Skip to main content
Policies

Policy on College Policies

Definition of College Policy

College policies are statements of principle that guide college affairs. All official college policies must be developed according to the standards and procedures stated in this policy.  Only policies that are properly documented and approved by the President’s Executive Council (PEC) are official college policies. Individual campus units, including academic departments, educational support units, and facilities, may implement their own internal policies and procedures so long as they do not conflict with official college policies.  In the event that conflicts arise among any policies affecting the college, or any of its units, departments, programs, or offices, the policy enacted by the highest college body, up to and including the Board of Trustees, will control.

College personnel and students must comply with all college policies. (See Church Educational System Honor Code ) All college personnel and students should be aware that college policies may be changed from time to time in accordance with the process outlined in this policy.  The approval date that appears following the title of an official college policy is the date the policy was approved by the President’s Executive Council. Generally, the approval date constitutes the effective date of the policy.  There may be occasions when some policies have a different effective date. If that’s the case, the effective date should be specified in the policy.

Policies may have substantive and procedural aspects. In general, policies are substantive and procedures establish how the policy is carried out or accomplished. Some policies will have procedural elements that are substantive and important enough to be included within the policy and approved by the President’s Executive Council.  On the other hand, policies need not include routine administrative and management processes such as forms, tables, contact information, office locations, or educational and training materials.  Procedures may be instituted by a Policy Steward or individual departments and should be linked to relevant policy. Policy Owners are members of the President’s Executive Council and have responsibility for the subject matter, content, and implementation of the policy. Policy Stewards assist the Policy Owner with his or her responsibilities and are often tasked with drafting policy and assisting with implementation.

President’s Executive Council Policy Approval Process

All official college policies must be submitted to the President’s Executive Council and approved in the following manner:

  1. New policies, substantive changes to any policy, or termination of an existing policy must be officially sponsored by a Policy Owner. Formatting and other nonsubstantive changes and corrections may be made at the discretion of the Chief Compliance Officer without PEC approval. 
  2. The Policy Owner and the Chief Compliance Officer may appoint ad hoc college committees to assist with making policy recommendations in connection with any proposed policy, policy change, or termination. 
  3. Proposed drafts of, substantive changes to, or requests to terminate policies, are delivered by the Policy Owner, or his or her designee, to the Chief Compliance Officer. 
  4. The Policy Owner is responsible to coordinate with general counsel on any necessary legal review of policies, to ensure compliance with the law, and the responsibility to ensure consistency and harmony among college policies, with assistance, as needed, from the Chief Compliance Officer. 
  5. The Policy Owner, or his or her designee, and the Chief Compliance Officer may confer to identify areas, groups, and individuals within the campus community that have a direct and reasonable interest in reviewing and commenting on the policy, policy changes, or termination. In general, most new policies or policies with significant updates will be reviewed by the college’s Policy Advisory Committee, though some academic policies may be reviewed by the relevant academic committee. The Chief Compliance Officer may help coordinate the circulation of policy drafts for comment among those identified areas, groups, and individuals, and the presentation of drafts to committees, workgroups, or councils in his or her discretion or as requested by any member of the President’s Executive Council. The Associate Vice President-Curriculum may take the lead on reviewing academic policies with academic workgroups or committees and will provide drafts of academic policies to the Chief Compliance Officer and general counsel for review. 
  6. Once the general counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Policy Owner are satisfied regarding the content of a policy, policy change, or termination, the Policy Owner, or Chief Compliance Officer in consultation with the Policy Owner, either (1) adds the policy item to the President’s Executive Council agenda or (2) the Policy Owner or Chief Compliance Officer, or their designee, emails a draft of the proposed policy or policy change to members of the President’s Executive Council for review and approval. 
  7. The President’s Executive Council may approve the policy as submitted, approve the policy with changes, reject the policy, request changes to the draft, or request further review, comment, or research before resubmission of the policy to the President’s Executive Council for approval. 
  8. In the event that changes are requested, the Policy Owner or the Chief Compliance Officer, or their designee, drafts language effecting the suggested changes. 
  9. Once the policy is approved by the President’s Executive Council, the Chief Compliance Officer, or his or her designee shares the policy with the relevant campus community. 
  10. The President’s Executive Council may evaluate and submit to the Board or Executive Committee of the Board policies for their review, as appropriate. 

Regular Policy Review

All college policies must be periodically reviewed by the Policy Owner (or primary Policy Owner in the case of more than one). Policy Owners may receive assistance from Policy Stewards, but it the responsibility of the Policy Owner to determine whether changes are needed in a policy and sends any proposed changes to the Chief Compliance Officer to initiate the approval process if changes are needed. The Chief Compliance Officer can also initiate a review or update to a policy.

Posting of Policies

A policy may be appropriate for public access in any of the following situations:

  • A federal, state, or local law requires the policy to be made available to the public or other groups outside the college community 
  • An accreditation standard requires the policy to be made available to the public or other groups outside the college community 
  • The policy applies to individuals outside the college community who should have notice of the policy requirements that apply to them 
  • Publicly posting the policy would be beneficial for the college 

President’s Executive Council, or if needed, the Policy Owner, will determine where policies are posted and what groups should have access to the policy. The Chief Compliance Officer and Legal Counsel can assist. If the President’s Executive Council has determined that public access is appropriate, the policy should be posted online without a login requirement to view. Individual units, departments, and offices on campus should not separately post their own copies of college policies on their websites. If it is necessary or appropriate for a unit, department, or office website to refer to a college policy, the website should link or refer to the official version of the policy.

Exceptions to Policy

There should be a written request to the college president for any exceptions to college policy. A record of approvals of exceptions to policy must be maintained by the relevant office. A copy of the written request as well as notification of any approval should also be sent to the Chief Compliance Officer.

Archiving of Policies

Approved policies will be kept by the Office of Information Technology for archival purposes.