Office of Policy and Efficiency's latest policy changes take effect Thursday

The Office of Policy and Efficiency (OPE) continues to streamline and simplify the university's administrative policies, with changes to 15 system policies in the functional areas of academic affairs, facilities, fiscal, and human resources that take effect Thursday, July 1.

The proposed actions – seven eliminations, five revisions and three additions – were approved by President Bruce D. Benson and campus chancellors following staff engagement with key stakeholders and constituency groups and general postings on the university policy website.

As approved, the changes reduce the number of system policies from 105 to 101.

Eliminations

1. Proposals for Decentralizing Graduate Programs (Academic Affairs)
2. Facilities Space Inventory (Facilities)
3. Procedures for Selecting Architects and Engineers for Planning, Design and Construction Projects(Facilities)
4. Indirect Cost Recoveries (Fiscal)
5. Political Expenses (Fiscal)
6. Leave Sharing for Officers, Exempt Professionals and Faculty on 12-month Appointments (Human Resources)
7. Leave Sharing for Permanent State Classified Staff (Human Resources)

Revisions

1. Implementation of Regent Policy on Program Review [Formerly: Implementation of Regent Policy on Program Review and Newly Approved Program Review]  (Academic Affairs)
2. Sponsored Research Policies (Academic Affairs)
3. Capital Construction Planning and Projects [Formerly: Developing, Requesting and Monitoring Capital Construction Projects] (Facilities)
4. Alcoholic Beverages at University Events [Formerly: Alcohol Purchase and Provision] (Fiscal)
5. Delegation of Personnel Authority for Employees Exempt from the State Personnel System (Human Resources)

New

1. Roles and Responsibilities of Department Chairs (Academic Affairs)
2. Leave Sharing for Officers, Exempt Professionals, Faculty on 12-month Appointments and Classified Staff(Human Resources)
3. Alternative Work Schedules (Human Resources)

The alternative work schedules policy was developed at the request of the Staff Council, which coauthored it.

"Staff Council is pleased to see the administrative policy statement for alternative work arrangements take effect on July 1," said Lori Krug, council co-chair. "This is an issue that was brought forward from the campus staff council for system administration back in 2008. Since that time, Staff Council has worked in coordination with the campus human resources office and the Department of Personnel Administration to research and review the tools and resources available to implement alternative work arrangements at CU. We would like to especially thank E. Jill Pollock, senior associate vice president and chief human resources officer, for the time and effort she has put into helping us reach this goal."

For more information on these policy changes or to see a list of changes to system procedures and/or forms, visit the University Policy Website at https://www.cu.edu/policies.

OPE also has created a new policy distribution list for anyone wishing to keep up on the latest policy news and updates. To be added, please e-mail your request to ope@cu.edu.

Policies and procedures are changed only twice a year, to reduce the impact on campuses; the next round of changes will take effect Jan. 1, 2011. As a result of the streamlining efforts, the number of university policies has been reduced to 101 from 210 since November 2008.