The mission and values of Anne Arundel Community College (“College”) are expressed through its policies, which are approved by its Board of Trustees, as set forth below.
Policies promote compliance with laws, regulations, and accreditation standards; clarify the expected behavior of faculty, staff, students, prospective students, contractors, volunteers, and other third parties; afford due process, when applicable; establish roles and responsibilities within the College; protect the integrity of the College’s reputation and business operations; and shape College decision-making and risk mitigation strategies. Policies are integral to creating a culture of compliance, providing quality service to students, and safeguarding fair and unbiased treatment of members of the College community. A policy may include governing principles or may mandate or restrict action.
Policies are implemented through the College’s procedures, which are approved by the President and Vice Presidents of the College (“PVP”), as set forth below. Procedures explain how to comply with a policy and outline the steps that need to be taken to effectuate a policy.
I. Purpose
A. This Policy on Development of Policies and Procedures (“Development Policy”) establishes a transparent, consistent, and standardized approach for all policies and procedures to be collaboratively created, revised, discontinued, reviewed, approved, and maintained.
B. This Development Policy serves to promote awareness, compliance, risk mitigation, and accountability across the College.
II. Scope and Applicability
A. This Development Policy applies to all members of the College community, including faculty, staff, students, trustees, and guests on College premises.
B. This Development Policy applies to all policies and procedures created, revised, or discontinued after the Effective Date of this Development Policy.
C. This Development Policy does not apply to Internal Guidance (defined below).
D. To the extent that the College Manual conflicts with this Development Policy, this Development Policy supersedes the College Manual.
III. Definitions
A. Academic Forum is the group of employees and students delegated with the responsibility for oversight of the academic program of the College, as set forth in the Academic Forum Charter.
B. Approval Form is a document used to provide a brief description of the proposed Policy Action and memorialize approval of Policies by the President and the Board and approval of Procedures by the President.
C. Board is the College’s Board of Trustees.
D. Board Committee is the Board Policy Oversight Committee, which is an ad hoc committee of the Board, including trustees and administrators appointed by the Board Chair, to review and submit policies to the Board for approval.
E. CCFPO is the Chief Compliance and Fair Practices Officer who is responsible for overseeing the development, revision, review, approval, discontinuation, maintenance, implementation, communication, and accessibility of Policies and Procedures.
F. Constituency Group refers to The Faculty Organization (“TFO”), the Administrative Staff Organization (“ASO”), the Professional and Support Staff Organization (“PSSO”), and the Student Government Association (“SGA”).
G. Development Procedures are the Procedures on Development of Policies and Procedures, which accompany this Development Policy.
H. Drafting Committee is an ad hoc group of employees who are appointed by the President, in consultation with PVP, to draft, revise, or consider discontinuation of a Policy and/or Procedures.
I. Effective Date is the date upon which a Policy and/or Procedures will be published, implemented and take effect.
J. GC is the College’s general counsel’s office.
K. Implementation Plan is a roadmap for identifying and preparing to address all impacts of the proposed Policy Action.'
L. Interim Policy is a Policy that is approved by the President in accordance with this Development Policy on an interim basis in situations where a Policy Action must be taken within a time period that is too short to permit the completion of the Review and Approval processes.
M. Internal Guidance includes guidelines, protocols, forms, templates, rules, job aides, or training materials that are not published on the College’s website.
N. Non-Substantive means revisions to a Policy and/or Procedures that modify position titles; change department, division, or other entity names; update contact information; correct typographical, grammatical, or citation errors; fix broken hyperlinks; reformat, reorganize, or provide clarifications to improve readability without changing the substance or meaning; or remove or change references to laws, regulations, other policies or materials that have changed or become obsolete.
O. Policy means a set of rules that has been officially approved by the Board.
P. Policy Action is developing, revising, or discontinuing a Policy and/or Procedures.
Q. Policy Administrator is the College employee designated by the President and Vice Presidents to be responsible for chairing the Drafting Committee and administering, implementing and interpreting a specific Policy and/or Procedures on a day-to-day basis.
R. Policy Category is the classification of Policies and Procedures for organizational purposes, as defined in the Procedures.
S. Policy Owner is the member of PVP who has the overall responsibility for creating or revising and implementing a Policy and/or Procedures.
T. Procedures means guidelines, directions, or process to be followed to implement a Policy or other applicable laws, regulations or College-wide rules.
U. PVP is the College President and Vice Presidents, who are responsible for reviewing and submitting a Policy to the Board Committee and reviewing and approving Procedures.
V. Special Assistant is the Special Assistant to the President who is responsible for assisting the CCFPO in review, approval, updating, and maintaining Policies and Procedures.
W. Written or “in writing” is any document, including but not limited to digital documents, such as email or electronically information stored.
IV. Standard Requirements
A. To ensure clarity and consistency, Policies and Procedures must be:
1. Presented in a common format;
2. Formally approved by the Board (for Policies) or the President (for Procedures);
3. Maintained in a central location that is accessible to all interested or impacted individuals on the College’s website;
4. Drafted using language that is clear and concise and minimizes the potential for bias;
5. Linked electronically to any related Policy, Procedures, and/or Forms;
6. Organized according to Policies Categories; and
7. Reviewed in accordance with a regular review schedule as well as on an ad hoc basis, as needed, to comply with changes to applicable law or accreditation standards or to meet operational needs.
V. Policy and Procedure Development
A. Request
1. Any trustee, employee, student, Constituency Group, or Academic Forum may request to take a Policy Action in accordance with the Development Procedures.
2. The Board Committee will determine whether to proceed to drafting and if so, will prioritize the order in which requested Policy Actions will be drafted on a list maintained by the Special Assistant or designee.
3. Non-Substantive Changes
a. If the Board Committee determines that the Policy Action requested is Non-Substantive, the Board Committee may instruct the Special Assistant or designee to make the revisions, publish the revised version, and submit the revised version to the Policy Administrator for implementation.
b. If the proposed Policy Action relates solely to Procedures, the President will determine whether to proceed to drafting and whether the Policy Action requested is Non-Substantive. If determined to be Non-Substantive, the President may instruct the Special Assistant or designee to make the revisions, in consultation the GC, publish the revised version, and submit the revised version to the Policy Administrator for implementation.
B. Drafting
1. When a requested Policy Action is ready to be drafted, PVP will appoint the Drafting Committee, and if not already identified, a Policy Owner and Policy Administrator, in accordance with the Development Procedures.
2. The Drafting Committee will draft, revise, or consider discontinuation of the Policy and/or Procedures and will review the College Manual, in accordance with the Development Procedures.
3. The Policy Administrator will draft the Implementation Plan, in consultation with the Drafting Committee, in accordance with the Development Procedures.
VI. Policy and Procedure Review
A. The CCFPO, Special Assistant, and/or designee will be responsible for routing the Policy and/or Procedures for review in accordance with the Development Procedures.
B. Procedures
1. If the Policy Action relates to Procedures, the Board delegates authority to approve Procedures to the President, in accordance with the Development Procedures.
a. The President will confirm the Effective Date.
b. Once approved, the Special Assistant or designee will update the Procedures on the College’s website on or before the Effective Date.
2. If the Policy Action relates to a Policy, once finalized, the President may approve the Policy for submission to the Board Committee, in accordance with the Development Procedures.
3. If the President does not wish to proceed with the Policy Action, the Special Assistant or designee will notify the Policy Administrator and the Board in writing.
C. Board Committee
1. If approved for submission to the Board Committee, the Special Assistant or designee will submit the Approval Form and the Policy to the Board Committee.
2. The Board Committee will provide feedback on the Policy, and the GC, CCFPO, or designee will work to incorporate any suggested revisions.
3. Once finalized, the Board Committee may approve the Policy for submission to the Board.
4. If the Board Committee does not wish to proceed with the Policy Action, the Special Assistant or designee will notify the Policy Administrator and the Board in writing.
VII. Policy Approval
A. If approved for submission to the Board, the Special Assistant or designee will submit the Approval Form and the Policy to the Board for review and approval in the manner set forth by the Board Chair.
B. If the Board proposes revisions when a Policy is being considered, the Board Chair may either have the Board vote to approve the Policy, subject to inclusion of specific revisions stated at the Board meeting, or may postpone consideration of the Policy to a subsequent meeting where the revised version can be presented.
1. The GC or designee may confirm the revisions with the Board Chair and the trustee who requested the revisions via email before the Policy is updated or reconsidered.
2. The Board will confirm the Effective Date.
C. If approved, the Special Assistant or designee will update the Policy on the College’s website on or before the Effective Date, in accordance with the Development Procedures.
D. All members of the College community are subject to the policies and procedures as currently published and are charged with notice and knowledge of their provisions.
VIII. Interim Policies
A. The Board may delegate authority to the President on a case-by-case basis to approve a Policy on an interim basis in situations where a Policy Action must be taken within a time period that is too short to permit the completion of the Review and Approval processes described above, including but not limited to, the following circumstances:
1. The need for immediate compliance with applicable law, regulations, or notice from a regulatory agency, accreditor or other oversight entity;
2. Identification of a potential adverse impact to a time-sensitive College strategic project or initiative or College operations;
3. Identification of a gap or omission or conflict with another Policy that creates immediate risk or vulnerability for the College; and/or
4. Identification of an unanticipated significant negative impact on the College if a Policy is not adopted, changed or discontinued quickly.
B. An Interim Policy will remain in force until adopted, with or without revisions, through the Review and Approval process described in this Development Policy or for up to twelve (12) months from the date of issuance, whichever occurs first.
C. If an Interim Policy is established by the President, the President will confirm the Effective Date, and the Special Assistant or designee will publish the Policy on the College’s website on or before the Effective Date, notify the Board Committee within five (5) business days, and maintain the Policy in the same manner as other Policies and will mark the Policy as “Interim.”
D. The Board Committee chair will notify the Board in writing within five (5) business days of notification by the President and provide a copy of the Interim Policy.
IX. Ongoing Policy Review
A. Policies will be systematically reviewed by Policy Owners, Policy Administrators, and the CCFPO in order to determine whether:
1. Each Policy is still needed;
2. Revisions are needed; and/or
3. There are gaps that indicate that a new Policy should be developed.
B. The CCFPO will submit a request for Policy Action for any Policy that has not been reviewed in five (5) years.
X. Conflicts with Policies and Procedures
A. To the extent that the College Manual conflicts with a Policy or Procedure, the Policy or Procedure will prevail.
B. To the extent that Internal Guidance conflicts with a Policy or Procedure, the Policy or Procedure will prevail.
C. To the extent that a Procedure conflicts with a Policy, the Policy will prevail.
XI. Exceptions and Waivers
A. The Board may authorize the President on a case-by-case basis to make an exception or waive the application of a Policy under circumstances deemed appropriate by the President, regardless of the provisions of the Policy.
B. The President may not delegate this authority, except as is provided in the Procedures on Exceptions or Waivers of Policies and Procedures or as may be specifically provided in a Policy or Procedures.
Policy Title: Policy on Development of Policies and Procedures
Policy Category: General
Policy Owner: President
Policy Administrator: Chief Compliance and Fair Practices Officer
Contact Information: Tiffany Boykin, 410-777-1239, complianceofficer@aacc.edu
Approval Date: Nov. 30, 2022
Effective Date: Nov. 30, 2022
History: Approved Nov. 9, 2021
Applies to: All members of the College community
Related Policies: N/A
Related Procedures: Procedures on Development of Policy and Procedures
Forms/Guidelines:
Relevant Laws: N/A