Policy Development at NOVA

I frequently hear concerns and questions about the ability of faculty and staff to participate in the development of NOVA’s policies. Policies are the rules that govern how NOVA operates at a college-level, and I write to share the past and present of NOVA’s policy process.

First, it is important to understand that because NOVA is a part of the Virginia Community College System, we are governed by all VCCS policies. These are determined by the VCCS Board and are typically informed by VCCS shared governance groups: a series of advisory councils defined in VCCS policy that represent faculty, academic and student affairs leaders and presidents. NOVA is also considered a state agency and is governed by Virginia laws, rules, orders and policies (e.g., DHRM Policies). Finally, we are a public institution and receive federal funds, so we are governed by all applicable federal laws, rules and orders. NOVA cannot have policies that conflict with or attempt to supersede any of these regulations. In 2023, concerns arose that some of our policies no longer aligned with VCCS policies and/or referred to authorizing regulations that had been substantially revised or eliminated. In response, Administrative Council conducted a thorough review of all NOVA policies. To prevent such issues going forward, some NOVA policies now simply refer to the policies and rules at the system, state or federal level that govern our work.

Next, some history: For many years, NOVA policies were the domain of the college’s Office of Legal Affairs, which was eliminated in 2017. At that time, NOVA created the Policy Workgroup to recommend college policies and implemented the college’s first “policy on policies.” The new NOVA Policy Workgroup included one representative from the College Senate with the majority of members representing the college’s administrative units: academic deans, deans of students, learning and technology resources deans, campus provosts, human resources and the five vice presidents—finance and administration, institutional advancement, institutional effectiveness and student success initiatives, instructional and information technology and workforce development. The group was chaired by the policy and compliance officer (a position eliminated prior to my arrival). Each member was responsible, individually, for sharing proposed and revised policies with the stakeholders they represented, summarizing any feedback received, and providing it to the workgroup. Policies were advanced to the Administrative Council for action.

In 2023, NOVA reviewed the Policy on Policy Development (101 and 101P), and part of this review included research into best practices in higher education policy development. These centered on providing more opportunities for policy input from faculty, staff and students; a more formal role for the institution’s collegewide shared governance body/bodies; and a requirement that the policy owner respond publicly to the input received from the college community. The goal was increased participation and transparency in policy development. NOVA included these best practices in the draft revision of Policy 101/101P and then modeled them in seeking input on the proposed revision from the NOVA community, through a feedback portal and review by the College Senate. The feedback provided in 2023 was integrated into Policy 101/101P, and both now guide and structure the process—including providing multiple opportunities for your participation.

If you have questions that you would like me to address in the monthly President@NOVA column, please send them to PresidentsOffice@nvcc.edu.

Kind regards, Anne