The following documents are designed to assist policy and procedure owners as they navigate the process of formulating, documenting, and promulgating campus wide policies and procedures at UC Santa Cruz.

A policy should be developed when: 

  • there is a need to further constrain or implement UC Presidential policy
  • there is a need to further constrain or implement relevant laws and regulations
  • a division or unit has a need to compel the campus at large to comply with requirements that said division or unit governs.

View a quick reference chart of the process here


Campus Wide Administrative Policies This document provides Policy Sponsors and Policy Owners guidance to ensure a consistent, inclusive, and transparent vetting and approval process for administrative policies affecting a broad range of the campus community by defining roles and responsibilities, processes, and communication requirements in the absence of a systemwide policy on policies.

Campus Wide Administrative Policy and Procedure Approval Process These procedures lay out the step-by-step process for determining the need, developing, vetting, obtaining approval, and communicating new and revised campus wide administrative policies and procedures. 

Campus Policy Approval Flowchart This draft process documents the steps involved in the campus policy approval process.

To get started, please send a request to pco@ucsc.edu for the Policy Developers Toolkit (in a Google workspace), which includes:

  • Policy Template
  • Consultation Plan Checklist
  • Comment and Response Template
  • Sample Announcements

UC Systemwide Policies

Guidance on Presidential Policy Review and Issuance ensure's the UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) community is provided the opportunity to review and provide feedback on proposed systemwide policies, and to ensure feedback is delivered to the responsible office in a clear, consistent, and unified manner; and that the feedback is maintained in the campuses policy administration archive, UCSC has established a standard practice for the vetting and dissemination of Presidential Policies.

University Policy Office in the Office of the President is the office of record for Presidential delegations of authority and Presidential policies.  The process of development, coordination, review, and issuance of these documents is the responsibility of that office; legal review is the responsibility of the General Counsel of The Regents.  Presidential policies may be issued in the form of letters, statements, delegations of authority, or as policy manuals.

Presidential 'Policy on Policies' Establishing and Anointing Presidential Policies describes the UC approval process for Presidential policies and sets out the general rules and responsibilities for the development, review, and ownership of Presidential Policies. This policy also describes the required steps for policy development, review, and approval for adoption of new policies, revision of current policies, and rescission of existing policies; and outlines required consultation with the Academic Senate, Academic Personnel and Programs staff, Human Resources, and students.

UC System Policy Toolkit offers additional resources for policy writers, including the UC Policy Style Guide.

Non-UC Resources
Occasionally this site provides a link to an important non-UC resource (e.g., Federal regulations). 


Policies vs. Procedures

Policies reflect the requirements that govern the implementation of campus processes. Administrative policies issue directives approved by the highest authority on our campus.  

Procedures, on the other hand, represent the step to implement a policy and should take advantage of new and emerging tools, streamlined processes, and ensure our practices are standardized, repeatable, and defensible. Procedures should be re-evaluated frequently and amended to respond to the risks associated with a campus process changes in response to internal or external environmental changes. 

Policy, Procedure, and Delegations of Authority documents together provide a framework for accountability and transparency for the operations of the university. 


Definitions:

Policy.  An administrative policy is a written statement that meets all of the following conditions:

  1. Has general applicability to members of the UC Santa Cruz campus community and is not specific to a particular division, unit/department, or office.

  2. Utilizes the standard policy and/or procedure template and formatting, available above. Longer more complex policies that cannot conform to the template may simply include the following required sections: Purpose of the Policy, Definitions, Detailed Policy Statement, Getting Help, Applicability and Authority, Related Policies, References, and the Revision History.

  3. Is consistent, more restrictive, or supplemental, but is not contrary to Regent or UC Office of the President (UCOP) policies, including personnel policies and collective bargaining agreements. Where policies intersection or overlap, the text should be cross-referenced rather than repeated in the body of the policy.

  4. It is distinct from a procedure. Whenever possible, the Policy Owner should make a distinction between policy and procedure. As a general rule, policies and procedures appear as separate documents but are approved together. Campus policies state a set of directives and provide general parameters for fulfilling the intended campus objective. Campus procedures represent an implementation of policy by providing the steps and detailed guidance related to the successful and efficient performance of a particular administrative process.

  5. It requires formal approval by the highest executive or academic authorities of the campus e.g., Chancellor or the Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor.

Procedure. The steps and detailed guidance related to the successful and efficient performance of a particular administrative process. 

Principles:
Campus Wide Administrative Policy and Procedures Guidance has been designed and developed to effectively move decision-making to appropriate levels, to streamline the process, and ensure transparency and inclusiveness.

 


Delegations of Authority


Delegation of authority letters assign formal authority and responsibility for actions and activities to specific campus administrators.  This authority is usually originated by the President of the University.  In addition, campus administrators have certain responsibilities inherent to their job responsibilities.

Principles:

  • Align authority with appropriate organization level of responsibility. I.e., place delegation (authority) where actual decision and financial accountability rests. 
  • Ensure Consistency. I.e., ensure that delegations are consistent and do not conflict with Standing Orders of the Regents, Presidential delegations, current policy statements, financial bulletins, and manuals.
  • Provide authority for the position. I.e., Written authority is granted to a title and position rather than an individual.

 


Policy Coordination


Policy Coordination (pco@ucsc.edu, x9-3411), on behalf of the Campus Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor and Chancellor's Offices, is responsible for coordinating campus delegations of authority and administrative policy development.  The Office is also responsible for maintenance of this website and for serving as a central consulting resource to campus administrative officers and policy and procedure owners. The Office of the Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor is the office of record for the official version of all campus delegations of authority and of all campus administrative policies.