Merging Policies into One Manual

Before I move on to my blog topic, I wanted to take a moment to thank Cara O’Sullivan on behalf of the Blog Committee. Cara was one of the first members of the committee when it began as a newsletter in 2013. She took on a lead role in the committee by putting together the production schedule for each issue and editing each of the articles before they went to press. She was enthusiastic about communicating to other ACUPA members through the newsletter and championed the switch to the blog format. With too many obligations on her plate, Cara decided that she needed to step down from the committee, and while we understand her decision, we are sorry to lose her. Thank you, Cara, for contributing your writing and editing skills to ACUPA for the past six years!

On another note, we are pleased to announce the addition of Teresa Raetz from Georgia Gwinnett College to the Blog Committee. We all can look forward to her expertise and perspective on policy in the coming months.

Now on to my blog topic . . .

Transformational change at a higher education institution is complex, and on the road to that change the details are endless.

Over the course of several years, the leadership of the community college where I work participated in many discussions with a neighboring community college on the idea of joining the two entities. The rationale made economic sense and served to provide a broader array of academic opportunities for students in the state’s southern region. The plan would have our college act as the main campus and the other as a branch. After extensive communication opportunities to vet the jointure with external and internal stakeholders from both locales, the leadership drafted a memorandum of understanding to explore and move forward toward a jointure early last year. This action triggered the early notification of the plan to our accrediting agency in March 2018, with the submittal of a complex substantive change request form and first run of documents occurring in August. The timeline for final decision from the agency is June 27, 2019. On June 28th, the soon-to-be branch campus board of trustees is scheduled to meet to approve closure of their college, to be followed by a meeting on July 1 for the reorganization of our board of trustees, and then the vote to approve opening as one college with two campus locations under a new name. Although accreditation approval is in no way a given, both colleges have needed to plan accordingly pending this approval. So, full steam ahead toward transformational change.

Since the submission of the substantive change last year, thousands of pages of documentation have been provided to the accrediting agency, getting into the weeds regarding the handling of finances, facilities, academics, student services, athletics, faculty and staff contracts, and POLICY. The latter is where I come in as the responsible party for the management of the policy office as it exists today, and how it will look and operate with two locations as of July 1.

In preparation for the official jointure, it is necessary to have a course of action to review, compare, and consolidate the policy of both institutions into a best practice, with one comprehensive policy manual providing governance solidarity for the main and branch campuses that would be ready to adopt on July 1.

To facilitate this process a policy committee was established to draft the initial merged policy manual. The committee was comprised of a chair, one representative from each location, a policy consultant, and as needed, legal representation.

The process for analyzing the institutions’ policies has involved a side-by-side comparison of both policy manual sections for content. This resulted in a walk-over analysis to determine policy redundancy, as well as discover those areas strengthened by best practice as a result of policy comparison, all with sensitivity toward adaptation of location specific language as warranted.

To keep the policy review process on track, it was imperative to have a fluid timeline spread over seven months from November 2018 through May 30, 2019. This gave the policy committee the month of June for final review by both locations for any last minute adjustments. Throughout this process, the accreditors have required periodic updates on progress toward the goal of a merged policy manual. As a matter of fact, the policy office has been asked to upload all additional draft policies that were ready by Thursday of last week. The policy office is in a good place; we are ahead of schedule.