Policy and Procedure Development and Maintenance

POLICY OVERVIEW

 

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (“university”) has a uniform and systematic procedure for creating and maintaining policies and procedures within the Handbook of Operating Procedures ("HOOP"). This process includes an opportunity for faculty, staff and student governance bodies to provide advisory input regarding proposed changes to policies that may impact the respective groups. The HOOP contains the official policies and procedures for the governance of the university. This procedure must be followed to create or change policies or procedures. Policies and procedures developed or changed in violation of this policy will not be published in the HOOP. 

  

University policies and procedures (including school, unit, department and office policies and procedures) shall not conflict with the Regents’ Rules and Regulations. Any university policy or procedure that is in conflict with any rule or regulation in the Regents’ Rules and Regulations is null and void and has no effect.

All exhibits attached or linked to a HOOP policy or procedure are extensions of that policy or procedure.

POLICY SCOPE

This policy applies to all policies and procedures adopted by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

POLICY CONTACT

For questions regarding updating the Handbook of Operating Procedures, contact the Office of Legal Affairs.

DEFINITIONS

 

Educational Policy:  Policy that pertains to the areas of faculty responsibility as set forth in Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Series 40101.

Governance of the University:  Consists of the policies and procedures except medical procedures or protocols, affecting the way university officials direct, administer or control the university.  This includes policies and procedures:

HOOP Review Committee:  The Committee appointed by the President to review and make recommendations regarding policies and procedures to the Executive Council. The HOOP Review Committee membership includes the President or his or her designee; the Executive Vice Presidents or their respective designees; the Chief Human Resources Officer or his or her designee; the Assistant Vice President of Auditing & Advisory Services or his or her designee; the Chair of the Interfaculty Council, the Student InterCouncil, and the University Classified Staff Council or their respective designees; an Associate Dean for Management who will serve on a one year rotating basis; and, a member of management from The University of Texas Harris County Psychiatric Center.  The committee is chaired by the Policy Coordinator.

Policy Coordinator:  The Chief Legal Officer is appointed by the President to ensure compliance with this policy.  The Chief Legal Officer may delegate this responsibility.

Responsible Executive:  University executive responsible for the programmatic, functional or administrative areas affected by a policy or procedure.

Significant change:  A change in the scope or application of a policy or procedure that has a significant impact on daily operations, responsibilities, procedures or expectations for one or more key university communities. 

Stakeholder Review Plan:  A plan for obtaining advisory input from faculty, staff and student governance bodies that may be affected by changes in policies and procedures.

 

PROCEDURE

 

I.  Designation of Responsible Executive, Educational Policy and Next Scheduled Review: 

For each HOOP policy, the HOOP Review Committee will designate a responsible executive, determine if the policy is educational, and determine a periodic review schedule which will be indicated on the policy.

II.  Creating and Maintaining HOOP Policies and Procedures:

 

A.  Policies Not Related to Educational Matters

 

    1. The university office proposing a new HOOP policy or procedure will draft the policy in correct HOOP format as shown in Appendix A and submit a completed Proposal and Stakeholder Review Plan as shown in Appendix B.  Offices proposing amendments to the HOOP also will prepare a draft in congressional style. All documents will be routed through the appropriate Responsible Executive.  The Policy Coordinator will provide assistance upon request.
    2. The Responsible Executive will submit the proposal to the Policy Coordinator for review and approval distribution to the HOOP Review Committee for review and approval.  The HOOP Review Committee will confirm the Proposal and Stakeholder Review Plan and develop a review timeline that takes into consideration the best interests of the university regarding timely implementation of the proposed HOOP policy including, but not limited to, legal or otherwise mandated deadlines for policy implementation.  The HOOP Review Committee is authorized to deny a proposal for a new policy or a proposal for amendment to an existing policy.
    3. The Policy Coordinator will distribute the proposed HOOP policy in accordance with the confirmed Stakeholder Review Plan and timelines.
    4. Advisory input from stakeholders returned timely to the Policy Coordinator will be provided to the Responsible Executive for consideration.
    5. The Responsible Executive will resubmit the proposed HOOP policy with any incorporated changes to the HOOP Review Committee through the Policy Coordinator.
    6. Once a majority of the HOOP Review Committee has approved the proposed HOOP policy, it will be submitted to the Executive Council for review and approval.
    7. Upon approval by the Executive Council, the Policy Coordinator will submit the proposed HOOP policy to the UT System Executive Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and the Vice Chancellor and General Counsel for review and approval.  The submission will include any changes shown in congressional style, a brief background and rationale for the proposed policy, and a statement indicating this policy was complied with.
    8. The Policy Coordinator will notify the HOOP Review Committee and the Responsible Executive regarding the resolution of any comments received from UT System and make conforming changes as needed.  Recommendations and comments from university attorneys are legal advice provided to university administration and are to be treated as privileged and confidential attorney-client communications. 

 B.  Educational Policy

 

    1. New or amended Educational Policies will be reviewed in accordance with Sections III.B.1.(a) – (g).
    2. The Proposal and Stakeholder Review Plan must include review by the Interfaculty Council.
    3. The Interfaculty Council review timeline will be reasonable (60 calendar days or less).

C.  HOOP Policies with No Significant Changes: 

Proposed changes to HOOP policies that are not significant will be approved by the Policy Coordinator.  The Policy Coordinator shall determine whether the change is significant.

 

D.  Maintenance: 

The Responsible Executive must review and revise HOOP policies as necessary in accordance with the next scheduled review date listed on the policy using the applicable process in Section III.B.

 

III.  Creation and Maintenance of School, Unit, Department, and Office Policies and Procedures:

 

Policies and procedures adopted by individual schools, units, departments and offices of the university shall not conflict with the policies published in the HOOP.  These policies and procedures must be reviewed and approved by the appropriate authorities within the school, unit, department or office and must be made readily accessible to those who are affected by them. These policies and procedures must be reviewed and revised regularly by the appropriate authorities.

 

 

Appendix

 

Exhibit A:  UTHSC-H Policy/Procedure Template

Exhibit B:  UTHSC-H Proposal and Stakeholder Review Plan

 

Created 4/02; Updated 05/05, 08/07, 05/09

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