There are three established business processes for UNT policies: the Six-Year Review, Policy Amendment, and Policy Creation.  Each consists of a series of steps and each begins with the initiation of a policy draft document.

At any step of the review process, changes may be recommended.  If the changes are not substantive, the draft may proceed forward.  If the change is substantive, then the policy draft circles back to the first step for consideration and further updates by the policy owner/contact.  It then proceeds forward again through each step, incrementally.
 

Six-Year Policy Review Process

The first, and most common, process is for our required 6-year review of existing policies, as illustrated below.  The first step begins with the University Policy Office (UPO) reaching out to the Policy Contact and Owner with a draft.  They then review the policy, make any needed updates, and return it to the UPO.  The second step involves a quick preliminary review by the UPO of the draft to ensure the language in the document is consistent in its style, formatting, voice, and tone with other policies for the institution.  Next, for the third step, the policy is reviewed by the Chief Integrity Officer (CIO) to ensure it is compatible with compliance initiatives.  It then moves to the fourth step, in which the Policy Advisory Group provides a broader stakeholder review.  Then, for the fifth step, the President reviews to ensure consistency with strategic goals of the university. Afterwards, the sixth step, the Office of General Counsel checks the draft for legal sufficiency.  The policy then returns to the Policy Owner for the seventh step, for a formal review, before it reaches the eighth step with a final review and approval from the Office of the President.  Once a policy is approved by the President, it becomes effective and so is published immediately by the UPO to the Policy Manual web site. The ninth and final step is the Policy Contact and Owner communicate the policy changes to identified stakeholders. The UPO provides a Stakeholder Communication Guide for assistance.

Policy Amendment Process

The second process, which is less common but equally important, is the workflow for the amendment of an existing policy.  The policy owner initiates the change, by creating a draft and then sending it to the Policy Office.  Then, the rest of the process is identical to the above review.
 

Policy Creation Process

When a new policy is needed, an executive leader first identifies the need, a policy contact, and a policy owner with the assistance of the Policy Office.  The executive or new policy owner then creates and sends a draft to the Policy Office.  The remaining steps mirror what is in the aforementioned processes.

If you have any questions, suggestions for changes, or needed exceptions to the above, please reach out to our office at: (940) 565-2335 or policy@unt.edu.