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Policy Governance Procedure Schedule 1 - Policy Proposal and Approval

Policy Governance Procedure Schedule 1 - Policy Proposal and Approval
 

Policy categories

(1) Policy documents are categorised as either governance, operational or academic, depending on their content. Where there is ambiguity about the category for a particular policy, the University Policy Manager determines the appropriate category.

(2) In exceptional circumstances, a policy may need to change its category in response to a significant change in scope and content. The policy owner must seek approval for the change from the approval authority of the new category, after obtaining endorsement from the existing approval authority.

Approval authorities

(3) The following tables outline the appropriate approval authority for:

  1. commencing the development of new policies or procedures (table 1)
  2. checking on the direction of new and revised policy suites midway through the process (table 1)
  3. approving new or fully revised policy documents(table 2)
  4. approving minor or administrative amendments to policy documents (table 3).

(4) There is only one approval authority for each policy category. However:

  1. operational policies that have an impact on academic staff or on the delivery of research and education, need to be endorsed by Academic Board prior to being submitted to the Vice-Chancellor's Executive Meeting for approval
  2. academic policies that have an operational impact must be endorsed by the Vice-Chancellor's Executive Meeting prior to being submitted to Academic Board for approval
  3. academic policies must be sent to all Academic Board sub-committees for either endorsement or noting, depending on the content (refer to Policy Hub for guidance).

(5) Policy owners must notify the University Policy Manager when they exercise their delegated authority to approve new procedures, standards, instructions or guidelines. The University Policy Manager reports such approvals in the biannual policy reports to Academic Board and the Audit and Risk Management Committee .

 
Table 1: Endorsement checkpoints for commencing new policy development and for progressing to approval
Category Endorsement to develop new policy Endorsement to develop new procedure  Mid-way check with approval authority for new policies and policy reviews
Governance
 		 University Policy Manager Policy owner Vice-Chancellor's Executive Meeting
Academic Chair, Academic Board and University Policy Manager Policy owner Academic Board (and Vice-Chancellor's Executive Meeting where there is an operational impact)
Operational   University Policy Manager Policy owner Vice-Chancellor's Executive Meeting (and Academic Board where there is an academic impact)
 
Table 2: Approval authority for new or revised policy documents
Category Policy or Policy Suite  RMIT Group Procedures, Standards, Instructions or Guidelines Controlled Entity Instructions or Guidelines
Governance Council, via Vice-Chancellor's Executive Meeting to note, Audit and Risk Management Committee to endorse Policy owner CEO equivalent, or delegate
Academic
Academic Board, via Academic Board Sub-Committees to endorse or note, depending on content
(Vice-Chancellor's Executive Meeting to endorse first where there is an operational impact)
 Policy owner CEO equivalent, or delegate
Operational
Vice-Chancellor's Executive Meeting 
(Academic Board to endorse first where there is an academic impact)
 Policy owner CEO equivalent, or delegate
 
Table 3: Approval authority for minor amendments and administrative changes to policy documents (policies, procedures, standards, instructions and guidelines)
  Definition Authority to amend
Minor amendments A change that does not alter the intent of the policy document or significantly affect the content or application of the policy, e.g. to clarify existing details, align with legislative changes, or include additional processes for a new system, a new campus or controlled entity.
Policy owner for RMIT Group documents
CEO equivalent or delegate for controlled entity documents
Administrative changes A correction to a policy document to update a title, name, formatting, web link, spelling, grammar, and references to law or other policy documents, or for clarity of language.
Central Policy for RMIT Group documents
Local policy site administrator for controlled entity documents