On June 21, 2024, the UVU Board of Trustees approved the following policies to be added, revised, and deleted in the Policy Manual.
Policy Revisions and Additions
Policy 306 Faculty Positions: Posting and Waiver of Posting (TEMPORARY)
| Approval Process | Temporary |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Steward | Kathren Brown |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| Board of Trustees Action | Approved |
| Policy Manual Entry | Policy 306 |
Who does this apply to? Faculty
What is included in the revisions to this policy? When the revised Policy 632 was approved, it no longer covered appointment of initial rank. Because the initial appointment is determined upon hire, it made sense to include it in Policy 306. This policy needed 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 ithe regular policy process. . In this temporary policy, the section about appointment of initial rank will move from Policy 632 to Policy 306.
Policy 335 Staff Grievance
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Marilyn Meyer |
| Policy Steward | Drew Burke |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| Board of Trustees Action | Approved |
| Policy Manual Entry | Policy 335 |
Who does this apply to? Staff
What is included in this revision? The revisions brought Policy 335 into alignment with current Utah Board of Higher Education and UVU policies. The revisions establish an informal and formal resolution process for grievances, provide staff employees who have a right to the staff employee grievance procedure with reasonable time off with pay during scheduled working hours, and require parties' and witnesses' testimony be under oath during termination hearings.
Policy 367 Employee Resource Groups (NEW)
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Marilyn Meyer |
| Policy Steward | Rasha Qudisat |
| Policy Actions | New |
| Board of Trustees Action | Approved |
| Policy Manual Entry | Policy 367 |
Who does this apply to? Faculty and staff
What is included in the new policy? Through this policy, UVU will encourage the formation and ongoing engagement of employee resource groups (ERGs) to promote awareness, respect, and inclusion at the University. An ERG is a voluntary, employee-led group centered on shared identities, experiences, or interests. The University must approve each ERG. University ERGs allow employees to identify and share common identities and interests. The policy lays out the process through which employees can apply for approval to establish an ERG.
Policy 371 Performance Management and Development for Full-Time Staff Employees
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Marilyn Meyer |
| Policy Steward | Drew Burke |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| Board of Trustees Action | Approved |
| Policy Manual Entry | Policy 371 |
Who does this apply to? Staff
What is included in this revision? This policy was updated to bring it into alignment with Utah Board of Higher Education Policy R841. Major updates include defining clearly the grounds for imposing sanctions, introducing a mandatory notice period prior to imposing a sanction and grant employees the opportunity to present their response, and providing clarity on the timeline for initiating an appeal process.
Policy 501 Undergraduate Admissions and Enrollment
Policy 503 Add/Drop/Withdraw
Policy 510 Graduate Admissions and Continuation
Policy 524 Graduate Program Credit and Graduation Requirements
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Michelle Kearns |
| Policy Stewards | Kyle Hicken |
| Policy Actions | Revisions |
| Board of Trustees Action | Approved |
| Policy Manual Entry | Policy 501, Policy 503, Policy 510, Policy 524 |
Who does this apply to? Faculty and students
What is included in these revisions? For Policy 501, Section 5.3 now reads, “upon high school completion, concurrent enrollment students will be automatically admitted to UVU as new freshmen.” Section 5.4 no longer requires admission applicants under the age of 17 to meet with the Director or Assistant Director of Admissions in person; these meetings may now occur virtually, over the phone, and so forth.
For Policy 503, the references section was updated, the requirement for studsent to have chair approval to withdraw from a class was removed, and important definitions were added, as was extensive clarification to the add/drop/withdrawal procedure.
Policy 510 covers the following:
- How to handle criminal background, drug use, and vaccination information that may be asked during the graduate admission process, especially for applicants applying to be clinical students who will work with patients;
- How to handle graduate applicants’ behavioral issues reported by other institutions of higher education;
- TOEFL or IELTS requirement exemptions for student graduating from certain countries where all instruction is conducted in English; and
- Development of graduate admissions criteria for accelerated graduate admissions and combined master’s degree programs.
Policy 524 covers age and usability of earned credits, agreements with recognized partner institutions, roles of graduate directors and program committees, and transfer credit details.
Policy 522 Undergraduate Credit and Transcripts
Policy 523 Final Grade Processing
Policy 526 Student Record Adjustments (NEW)
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Michelle Kearns |
| Policy Stewards | Eric Humphrey |
| Policy Actions | Revisions |
| Board of Trustees Action | Approved |
| Policy Manual Entry | Policy 522, Policy 523, Policy 526 |
Who does this apply to? Faculty and students
What is included in these revisions? For Policy 522, the changes to the policy clarify and add definitions, clarify how dual majors work, clarify credits earned for language proficiency, modify policy related to internships applying to a certificate, replace “Academic Renewal” with student record adjustment and refund procedures, clarify acceptance of credits from “regionally” vs “nationally” accredited institutions, and remove the “Repeats” section as this is already found in another policy.
For Policy 523, the changes to the policy update information about the role of the Council of Academic Standards and update the name of the council in policy; move items currently in the Procedure section to the Definitions section; clarify procedure for student grade appeals; clarify use of “I” and “T” grades; clarify faculty Grade Change procedure and timing; discontinue the use of “E” grades and change to “F” grades; discontinue the use of “UW’”grades; and for course repeats: change from “latest grade” to “highest grade”.
For Policy 526, this new policy outlines a process that allows a student to petition changes to their transcript based on personal, extenuating, and documented non-academic circumstances. This is process is in compliance with FERPA, which states that students have the right to request amendments to their education records.
Policy 609 Academic Scheduling (TEMPORARY)
| Approval Process | Temporary |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Steward | Laurie Sharp |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| Board of Trustees Action | Approved |
| Policy Manual Entry | Policy 609 |
Who does this apply to? Faculty, staff, and students
What is included in this revision? The revisions to this policy establish processes allowing semester schedules that reinforce UVU's priority initiatives for student success, promote multidepartment synergy, contribute to the optimal use of space, and ensure compliance with accreditation standards and government regulations.
Policy 658 Establishment and Administration of Graduate Programs
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Steward | Jim Bailey |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| Board of Trustees Action | Approved |
| Policy Manual Entry | Policy 658 |
Who does this apply to? Faculty, staff, and students
What is included in this revision? At the completion of Stage 2, the Office of General Counsel recommended that section 5.3.1.7 be revised from “Select members of the graduate program admission committee using diversity principles" to “Select members of the graduate program admission committee with as varied disciplinary and experiential backgrounds as practicable.” This revision was made. There were also two limited scope changes to this policy that addressed (1) an equity issue (in section 5.3.1.7) and (2) an accreditation issue (in section 4.5.1.2).
Policy Deletions
Policy 108 Contacting the Trustees or Regents
Policy 109 Contacting the Office of General Counsel and the Attorney General's Office
Policy 111 Academic Calendar
Policy 135 Copyright
Policy 208 Outside Vendors/Contracts on Campus
Policy 209 Contracting with Non-University Employees
Policy 647 Faculty Grievance
For more information on why these policies were deleted, visit prior newsblogs, which can be found here.
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.