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Administrative Policies Framework Procedure

 

I.   Policy Development and Review Process

The Administrative Policies Framework Procedure establishes the procedure by which policies are reviewed, updated, approved, consolidated and retired.

Step 1: Notification 

1.   The Owner shall:

(a)   initiate policy development or review; and

(b)   notify the Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors, the Approver, and relevant community stakeholders.

Step 2: Initial Draft and Review 

2.   The Owner shall:

(a)   gather feedback from the Approver and relevant community stakeholders on policy gaps or needs;

(b)   draft or review the policy; and

(c)   provide the draft policy to the Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors.

3.   The Owner may:

(a)   request policy support as described in the Administrative Policy Framework, including but not limited to:

(i)   coordinating the legal review of the policy; 

(ii)   drafting and research assistance; and

(iii)   consultation with the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion as required.

Step 3: The Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors Review

4.   The Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors may:

(a) conduct research and identify policy gaps;

(b) assist with drafting;

(c) coordinate legal review

(d) ensure all links to associated documents, such as procedures, are functional and follows established formatting expectations; and

(e) provide other recommendations.

Step 4: Consultation 

5.   The Owner shall submit the policy to the Approver for review.

6.   The Approver should bring the policy and substance of any relevant community stakeholder consultations to the Executive Group for additional consultation, particularly where there are significant changes to the policy under review.

7.   The Approver provides this feedback to the Owner.

8.   The Owner:

(a)   revises the policy; 

 (b)   may undertake additional consultations with relevant community stakeholders regarding the feedback from the Approver; and   

(c)   re-submits the policy to the Approver, who may recirculate the policy to the Executive Group. 

9.   Repeat paragraphs 5 to 8 until the Approver is satisfied with the policy.

10.  The Approver then seeks the President’s approval.  Only then is the policy approved. 

Step 5: Board of Governors’ Approval, If Necessary

11.  There may be circumstances where a policy requires approval by the Board of Governors, including, but not limited to:

(a) upon recommendation of the Executive Group;

(b) as required by the Toronto Metropolitan University Act; or

(c) as required by law. 

12.  Where the Owner believes the Board of Governors’ is the Approver:

(a) the Owner shall notify the Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors; and 

(b) the Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors shall explicitly state that Board of Governors’ approval is required.

Step 6: Communication of Approved Policy

13.  Once the Approver has approved the policy:

(a) the Owner sends the approved policy and written evidence of the Approver’s approval to the Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors; and

(b) the Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors posts the approved Policy to the Administrative Policies website.   

II.  Policy Review Period

14.   The Owner is responsible to review each policy every five years:

(a)   unless otherwise required by legislation; or 

(b)   at the Owner’s discretion to review more frequently than every five years.  

In circumstances when a review period exceeds five years, the Owner is responsible for providing the rationale in writing to the Approver and the Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors.  

15.  The General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors shall notify the Owner one year prior to the policy review.

III.  Policy Retirement

Step 1: Notification and Consultation

16.   When the Owner determines a policy is no longer required due to operational, statutory, regulatory, or other types of changes the Owner shall:

(a)   provide notice to the Approver, relevant community stakeholders, and the Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors in writing;  

(b)   include rationale for retiring the policy in the notice; 

(c)   address relevant community stakeholder concerns; and

(d)   bring any unresolved concerns to the Approver’s attention.

Step 2: Approval

17.   A policy is retired when:

(a)   the Approver accepts, in writing, the Owner’s notice; and

(b)   the Owner provides a written copy of the Approver’s acceptance to the Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors. 

Step 3: Communication

18.   The Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors shall:

(a)   remove the retired policy from the University Administrative Policies website; and 

(b)   coordinate appropriate communications with the Owner.

IV.  Policy Reconciliation and Consolidation

Step 1: Reconciliation

19.   The Owner may:

(a) undertake policy reconciliation as part of the regular policy review process; and

(b) consider policy consolidation when the Owner determines there is duplication among a group of policies.

Step 2: Consolidation Notification

20.   The Owner shall:

(a)   initiate consolidation by providing notice to the Approver, relevant community stakeholders, and the Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors in writing, which includes the rationale for consolidating a group of named policies; and

(b)   shall also notify other affected Approvers and Owners, where the Owner does not own all of the policies under consideration for consolidation.

Step 3:  Consolidation Consultation

21.   The consultation process shall follow in accordance with Step 4 (Consultation) of this Procedure, in the Policy Development and Review Process section.

Step 4: Consolidation Approval

22.   A group of policies are consolidated when:

(a)   the Approver accepts, in writing, the Owner’s notice; and

(b)   the Owner provides a written copy of the Approver’s acceptance to the Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors. 

23.   The consolidated policy is a new policy. 

24.   The former group of policies will be retired as a result of consolidation.

Step 5: Consolidation Communications:

25.   The Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors shall:

(a)   remove the retired policies from the University Administrative Policies website;

(b)   post the new consolidated policy to the University Administrative Policies website; and 

(c)   coordinate appropriate communications with the Owner.

V.   Distribution and Communication  

The Office of the General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Governors shall use the Administrative Policies website to communicate policy updates and reviews. 

To ensure the Owner communicates the official copy of a policy, the Owner may post a copy of a policy to the Owner’s website by linking to the Administrative Policies website.