On February 8, 2024, President’s Council approved the following policy actions:
Policy 306 Faculty Positions: Posting and Waiving of Posting (Temporary)
| Approval Process | Temporary |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Stewards | Kat Brown |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| President's Council Action | Entrance to Stage 1 and 2 |
| Pipeline Draft | Stage 2 Draft |
NOTE: This policy will enter Stage 2 Board of Trustees when Policies 632 and 649 enter Stage 4 in the regular process.
Who does this apply to? Faculty and employees involved in hiring faculty
Why is this policy going through the temporary process? Policy 306 is currently in Stage 1 in the regular policy revision process. Academic Affairs requests a limited scope revision through the temporary emergency process to help fill the gap when the newly revised Policy 632 is approved. When the revised Policy 632 is approved, it will no longer cover appointment of initial rank. Because the initial appointment is determined upon hire, it made sense to include it in the Policy 306. This policy needs to be moved through the temporary process to keep appointment of initial rank in policy as written until the drafting committee finishes revising Policy 306 in its entirety. In this draft, the section about appointment of initial rank will move from Policy 632 to Policy 306 Faculty Hiring.
Policy 648 Faculty Personnel Reduction (Temporary)
| Approval Process | Temporary |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Stewards | Kat Brown |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| President's Council Action | Entrance to Stage 1 and 2 |
| Pipeline Draft | Stage 2 Draft |
Who does this apply to? Faculty and administration
Why is this policy going through the temporary process? Policy 648 is already open for revision under the regular policy process. Academic Affairs proposes making limited scope revisions to through this draft in the temporary emergency process so it does not contradict the proposed, revised policy: Policy 649 Faculty Remediation, Sanction, and Dismissal Due to Cause. In this draft, the drafting committee deletedthe entire section and references related to faculty remediation, sanctions and dismissal, which will be covered by the proposed Policy 649.
Policy 335 Staff Grievance
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Marilyn Meyer |
| Policy Stewards | Drew Burke, Cathy Jordan |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| President's Council Action | Entrance to Stage 1 |
| Pipeline Draft | Executive Summary |
Who does this apply to? Staff, especially administration
What changes are being added to this policy? The proposed revisions will enhance the clarity, consistency, and procedural alignment of Policy 335 with Utah Board of Higher Education Policy R831 Minimum Requirements for Non-Faculty Staff Employee Grievance Policy and UVU Policy 371 Performance Management and Development for Full-time Staff Employees.
Utah Board of Higher Education Policy R831 has three minimum requirements that are either absent or lack clarity in our current policy:
(1) Establishing an informal and formal resolution process for grievances;
(2) Providing staff employees who have a right to the staff employee grievance procedure with reasonable time off with pay during scheduled working hours; and
(3) Requiring parties and witnesses’ testimony be under oath during termination hearings.
There are some other minor proposed revisions to ensure congruency of intent and practice between the Utah Board of Higher Education policy and UVU policy.
Now that this policy draft is in Stage 1, what does this mean for me? If you have comments or concerns, please email the policy steward or the Policy Office.
Policy 444 Academic Freedom and Information Access
Policy 449 Private Sensitive Information
Policy 451 Retention of Electronic Files
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Christina Baum |
| Policy Stewards | Joe Belnap |
| Policy Actions | Deletion |
| President's Council Action | Entrance to Stages 1 and 2 |
| Pipeline Draft | Policy 444, Policy 449, Policy 451 |
Who does this apply to? All employees
Why are these being deleted? Because these three policies are now addressed in new, more comprehensive policies, they will be deleted.
Now that this policy draft is in Stage 2, what does this mean for me? If you have comments or concerns, please contact your PACE, UVUSA, or Faculty Senate senator.
Policy 640 Faculty Sabatical Leave
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Stewards | Kat Brown |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| President's Council Action | Entrance to Stage 2 |
| Pipeline Draft | Stage 2 Draft |
Who does this apply to? Faculty
Why is this policy in the process? The current policy is unclear about the criteria by which sabbatical requests are assessed and theprocess for assessing and approving the requests. The revised draft has updated language to provide clear requirements and review criteria for sabbaticalrequest.
Now that this policy draft is in Stage 2, what does this mean for me? If you have comments or concerns, please contact your PACE, UVUSA, or Faculty Senate senator. Stage 2 ends April 4, 2024.
Policy 644 Selection and Responsibilities of Department Leadership
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Stewards | Kat Brown |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| President's Council Action | Entrance to Stage 2 |
| Pipeline Draft | Stage 2 Draft |
Who does this apply to? Faculty
Why is this policy in the process? Since the adoption of the current Policy 644 in 2009, UVU has undergone several fundamental changes that have affected the roles and responsibilities of department chairs. Comprehensive revisions to this policy include the following:
- include appropriate references to UBHE and UVU policies;
- expand definitions as appropriate; clarify department election processes, roles, rights, and responsibilities of chairs;
- determine and clarify the number of terms a chair may serve;
- establish the transfer of duties from one chair to the next; and
- determine appropriate post-chair opportunities.
Additional revisions made include voting eligibility within departments, which faculty positions may serve as department chair, and department chairs’ lengths of service, among others.
Now that this policy draft is in Stage 2, what does this mean for me? If you have comments or concerns, please contact your PACE, UVUSA, or Faculty Senate senator. Stage 2 ends April 4, 2024.
Policy 654 Faculty Merit Awards
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Stewards | Kat Brown |
| Policy Actions | Revision, Limited Scope |
| President's Council Action | Entrance to Stages 1 and 2 |
| Pipeline Draft | Stage 2 Draft |
Who does this apply to? Faculty
Why is this policy in the process? The current version of Policy 654 is sunsetting this year because the policy mandates it be reviewed every 5 years. A drafting committee is working on a complete rewrite of the policy that will not be ready April 1, and a current faculty merit pay policy must be in place for the upcoming review cycle. Therefore, the drafting committee has made limited scope revisions to the current policy to address the gap between the version that is sunsetting and the completely rewritten version.
To create a relevant gap policy, the drafting committee made the following limited scope changes: (1) Removed references to the five-year-only awards; and (2) placed the process deadlines into a guidelines document to allow for more flexibility to change deadlines as needed, which is difficult to do in policy.
Now that this policy draft is in Stage 2, what does this mean for me? If you have comments or concerns, please contact your PACE, UVUSA, or Faculty Senate senator. Stage 2 ends April 4, 2024.
Note: Only the passages of the policy marked as revisions are open to input—thus, making them limited scope changes.
Policy 649 Faculty Sanction and Dismissal for Cause
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Stewards | Kat Brown |
| Policy Actions | New |
| President's Council Action | Entrance to Stage 3 |
| Pipeline Draft | Stage 3 Draft |
Who does this apply to? Faculty
Now that this policy draft is in Stage 3, what does this mean for me? Those who submitted comments may wish to review the Summary of Comments at the end of the document to see responses and revisions from the policy steward and sponsor. Individuals may submit their comments directly by email to the policy owners. Stage 3 ends February 15, 2024.
For questions or comments regarding any of the above actions, contact the policy sponsor or steward(s) listed, or contact the Policy Office. To learn more about the policy approval process at UVU, visit the Policy Office's Policy Process webpage.
Please note that some of the above links may become outdated or broken as the policy drafts progress through the policy approval process, or are approved for adoption to or deletion from the Policy Manual. For the most up-to-date status regarding a policy or proposed policy draft, see the Policy Manual and Policy Approval Pipeline pages. To request a previous version of a policy or policy draft or for addition questions, contact the Policy Office.