Policy, Procedure & Protocol Process

As required by its accrediting body, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, and in the spirit of collegial and responsive institutional government, Monroe Community College has a system of governance that clearly defines the roles of institutional constituencies in policy development and decision making. In shared governance, Board of Trustees, administration, faculty, support staff, and students participate in the development of policies and in decision making that affect the institution. MCC has a strong commitment to shared governance in institutional practice.

Each institutional constituency has separate but complementary roles and responsibilities, and shared governance engages these institutional constituencies to offer informed and timely input on College policy and decision making.

• View a printable version of the Policy, Procedure & Protocol Process
• View Creating or Revising a Procedure
• View Creating or Revising a Protocol

1. Research

1. Consult the Glossary of Terms to determine if you are creating or revising a policy, procedure or protocol. If a policy, proceed through this checklist.
1. If a procedure or protocol, please go to the section regarding creating or revising procedures and protocols.
2. Discuss the rationale for the new or revised policy with the responsible College officer.
1. If the College officer supports the need for a new or revised policy, he/she will inform the President.
3. Identify all current processes and internal and external parties who will be impacted by the new or revised policy.

1. Contact the impacted parties and discuss the need for the new or revised policy.
1. This group of constituents will be identified by the policy author, based on the content of the policy.

4. After consulting the parties above, create/revise a draft policy using the policy template (DOCX).
5. Allow for the above identified parties (appropriate College officer, internal and external stakeholders) to review, provide feedback and build a consensus.
1. Review the language of the draft policy to assure it can be understood with a high probability of clarity by all intended audiences.
2. At this stage, you may determine that an accompanying procedure will need to be developed using the procedure template (DOCX).
6. Consult the Executive Director of Human Resources and Organizational Development or the CFO/Vice President of Administrative Services to assess and review any legal or financial impact of the draft policy.

2. Submit draft policy to the Institutional Compliance and Internal Audit Office who will advise if the policy is ready for Administration review.
1. If Yes, the policy will be brought to the Executive Leadership Team by the President or the appropriate College officer.
2. If No, further review and revisions will be requested.
3. The policy author will submit the draft policy to the Institutional Compliance and Internal Audit Office for preparation for the 30-day College community review.
1. The College community will be notified via the Employee and Student Tribune when a policy is open for review. The draft policy review will automatically close at the end of 30-day College community review.
4. The policy author will create an executive summary of the comments received via the 30-day College community review and Shared Governance groups. The executive summary will be provided to the Board of Trustees with the first read of the draft policy.
5. Approval Process

1. The policy will be submitted to the Board of Trustees for a first read, allowing the opportunity for questions/feedback to continue.

1. If none, the policy will return to the Board as a resolution prepared by the Institutional Compliance and Internal Audit Office and will be voted on at the subsequent meeting.
2. If changes are recommended, the policy will remain with the author for consideration of edits.
1. After final edit and review, the author will submit the policy to the Institutional Compliance and Internal Audit Office who will prepare the document for Board of Trustees’ approval.

2. Upon Board of Trustees’ approval, the policy will be added to the Policy website by the Institutional Compliance and Internal Audit Office:
1. College-wide policies and procedures, as listed on the policy website, will be reviewed on a five-year cycle. The date the policy and procedure were established, reviewed, approved revision (if applicable) and future review date will be tracked by the Institutional Compliance and Internal Audit Office (see example below). Each division will be notified when a policy is due for review. Exceptions to the five-year review cycle are legal and/or compliance regulations requiring immediate revision.

1. Protocols are College-wide processes, (e.g., employee parking, college keys process).

1. A new or revised protocol should be submitted on the protocol template (DOCX) to the appropriate College officer for review.

1. New or revised protocols will be approved at the College officer level.
1. The Protocol will be brought to the Executive Leadership Team by the President or the appropriate College officer.
2. Upon approval, the protocol will be added to the Employee Portal by the Institutional Compliance and Internal Audit Office.
3. The appropriate College officer will communicate the new or revised protocol as appropriate with impacted groups.