How Centralized Policies Affect Productivity

I work at a community college that, like many of its peer institutions, is experiencing declining funding and, at the same time, escalating regulatory mandates. I recently had the opportunity to speak with our executive director of diversity and equity, Affirmative Action/Title IX officer about her challenges with regulatory requirements and how the establishment of a policy office and a centralized policy library aided her productivity.

Like many of us on campus, the executive director wears many hats, with the assistance of one shared staff member. Here at the college, she administers all programs related to diversity, equity, Affirmative Action, and Title IX, and is responsible for the review and investigation of complaints regarding discrimination, sexual harassment, dating and domestic violence, stalking, Title IX, and workplace issues. During our talk, the executive director noted that budgetary constraints and Title IX were her current challenges. Nearly half of her allotted budget, despite collaboration with other departments to share costs, goes toward campus-wide mandated training initiatives; in her opinion, considering today’s social environment, more training is needed above and beyond the required levels. In addition, a big chunk of her time is spent staying current on national news and the changing federal policy environment. Continual monitoring is necessary to remain ahead of the curve in managing risk, where missteps could be financially catastrophic to a small public institution. As an example, the executive director mentioned that what has been keeping her awake at night is a Proposed Title IX Regulation, released on November 16 for 60 days of public comment. This proposal came after the Department of Education’s decision in September 2017 to rescind prior guidance from 2011 and 2014, leaving in place the 2001 Guidance. These changes have left the college’s published policy in limbo for now, but it will require considerable revision in the not-too-distant future. It is still too early to do a deep dive into the work of revision and procedural considerations until the proposed regulation is finalized.  

Over my college’s 50-plus-year history, published policy has been a hit-or-miss affair, and what policy existed was more likely to be held in a multitude of forms scattered across departments. Since the 2013 creation of the college’s centralized policy office and policy library, the executive director claims to have experienced an increase in her office’s productivity. As she mentioned many times during our conversation, policy in her wheelhouse is always changing, which requires timely updates. She indicated that the services the policy office offers save her time by providing best-practice research, help with writing and editing during the development or revision stage, and shepherding the policy draft through review/approval processes; this allows her more time for implementing budget-friendly staff training and professional development strategies.