Recognizing the need for a common, consistent, and transparent process for Institute policies to be thoroughly reviewed, maintained, and made available to the campus community, Georgia Tech has adopted this Policy on Institute Policies to promote policy awareness, compliance, and accountability.
Institute policies at Georgia Tech must have Institute level approval. In order to do this, Institute policies need to be reviewed and approved by the appropriate committees and authorizing bodies. All Institute policies will be reviewed and approved as described below.
As part of this process, each Institute policy will be made available in the appropriate forum for comment from the campus community. The Policy Steering Committee will ensure that Institute policies that affect both academic and administrative constituents receive cross-comment from those constituents.
Once an Institute policy has been approved, it will be published and made publicly available on the Policy Library. Campus-wide announcements will be made for new policies or changes to policy, when appropriate.
All Institute policies will be subject to review by the Policy Owner every three years after adoption or substantial revision, or when there is a change in applicable law, regulation, or Board of Regents policy, whichever comes first.
This policy applies to all Georgia Tech faculty and staff members.
| Step 1. Determine Policy Scope and Type | |
|---|---|
| Policy Scope and Type |
Scope: The Policy Steering Committee can help a Policy Owner or Champion determine if a policy is an Institute or a department policy. Only Institute policies are approved using the Institute Policy Development and Life Cycle Process. Departments have their own procedures for approving their department policies. Type: The Policy Steering Committee determines whether an Institute policy is Academic or Administrative. |
| Step 2. Initiate Policy Development | |
|---|---|
| For new or substantial revision to Institute Policy only |
If the proposed policy is either a new Institute policy or a substantial revision to an existing Institute policy then:
|
| Step 3. Policy Process Tracks | |
|---|---|
| Academic Policy Tracks |
The policy review process for Academic Policies is established and administered by the Faculty of Georgia Tech. There are two standard policy approval tracks for Academic Policies: |
| Administrative Policy Track |
The policy review process for Administrative Policies is established and administered by the Institute Policy Steering Committee. There is one standard policy approval track for Administrative Policies: |
| Flow Chart |
For information on how all three of these Institute policy approval tracks interact with one another, please see the complete Institute Policy Development and Life Cycle Process flowchart. |
| Step 4. Policy Publication and Communication | |
|---|---|
| Policy Publication | Once adopted, Institute policies are published in the relevant section of the Policy Library, as well as highlighted in the Policy Library’s Recently Updated Policies section. |
| Policy Communication |
All new or substantial revisions to Institute policies are communicated to the campus community through a standard policy communication plan that includes various print and electronic publications. While it is primarily the responsibility of the Faculty Statutes Committee, the Student Policy Owner, or the Administrative Policy Owner to identify if more targeted policy communications are needed, Institute Communications and the Institute Policy Manager will work closely with these groups to develop more targeted communications strategies, if needed. |
| Step 5. Policy Review | |
|---|---|
| Review Cycle |
All Institute policies should be reviewed by the Policy Owner every three years after adoption or substantial revision, or when there is a change in applicable law, regulation, or Board of Regents policy, whichever comes first. The Policy Steering Committee will coordinate three year policy reviews to be conducted by the Faculty Statutes Committee, Student Policy Owner, or the Administrative Policy Owner. This does not prevent more frequent review of policy by the above individuals, if desired. After review, if a substantial revision must be made to a policy, begin again at Step 2. |
Legal Affairs and Risk Management
Legal Affairs and Risk Management is responsible for maintaining the Policy Library.
Policy Steering Committee
The Policy Steering Committee is responsible for:
- Overseeing the Institute Policy Development and Life Cycle Process.
- Determining Institute policy need and type (Academic or Administrative) and whether revisions are editorial or substantive.
- Reviewing and approving new Administrative Policies and changes to current Administrative Policies, as described in the Institute Policy Development and Life Cycle Process.
- Facilitating communication between Academic and Administrative Policy stakeholders during policy review.
- Ensuring that there is an effective and appropriate communication plan in place to make the affected campus constituents aware of Institute policy changes.
All faculty and staff members must abide by this policy in the development of Institute policy. If a faculty or staff member violates this policy, the member must begin work with the Institute’s Policy Specialist to correct the policy violation within three months of awareness or notice of violation.
| Revision Date | Author | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 01-07-2015 | Legal Affairs and Risk Management | Revisions |
| 10-01-2012 | Legal Affairs and Risk Management | New Institute Policy |