence
(For this example, a policy developed through the Educational Policy and Courses Committee, approved in 1995, which happened to be the 25th EPCC policy developed, would be numbered as: Policy No. EPCC.1995.025.)
Letter codes representing the governance committees are as follows:
EPCC - Educational Policy and Courses Committee
FRC - Facilities and Resources Committee
LRC - Library, Research and Computing Committee
ULC - University Life Committee
UPC - University Planning Committee
FSEC - Faculty Senate Executive Committee
5. Disseminating
Newly approved policies or policy revisions will be disseminated as follows:
5.1 Archive copy retained in the Office of the President and a hard copy in the UHCL Library.
5.2 Copies of student life policies published in whole in Student Life Handbook accessible on the UHCL Internet home page
5.3 Copies of faculty policies published in whole in Faculty Handbook accessible on the UHCL Internet home page
5.4 Copies of staff policies published in whole in UHCL Employee Handbook accessible on the UHCL Internet home page
5.5 Online Policy Publication
5.5.1 After the President has signed the policy document and an archive number has been assigned to it, the President’s Office will send a disk bearing the policy with the Presidentís signature block and archive number and a hard copy of the cover sheet to the Associate Director of Academic Computing for publication on the Internet home page.
5.5.2 Once the policy is accessible online, the Associate Director of Academic Computing will notify all subscribers to the electronic mail system at the university.
5.5.3 Unit supervisors should provide access to the document for their employees on a Web-enabled machine or by providing hard copies of the online document.
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EXHIBIT A
THIS COVER SHEET MUST ACCOMPANY EVERY ITEM OF BUSINESS SENT OUT FROM ANY GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE
COMMITTEE CHAIRS MUST PROVIDE COPY OF ANY CHANGES RECOMMENDED TO DRAFT DOCUMENT TO CHAIR AND SECRETARY OF ORIGINATING COMMITTEE.
The secretary of the originating committee must retain the original document draft on disk and be responsible for recording any changes made at any point during the approval process. The secretary is also responsible to provide a disk copy and a hard copy of the approved document to the Office of the President for signature and distribution.
TITLE AND SUBJECT OF ATTACHED MATERIALS _______________
________________________________________________________
ORIGINATING COMMITTEE______________________________________________
ActionTaken______________________________________________
Date Action Taken _________________________________________
Date Forwarded_______________________________________________
Signature (Committee Chair or appropriate person) ________________
FORWARDED TO___________________Purpose: Information Action
Date Received ____________________________________________
Action Taken _____________________________________________
Date Action Taken _________________________________________
Date Forwarded ___________________________________________
Signature (Committee Chair or appropriate person) ________________
FORWARDED TO___________________Purpose: Information Action
Date Received ____________________________________________
Action Taken _____________________________________________
Date Action Taken _________________________________________
Date Forwarded ___________________________________________
Signature (Committee Chair or appropriate person) ________________
FORWARDED TO___________________Purpose: Information Action
Date Received ____________________________________________
Action Taken _____________________________________________
Date Action Taken _________________________________________
Date Forwarded ___________________________________________
Signature (Committee Chair or appropriate person) ________________
FORWARDED TO___________________Purpose: Information Action
Date Received ____________________________________________
Action Taken _____________________________________________
Date Action Taken _________________________________________
Date Forwarded ___________________________________________
Signature (Committee Chair or appropriate person) ________________
PLEASE SEE REVERSE SIDE FOR PRESIDENT'S SIGNATURE AND PUBLICATION DESTINATION.
(The Governance Approval process is not complete without the President's signature.)
FORWARDED TO___________________Purpose: Information Action
Date Received ____________________________________________
Action Taken _____________________________________________
Date Action Taken _________________________________________
Date Forwarded ___________________________________________
Signature (Committee Chair or appropriate person) ________________
FORWARDED TO___________________Purpose: Information Action
Date Received ____________________________________________
Action Taken _____________________________________________
Date Action Taken _________________________________________
Date Forwarded ___________________________________________
Signature (Committee Chair or appropriate person) ________________
FORWARDED TO___________________Purpose: Information Action
Date Received ____________________________________________
Action Taken _____________________________________________
Date Action Taken _________________________________________
Date Forwarded ___________________________________________
Signature (Committee Chair or appropriate person) ________________
FORWARDED TO___________________Purpose: Information Action
Date Received ____________________________________________
Action Taken _____________________________________________
Date Action Taken _________________________________________
Date Forwarded ___________________________________________
Signature (Committee Chair or appropriate person) ________________
FORWARDED TO___________________Purpose: Information Action
Date Received ____________________________________________
Action Taken _____________________________________________
Date Action Taken _________________________________________
Date Forwarded ___________________________________________
Signature (Committee Chair or appropriate person) ________________
PUBLICATION DESTINATION:
“ Student Life Handbook (AVP for Student Services and Dean of Students)
“ Employee Handbook (Director of Personnel)
“ Faculty Handbook (AVP for Academic Affairs)
“ Catalog (AVP for Academic Affairs)
________________________________________________________
President's Signature Date
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EXHIBIT B
Heading (to be placed at top of all policies after they are approved by University Council and before President's signature is added):
Policy No. ______________________
Signature Section (to be placed at end of all policies after they are approved by University Council, and before they are sent to University Computing and Telecommunications):
Signature: _______________________________________________
Title: President
University of Houston-Clear Lake
Approval Date: ___________________________________________*
Sunset Date: ____________________________________________**
* Date policy was approved by University Council
** 10 years from most recent date policy was approved by University Council
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Approval Date: November 13, 1997
Sunset Date: November 13, 2007
