Approval and ownership

Key resources:

• Policy Approval on a Page - Overview of the policy approval processes.

• Procedure Approval on a Page - Overview of the procedure approval processes.

• Current consultation and recent approvals

• Senate reserved policies

Approval

Policies

Prior endorsement from the Provost, relevant Deputy Vice-Chancellor or the Chief Operating Officer is required for the development of a new policy or to make a significant changes to an existing policy.

Policies are approved by either Senate or the Vice-Chancellor and President, depending on their categorisation as described below:

• Governance policies – approved by Senate.

• Academic policies – unless reserved by Senate, approved by the Vice-Chancellor and President based on advice and recommendations from the Provost or relevant Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and after considering any advice from the Academic Board.

• Operational policies – unless reserved by Senate, approved by the Vice-Chancellor and President based on advice and recommendations from the Provost, relevant Deputy Vice-Chancellor or the Chief Operating Officer. Approval of some operational policies has been sub-delegated to the Provost.

Procedures

Unless the approval authority has been reserved by the Vice-Chancellor and President:

• Academic procedures – approved by the relevant Deputy Vice-Chancellor after considering any advice from the Academic Board or its subcommittees.

• Operational procedures – approved by the policy owner.

Compatibility Assessment

New and amended policies and procedures must be assessed for compatibility with:

• the principles of freedom of speech and academic freedom at UQ; and
• the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld).

See the Compatibility Assessment page for an overview of the process and to download a Statement of Compatibility Assessment Form.

Ownership

Each policy, procedure and guideline has a designated 'policy owner'. The term is used regardless of the document type.

The party accountable for achieving the objective/s owns the relevant policy that supports or arises from that objective; and they are also responsible for monitoring, assessing and providing assurance on the effectiveness of their policies and procedures and remedying any deficiencies.

It is sometimes the case that a procedure will have a different owner to the parent policy. 

The owner is listed for each policy, procedure and guideline in the Policy and Procedure Library, on the 'Status and Details' tab.