Category: General Policy (GP)
Responsible Unit: Academic Affairs
Applies to: Academic Affairs
Effective: August 15, 2025
Contact: [email protected]
Revision Notes: New Policy
Link to PDF: POLICY ON ACADEMIC POLICY & PROCEDURE (GP 2)
Sec. 1. POLICY STATEMENT
This procedure governs the development, review and approval of Academic Policies. Academic Policies are defined as those policies which impact academic programs, curriculum, academic operations, research and academic personnel matters. Further, these procedures will be utilized for decision making on other shared governance academic matters that are not governed by an existing policy.
Sec. 2. POLICY
We define four categories of Academic Policy:
1. Curriculum
Governs the policies for development and management of the academic curriculum, including, but not limited to, degree programs, courses, core curriculum, course modality and pedagogy
2. Academic Personnel
Defines the personnel policies (appointment, promotion, tenure, employment, roles and responsibilities, sabbaticals and performance reviews) for Nevada State University academic faculty and describes how we recognize and reward our faculty for their academic work and scholarship
3. Academic Operations
Governs various aspects of academic student and program management, including, but not limited to, student academic standing, academic integrity, student records, add/drop deadlines, grades, finals schedule, semester dates, etc.
4. Research
Establishes institutional expectations and requirements for engaging in research and sponsored projects at Nevada State University, including, but not limited to, intellectual property, principle investigator eligibility, grant management, conflict of interest, research and lab safety, Institutional Review Board and research integrity
The Academic Policy Procedure outlines distinct roles and responsibilities for policy development, review and approval for each of these categories of Academic Policy. We define the following groups for purposes of assigning roles and responsibilities under this policy
Academic Leadership is defined to include the Provost, Vice Provosts, Associate Vice Provosts, Deans and Associate Deans within the Division of Academic Affairs.
Academic Faculty is defined to include all tenure-track and tenured faculty, lecturers, part-time instructors (PTIs) and clinical faculty except for those in Academic Leadership.
Executive Team is defined to include the President, Provost, Vice Presidents, Chief of Staff and General Counsel.
Deans’ Council is defined to include the Provost, Deans and Associate Deans within the Division of Academic Affairs and makes decisions according to its charter.
All policies and procedures are developed in alignment with our institution’s mission and vision statement; academic freedom; NSHE policies and procedures; NWCCU accreditation requirements; and Federal, State, and local laws and regulations.
Sec. 3. PROCEDURE
Initiate
The following members of the university community can propose the development, revision or elimination of an Academic Policy in a particular category.
1. Curriculum
Any member of the Academic Faculty or Academic Leadership
2. Academic Personnel
Any member of the Academic Faculty or Academic Leadership
3. Academic Operations
Any member of the Academic Faculty or Academic Leadership or the University Registrar
4. Research
Any member of the Academic Faculty or Academic Leadership, the Director of the Office of Grants Awards Services, or the Vice President of Finance, Business and Operations
Policy proposals can be submitted via email to [email protected]. Policy proposals should include a brief description of the new policy, policy revision or policy elimination and a short rationale for the need.
Consult
The Provost and the Academic Faculty Senate Chair, or their official administrative delegate, will review each policy proposal submission, affirm the appropriate category for the policy and send the proposal out for consultation. Such consultation is intended to explore the need for the proposed policy and elucidate key information to inform the policy draft. The following individuals and/or groups would be consulted for the indicated Academic Policy category.
1. Curriculum
School Curriculum Committees
2. Academic Personnel
Deans’ Council, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, and Academic Faculty Senate Faculty Affairs Subcommittee Chair
3. Academic Operations
University Registrar, Director of Academic Advising, and NSSA President
4. Research
Executive Team, Institutional Review Board Chair
Launch
The Provost and Academic Faculty Senate Chair will review Academic Policy proposals along with the comments from the consultations. The Provost and Academic Faculty Senate Chair shall decide whether or not to move forward with the policy development. If there is not consensus between the two, then a vote of the designated Academic Faculty Senate subcommittee determines whether to launch development of the policy.
At the launch phase, a proposed policy may be designated by the Provost and Academic Faculty Senate Chair as Expedited. An Academic Policy proposal may be Expedited if it is determined to be a minor or non-substantial change to an existing policy, an emergency policy, or a time-sensitive, externally mandated policy.
Draft
When a policy proposal is approved for launch, the Provost and Academic Faculty Senate Chair shall select an individual to develop the written policy draft. Those designated as eligible to initiate Academic Policy by category are also eligible to be the lead drafter in that category.
Feedback
Once a complete draft of an Academic Policy is received, it is submitted to designated individuals and groups for feedback. The following individuals and/or groups are solicited for feedback on the draft policy in the indicated Academic Policy category.
1. Curriculum
School Curriculum Committees, Academic Faculty Senate Curriculum Subcommittee, Registrar, the Accreditation Liaison Officer, and the Director of Academic Advising
2. Academic Personnel
Deans’ Council, Vice Provost for Academic Faculty Affairs, Academic Faculty Senate Academic Faculty Affairs Subcommittee, and Associate Vice President of Human Resources
3. Academic Operations
University Registrar, Director of Academic Advising, Deans’ Council, Academic Faculty Senate Academic Faculty Affairs Subcommittee and Vice President for Student Affairs (conduct issues only)
4. Research
Vice Provost for Research, Director of Office of Grant Awards Services, and Academic Faculty Senate Academic Faculty Affairs Subcommittee
In addition to this solicited feedback from designated individuals and groups, unless they are designated as Expedited, Academic Policy drafts shall be open for public comment.
Once the draft is ready for public comment, it will be and announced via campus policy communications channels.
Any Nevada State University employee or student with a campus login may submit comments and suggested revisions on the policy and procedure draft.
The public comment period will be open for a minimum of 30 academic business days (i.e. Non-holiday weekdays during the B-contract faculty work period).
All public comment will be captured via a non-disclosed comments form available to the NSU community. Non-disclosed comments are kept confidential and not shared with the general public.
Individuals are required to provide their name along with their comments. Anonymous comments are not accepted.
All feedback received will be provided to the Provost and the Academic Faculty Senate Chair, or their official administrative delegate.
Edit
The feedback received will be provided to the drafter. The drafter will edit the policy draft taking into consideration the feedback received. In addition, the Provost and Academic Faculty Senate Chair may designate an additional editor to review the policy to ensure that it is clearly written, internally consistent, formatted appropriately and in alignment with other Nevada State University, NSHE, accreditation, and federal policies.
Recommend
After the edit phase, a policy draft is submitted to the appropriate Academic Faculty Senate subcommittee, as designated in the Academic Faculty Senate Bylaws. The policy draft package includes all written feedback received from the solicitation and from public comment. The Academic Faculty Senate subcommittee reviews and makes one of the following three recommendations:
Recommendation to Approve
Recommendation to Disapprove
Recommendation to Revise
If a policy is recommended for Approval or Disapproval, it is moved forward to the next stage. If a policy is recommended to Revise, the policy is returned to the Feedback stage. Comments from the recommending body are included in the feedback.
Expedited policies are not eligible for “Recommendation to Revise”; the recommending body must recommend to either Approve or Disapprove.
Advance
Once a proposed policy has been Recommended to Approve or Recommended to Disapprove, it is reviewed by Deans’ Council. Deans’ Council determines whether or not to advance the proposed policy. The policy development process terminates if a policy is not advanced.
The Provost does not participate in Deans’ Council votes on policy advancement.
Note: There is not an Advance step for policies in the Curriculum category and such policies go directly from Recommend phase to Decide phase.
Decide
If a proposed policy has been Recommended to Approve and Advanced, it is submitted to General Counsel for legal review.
Once a policy has been advanced, it is sent to the following individual or group for decision.
1.Curriculum
Academic Faculty Senate (or designated subcommittee according to their bylaws)
2. Academic Personnel
Academic Faculty Senate (or designated subcommittee according to their bylaws) and Provost
3. Academic Operations
Provost
4. Research
Provost
Before rendering a decision that is contrary to a recommendation, the decider will meet with the appropriate Academic Faculty Senate subcommittee to discuss.
Sign
Once an Academic Policy is approved, the Academic Policy Review Routing Form and final policy draft is routed to the President for signature. This policy and form is sent to [email protected] with a copy to [email protected].
The President signs the Academic Policy Review Routing Form, which includes a record of the recommendation and decision actions. This signature becomes part of the university’s official records. The Academic Policy Review Routing Form will be maintained in the academic policy file for historical reference.
The policy is effective immediately upon signature until amended or rescinded.
Implement
Academic Affairs will post the final policy and procedure to the academic policy webpage.
Academic Affairs units will implement approved Academic Policies according to their roles.
Academic Leadership and Academic Faculty Senate designees are responsible for periodically reviewing Academic Policies and initiating revisions when needed.
Enforce
The following units will coordinate the enforcement of Academic Policies according to the designated categories.
1.Curriculum
Registrar’s Office
2. Academic Personnel
Human Resources and Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs
3. Academic Operations
Registrar’s Office
4. Research
Vice Provost for Research and Office of Grant Awards Services