The University Policy Program

A commitment to policy-making

Northern Arizona University has launched an ambitious program to reimagine and strengthen its system for developing and administering University Policies. The policy project is housed within the Office of the President and is administered by NAU’s new Director for Policy. This University Policy Library, for example, is a key aspect of this effort, as is the Policy Advisory Committee.

NAU’s new administrative policy system is governed by its policy on the Development and Administration of University Policies. Colloquially known as the “policy on policies,” this guidance establishes how administrative policy-making will take place at the university level. Academic Policies that relate to the University’s pedagogical mission, and Unit-Level Policies that address activities at the division, college, department, program, or activity level are not governed by this policy or housed within the University Policy Library.

The policy program’s primary purpose is to implement best practices for university-level policy-making. The goals include creating a clear, well-defined, and effective process for proposing, approving, revising, and withdrawing University Policies. These policies will be standardized in a common format and relocated to this central repository. To help minimize confusion and reduce web maintenance tasks, all duplicates or outdated University Policy documents will be removed from other NAU web pages.

Perhaps even more important than these infrastructure improvements, the policy program will focus on encouraging positive institutional cultural change surrounding policy-related issues and management on campus. At its best, high-quality policy and policy support systems fortify and enhance good governance and effective administration on an everyday basis. To this end, the program aims to help elevate the art and science of policy-making at NAU through strong campus engagement, transparency, and respectful consensus-building.