I. Purpose
A. This Procedure on Development of Policies and Procedures (“Development Procedure”) is established to implement the Anne Arundel Community College (“College”) Policy on Development of Policies and Procedures (“Development Policy”).
B. This Development Procedure provides direction on the process for creating, revising, discontinuing, reviewing, approving, implementing, communicating, and publishing Policies and Procedures.
II. Scope and Applicability
A. This Development Procedure applies to all members of the College community, including faculty, staff, students, and the Board.
B. This Development Procedure does not apply to Internal Guidance. To the extent possible, departmental or program specific rules should not be referred to as a policy or procedures to distinguish such rules from Policies that are approved by the Board and Procedures that are approved by the President and apply College-wide.
C. To the extent that the College Manual conflicts with this Development Procedure, this Development Procedure supersedes the College Manual.
III. Definitions
A. All capitalized terms in this Development Procedure have the meanings provided in the Policy.
B. All other capitalized terms in this Development Procedure have the following meanings:
1. Business Day is any day which is not a Saturday or Sunday or day that the College is closed, such as holidays, spring break, winter break, or other day that the College announces that it is closed.
2. CDEIO is the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer or designee.
3. Drafter is a member of the General Counsel’s (GC) office or the Chief Compliance and Fair Practices Officer (CCFPO) assigned to the Drafting Committee by PVP to assist the Policy Administrator(s) in drafting and reviewing a particular Policy and/or Procedure, as described in Section IV.B.6.
4. Drafting Guidelines are guidance on how to draft or revise Policies and/or Procedures.
5. GC is a member of the General Counsel’s Office, as assigned by the General Counsel.
6. Guidelines are general rules, principles, recommendations or instructions that apply to the College community
7. Interim Procedure is a Procedure that is approved on an interim basis in situations where a Policy Action must occur within a time period that is too short to permit the completion of the review and approval processes.
8. Policy Action Request is an online form used to initiate a request for Policy Action.
9. Public Safety Protocol is a set of rules that govern the operation of the Department of Public Safety and Police.
10. Subject Matter Expert is an employee who can provide knowledge on a specific subject, pedagogy, business area, business process, or technical issue, including particular knowledge based on the employee’s job description, job duties, other experience, department work, functions, processes, use of specific equipment, software, and/or materials, or understanding of historical information.
IV. Request
A. To initiate a request for Policy Action, the requestor must submit a Policy Action Request electronically and must include the reason(s) for the requested Policy Action and a summary of the new Policy and/or Procedure to be created or the proposed changes to an existing Policy or Procedure.
1. The requestor can submit a draft or sample policies or procedures, or a description, outline, or list of proposed provisions with the Policy Action Request.
2. If the Policy Action Request is missing information or needs clarification, the CCFPO or designee may consult with the individual who submitted the Policy Action Request and revise the Policy Action Request, as needed.
3. The requestor will receive an email acknowledging receipt of the request.
B. PVP will review the Policy Action Request.
1. If PVP recommends proceeding with the proposed Policy Action that relates to a Policy, the President or designee will submit the Policy Action Request to the Board Committee for review as provided in the Policy.
2. If the proposed Policy Action relates solely to a Procedure, PVP shall review and determine whether to approve the Policy Action for drafting.
3. PVP will prioritize the order in which Policy Actions should be completed.
4. If not already identified, PVP will assign a Policy Category for the Policy and/or Procedure, selected from the following:
a. Academic Affairs;
b. Administration, Business, and Fiscal Affairs;
c. General;
d. Human Resources;
e. Information Technology;
f. Faculty Affairs; and
g. Student Affairs.
5. When a Policy and/or Procedure is ready to be drafted, PVP will appoint:
a. A Policy Owner, if not previously identified;
b. A Policy Administrator[s], if not previously identified; and
c. A Drafter.
6. The Policy Administrator(s) and Drafter will serve as the Drafting Committee.
7. The Special Assistant or designee will maintain a list of Policy Actions that are in progress, including the assigned Policy Administrator for each. This list shall be available on the AACC intranet for review by all Constituency Groups and their members.
V. Drafting
A. The Policy Administrator will work with the Drafter to create or revise the Policy and/or Procedures, using the Templates.
B. If the College Manual covers the same subject matter as a Policy Action, the Policy Administrator and the Drafter will draft revisions to the College Manual, if needed, to avoid inconsistencies.
C. During the drafting period, the Policy Administrator will complete an Implementation Plan to introduce the Policy or Procedure to the College community. An Implementation Plan shall cover:
1. Compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and accreditation standards;
2. The impact on other Policies or Procedures and business processes;
3. Necessary changes to business processes, technology, catalog provisions, College websites, marketing materials, employee training materials, forms, guidelines, Internal Guidance, or any other materials that may be impacted;
4. How the Policy and/or Procedure should be communicated to the College community or specific groups within the College community;
5. Proposed Effective Date(s) for when the Policy and/or Procedures will be published on the College’s website.
D. During the drafting process, the Policy Administrator and Drafter may consult with Constituency Group leaders and Subject Matter Experts on any component of the Policy Action process prior to finalizing the draft for review.
E. The Policy Administrator or Drafter will submit the draft(s) resulting from the Policy Action to the GC for review.
1. GC will return the draft (s) to the Policy Administrator or Drafter with feedback from GC’s review.
2. The Policy Administrator and Drafter will work to incorporate any suggested revisions recommended by the GC.
3. After any changes are made, the PVP will approve the Policy and/or Procedure for review by the College community.
VI. Review by the College Community
A. Except for Interim Policies and Procedures, Policy Actions that the PVP determines will significantly impact a Constituency Group or the College Community as a whole, will be reviewed by the College Community pursuant to this section of the Procedure.
B. The CCFPO or designee will submit such draft Policies and/or Procedures to the College Community for timely review and feedback as provided below. The CCFPO will determine the form and format for requesting review.
1. Employee Constituency Groups. The CCFPO or designee may invite TFO, ASO, and PSSO to review drafts and provide timely feedback on each Policy Action.
2. Student Government Association. The CCFPO or designee may invite SGA to appoint student(s) to review drafts and provide timely feedback on each Policy Action whose implementation will significantly impact students, such as grading, codes of student conduct, academic misconduct, student grievances, curriculum development, courses or programs that should be discontinued, and student fees.
3. Diversity and Equity. The CCFPO or designee may invite the CDEIO to review Policy Actions from an equity lens and provide feedback.
4. It is strongly recommended that Constituency Group leaders discuss the draft Policy and/or Procedure submitted to them for review with Constituency Group members in a manner that is appropriate to the Constituency Group.
C. Members of Constituency Groups, including SGA, if applicable, and the CDEIO, will be given thirty (30) calendar days to provide comments or suggest changes (“Review Period”). The CCFPO may determine to provide additional review time if the College is closed during the review period.
1. At the end of the Review Period, the CCFPO or designee will submit the feedback received to the Drafting Committee.
2. The Drafting Committee will review the feedback and determine whether to accept the proposed revisions or comments, make revisions, or reject the proposed revisions or comments.
3. The Policy Administrator may consult with the Policy Owner and/or PVP during the review process.
4. If necessary, the Policy Administrator will make changes to the Implementation Plan.
D. PVP Review
1. If the College community input has not been solicited on a Procedure, PVP will review and approve the Procedure in accordance with the Procedure Approval Section below or may delay approval until the Board approves any accompanying Policy. If the Policy Action relates to a Policy, PVP will review and approve the Policy for submission to the Board Committee.
2. If College community input has been solicited, once such feedback is incorporated into the draft Policy or Procedure, the Policy Administrator will provide the revised draft to the GC to review and provide the revised draft to PVP.
3. The Policy Administrator will provide PVP with a summary of feedback received by the Drafting Committee, noting consensus and dissent about the draft document, together with the Policy Administrator’s recommended changes to the draft Policy or Procedure.
4. PVP will provide feedback to the GC and the Policy Administrator who will work to incorporate any suggested revisions by PVP.
5. After any changes are made, PVP will approve the Procedure in accordance with the Procedure Approval Section below or may delay approval until the Board approves any accompanying Policy.
6. If the Policy Action relates to a Policy, PVP will approve the Policy for submission to the Board Committee.
E. Board Committee Review
1. The Special Assistant or designee will submit a draft of the Policy and an Approval Form to the Board Policy Oversight Committee pursuant to the Development Policy.
2. The President has discretion to request additional feedback on substantive revisions that are made at any stage of the review process.
VII. Approval
A. Policy Approval
1. The Special Assistant or designee will follow the Development Policy for submission of the Approval Form and draft of the Policy to the Board.
2. After the Board votes on a Policy, the Special Assistant or designee will complete the Approval Form.
a. If the Board approves the Policy, the Special Assistant or designee will submit the Policy to be published on the College’s website on or before the Effective Date;
b. Archive any prior version of the Policy;
c. Maintain the Approval Form;
d. Schedule the next required review cycle, which shall be no more than five (5) years from the Effective Date.
3. Upon notification of an approved Policy, the Policy Administrator will begin implementation and communication in accordance with the Implementation Plan.
4. If the Board declines to approve the Policy, the Special Assistant or designee will:
a. Notify the Policy Administrator to determine if further action is needed;
b. Maintain the Approval Form.
B. Procedure Approval
1. If the Policy Action relates solely to a Procedure, PVP may reach a consensus as to whether to approve the Procedures. If PVP cannot reach a consensus, the President will decide whether to approve.
2. If the Policy Action relates to both a Policy and related Procedures, the President may wait until after the Policy is approved by the Board to approve the Procedures to ensure consistency.
3. After PVP considers the Procedure, the Special Assistant or designee will complete the Approval Form.
4. If approved, the Special Assistant or designee will:
a. Submit the Procedure to be published on the College’s website on or before the Effective Date;
b. Archive any prior version of the Procedures;
c. Maintain the Approval Form; and
d. Schedule the next required review cycle, which shall be no more than five (5) years from the Effective Date.
5. Upon the notification of an approved Procedure, the Policy Administrator will begin implementation and communication in accordance with the Implementation Plan.
6. If declined, the Special Assistant or designee will:
a. Notify the Policy Administrator to determine if further action is needed;
b. Maintain the Approval Form.
VIII. Interim Procedures
A. The President will approve an Interim Procedure in the following circumstances:
1. The need for immediate compliance with applicable law, regulations, or notice from a regulatory agency, accreditor or other oversight entity;
2. Identification of a likely adverse impact to a time-sensitive College strategic project or initiative or College operations;
3. Identification of a gap or omission or conflict with another Policy that creates immediate risk or vulnerability for the College; and/or
4. Identification of an unanticipated significant negative impact on the College if a Procedure is not adopted, changed, or discontinued quickly.
B. An Interim Procedure will remain in force until adopted, with or without revisions, through the Review and Approval process described above or for up to twelve (12) months from the date of issuance, whichever occurs first.
C. The Special Assistant or designee will update the Procedure on the College’s website on or before the Effective Date and maintain the Procedure in the same manner as other Procedures and will title the Procedure as “Interim.”
IX. Public Safety Protocols
A. The College will maintain Public Safety Protocols.
B. Public Safety Protocols must be reviewed by a member of the GC’s office before being published.
C. Public Safety Protocols are not subject to this Procedure but must be approved by PVP before being published.
D. The Chief of Police will also submit the Public Safety Protocols to be published as required by the Maryland Police Training and Standards Commission.
X. Guidelines
A. The President authorizes each of the Vice Presidents to issue Guidelines that are within the purview of the Vice President but apply College-wide.
B. The Vice President must consult with the GC’s office before publishing Guidelines.
C. Once approved by a Vice President, the Special Assistant or designee submit the Guidelines to be published on the College’s website on or before the Effective Date.
D. A Vice President may make updates to Guidelines within the purview of the Vice President by notifying the Special Assistant or designee of the proposed changes.
Policy Title: Procedure on Development of Policies and Procedures
Policy Category: Administration, Business, and Fiscal Affairs
Policy Owner: President
Policy Administrator: Chief Compliance and Fair Practices Officer
Contact Information: 410-777-1239; complianceofficer@aacc.edu
Approval Date: March 24, 2025
Effective Date: March 28, 2025
History: Approved Nov. 9, 2021; Interim approved on June 12, 2023; approved March 24, 2024; Interim approved on June 3, 2024
Applies to: All members of the College community
Related Policies: Policy on Development of Policies and Procedures
Related Procedures: N/A
Forms/Guidelines:
Relevant Laws: N/A