Policy on Policies

I. Policy Information

Policy Owner: Office of the Chancellor
Responsible Official: Chancellor’s Chief of Staff
Approved by: Chancellor
Originally Approved: 11.1.12
Last Revision Date: 4.12.22
Revision Effective Date: 6.1.22
Targeted Review Date: 6.1.25

Contact: Kelsea Gurski, Office of the Chancellor
 

II. Scope

This Policy applies to all UIS students, faculty and staff.

 

III. Definitions

 

University-level Policy 

A University-level Policy is an internal administrative directive that: 

• has broad application to one or more areas or functions 
• extends provisions or sets behavioral expectations 
• helps achieve compliance with applicable guidance 
• mitigates institutional risk 
• is administered by a responsible office 
• is sponsored and overseen by a responsible executive (“executive sponsor”)
• is approved by the Chancellor 

 

Unit-level Policy 

Unit-level Policies are those that are applicable only at the division, college, unit, office, program or activity level and sponsored and overseen by the responsible unit leader. 

 

Policy Sponsor

The individual(s) responsible for drafting, implementing and maintaining a university-level policy.

 

Executive Sponsor

A member of the Chancellor’s Cabinet who approves a policy draft and facilitates the approval process at the Cabinet level, often in partnership with the policy sponsor (if not one and the same).

 

IV. Purpose

This Policy governs the oversight and development of all formal UIS university-wide and unit-level policies.

 

V. Background

Prior to 2022, UIS maintained most university-wide policies and U of I policies specific to UIS in the University of Illinois Springfield Academic Staff Handbook, maintained by the Provost’s Office and containing all official, university-approved versions of formal UIS university-wide policies.

 

To make these policies more readily accessible and to streamline the policy management process, UIS developed and launched a new UIS Policies website (uis.edu/policies) in 2022 to become the repository for all current university and unit-level policies.

 

VI. Statement of Policy

Individuals and units must follow the procedures outlined in this policy to obtain approval of new university-wide policies and revisions or updates to existing university-wide policies. Unit-level policies should follow the unit-level processes for development and approval outlined below and should be posted to the UIS Policies website (uis.edu/policies) once approved. All links to university- and unit-level policies should point to the most current policy on the UIS Policies website.

 

VII. Procedures

 

New University-wide Policies

 

A. Policy sponsors who have identified a need for a new university-level policy should develop a policy proposal. Using the template found on the Sample Policy Format worksheet, the policy sponsor should submit the policy proposal for review and endorsement by the appropriate unit or department head.

 

B. If endorsed, the unit or department head will submit recommended proposals to the appropriate division head or member of the Chancellor’s Cabinet (executive sponsor) for consideration.

 

C.  If the division head or member of the Chancellor’s Cabinet believes the matter is appropriate for a Cabinet-level discussion, they may ask that the matter be placed on a Cabinet agenda.

 

D.  The Chancellor’s Cabinet will discuss and, as appropriate, make its recommendation to the Chancellor regarding the proposed policy.

 

E. Policies that are approved by the Chancellor will be signed and dated and provided to the policy sponsor to upload to the UIS Policies website via their unit’s web liaison (posted as both web text and a signed PDF). The Office of Web Services will confirm with the Associate Chancellor for Public Affairs that the policy is approved to post.

 

F. An announcement regarding a new policy will be communicated to the individuals it pertains to within a timely manner.

 

G. If material edits are suggested or if the policy is declined, the division head or member of the Chancellor’s Cabinet who presented the policy proposal will communicate the outcome to the unit or department head.

 

H. All university-wide policies should be reviewed every three years for accuracy and relevancy. Updates should be submitted via the procedures below.

 

Revisions and Updates to University-wide Policies

 

A. The policy sponsor will route all proposed revisions or updates to existing university-wide policies to the executive sponsor for the Chancellor’s Cabinet to review and approve.

 

B. If the Chancellor approves the proposed policy revision or update at the recommendation of the Cabinet, the approval and effective dates will be noted on the policy, and the newly approved version should be updated on the UIS Policies website via the unit’s web liaison (posted as updated web text and updated signed PDF). The Office of Web Services will confirm with the Associate Chancellor for Public Affairs that the policy is approved to post.

 

C. Older versions of the policy should be archived following applicable university record retention policies. If any older versions of policies remain online, they must be marked appropriately as no longer effective and point to the most current version of the policy.

 

Retirement of Policies

 

If a policy has been identified as no longer serving the interests of the university, the policy sponsor should request that the executive sponsor gain the support of the Chancellor’s Cabinet and the Chancellor to retire the policy. Once the Chancellor has approved, the Office of Web Services should be notified and will remove the retired policy and archive it following applicable university record retention policies.

 

New Unit-level Policies

Individuals who create a unit-level policy must get it approved by the appropriate unit head. Following approval, the policy will be sent to the unit’s web publisher to post to the unit-level policy menu. If the unit does not have a trained web publisher, the unit’s web liaison should submit to OWS for review for publishing.

 

Unit-level Policy Version Control

A unit should not approve or post a policy that is in conflict with an existing university or system policy. If there is a discrepancy between a unit version of a policy and the UIS Policies website version, the version posted to the UIS Policies website is to be considered the official version. All unit websites and paper documents referring to university-wide policies should reference or link to the policies available at uis.edu/policies and be posted to the UIS Policies website under “unit-level policies” as well. Units should not post duplicate versions of university-wide policies on unit websites.