Policy on Policies

1. For following this policy: Employees, including faculty and staff
2. For enforcement of this policy:  
   1. Academic Policies: Provost and Dean of the Faculty
   2. Administrative Policies: Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration
   3. Board of Trustee Policies: Secretary of the College
3. For documentation of policy development and approval process: Enterprise Risk Management Director / Office of Finance and Administration
4. For notification: Enterprise Risk Management Director / Office of Finance and Administration
5. For procedures implementing the policy: Enterprise Risk Management Director / Office of Finance and Administration

Changes to academic, administrative or Board of Trustee policies for personnel titles, contact names and organizational alignment and/or structure changes do not require formal approval. Those changes should be made at the next revision date listed in the policy.

In the event of an emergency situation, legally mandated deadline or other situation that requires an expedited policy approval process, the President’s team member responsible for the policy will partner with General Counsel and the Enterprise Risk Management Director to obtain off-cycle approval by the appropriate governance committee. 

1. Academic Policies

Approval of academic policies is addressed variously in the Faculty Code, Faculty Policy on Appointment, Reappointment, and Tenure, Provost and Dean of the Faculty’s Office, and Dean of the College's Office. After approval by the governing committee, the sponsor or responsible administrator will be responsible for supervising the posting and coordinating dissemination of the policy. Notification is required; the individuals responsible for following a policy must be notified when the policy has been posted. When those individuals include current students, the faculty and student services staff must also be notified.

2.  Administrative Policies

New policies or changes to existing policies will be sponsored by a member of the President’s Team  (sponsor) who will appoint a responsible administrator to develop the policy. The responsible administrator should seek the expertise of others as needed in drafting the policy. The sponsor or responsible administrator will forward the policy to the Enterprise Risk Management Director for review when it is drafted and include a completed Policy Owner Submission Checklist. The new or proposed changes to the policy will be reviewed based on the review cycle schedule below:

The Enterprise Risk Management Director may seek the expertise of others as needed as they review the policy for the following:

• consistency and clarity in format and presentation
• conflicts between the proposed policy and other college policies
• consistency with regulations germane to the policy
• consistency with Smith’s mission and goals

The policy approval request will be submitted in the appropriate quarterly review cycle. The Enterprise Risk Management Director will communicate the decision of the President’s team.  The sponsor or responsible administrator, in partnership with the Enterprise Risk Management director, will be responsible for communication of new, revised or decommissioned policies and supervision for posting and coordinating dissemination of the policy. Notification is required; the individuals responsible for following a policy must be notified when the policy has been posted.  When those individuals include current students, the faculty and student services staff must also be notified.

3. Board of Trustee Policies

New policies or changes to existing policies are governed by the By-Laws of the Trustees of Smith College and the Board of Trustee committees. The Secretary of the College, in partnership with the President and any necessary staff liaisons or their designees, is responsible for drafting the policies and obtaining approvals according to the By-Laws of the Trustees of Smith College.

The Secretary of the college will be responsible for supervising the posting and coordinating dissemination of the policy. Notification is required; the individuals responsible for following a policy must be notified when the policy has been posted. 

The Enterprise Risk Management Director will work with responsible administrators to prompt regular reviews of all college-wide policies. Each President’s team member or designated responsible administrator and any college committee chairperson shall maintain an inventory of the policies they oversee in a centralized policy inventory established by Enterprise Risk Management. Policies developed by any committee of the college which is no longer active will be assigned to a President’s team member or designated responsible administrator.

The  President’s Team member serves as the executive sponsor of college-wide policies. They are responsible for ushering proposals through the appropriate approval process and ensuring that a Responsible Administrator has been assigned to oversee a policy.

The President’s Team member responsible for a college-wide policy is authorized to grant exceptions, on a limited basis, to college-wide policies in their purview after consulting with General Counsel, for the following reasons:

1. The college-wide policy is inconsistent with, or in violation of, applicable laws or regulations and the exception will ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
2. An emergency situation necessitates an exception to ensure the health, safety, or protection of college community members and property. 

As soon as practicable, after consulting with General Counsel, the President's Team member must inform the President when such an exception is granted.

The responsible administrator will administer the policy, develop and maintain appropriate procedures for the policy and be responsible for timely updates to the policy. If no responsible administrator has been assigned, the President’s Team member for that area of operations will be deemed to be the responsible administrator until a responsible administrator has been assigned. 

The President’s Team may put an interim or provisional policy into place in situations where a college policy must be established in a time period too short to permit the completion of the process delineated in this policy. An interim or provisional policy may remain in force for up to one year from the date of issuance or until approved through the policy approval process. If an extension to an interim policy is needed, the policy must be presented to the appropriate governing body for an extension not to exceed one year.

The college-wide policy website will provide links to all college-wide policies. The responsible administrator will leverage guidelines provided by the Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration or their designee  to determine where a policy appears and ensure standardization of all print versions of the policy. All departmental web pages referencing the policy must link to the full policy on the college-wide policy website (i.e., the policy’s unique web address) instead of posting their own versions of the approved policy. Printed versions of the policy may be included as needed in handbooks, announcements and other publications, but must include a disclaimer that the college-wide policy website should be consulted for the latest version.

As college operational processes change, a responsible administrator may deem it appropriate to decommission a college-wide policy that is no longer applicable.  The responsible administrator must request approval to decommission the policy from the appropriate governing committee. Once decommissioning of the policy is approved, the sponsor or responsible administrator must notify the Enterprise Risk Management director by completing the Policy Owner Submission Checklist. Notification is required; the individuals responsible for following a policy must be notified when the policy has been decommissioned. When those individuals include current students, the faculty and student services staff must also be notified.

Policies may be supplemented by departmental procedures or guidelines that describe policy implementation practices, subject to Section III above. These supplemental procedures may be referenced in, and/or linked from, the relevant policy, as appropriate. The responsible administrator and/or the Enterprise Risk Management Director should review departmental procedures and guidelines to assure consistency with college-wide policies.

The college will keep, to the extent reasonably practicable, an archive of college-wide policies and their effective dates.

Violations of college policies are adjudicated according to procedures outlined in the Employee

Handbook, Faculty Code, Student Handbook and Smith College Charters, with disciplinary consequences imposed by the adjudicating authority up to and including dismissal. Some offenses are punishable under state and federal laws.