A. Format. The format of all UAH policies will include a heading with the title of the policy and will have the following sections:
- Policy Number: assigned by the UAH Campus Designee, responsibilities are delineated below.
- Division: the Division at UAH responsible for creation and review of the policy
- Date: date that the policy was created or revised
- Purpose: a succinct statement providing a rationale for the policy
- Policy: a description of the policy
- Procedures: when appropriate, a description of the procedures to be followed to carry out the policy
- Review: the UAH office responsible for periodically reviewing the policy
A Policy Tracking Form shall accompany all new or revised policies submitted for review and approval.
B. Development of UAH Policy. A policy can be proposed by anyone at UAH by routing the suggested policy or revision to an existing policy (in the proper format) through the appropriate Division’s administrative channels for review and approval. Administrative channels refer to the appropriate chain of supervisors and the administrative Vice President overseeing the activities of the proposing individual or organization.
The flow for the creation of a new university-wide policy is illustrated below:
- The individual developing the proposal submits the proposal to his/her supervisor.
- The supervisor reviews the policy, comments on it and forwards the proposal to the next higher level within the Division's administrative organization. This process is continued until the proposal reaches the responsible Vice President.
- The responsible Vice President reviews the proposal and requests that a draft policy be developed by the appropriate person(s) or decides against making the proposal into a draft policy.
- Upon completion of the draft policy, the responsible Vice President compares the draft for consistency to policies of the other campuses of the System, as appropriate, and for adherence to Bylaws and Rules of the Board and pronouncements of the Board and Chancellor and revises to ensure such consistency, to the extent practicable, and such adherence.
- The responsible Vice President then discusses the draft policy with the President's Executive Council1 and, after taking into account the Council's comments, submits the draft policy to the Office of Counsel for legal review.
- When the finalized draft policy has been reviewed by University Counsel, the responsible Vice President then requests that the Campus Designee, whose responsibility it is to provide specific assurance to the Chancellor’s Designee that the draft policy is consistent with the Bylaws and Rules of the Board and pronouncements of the Board and Chancellor, suggests any revisions in order to assure such consistency. The draft policy, revised as appropriate, is then placed on the President’s Executive Council's agenda for discussion.
- Simultaneously, the draft policy will be sent to the Faculty Senate, Staff Senate, and Student Government Association, and any other entities impacted by the policy for review. In addition to being transmitted to the several organizations, the draft policy will be posted on myUAH by the Campus Designee.
- All reviewers have ninety (90) days to consider the policy with their respective constituencies and to submit comments and suggested changes in writing to the responsible Vice President. Extension of review time may be requested by any of the organizations to which the draft policy was transmitted. Substantive changes must be accompanied by a justification or rationale for the change. No response from a reviewer within ninety (90) days will be considered an acceptance of the draft.
- The responsible Vice President will determine which changes, if any, to include in the draft policy. If the revised draft policy has been changed substantively, then a second review of the revised draft policy will be conducted following the aforementioned process. After the review is conducted and comments are received, the draft policy is finalized by the responsible Vice President. The final draft policy along with an explanation of any changes received from the reviewers and not accepted will be submitted to the Campus Designee and President for review.
- The Campus Designee must assure the Chancellor’s Designee that the draft policy is consistent with the Bylaws and Rules of the Board and pronouncements of the Board and Chancellor, or suggest any revisions to the President in order to assure such consistency. If the President revises the draft policy the Campus Designee reviews the revised draft(s) until such time that the Campus Designee is able to provide to the Chancellor’s Designee a statement that the required assurance is met and the draft is finalized.
- The final draft is then submitted to the President for review and approval.
- The policy will be numbered appropriately, announced to the UAH community and posted to the UAH web site by the Campus Designee.
Area-specific policies, i.e., applicable to a single administrative or organizational unit, need not follow the creation process of a university-wide policy but may be put in place by the responsible administrative or organizational unit officer following consultation with those in his or her administrative chain up through the responsible Vice President, Office of Counsel, the Campus Designee, to the President. Area specific policies, to the extent practicable, should adhere to the same Board rules as university-wide policies. Interim policies, i.e., those that must be in place but time does not permit the normal approval process of a university-wide policy to be carried out, may be approved by the responsible Vice President and the President, following review by the Office of Counsel and the Campus Designee, and remain in effect for up to six (6) months. Interim policies, which must adhere to the same Board rules as final policies approved by the President, must be labelled as such.
C. Review, Revision, and Rescindment of a UAH Policy. To maintain an up-to-date and relevant set of policies, a regular schedule of review and revision must be scheduled. The responsible Vice President shall be responsible for ensuring all policies within their purview are reviewed within ninety (90) days of the policy’s five-year anniversary. The President may approve revised policies or may rescind policies at any time following consultation with the Office of Counsel and the Campus Designee.
Recommended revisions to policies should be forwarded as written suggestions through appropriate channels to the responsible Vice President for consideration. If a revision is deemed necessary, the responsible Vice President will follow the policy development process outlined in B. above. When a policy is revised, it will be reissued with a notation "Revised (date)" placed in the lower right corner of each page of the policy. Technical revisions, i.e., non-substantive or editorial revisions, may be made by the responsible Vice President following consultation with the President.
When a policy is reviewed and requires no substantive revision, the responsible Vice President will, within ninety (90) days of the specified review date, forward a copy of the reviewed policy with a notation "Reviewed (date)" placed in the lower right corner of each page to the Office of Counsel for legal review. Once the policy has been reviewed by University Counsel and reviewed by the Campus Designee it will be forwarded to the President for review and approval. Upon approval by the President, the policy will be posted to the UAH web site by the Campus Designee.
The Campus Designee shall be responsible for auditing compliance with this policy and that timely review processes are taking place.
D. Conflicts with Higher Authority and Among Policies. Should there be or should there occur at any time a conflict between a UAH policy and a document of a higher authority (e.g., applicable federal or Alabama law or regulations, or policies, with Bylaws and Rules of The Board of Trustees of The University of Alabama and with pronouncements of the Board and Chancellor of the System) the document of higher authority will prevail. Should there occur at any time a conflict among UAH policies, the most recently approved policy will prevail. Should there occur at any time a conflict between a UAH policy and any other written or oral statement developed by an operating unit at the university, the UAH policy will prevail.
E. Policy Numbering Plan. UAH policies will be classified and numbered according to the following plan for the first two numbers followed by a period (.) and consecutive numbering within that category. For example, this UAH Policy on Policies is numbered 01.01 as the first policy within the category of policies issued by the President.
| Policy Number |
Issuing Office |
| 01.01.xx |
President |
| 01.02.xx |
Athletics |
| 02.01.xx |
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs |
| 03.01.xx |
Vice President for Student Affairs |
| 04.01.xx |
Vice President for University Advancement |
| 05.01.xx |
Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion |
| 06.01.xx |
Vice President for Finance and Administration |
| 06.02.xx |
Human Resources Management |
| 06.03.xx |
Budget and Planning |
| 06.08.xx |
Risk Management |
| 06.09.xx |
Compliance |
| 07.01.xx |
Vice President for Research |
| 07.02.xx |
Office of Sponsored Programs |
| 07.03.xx |
Office of Technology and Commercialization |
| 07.04.xx |
Office of Research Security |
| 07.05.xx |
Regulatory Compliance |
F. Policy Retention and Access. The Campus Designee will be responsible for maintaining a file of all original policies, along with the Policy Tracking Form. UAH policies will be made available to all students, faculty and staff through the UAH Policy web page.
