Development, Issuance, and Maintenance of Policies

Dated: February 25, 2025
Supersedes: Policy on the Development, Issuance, and Maintenance of Policies dated February 4, 2024
Last Review: February 25, 2025 

I. PURPOSE

Pursuant to the Bylaws of New York Medical College (“NYMC” or “College”), the College’s Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer has general supervision over all matters pertaining to the College and its activities, subject to the advice and approval of the Board of Trustees. The purpose of this policy is to provide for a uniform standardized approval process and procedure for the development, issuance, and maintenance of all policies of NYMC, including policies specific to the School of Medicine, the School of Health Sciences and Practice, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Science, to assure consistency, compliance with law, communication with the College community, and effective updating. Where applicable, certain NYMC policies extend to the Touro College of Dental Medicine or other users of the NYMC campus.

II. POLICY

It is the policy of NYMC that all policies be developed, issued, and maintained in accordance with the approval process and procedures provided herein for drafting, revising, approving, withdrawing, and promulgating policies.

It is also the policy of NYMC to maintain policies electronically in a central policy database on its policies website and to disseminate such policies as applicable within the College to promote understanding and awareness.

Furthermore, it is the policy of NYMC that all policies are subject to change at any time, with or without notice, since policies constitute evolving and dynamic documents.

III. SCOPE

This policy applies to any member of the College community subject to or responsible for College policies.

IV. DEFINITIONS

Policy: A policy is a written plan or set of principles that is officially and formally established and required to be followed in conducting College business. A policy may have general broad applicability, or it may apply only within a school, a center or institute. Departmental or divisional procedures and guidelines, although useful and important, do not meet these criteria and therefore are not considered policies, nor can they be in conflict with a policy. A policy may ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations or standards, relate to furtherance of the College’s mission, establish governance, operational, administrative or financial policies, or set limits within which people are expected to operate.

Oversight Office: The College office responsible for initiating, drafting, implementing, maintaining, revising, or withdrawing a specific College policy under the direction of the Executive Stakeholder.

Executive Stakeholders: College executive with principal responsibility for the substantive area covered by a particular College policy and responsibility for policy oversight. The only authorized Executive Stakeholders are as follows:

Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer

Chief Compliance Officer

Chief of Staff

Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Dean, School of Health Sciences and Practice

Dean, School of Medicine

Director of Environmental Health and Safety

Director of Health Services

Director of Human Resources

Director of Information Technology

Director of Operations

Director of Public Safety

President

Vice Chancellor for Accreditation and Student Support

Vice Chancellor of Campus Engagement

Vice Chancellor for Student Mental Health and Wellness

Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Vice President and Chief Legal Counsel

Vice President of Communications and Strategic Initiatives

Vice President for Government Affairs

Vice President of Research

 

VI. PROCEDURES

A. Policy Principles

1. The process for the formulation and maintenance of College policies under this policy is administered by the Office of the General Counsel. 

2. All College policies shall be electronically posted online on the College’s policies website by the Office of Public Relations, and such electronic online policies shall be the official policies of the College.

3. All College policies shall supersede and prevail in the event of a conflict between a College policy and a department/division level procedure and/or guideline.

4. All school, department, or division procedures, practices, and guidelines shall be consistent with and not expand the obligations of the College under College policies without the express written approval of the Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer or the Board of Trustees of the College.

5. All policies of the College must be approved by the Board of Trustees, the President, or the Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer.

B. Process for issuing a new policy or revising an existing policy

1. The principal responsibility for proposing new policies, amendments or modifications of existing policies, and any other updates to existing policies rests with the applicable Executive Stakeholder, as may be delegated to leadership of relevant oversight offices.

2. Policies shall be written in the standard format set forth in the Appendix to this policy and must identify both the Executive Stakeholder and Oversight Office.

3. Revisions to existing policies should be made to a Word version of the then-current policy using Track Changes.

4. Once drafted or revised, an Executive Stakeholder or his/her delegee should forward the proposed policy to the Office of the General Counsel (legal@nymc.edu) for final review. All policy documents must be emailed in an editable format and must have the Executive Stakeholder’s approval prior to submission. The transmittal email for a new or revised policy should provide a description of the need for the policy or the reason for revisions.

5. The Office of the General Counsel will verify formatting and clarity and obtain approval by the President, Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer or Board of Trustees, as applicable. After approval, the Office of the General Counsel will forward the final policy to the College webmaster for posting.

C. Regular policy review

1. All College policies shall be reviewed at least biennially by the Executive Stakeholder or his/her designee.

2. Policies that are reviewed and require revisions should follow the process for revisions above.

3. Policies that are reviewed and do not require revisions should be emailed to the Office of the General Counsel (legal@nymc.edu) with an updated review date and a note that no changes were necessary after the review. The Office of the General Counsel will forward the newly reviewed policy to the College webmaster for posting.

D. Guidance - Questions about policy interpretations should be directed to the Office of General Counsel.

VII. EFFECTIVE DATE

This policy is effective immediately.

VIII. POLICY MANAGEMENT

Executive Stakeholder: Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer
Oversight Office: Office of the General Counsel


APPENDIX

 

[INSERT APPLICABLE LOGO]

[Name of Policy]

Issue Date: [The date the policy is approved and issued.]
Supersedes: [Cite to the name and date of any prior policy]
Last Review: [The date the policy was most recently reviewed. This date will match the issue date the first time a policy is issued.]

I. PURPOSE

State the reason for the policy. May also include background information to place the policy in the broader context.

II. POLICY

Set forth the actual policy statement.

III. SCOPE

A description of who is subject to and affected by the policy.

  1. DEFINITIONS [if necessary]

Any specific defined terms used in the policy document.

  1. PROCEDURES [if necessary]

Step by step guidelines on how policy compliance is achieved.

VI. EFFECTIVE DATE

Generally “this policy is effective immediately”, unless the policy is published before it is effective for purposes of notification to the community.

VII. POLICY MANAGEMENT

Executive Stakeholder: [The College executive with principal responsibility for the substantive area covered by a particular College policy and responsibility for policy oversight from the list in the master policy]

Oversight Office: [The College office responsible for initiating, drafting, implementing, maintaining, revising, or withdrawing a specific College policy under the direction of the Executive Stakeholder.]