Managing Institutional Policies

1. Pursuant to the Dartmouth By-Laws, ultimate institutional authority is held by the Board of Trustees. The Board may delegate its authority to other institutional officers, including without limitation the authority to adopt institutional policies.

2. Dartmouth's President, as the institution's Chief Executive Officer, is responsible for all educational, financial, operational and managerial affairs of Dartmouth, and has the authority to execute all documents on behalf of the institution (subject to any limitations imposed by the Board). The President is further charged with the duty to organize the faculties of Dartmouth, as well as responsibility for the internal order and discipline of the institution.

3. The President discharges their duties with the aid of the faculty and the administrative staff of Dartmouth, to whom the president may delegate their duties and authority under the Bylaws.

4. Dartmouth policies are subject to the approval of the appropriate faculty and/or administrative staff of Dartmouth and its schools. Questions on how to establish an Institutional Policy shall be directed to the Provost, or designee, or the Executive Vice President, or designee, in the first instance, who shall consult the President and the Board of Trustees as necessary to establish the appropriate approval authority.

5. All requests to implement, change, or rescind Institutional Policies must be sent to the Office of the Provost at policies@dartmouth.edu. Policy requests will be reviewed for consistency, clarity, and alignment with Dartmouth priorities and may require revisions or additional information to be processed. Depending on the scope and impact of the Policy request, further review and approval may be needed. The Office of the Provost will notify the Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR) or their designee if additional steps are required.

6. OPRs, with support from any designated Office(s) of Secondary Responsibility (OSRs), are responsible for managing Institutional Policies, directing Policy communications, and overseeing Policy compliance. This includes socializing Policies and Policy updates with stakeholders before finalizing, and educating the Dartmouth community about Policies and Policy updates.

• Editorial Change: An edit to a Policy that does not change the scope, meaning, or intent of the Policy or sentence; these edits include adjusting formatting, fixing typos, updating an individual's title, or correcting broken links

• Institutional Policy or Policy: A Policy that applies across Dartmouth, aligns with Dartmouth's mission and core values, complies with applicable legal requirements, adheres to this and all accompanying policies, and is posted on Dartmouth's Policy Portal

• Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR): A Dartmouth department or office responsible for managing Institutional Policies, directing Policy communications, and overseeing Policy compliance within their scope; may designate Offices of Secondary Responsibility (OSRs)

• Office of Secondary Responsibility (OSR): A Dartmouth department or office that supports the Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR) in managing Institutional Policies, communications, and compliance; designated by an OPR

• Substantive Change: An edit to a Policy that changes the scope, meaning, or intent of the policy or sentence

Style

Clear, concise language: Use language that is simple, direct, appropriate for the context, and can be understood by most readers the first time it is read.

Editorial consistency: Follow Dartmouth's Editorial Style Guide where possible.

Gender-inclusive language: Use gender-inclusive pronouns like they, them, their, theirs, themselves and gender-inclusive terms like everyone, individuals, staff, faculty, students, team, chair, parent, caregiver, the community, the Dartmouth community. For information on the singular use of they, read through Merriam-Webster's definition and meaning of they along with the American Psychological Association's style guide and the Modern Language Association style guide.

Formatting

Acronyms: Avoid acronyms, unless they improve the readability of the policy. On first use, spell out the full name of the entity and include the acronym in parenthesis immediately following; for example, the Dartmouth Outing Club (DOC). All acronyms used within the Policy must be defined in the Definitions section.

Bulleted lists: Keep bulleted information concise and limit lists to a main point and one level of nested sub-points, for example:

• Main point
  • Sub point
  • Sub point
• Main point

Defined terms: Capitalize all terms defined in the Definitions sections when used in the Policy.

Hyperlinks: Hyperlink related information and resources in the content of the policy as much as possible. Use meaningful text for hyperlinks; avoid text like read here or click here. Only link the first reference in the paragraph or section.

Punctuation spacing: Use a single space after a period or colon.

Sources and citations: All sources must be properly cited.

Underline: Only hyperlinked text should be underlined. Use formatting like bold or italics for emphasis.

The review period of each Policy is established by the OPR or their designee and subject to the approval of the Office of the Provost. Policies may be reviewed between regular review periods as needed. All Institutional Policies must be reviewed at least once every seven years.

OPRs or their designee must review Policies with enough time to complete the process for making changes to policies before the review period passes. If a Policy review is required and no changes are needed, OPRs or their designee must email policies@dartmouth.edu to confirm no changes are needed and request that the policy's last reviewed date be updated.

As part of their area's process for developing a new Policy, OPRs must:

• Ensure the new Policy follows this guidance, including using Dartmouth's Policy template;
• Determine the impact of the new Policy by getting feedback from key stakeholders, including those who support and enforce the Policy, members of the affected parties, personnel in the division responsible for ensuring compliance with Policies, Dartmouth's Chief Compliance Officer, and the Office of the General Counsel;
• Carefully choose the effective date of the new Policy to minimize potential disruptions; and
• Get appropriate internal approval.

Once a new Policy is approved according to the OPR's process, the OPR will email policies@dartmouth.edu with:

• The new Policy, formatted according to the policy template;
• A short summary detailing the development of the new Policy, including approvals received; and
• Any additional instructions or context.

If the new Policy requires additional review, the Office of the Provost will notify the OPR and can help facilitate additional approvals. Once ready, the Office of the Provost will publish the Policy on the Policy Portal and notify the OPR who will communicate with the Dartmouth community, including key stakeholders.

As part of their area's process for making changes to Policies, OPRs must:

• Ensure the Policy follows this guidance, including using Dartmouth's Policy template;
• Determine the impact of the Policy changes by getting feedback from key stakeholders, including those who support and enforce the Policy, members of the affected parties, personnel in the division responsible for ensuring compliance with Policies, Dartmouth's Chief Compliance Officer, and the Office of the General Counsel;
• Carefully choose the date Policy changes will be adopted to minimize disruptions; and
• Get appropriate internal approval.

The need for socialization and approval of the Policy changes at this stage will depend on whether the policy changes are Substantive Changes or Editorial Changes.

Once the Policy changes are approved according to the OPR's process, the OPR will email policies@dartmouth.edu with:

• The Policy changes, formatted according to the policy template with all edits clearly marked;
• A link to the existing Policy;
• A short summary detailing the Policy changes, including approvals received, if any; and
• Any additional instructions or context.

If the Policy changes require additional review, the Office of the Provost will notify the OPR and can help facilitate additional approvals. Once ready, the Office of the Provost will upload the policy to the Policy Portal and notify the OPR who will communicate with the Dartmouth community, including key stakeholders.

As part of their area's process for rescinding Policies, OPRs must:

• Ensure rescinding the Policy follows this guidance;
• Determine the impact of rescinding the Policy by getting feedback from key stakeholders, including those who support and enforce the Policy, members of the affected parties, personnel in the division responsible for ensuring compliance with Policies, Dartmouth's Chief Compliance Officer, and the Office of the General Counsel;
• Carefully choose the date the Policy will be rescinded; and
• Get appropriate internal approval.

Once the rescission of a Policy is approved according to the OPR's process, the OPR will email policies@dartmouth.edu with:

• A link to the existing Policy;
• A short summary detailing the decision to rescind the Policy, including approvals received;
• The date the Policy should be rescinded;
• Instructions for redirecting the Policy URL, if any; and
• Any additional instructions or context.

If the request to rescind a Policy requires additional review, the Office of the Provost will notify the OPR and help facilitate additional approvals. Once ready, the Office of the Provost will complete the request to rescind the Policy and notify the OPR who will communicate with the Dartmouth community, including key stakeholders.