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Administrative Structure
 
This policy outlines the administrative organizational structure at Delta State University.
 


None 


As directed in IHL Policy, “each institution of higher learning shall be under the management and control of an Institutional Executive Officer.” The institutional executive officer at Delta State University is the president, who reports to the Commissioner of Higher Education, who in turn reports to the Board. The president manages and controls the operations of the University by way of an institutional administrative structure of vice presidents or other administrators with university-wide responsibilities. Those administrators oversee all units under their purview and report directly to the President. 


The Responsible Office and/or the Policy Owner:  the President

 

  • Cabinet Approval: 02/18/2013
  • IHL Policies 201.0505, 301.0801 A 
  • DSU Organizational Chart (yearly revision and dissemination by President's office)


Active


Policy Effective Date: February 18, 2013

Attorney General's Universities Division Contact Policy
POLICY STATEMENT

Contact with the Attorney General's Universities Division concerning University related issues must be initially referred to the appropriate Vice President. If it is deemed appropriate and necessary to pursue communication with the Attorney General's Office, the Vice President or his/her designee will make the contact. The President of the University should be informed on the particulars of these matters. 

DEFINITIONS
 
None 
 
PROCEDURES and RESPONSIBILITIES
 
Contact with the Attorney General's Universities Division concerning University related issues will be made by the appropriate Vice President or his/her designee.
 
RELATED DOCUMENTS
IHL Governance
POLICY STATEMENT
 
Delta State University’s officers, faculty, staff, and students will adhere to all policies of the Board of Trustees of Mississippi’s Institutions of Higher Learning that directly address the operations of its educational institutions.
 
DEFINITIONS
 
None
 
 
PROCEDURES and RESPONSIBILITIES
 
None
 
RELATED DOCUMENTS
  •  http://www.ihl.state.ms.us/admin/downloads/policiesandbylaws.pdf
Institutional Mission
 
The institutional mission encapsulates the institutional identity and is foundational to self-examination and resource allocation.
 


None 


The Delta State University mission statement is a concise statement of its core mission. It is approved by the Board of Trustees, State of Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning and follows IHL policy in that it “shall be based upon and consistent with the statement of institutional purpose and mission required by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and the Board and System mission statements. The core mission statement shall set forth clearly and concisely the major emphasis, scope, and character of the institution’s instructional, research, and public service programs, and shall describe those characteristics and features that distinguish it from other institutions in the IHL system. Core mission statements shall be reviewed annually and may be modified with prior approval of the Board. The core mission statement of each institution shall be filed with the Commissioner.”

The mission statement is disseminated widely, provides the focus for strategic planning, and informs all academic and administrative goals and efforts.

The President’s Cabinet reviews the institutional mission statement annually. Any proposed changes to the mission statement will be submitted to the IHL Board of Trustees prior to formal adoption by the institution. 

 

The Responsible Office and/or the Policy Owner:  the President's Cabinet 

 

  • Cabinet Approval: 02/18/2013
  • IHL Policies 102.03, 102.04
  • SACS Core Requirement 2.4
  • SACS Comprehensive Standard 3.1.1 


Active


Policy Effective Date: February 18, 2013

Policy on Policy Management
 

Policies of Delta State University will be made available electronically at www.deltastate.edu/policies and in hard copy in the Human Resources Department. Policies of Delta State University will be reviewed on an annual basis by the appropriate members of the President’s Cabinet. Requests for changes to existing policies, addition of new policies, and deletion of current policies will be provided to the appropriate governing group (President’s Cabinet or Academic Council) at least thirty days prior to request for action in order to allow all members to review the requests.

 


Policy Manager: The University office responsible for managing the university’s overall policy, providing guidance and coordination in the policy process, and communicating new policies to the University community in a timely manner. The Policy Manager coordinates the process for creating and revising policies; assists in the drafting of policies; catalogs the current policies; manages University policy web pages and links to other pages on the University's web site; and, maintains an archive of retired policies.

Policy Owner: The specific person who is responsible for maintaining the accuracy and completeness of policy information. This person will be asked periodically to confirm that the current information is up to date. There may be co-owners of policies and procedures.

Responsible Office: The University office, department or official that is the primary contact for questions concerning the implementation and administration of a particular University Policy. The Responsible Office also assures that a particular University Policy is reviewed consistent with the University Policy’s Scheduled Review. The Responsible Office is typically the office, department or official at the University that is most directly responsible for implementing and administering a particular University Policy. The Responsible Office may be designated by the Governing Group.

Governing Group: The group that approves the proposed or edited policy for the institution (President’s Cabinet or Academic Council). 
 


Policy owners are accountable for the timely review and dissemination of policies and procedures for their respective areas. Additionally, when developing policies and procedures, the policy owners have a responsibility to determine how the policy will affect other areas and involve them in the development. Policy review should reflect any changes by the Mississippi Legislature or Institutions of Higher Learning’s Board of Trustees.

Recommended changes will be presented to the appropriate governing group (President’s Cabinet or Academic Council) for review and approval before being added to the existing policies. Policy changes must reflect the date of change and the name of the governing group that granted approval. Academic Council shall consider all policies affecting academic issues; President’s Cabinet shall consider all policies affecting all other issues; each governing group may refer a policy to the other governing group for joint approval. 

Each area should establish internal procedures for the review and updating of policies and make requests in accordance with the time established in this policy.

The Human Resources Department will be the coordinating entity for all university policies and the Director of Human Resources will serve as the Policy Manager. Any changes to be made to the university policies must be submitted to Human Resources upon approval by the appropriate governing group (President's Cabinet or Academic Council). The actual change will be made by a designated staff member of Human Resources.

Maintenance and Publication of University Policies

The University’s Policy Manager shall maintain an original and the revision history of all University Policies. The Policy Manager shall work with Office of Information Technology to publish and maintain on the University’s website a searchable electronic policy directory of all University Policies. This Policy Directory shall include a link to the Policies and Bylaws of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.

All University Policies to Include Certain Information

University Policies shall include the following information, some of which may be assigned to a policy by the Policy Manager:

  • Policy name
  • Policy Statement
  • Definitions or terms in policy
  • Procedures and Responsibilities
    • Responsible Office
    • Policy Owner
  • Related Documents
  • Status
  • Date(s)

The University Policy Directory provides a template for submitting and revising policies.

Development and Approval of University Policies

Unless otherwise provided in another, more specific University Policy for the development and approval of a particular category or type of University Policies, University Policies are initiated, developed, and approved according to the following process.

a. Policy Idea. If a member of the University community (“Proposing Member”) wishes to propose a new policy or a change to an existing policy (“Policy Idea”), the Proposing Member shall submit the Policy Idea to the Responsible Office. If the Proposing Member is not certain which University office, official, or department is the Responsible Office, then the Proposing Member shall submit the Policy Proposal to the head of the Administrative Division that the Proposing Member believes would be most directly responsible for implementing and administering the Policy Idea. When the head of an Administrative Division receives a Policy Idea, the Administrative Division head shall determine the Responsible Office for the Policy Idea.

b. Proposal Evaluation. The Responsible Office shall initially determine if the Policy Idea has merit and whether to further develop and pursue the Policy Idea. If the Responsible Office determines that the Policy Idea does not have merit and should not be further developed and adopted, the Responsible Office shall report this determination to the head of the Administrative Division to which the Responsible Office reports.

c. Policy Development. If the Responsible Office or the head of the Administrative Division to which the Responsible Office reports determines that the Policy Idea has merit, the Responsible Office shall develop a Policy Proposal based upon the Policy Idea. In developing a Policy Proposal, the Responsible Office shall consult with appropriate University Standing Committees, University departments, offices or officials, and University advisory or representative bodies as may be necessary to provide appropriate expertise or input from various University constituencies.

d. Policy Approval. After the Responsible Office has developed the Policy Proposal, the Responsible Office shall submit the Policy Proposal, on the policy template found at the University’s Policy Directory, to the head of the Administrative Division to which the Responsible Office reports for consideration. If the head of the Administrative Division determines that the Policy Proposal has been fully developed and is ready for consideration, the Administrative Division Head may submit the Policy Proposal to the appropriate governing group. The governing group may approve the Policy Proposal, reject the Proposal, or return the Policy Proposal to the Responsible Office for additional development or consideration.

e. Submission of University Policies to Policy Owner. After a policy has been approved by the appropriate governing group, the Administrative Division Head shall forward the University Policy on the policy template found on the University’s policies webpage, to the Policy Owner for publication and maintenance consistent with this Policy. In the event that external approval is required for a particular University Policy, the Administrative Division Head shall submit the University Policy to the appropriate external entity for its consideration and approval. Until external approval is received by the Administrative Head and forwarded to the Policy Owner, the Policy Owner shall publish the University Policy with its status as “inactive” rather than “active”.

Regular Review of University Policies

Before approval of any proposed University Policy, the proposed University Policy shall be assigned a Responsible Office. In most instances, the Responsible Office shall be the University office most directly responsible for implementing and administering the policy. Each University Policy shall have a regular schedule for review by the Responsible Office to assure that the policy remains useful and consistent with applicable federal and state laws and regulations, IHL Policies and Bylaws, and other University Policies. If the Responsible Office determines that changes to a University Policy are necessary or prudent as a part of the Scheduled Review or at any other time, the Responsible Office may propose a policy change consistent with this Policy.

Responsible Office and/or Policy Owner: President’s Cabinet 
 

 
 
Active
 

Policy Effective Date:

Last Change/Approval Date:
President's Cabinet, 12-12-2011

 

Representative Bodies

POLICY STATEMENT


Delta State University provides various venues for shared governance from faculty and staff through established organizations listed below.

 

DEFINITIONS

 

None   

PROCEDURES and RESPONSIBILITIES


Faculty Senate

The Faculty Senate, in its role in shared governance, serves and acts as a voice for the faculty.  It is a representative body elected by the faculty from those eligible for senatorship.  Each division/department with eligible faculty is represented by at least one senator.  The Faculty Senate shall be empowered to make recommendations to the President and Academic Council on policies affecting the University and to advise on such matters as the President shall lay before it. It shall also keep the General Faculty fully informed of its recommendations. The President of the Faculty Senate, or a representative, shall represent the Faculty as a voting member of the Academic Council.  The President and other members of the Senate as directed by the Senate shall be among the representatives of the Faculty at meetings of any administrative council or other such body established, or to be established, by the President to act as advisor in administering the affairs of the University. In its role, the Senate recommends membership to a variety of academic committees, manages enrollment or sign-up by faculty members for university committees, and serves to encourage the activities of such committees. 

Administrative Staff Council

The Administrative Staff Council shall serve as a liaison between the administration and the staff of Delta State University to provide a formal process for staff to discuss issues involving University policies and procedures and to forward ideas, recommendations, and opinions to the President. Composed of non-academic employees of Delta State University, membership in the Council includes department heads/directors and at-large members elected from secretarial/clerical, paraprofessional, and support personnel. The Council works closely with other Mississippi public universities on projects of common interest. Staff Council is dedicated to excellence in service and the continued growth and development of Delta State University.

Committees

Committees are appointed to study policies and organizations related to university functioning and to make recommendations to the Administration. Faculty and staff members may be selected to serve on one or more standing or special committees. Student representatives are also appointed to serve on some committees. Faculty members are given the opportunity to designate their first, second, and third choices regarding committees on which they prefer to serve. At the beginning of each school year, a special memorandum is distributed listing committee assignments. Returning faculty members are usually placed on a committee of their choosing. Selection of committee membership is defined in the Faculty Senate and Staff Council By-Laws. Ad hoc committees are appointed based on need. Below is a summary statement of the duties and responsibilities for the various standing committees and ad hoc or special committees

  1. The designated chair of each committee is responsible for:
    1. Organization of the committee
    2. Designation of time and place of committee meetings outside regularly scheduled class periods
    3. Filing of a copy of the minutes of each meeting in the Office of the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs (within one week after meeting). Members present and absent will be noted in the minutes. 
       
  2. The President of the University is ex officio member of all committees and may be represented by the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs or another designated representative.
     
  3. Recommendations from a committee shall be communicated in writing by the chair to the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs for academic matters and to the President of the University for all other Matters.
     
  4. The process of an appeal of a committee decision shall be completed through the channels as established in the individual policies established for the particular committee’s purview (example: Faculty Grievance Policy). For all other academic committee decisions, not articulated in specific policy, the appeal will be completed through Office of the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs to the President. Appeals of all other committee decisions shall be made directly to the President.
     
  5. Student committee members are entitled to voting privileges.


Below is a statement of the responsibility of departmental committees:

The designated chair of each committee is responsible for:

a. Organization of the committee

b. Designation of time and place of committee meetings outside regularly scheduled class periods

c. Filing a copy of the minutes of the meeting in the Department Office (or other designated location, within one week of the meeting.

d. Preparing documents for further action as dictated by the recommendations of the committee (examples: course request forms, curriculum request forms)

All committees are required to keep minutes of meetings, records of decisions, and copies of pertinent documents. Departmental committees will retain records in their units, with the location designated in the departmental unit’s Annual Report; Faculty Senate and Staff Council committees will retain their records as provided for in their bylaws and/or constitution; Cabinet and Academic Council will retain records in the President’s Office and the Office of Academic Affairs, respectively; all other committees appointed or organized by the University Administration for purposes related to the functioning of the University or to make recommendations to Administration (university, special, or ad hoc committees) will submit, within one week of meeting, complete minutes, including all documents, to the Office of Academic Affairs where they will be retained for no less than three years.

The Responsible Office and/or the Policy Owner:  Office of Academic Affairs 

  

RELATED DOCUMENTS 

 

  • Faculty Senate Constitution

  • Faculty Senate By-laws

  • Staff Council By-laws

  • DSU Policy Manual

     

STATUS


Active

DATE(S)

 

  • Staff Council By-Laws
  • Staff Council Committees
  • Faculty Senate By-Laws
  • Faculty Senate Committees
  • Academic Council Meeting Minutes: 10/01/2002

Policy Effective Date:

10/01/2002 (Approved Academic Council)
06/12/2012 (AC)

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