Staff Learning and Development

Leadership Development Program 2003
Policy Access: Campus Needs and Best Practices Project

Policy on Campuswide Policies

University of California, Berkeley Policy Issued: November 2003 Supercedes: Policy Number: 01-01 Responsible Executive: James A. Hyatt Vice Chancellor, Budget and Finance, Chief Financial Officer Responsible Office: Office of the Controller http://controller-fs.vcbf.berkeley.edu/ Contact: Questions about this policy may be directed to the Controller's Office at cntrollr@uclink.berkeley.edu or to the Director of Controls and Accountability at 643-4171

Policy Summary

This document explains how the University of California, Berkeley develops, approves, publicizes, interprets, and maintains policies with a campuswide impact. Individuals responsible for writing and updating campuswide policies must comply with the conditions and procedures outlined herein.

Who Should Read This Policy

• Vice Chancellors, Deans, Directors, and Department Heads
• Senior Administrative Officers responsible for developing or interpreting policies
• Policy Writers
  

Why We Have This Policy

Policy is the glue that holds together a complex institution like the University of California, Berkeley. A campuswide policy:

• Supports the campus mission of education, research, and public service
• Articulates desired outcomes and mandates actions, constraints, and specific procedures to realize those outcomes
• Ensures compliance with applicable laws and regulations, promotes operational efficiencies, or reduces institutional risks
• Fosters an environment that honors individuals and community and balances diverse perspectives in a spirit of civility and mutual respect
• Requires review and approval by the campus's highest executive officers

To be effective, a policy must be easy to find and understand. Members of the campus community must have clearly delineated procedures to follow in implementing the policy, and must have contact information for help in interpreting or applying the policy whenever they have questions. In keeping with these objectives, this policy is intended to serve as a model for all campuswide policies.

Responsibilities

• Office of the President:
  • Issues policies for the University of California system
• Appropriate UC Berkeley Campus Departments:
  • Review policies from the Office of the President to see if they require further interpretation and procedures on the campus level; campus interpretations and procedures can be more restrictive than the Office of the President's, but not more permissive
    
  • Develop campuswide policies in areas where policies are required but the Office of the President has not issued any
    
  • Disseminate information about campuswide policies issued by the Office of the President and themselves
    
  • Ensure compliance with policies and procedures
    
  • Establish policies and procedures for their own internal operations; such local policies and procedures are not governed by this document
• Controller's Office
  • Assists other campus departments in developing policy
    
  • Maintains the campuswide Policies and Procedures Web site
• Faculty, Staff, and Students:
  • Accept responsibility for knowing and following applicable campuswide policies and procedures

Procedures

Developing and approving a campuswide policy

Every campuswide policy must fall within the jurisdiction of a Responsible Executive, usually a vice chancellor or a unit head reporting to the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost.

The Responsible Executive will designate a Responsible Office to develop and administer the policy. Unless the Responsible Executive decides otherwise, the Responsible Office will be accountable for the accuracy, interpretation, and updating of the policy. The head of the Responsible Office contacts the Controller's Office to begin the policy development process.

Under the direction of the Responsible Executive and the head of the Responsible Office, with assistance as needed from the Controller's Office, an individual from the Responsible Office must:

1. Fill out a Request to Add or Change Policy that briefly states the proposed policy, explains the reasons for the policy, and discusses the impact that the new/revised policy will have on the campus.
   
2. Submit the Request to Add or Change Policy to the Responsible Executive, who will in turn submit the form to the Vice Chancellor's Administrative Council (VCAC) for review and preliminary approval.
   
3. Notify the Controller's Office once a Request to Add or Change Policy has received preliminary approval, and obtain guidance from the Controller's Office regarding appropriate review processes, including input from groups such as the Academic Senate and Council of Deans.
   
4. Submit a preliminary draft of the policy to the Controller's Office, which will distribute the draft to the Policy Advisory Group (PAG) for review. The PAG will be a standing committee, chaired by the Controller, with broad representation from academic and administrative units, and will consist primarily of department heads responsible for policy. It will assist in the review of all proposed campuswide policies and, among other things, will assess the impact of those policies on the full range of campus departments and operations.
   
5. Establish an editorial group to write the final version of the policy using the standard format described later in this document.
   
   1. The purpose of the editorial group is to assure that each policy, along with its procedures, is clearly written using the standard format, is easily understandable to all who must comply with it, and is practical. Members of the editorial group may choose to contact the Controller's Office for assistance at any time during the editorial process.
      
   2. The Responsible Office should arrange for the appropriate deans and senior administrators to review the policy during the editorial process.
      
6. The PAG will review the editorial group's draft. Once it approves the draft, the Controller's Office will forward the policy to the VCAC, where the Responsible Executive will secure final approval.

Publicizing campuswide policies

This section will be completed upon receipt of the Leadership Development Program (LDP) report, expected in December 2003.

Interpreting campuswide policies

The office most responsible for administration of a campuswide policy (usually the Responsible Office) will dedicate an individual, telephone number, email address, or some combination of the three to answering questions about the policy. This contact information will be posted near the top of every policy and will be kept current by the Responsible Office. If more than one office is responsible for administering the policy, particularly in the area of procedure, the policy will list each Responsible Office, its area of responsibility, and contact information. It is expected that members of the campus community seeking clarification of policies will receive prompt, courteous, and clear responses.

Maintaining campuswide policies

The Responsible Office will be responsible for keeping a policy up-to-date. A detailed review should take place at least once every five years. The Controller's Office will send a reminder to the Responsible Office if a policy has gone five years without a review. When changes to a policy are necessary, the Responsible Office will contact the Controller's Office to determine whether the changes require review and approval by the PAG and VCAC.

Using the standard campuswide policy format

To ensure clarity and consistency, the campus will use a standard format for campuswide policies. The format, exemplified by this document, will include the following sections:

Responsible Executive: The name and title of the vice chancellor or provost sponsoring the campuswide policy.

Responsible Office: The office(s) charged with administering the policy and accountable for the policy's accuracy, interpretation, and updating.

Contact: The office(s) that can directly answer questions about the policy and the policy's procedures. If different aspects of a policy are best answered by different contacts, list the various contacts and what type of questions they should be called about.

Policy Summary: A capsule description (under 100 words, if possible) of what the policy says.

Who Should Read This Policy: A list of groups within the campus community for whom the policy should be essential reading, e.g. Managers and Supervisors; Grant Administrators; Deans, Directors, and Department Heads; Graduate Students.

Why We Have This Policy: A brief (one single-spaced page or less) explanation of why the policy is necessary. Reasons can be ethical, philosophical, legal, regulatory, historical, financial, protective, or any combination of the above. Please include a short statement about the policy's expected impact on the campus.

Responsibilities: A bulleted list of what every administrative unit involved in the policy must do, e.g. Office of the President must do A, B, and C; Central Administration must do D, E, and F; Vice Chancellors and Deans must do G, H, and I.

Procedures: A series of steps, described in logical order and the plainest language possible, for carrying out the policy. Complex procedures should be presented in outline form.

Web Site Address for This Policy: The Web address for the policy (will be supplied by the Controller's Office).

Appendix - Related Documents: A bulleted list of other policies (including federal and state laws or regulations) referred to in the policy or of interest to a reader who may want to investigate further.

Glossary: An alphabetical list defining in plain language terms in the policy that have a specialized meaning.

Keyword Index: A list of keywords that will make it easy for someone to find this policy using the search engine at the campus's policy Web site. (This field will not be displayed in paper or electronic versions of the policy.)

Web Site Address for This Policy

Will be supplied later.

Appendix - Related Documents

• Navigating UC Berkeley's Business Environment: A Guide to Administrative Responsibilities

Glossary

Campuswide Policy: A set of principles and procedures intended to govern actions affecting a broad range of the campus community. Policies restricted to department or unit operations are not considered campuswide policies and are not governed by this document.

Contact: The name, email address, and/or telephone number of the individual most capable of answering questions from the campus community about the interpretation or administration of a policy.

Editorial Group: A committee responsible for writing the final draft of a policy in cooperation with the Responsible Office.

Listserv: an automatic email distribution list. The list of email recipients can be compiled from an existing database (for example, by taking staff email addresses from UC Link), by asking people to sign up for it, or both.

Policy Advisory Group (PAG): a standing committee with broad representation from academic and administrative units, responsible for assisting in the formulation and review of campuswide policies and procedures.

Responsible Executive: The vice chancellor or a unit head reporting to the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost responsible for creating and implementing campuswide policies within an area of jurisdiction.

Responsible Office: The office reporting to the Responsible Executive that will develop and administer a particular campuswide policy, and which will be accountable for the policy's accuracy, interpretation, and updating.

Vice Chancellor's Administrative Council (VCAC): A standing committee of campus executives that will be responsible for 1) reviewing and granting preliminary approval to campuswide policies, and 2) approving the final draft of each policy, thereby making the policy official.

Keyword Index

To be supplied upon completion of policy.

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