Policy Development

Policy development requires thoughtful input from our campus community; extensive review supports an equitable living, learning, and working environment.

Policies developed by administration

Campus policies put forth by the administration must go through a rigorous, multiple-step process that involves the entire campus. If this process is not followed, then the subsequent rules are merely guidelines.

Campus policies will be reviewed and drafted, as needed, by campus administration. This need may originate from an annual review, an external audit, a request emailed to policy@mst.edu, or other communication. Internal and external research will be conducted during the development of any policy. Internal research will be discussions with leaders and executives who can provide historical and practical context, discussions with the people/person who suggested the policy development, and discussions with members of the community who will be directly affected by a policy. Internal research may include open forums for issues that are particularly broad and/or controversial. External research will include reviews of existing laws, policies, and best practices relevant to the policy being developed. Research documentation and a draft of the revised and/or new policies will be provided to the Policy Council.

Electronic communication is acceptable; however, any member of the Council can call for an in-person meeting, provided the meeting occurs within 10 business days of the draft being provided.

Members of the Council will have five business days to object to the draft or call for an in-person meeting. If no members of the Council object or call for a meeting, and at least one member approves, the draft will be considered approved for public comment. If there are objections, or a meeting is called, at least eight members of the Council must approve the policy draft for public comment.

Upon approval, the Council will also select a day within the public comment period on which a public forum will be held, the person/people on the Council who will be responsible for the public forum, and any additional person/people who will be invited to serve as advocates at the forum.

The Council will consist of people in the following positions, but each of them may appoint a delegate to serve in their stead for any and all drafts:

  • Student Council President
  • Vice Provost and Dean, CASE; Council of Graduate Students President
  • Vice Provost and Dean, CEC; Department Chairs Representative
  • Dean of Students; Staff Council Representative; Director of Athletics
  • Faculty Senate Representative
  • IT Representative
  • Chancellor's Leadership Representative
  • Physical Facilities Representative
  • Office of Diversity/Equity Representative
  • External Relations Representative
  • Human Resources Representative

When a draft is approved for public comment and the forum has been scheduled, the draft will be posted online in a standardized format for 10 business days at policy.mst.edu. An email will be sent through eConnection when drafts are posted, and this message will include all relevant information about the forum. Anonymous comments will be reviewed and addressed at the sole discretion of the Policy Council. Signed comments will receive a personal response during review by the Policy Council. Comments delivered at the forum will be addressed at the forum, or by the Policy Council if follow-up is needed. The Policy Council will determine, based on the actions taken during the public comment period, whether more research is needed, what modifications are needed, whether an additional public comment period is necessary, and when to present the proposed policy to the Chancellor.

If approved by the administrator, the proposed policy will be adopted and published. The administrator may reject the policy with recommendations on how to proceed.

The published version will be updated in the appropriate files, updated on the website, and an announcement will be sent to news@mst.edu for eConnection noting what was updated and where the new policy can be viewed.

Policies developed by university representatives

Campus policies put forth by university representatives must go through a rigorous, multiple-step process that involves the body they represent and the campus administration. If this process is not followed, then the subsequent rules are merely guidelines.

Campus policies will be reviewed and drafted, as needed, by campus representatives. This need may originate from an annual review, an external audit, a request, or other communication. Internal and external research will be conducted during the development of any policy.

Internal research will be discussions with leaders and executives who can provide historical and practical context, discussions with the people/person who suggested the policy development, and discussions with members of the community who will be directly affected by a policy. Internal research may include open forums for issues that are particularly broad and/or controversial.

External research will include reviews of existing laws, policies, and best practices relevant to the policy being developed. Research documentation and a draft of the revised and/or new policies will be provided to the Policy Council.

Electronic communication is acceptable; however, any member of the Council can call for an in-person meeting, provided the meeting occurs within 10 business days of the draft being provided.

Members of the Council will have five business days to object to the draft or call for an in-person meeting. If no members of the Council object or call for a meeting, and at least one member approves, the draft will be considered approved for public comment. If there are objections, or a meeting is called, at least eight members of the Council must approve the policy draft for public comment.

Upon approval, the Council may also select a day within the public comment period on which a public forum will be held, the person/people on the Council who will be responsible for the public forum, and any additional person/people who will be invited to serve as advocates at the forum. 

The Council will consist of people in the following positions, but each of them may appoint a delegate to serve in their stead for any and all drafts:

  • Student Council President
  • Vice Provost and Dean, CASB
  • Council of Graduate Students President
  • Vice Provost and Dean, CEC
  • Department Chairs Representative
  • Dean of Students; Staff Council Representative
  • Director of Athletics; Faculty Senate Representative
  • IT Representative; Chancellor's Leadership Representative
  • Physical Facilities Representative
  • Office of Diversity/Equity Representative
  • External Relations Representative
  • Human Resources Representative

When a draft is approved for public comment and the forum has been scheduled, the draft will be posted online in a standardized format for 10 business days at policy.mst.edu/review.

An email will be sent through eConnection when drafts are posted, and this message will include all relevant information about the forum. Anonymous comments will be reviewed and addressed at the sole discretion of the Policy Council.

Signed comments will receive a personal response during review by the Policy Council. Comments delivered at the forum will be addressed at the forum, or by the Policy Council if follow-up is needed.

The Policy Council will determine, based on the actions taken during the public comment period, whether more research is needed, what modifications are needed, whether an additional public comment period is necessary, and when to present the proposed policy to the Chancellor.

If approved by the representative body, the proposed policy will be adopted and published. The representative body may reject the policy with recommendations on how to proceed.

The published version will be updated in the appropriate files, updated on the website, and an announcement will be sent to news@mst.edu for eConnection noting what was updated and where the new policy can be viewed.

Policies developed by divisions

Campus policies put forth by university divisions, departments, and/or colleges must go through a multiple-step process that involves their division and the administration in their direct reporting line. If this process is not followed, then the subsequent rules are merely guidelines.

Policies that only affect a small division of campus will be reviewed and drafted, as needed, by division heads (e.g., chairs of the colleges and directors of departments). This need may originate from an annual review, an external audit, a request, or other communication. Internal and external research should be conducted during the development of any policy. Internal research may inlcude discussions with leaders and executives who can provide historical and practical context, discussions with the people/person who suggested the policy development, and discussions with members of the community who will be directly affected by a policy. External research may include reviews of existing laws, policies, and best practices relevant to the policy being developed. Research documentation and a draft of the revised and/or new policies will be provided to the Policy Council if the Policy Council is consulted as part of the research process; however the Policy Council does not need to approve policies that only affect a small division of campus.

The division head will be responsible for ensuring that the draft is available for public review for 10 business days. The division head will be responsible for gathering and responding to feedback.

Once approved by an administrator in the division head's direct reporting line, the proposed policy will be adopted and published per the division's policy-making procedures.