Policy for Development and Revision Process for Barnard College Administrative Policies

Effective: December 9, 2019

Revision History: Revised, August 27, 2024

Executive Summary: Barnard College (the “College”) requires that all employees drafting policies for the College comply with this Policy to help ensure standardized policy development. This Policy outlines the process for developing, approving, disseminating, administering, and updating the College’s policies and procedures.

Reason for the Policy: The Policy outlines the process for the periodic review and necessary adoption of new College-wide policies.

Who Is Responsible for This Policy: Responsible Administrators: General Counsel and any designee noted in the Policy document.

Responsible Office: Office of the General Counsel (“OGC”).

Who Is Governed by This Policy: All Barnard students, faculty, and staff are governed by this Policy.

Definitions:

An “Area VP” is a member of Senior Staff who represents a particular area of the College or who supervises a division or operation that would be responsible for carrying out a policy. For example, a policy affecting students would be submitted to the VP for Campus Life & Student Experience and Dean of the College, and a policy affecting financial operations would be submitted to the VP for Finance and Chief Financial Officer.

A “College Policy” or “Policy” is a formally approved guiding or governing principle regarding the conduct of College affairs. It includes directives that apply College-wide or that impact a substantial portion of the College community and must be sponsored by an Area VP. It does not include academic policies or policies that apply solely to a particular department. College Policies are intended to create consistent practices and operations, set behavioral expectations across the College, mitigate institutional risk, and communicate policy roles and responsibilities when appropriate to do so on a College-wide basis.

This definition does not include department or other unit protocols, rules, or guidelines, even if they are labeled “policies.” If a College Policy conflicts with a unit or department “policy,” then the College Policy shall prevail.

A “Policy Proposal Memorandum” is a memorandum that outlines the proposal for the creation of a new or revised Policy. It must be submitted to the Area VP overseeing that area of the College.

A “Policy Development Procedure” is a series of steps, described in logical order and plain language, for developing a College Policy.

The “Responsible Office” will develop and administer a College Policy and will be accountable for the Policy’s accuracy and interpretation and for updates to the Policy.

“Stakeholders” are individuals or groups of faculty, staff, or students who are affected by a proposed College Policy or revision and are therefore consulted through their representative or elected groups for comment on a Policy draft.

Policy Statement:

Barnard College establishes College policies and related procedures to support the College’s mission, to guide and govern institutional operations, to comply with applicable laws and regulations, and to set standards across the College.

The Senior Staff is charged with the process for developing all policies and procedures for the College. As set forth in the Policy Development Procedure below, the Senior Staff will adopt appropriate policies and procedures for the College after soliciting comments and feedback about proposed policies and procedures from relevant Stakeholders. The Senior Staff will provide the Faculty, Governance, and Procedures (“FGP”) Committee with an opportunity to review any Policy and related procedure affecting faculty. Similarly, the Senior Staff will provide the Barnard Staff Advisory Council (“BSAC”) with an opportunity to review any Policy and related procedure affecting staff and the Student Government Association Executive Board (“SGA Executive Board”) with an opportunity to review any Policy and related procedure affecting students. Meaningful feedback and participation from faculty, staff, and students assists the Senior Staff in developing policies and procedures that streamline internal processes, provide reasoned guidance for decision-making, and set forth a consistent approach for managing routine matters that affect College faculty, staff, and students.

Policy Development Procedure: The process outlined below is in three phases, each described below. The entire process is expected to be able to be completed in 30 calendar days but in no case should exceed 45 calendar days.

Phase 1: Policy Development

1. New Policy. Any member of the Barnard community seeking to develop a new College Policy must submit a Policy Proposal Memorandum and draft Policy language to the Vice President or Senior Staff member overseeing that area of the College (Area VP). The Policy Proposal Memorandum for a new College Policy must include responses to the following questions:
   • Why are you submitting this policy proposal? What is the need and urgency?
   • Does the College already have a policy on, or related to, the subject?
   • What campus constituencies are affected by the proposed policy? Are affected constituencies aware of the proposal and draft? Have they provided input?
   • Is this proposed policy necessary to obtain/maintain compliance with applicable laws or regulations? If so, what are the requirements for compliance?
   • What are best practices on this subject matter?
   • What factors affect the urgency of adoption of this policy?
2. Policy Revision. Policies will be reviewed with some regularity by the Area VP or Senior Staff in the ordinary course of College operations. Otherwise, any member of the Barnard community seeking to propose a revision to an existing Policy must submit a Policy Proposal Memorandum and proposed Policy revisions clearly showing the proposed changes to the Vice President or Senior Staff member overseeing that area of the College (Area VP). The Policy Proposal Memorandum for a Policy revision must include responses to the following questions
   • Why are you submitting this policy revision? What is the need and urgency?
   • What campus constituencies are affected by the proposed revisions? Are affected constituencies aware of the proposed revisions? Have they provided input?
   • Is this proposed revision necessary to obtain/maintain compliance with applicable laws or regulations? If so, what are the requirements for compliance?
   • What are best practices on this subject matter?
   • What factors affect the urgency of adoption of this revised policy?

Phase 2: Review

1. After discussion with the Area VP and their subsequent approval for moving the proposed Policy or revision forward, the Area VP will send the proposed Policy Proposal Memorandum to the Office of General Counsel and the College’s Senior Staff for review.
2. The Office of General Counsel will review the proposed Policy or revision to determine if any part of the proposal is not legally compliant. Proposed policies that are not legally compliant will not move forward to the next step.
3. The Area VP or Senior Staff designee will provide notice to the Barnard community that a Policy is up for consideration and provide a timeline for written comments. The comment period shall be a minimum of 7 calendar days. An example of a notice to the community may be found in Appendix B.
4. The Area VP or Senior Staff designee will schedule a review meeting with the FGP (if the Policy could affect faculty), BSAC (if the Policy could affect staff), and/or the SGA Executive Board (if the Policy could affect students). Policies that could affect one or more groups will be reviewed by all affected groups. All efforts will be made to review policies at the next scheduled meeting of the FGP Committee, the BSAC, or the SGA Executive Board, although the Area VP may request a special review meeting should the 3 next scheduled meeting not take place within 10 calendar days. Each of these Stakeholder groups must use and announce any mechanism that they will use to collect representative feedback from those they represent.
5. The Area VP will collect and review all written comments in dialogue with the proposer of the Policy.

Phase 3: Policy Adoption or Rejection

1. After the above Policy Review, the Area VP will present any proposed new Policy or Policy revision to the Senior Staff, who will consider whether the proposal should be adopted in light of the written comments and feedback provided by the FGP Committee, the BSAC, and/or the SGA Executive Board. Senior Staff will direct questions or concerns to the Area VP, and the Area VP will seek to address these questions or concerns in a timely fashion in dialogue with the member of the Barnard community who made the proposal. Based on this dialogue and suggestions from Senior Staff, the Area VP and proposer may make revisions to the proposal. The Senior Staff will then vote on the proposal.
2. If a majority of the Senior Staff votes in favor of a proposal, the new Policy or Policy Revision will be adopted by the College. Upon adoption, notice of the new Policy or Policy Revision will be sent to the Barnard community. An example of the notice may be found in Appendix C.
3. If a majority of the Senior Staff votes against a proposal or declines to consider a proposal after determining that the College does not need a Policy related to the subject matter of the proposal, the Senior Staff will provide a rationale for its decision. The following nonexhaustive list provides examples of appropriate rationales for such decisions: lack of general applicability; inconsistency with the College’s strategic priorities, vision, values, or mission; inconsistency with other Policies in existence; inconsistency with principles of fairness or equality; inconsistency with regulations or practices; inconsistency with federal, state or local law; or inconsistency with accreditation requirements. The Area VP or Senior Staff designee will communicate the rationale for the Senior Staff’s decision to the community member who submitted the Policy proposal.
4. Even if previously considered, any Policy proposal not adopted by the Senior Staff may be resubmitted by any member of the Barnard community after a minimum of 6 months.

Policy Amendments. Any previously adopted Policy may be amended, but all amendments must follow the Policy Development Procedure outlined above. Policy history should describe the amendment and provide rationales for the change.

Policy Removal. Any previously adopted Policy may be removed by majority vote of the Senior Staff. Requests to remove a Policy must follow the Policy Development Procedure outlined above, with requests describing the rationale for the proposed removal. All removed Policies will be filed in the “Inactive Policies” folder on the internal Policy webpage.

Unit-Specific Policies. Units, departments, and offices are permitted to have their own policies unique to their area so long as they do not conflict with any overarching Barnard College Policy. In the event of a conflict, College Policies will always govern.

Temporary Policies. In all cases, the Senior Staff will strive to consult with Stakeholders. When a pressing need or matter critical to the operations of the College necessitates proceeding in a more limited consultative manner than outlined in this policy, the Senior Staff may vote on a Policy without fully following the Policy Development Procedure outlined above. If the full Policy Development Procedure is not initiated within 90 calendar days, the temporary Policy will automatically expire.

Notice of temporary Policy adoption will be provided to the relevant members of the Barnard community via email, and temporary Policies will appear on the internal Policy webpage with a demarcation of “temporary” in the title of the Policy. An example of this notice may be found in Appendix D. All Policy history, including the justification for proceeding in a more limited consultative process, must be recorded on the Policy template. If the Senior Staff subsequently follows the Policy Development Procedure, and the Senior Staff votes to retain the Policy after receiving that relevant feedback, the “temporary” demarcation will be removed from the Policy.

Policy Administration. The Responsible Office for a particular Policy will be designated at the beginning of the Policy. The Responsible Office must:

• Administer the Policy in consultation with OGC, including, as applicable, preparing any required reporting documents;
• Coordinate training and necessary educational programs related to the Policy;
• Remain current on best practices related to the Policy; and
• Review the Policy regularly. Any necessary revisions or updates must follow the process outlined above.

Existing Policies: Policies that pre-date this Policy remain in effect, but any revisions must comport with the terms of this Policy.

Related Policies and Documents: Policy Development Template

Website for This Policy: https://barnard.edu/college-policies-procedures