Policy to Modify Policies and Procedures

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General Policy Statement

The policies and procedures of Southeastern Oklahoma State University are dynamic, inclusive,
and evolving documents that must effectively and efficiently guide the current activities and actions of
the faculty, staff, students, and administration. Central to this endeavor is Southeastern Oklahoma
State University’s value of shared governance. Numerous individuals/entities must be involved by
monitoring the need for changes to current policies and procedures and participating in the
development of new ones. To this end, a set of protocols must be in place to ensure accurate and up-to-
date policies and procedures that reflect the values of shared governance and comply with the laws,
statutes, directives, and policies that apply to the University. The Board of Regents of the Regional
University System of Oklahoma (RUSO) has delegated authority and responsibility for the internal
administration of each university to its President (Section 1.25.1 of RUSO Policy Manual). Therefore, the
President has the ultimate responsibility to review and approve all changes in policies and procedures of
the University and that authority is not limited by this policy. The President may delegate this authority.

The Administration may make modifications to policies. The Faculty Senate will submit recommended
policy modifications to the Vice President for Academic Affairs (or designee) for review. The
Southeastern Staff Association (pending name change to Staff Senate Association, SSA) will submit
recommended policy modifications to the Vice President for Business Affairs (or designee). The Student
Government Association will submit recommended policy modifications to the Vice President for
Student Affairs (or designees).

After recommended policy modifications have been drafted and forwarded by pertinent entities on
campus, the relevant Vice President (or designee) will review the recommended changes to ensure that
they are consistent with and in accordance with the laws, statues, directives, policies that apply to the
University. This review may include the use of both on-campus and off-campus individuals.

Proposing Modifications to Policies

Administration

The President (or designee) has the ultimate authority and responsibility for all policy decisions.
In the spirit of shared governance, it is recognized that good policy is more likely to flourish when it is a
product of deliberative consideration by representatives of the relevant entities. The Administration
should submit policy proposal for review and feedback to the Administrative Council and to the Faculty
Senate, Southeastern Staff Association (pending name change to Staff Senate Association, SSA), or to
the Student Government Association when members of those bodies would be impacted by the
proposed policy.

Faculty Senate

Recommended policies and policy modifications that have been approved by the Faculty Senate
will be forwarded to the Vice President for Academic Affairs (or designee) who will acknowledge receipt of the recommendation within seven (7) days and will inform the Faculty Senate when the policy will be
scheduled for review. Review by the Vice President (or designee) will be completed within thirty (30)
days and the Faculty Senate will be informed of the outcome. If the review is not completed within
thirty (30) days, status updates will be provided at thirty (30) day intervals until such time as the review
has been completed and a determination has been made.

Southeastern Staff Association (pending name change to Staff Senate Association, SSA)

Recommended policies and policy modifications that have been approved by the Southeastern
Staff Association (pending name change to Staff Senate Association, SSA) will be forwarded to the Vice
President for Business Affairs (or designee) who will acknowledge receipt of the recommendation within
seven (7) days and will inform the SSA when the policy will be scheduled for review. Review by the Vice
President (or designee) will be completed within thirty (30) days and the SSA will be informed of the
outcome. If the review is not completed within thirty (30) days, status updates will be provided at thirty
(30) day intervals until such time as the review has been completed and a determination has been
made.

Student Government Association

Recommended policies and policy modifications that have been approved by the Student
Government Association (SGA) will be forwarded to the Vice President for Student Affairs (or designee)
who will acknowledge receipt of the recommendation within seven (7) days and will inform the SGA
when the policy will be scheduled for review. Review by the Vice President (or designee) will be
completed within thirty (30) days and the SGA will be informed of the outcome. If the review is not
completed within thirty (30) days, status updates will be provided at thirty (30) day intervals until such
time as the review has been completed and a determination has been made.

Review Process

The relevant Vice President (or designee) will review the recommended changes to ensure that they
are consistent with and in accordance with the laws, statues, directives, policies that apply to the
University. This review may include the use of both on-campus (e.g., Human Resources, Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Officer, Affirmative Action Officer, Civil Rights and Title IX
Officer, Faculty Senate, Staff Association, Student Government Association, Administrative Council, etc.)
and off-campus (e.g., legal counsel of RUSO) entities. Specifically, the review by the Vice President (or
designee) in all cases outlined in this policy will address the following applicable criteria:

• Ensure compliance with laws, statutes, and/or directives from the federal government;
• Ensure compliance with laws, statutes, and/or directives from the state government;
• Ensure compliance with applicable policy changes made by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE);
• Ensure compliance with applicable policy changes made by the Board of Regents for the Regional University System of Oklahoma (RUSO);
• Ensure compliance and consistency with both regional and specialty accreditation requirements;
• Ensure policies and procedures are consistent with the University’s mission, vision, goals, and strategic plan; Ensure policies and procedures provide faculty, administration, and staff with fair, workable, and consistent practices; Ensure the review of proposed changes occurs in a timely manner; and
• Ensure the accuracy and clarity of approved changes.

When the proposed policy modification meets all pertinent criteria, the designated Vice President (or designee) will forward it to the President for consideration. Review by the President (or designee) will be completed within thirty (30) days and the designated Vice President (or designee) will be informed of the outcome. If the review is not completed within thirty (30) days, status updates will be provided at thirty (30) day intervals until such time as the review has been completed and a determination has been made. If the President (or designee) approves the modification, the designated Vice President will be notified and within 30 working days the change will be implemented, the relevant section(s) of the policy manual will be updated, notification of constituent groups impacted will be given, and the entire campus community will be notified by email. If the President (or designee) does not approve the proposed policy modification, the Vice President will be notified and they will inform the originating body(ies) of the denial and the reason(s) for it. The originating body(ies) may request reconsideration of the denial through their Vice President who will present the appeal to the President. The same timelines as previously stated will apply to appeals. Upon the President’s reconsideration, the decision resulting from it will stand and notifications of that decision will be carried out as previously stated.

Failure to Comply to Deadlines

Failure to comply to deadlines as outlined in this policy does not constitute consent or approval, but the policy does require timely interaction in order to ensure consistent and productive communication.

Maintaining Current and Archiving Prior Policy Versions

Each Vice President (or designee) will maintain the policies in their purview and ensure that previous iterations of policies will be archived in accordance with overall policy and procedure management. Policy revisions will be made in the policy manuals immediately, with the date of the revision and the originating body(ies) identified at the top of the policy. Digital files of current policies will be maintained on the Southeastern Oklahoma State University website for ease of access by all stakeholders.

There are two possible options for maintaining current and archived policies:

1. Current policies could be designated by stating, (Current) at the end of the file name of the link to the policy. Below the link to the current policy could be a link to the archived versions of the policy listed in reverse chronological order with most recent version listed first and older versions listed in order thereafter with the original version of the policy listed last. Archived versions could contain a watermark reflecting the date range when each archived version of the policy was active.
2. At the beginning of each academic year the latest version of each policy manual maintained by each Vice President (or designee) will be dated for the upcoming year (e.g., 2020-2021). The past policy manuals will be archived annually with a watermark.

Policy approved on April 5, 2021 by President Newsom.