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Policy and Procedure Statements

AA/PPS 01.01.01 - Academic Affairs Policy and Procedure Statement System

Academic Affairs Policy and Procedure Statement System

AA/PPS No. 01.01.01
Issue No. 5
Effective Date: 11/11/2024
Next Review Date: 4/01/2029 (E5Y)
Sr. Reviewer: Assistant Vice Provost for Program Accreditation and Assessment

POLICY STATEMENT

Texas State University is committed to maintaining divisional policies and procedures that provide guidance for the university community.

  1. SCOPE

    1. Texas State University’s Division of Academic Affairs is committed to maintaining a well-designed and effective process for developing, disseminating, and reviewing division policies and procedures. This process parallels the University Policy and Procedure Statement (UPPS) system (see UPPS No. 01.01.01, Policy and Procedure Statement System) in providing:

      1. a standard form of communicating Academic Affairs division policies and procedures;

      2. a structure for regular interval reviews of Academic Affairs division policies and procedures;

      3. a means for reviewing Academic Affairs division policies and procedures on an as-needed basis to remain consistent with current practices; and

      4. a means for assuring agreement between current practices and applicable regulations and laws.

    2. Academic Affairs Policy and Procedure Statements (AA/PPSs) impact Texas State faculty, students, and other division staff by providing guidelines and communicating responsibilities, rights, and regulations instituted across the division. The Texas State Policy and Procedure Statements website includes all official AA/PPSs, and recent updates to these policies are posted on the Recent Updates web page.

    3. Any person within the Academic Affairs division can recommend to the provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs (EVPAA) a new AA/PPS or request revisions to an existing AA/PPS.

    4. The appropriate people, as listed in the Reviewers’ section of each policy, will be responsible for reviewing policies routinely according to the review cycle from the last action date.

    5. The Office of Program Accreditation and Assessment will be the official repository for all AA/PPS documents, including current official documents and reduced or deleted documents.

    6. All Academic Affairs division employees will be responsible for remaining current on official AA/PPS document revisions.

  2. AUTHORITY FOR THE ACADEMIC AFFAIRS POLICY AND PROCEDURE STATEMENT SYSTEM

    1. The AA/PPS system is established under the general authority of the provost and EVPAA, the chief academic officer of the university. Further specific authority to establish a policy system for the division is granted in Section 07. of UPPS No. 01.01.01, Policy and Procedure Statement System.

    2. If at any time a conflict occurs between an AA/PPS and policy in documents of a higher authority (i.e., federal law, state law, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board policy, Texas State University System (TSUS) Rules and Regulations, UPPSs, etc.), the policy in the document of higher authority will prevail. Similarly, if a conflict occurs between an AA/PPS and policy outlined at the college, school, department, or unit level, the AA/PPS will prevail.

  3. DEFINITIONS

    1. Academic Affairs Stakeholders – includes all members of the Academic Affairs Council.

    2. Congressional Style – a method of mark-up in which deletions are lined through, and additions are underlined using the Microsoft Word editing format (also referred to as Track Changes).

    3. Non-Substantive Change – a change that does not impact the policy or procedure outlined. Examples include typographical errors, grammatical errors, and title changes.

    4. Office of Program Accreditation and Assessment – the office responsible for maintaining and facilitating the AA/PPS review process.

    5. Pen and Ink Change – any revision where policy or procedure requires only minimal changes or only specific sections of a policy are addressed without a review of the entire document, producing a “pen and ink” revision.

    6. Policy and Procedure Statements Website – the official website where all UPPSs and PPSs will be published and maintained and links to TSUS policies will be provided.

    7. Reduced Document – an official policy statement that was once a UPPS but has been reduced to the division level as an AA/PPS.

    8. Review Cycle – systematic process of periodically evaluating and updating a policy to ensure it remains relevant, effective, and aligned with current regulations, organizational goals, and industry best practices. The senior reviewer, as listed in the header and the reviewers’ section of each policy, will review policies routinely every five years (E5Y) but no longer than every 10 years (E10Y). Out-of-cycle reviews and pen and ink changes can be made within the five-year review cycle, as needed.

    9. Reviewer – a stakeholder in the policy and procedure statement being developed or reviewed, including the appropriate dean or direct report to the provost and EVPAA.

    10. Reviewers’ Approval Sheet – a document signed by all reviewers, including the appropriate dean or direct report to the provost and EVPAA, indicating they concur with the proposed revision. In lieu of a Reviewers’ Approval Sheet, emails from ALL reviewers may serve to indicate approval.

    11. Senior Reviewer – typically the person most knowledgeable about the policy. If the identity of the senior reviewer is not apparent, the provost and EVPAA will identify the correct individual for AA/PPSs.

    12. Substantive Change – a change to policy or procedure that impacts the context of the policy or procedure outlined.

  4. PROCEDURES FOR CREATING OR MODIFYING ACADEMIC AFFAIRS POLICY AND PROCEDURE STATEMENTS

    1. Detailed steps for the review of existing AA/PPS documents are outlined in Section 05. of UPPS No. 01.01.01, Policy and Procedure Statement System.

    2. Detailed steps for creating a new AA/PPS document are outlined in Section 07. of UPPS No. 01.01.01, Policy and Procedure Statement System.

    3. When creating a new AA/PPS, reviewers should develop a draft document that addresses the identified needs (see proper format for detailed instructions). The Editorial Style Guide adopted by Texas State provides additional guidance.

    4. A general numbering system will be employed for AA/PPSs using the following categories as deemed appropriate by the provost and EVPAA:

      1. Executive Management (01.);

      2. Academic Administration (02.);

      3. Fiscal Operations (03.); and

      4. General Administrative Services (04.).

    5. Any senior reviewer of an AA/PPS that is not a dean or direct report (i.e., director reporting to an assistant or associate vice president or a chair or director reporting to a dean) to the provost and EVPAA must include their direct supervisor as a secondary reviewer of the assigned AA/PPS and include their signatures on the completed Reviewers’ Approval Sheet.

    6. All proposed new and revised AA/PPS documents will be routed to Academic Affairs stakeholders for comment, generally with a three-week response time. Comments should be presented in a concise bulleted format and separated as either substantive or non-substantive (refer to Policy Comments for example comment submissions). All received comments will be compiled into a comprehensive document and sent to the senior reviewer for consideration. Senior reviewer responses will be made available to faculty and staff on the Program Accreditation and Assessment website (login will be required).

    7. If the provost and EVPAA determines at any time that circumstances require the immediate implementation of an AA/PPS, they may waive any or all steps outlined above and approve an AA/PPS on an interim basis. Such interim approval authorizes immediate implementation of the policy, with a substantive review to follow.

  5. DISSEMINATION OF APPROVED POLICY AND PROCEDURE STATEMENTS

    1. Following approval of a new or revised AA/PPS by the provost and EVPAA, notification of the release of the official AA/PPS will be sent to Academic Affairs stakeholders via email, as well as posted to the Recent Updates web page. An electronic copy of the official AA/PPS will be maintained on the Policy and Procedure Statements website.

  6. GUIDELINES FOR ACCEPTABLE LINKS WITHIN POLICIES

    1. Official AA/PPSs may include links to web-available forms or documents, but will not include “attachments” to other documents (e.g., forms, templates), as the Policy and Procedure Statements website will not maintain or publish such documents.

    2. If a senior reviewer would like to include or reference forms or documents, these should be maintained on the department’s or unit’s own website and a web address link (i.e., a URL) should be provided within the policy. Senior reviewers should keep in mind that modifying department or unit websites to include changes to web address labels will impact links included within existing policy statements.

    3. It is never acceptable to include links to “unofficial” or “unapproved” policies or procedures within an officially-approved AA/PPS. Policies or procedures that are maintained on an individual department or unit website and that are subject to update or revision without following the formal policy review and approval process could potentially impact the integrity of the officially-approved policy.

    4. Acceptable links within a policy include:

      1. forms and templates:

        1. include a “latest revised” date at the bottom of each page (e.g., “AA – 12/21/2016”); and

        2. include an ownership identifier at the bottom of each page (e.g., “AA – 12/21/2016”);

      2. other officially-approved policies referenced;

      3. state or federal laws or mandates;

      4. other referenced official departmental and external websites (e.g., Texas Education Code, TSUS Office of the General Counsel); and

      5. figures, tables, or resource manuals in support of the policy as long as they do not include actual policies and procedures that have not been formally approved by the provost and EVPAA.

  7. FACILIATION OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS POLICIES

    1. The senior administrative assistant in the Office of Program Accreditation and Assessment will guide the AA/PPS review process in accordance with this policy.

    2. At least three months prior to scheduled review, the senior administrative assistant will send reminders to AA/PPS senior reviewers to begin the review process for policies coming due.

    3. Upon receipt from the senior reviewer, the senior administrative assistant will distribute proposed new and revised draft AA/PPS documents to Academic Affairs stakeholders for review and comment by designated deadlines (up to three weeks), ensure receipt of comments in a timely manner, and send any needed reminders. If comments are not submitted by the stated deadline, it will be assumed that there are no additional comments from that stakeholder and the review will progress.

    4. The senior administrative assistant will compile a comprehensive list of all comments received and send it to the senior reviewer for consideration and response. Senior reviewer responses will be made available to faculty and staff on the Program Accreditation and Assessment website (login will be required).

    5. Upon receipt of a response to comments, the senior administrative assistant will edit final AA/PPS documents for style and voice consistency and send to the program specialist for Policies and Procedures who will post the official version of all AA/PPS documents on the Policy and Procedure Statements website.

    6. The senior administrative assistant will maintain an index of all AA/PPSs, including the most recent review date, names of reviewers, and all other pertinent information to facilitate the review process (refer to the AA/PPS Index).

  8. REVIEWERS OF THIS PPS

    1. Reviewers of this PPS include the following:

      PositionDate
      Assistant Vice Provost for Program Accreditation and AssessmentApril 1 E5Y
      Senior Administrative Assistant, Office of Program Accreditation and AssessmentApril 1 E5Y

  9. CERTIFICATION STATEMENT

    This PPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official capacities and represents Texas State Academic Affairs policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.

    Assistant Vice Provost for Program Accreditation and Assessment; senior reviewer of this PPS

    Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs