Rulemaking (Procedure 1.0100)

Authority:	F.S. 1001.64; 1001.65; 120.54
Date Adopted:	05/1999
Date of Review:	10/2019 (inclusive of former Procedure 1.0001, Manual of Procedures)
Related Policy:	1.010, 1.020

Purpose:

To provide a process for adopting, amending, and/or repealing College rules. 

Definitions:

Rule – “Rule” means each agency statement of general applicability that implements, interprets, or prescribes law or policy or describes the procedure or practice requirements of an agency and includes any form which imposes any requirement or solicits any information not specifically required by statute or by an existing rule. The term also includes the amendment or repeal of a rule. The term does not include:

1. Internal management memoranda which do not affect either the private interests of any person or any plan or procedure important to the public and which have no application outside the agency issuing the memorandum.
2. Legal memoranda or opinions issued to an agency prior to their use in connection with an agency action.
3. The preparation or modification of:

1. College budgets.

2. Contractual provisions reached as a result of collective bargaining.

Policy – a rule issued by the Board of Trustees which insures the proper operation, improvement and management of the College in accordance with State and federal law as well as State and federal agency rules as may be applicable. 

Procedure – a rule promulgated by the President concerning processes used by administration / management to carry out their duties and responsibilities relative to the operation of the College. 

Procedures:

1. A committee or any member of the College faculty or staff (hereinafter “Sponsor”) may recommend a new policy / procedure or make recommendations to revise or repeal an existing policy / procedure. A draft of the new or revised policy / procedure or a recommendation to repeal an existing policy / procedure should be forwarded to the Sponsor’s department level supervisor. The Sponsor's supervisor should work with the Sponsor to review and refine the draft / recommendation, if necessary, and forward it to the Vice President for the area of the College to which the policy / procedure pertains.
2. Upon receiving a proposed policy / procedure or change to an existing policy / procedure, the Vice President with responsibility for that policy / procedure will review the proposal with the Executive Team.
3. If the proposal is rejected, it will be returned to the Sponsor with reasons for rejection. Suggested modification to the policy / procedure may be requested and reviewed with the Sponsor. The Sponsor, upon receipt of rejection of the proposal, may request reconsideration by the Executive Team. Such request will be made to the Office of the President along with the reason(s) for the need of reconsideration.
4. If the proposal is accepted, the following steps will be taken:
   1. The Vice President will send the proposal to the Office of Legal Affairs to be formatted and assigned a number conforming to the sequence found in the College Manual of Policies / Procedures.
   2. The Policy / Procedure will be scheduled for review by the College Advisory Council (CAC) for approval to post (and to place on a Board of Trustees (BOT) agenda if it is a policy).
      1. CAC may return the proposal to the Sponsor if it has questions about or recommendations for the draft proposal.
      2.  The Sponsor may thereafter resubmit the proposal through the Office of Legal Affairs with additional revisions and/or responses to CAC’s questions / comments.
   3. If the proposal is approved by CAC, the Office of Legal Affairs will see that the proposed policy / procedure is published on the college website for a twenty-one (21) day period.
      1. For policies, the proposal will also be scheduled on a BOT agenda for approval to advertise as required by Florida law.
   4. Any comments received during the publication and/or advertising period will be forwarded to the Sponsor.
   5. The proposal will be placed on a CAC agenda once the publication / advertising period has closed at which time the Sponsor shall respond to the comments using the following guide:
      1. If a comment recommends additional revisions or different revisions to the policy / procedure than were approved by CAC when it was published, the Sponsor should indicate if they agree or disagree (and why) with the recommendation(s).
      2. If a comment is simply a statement or a question without a recommendation, the Sponsor shall answer the question or otherwise address the statement.
   6. After review of the comments and responses from the Sponsor, CAC may:
      1. Approve the procedure for final approval by the President without any further changes (for policies, the proposal shall proceed to the BOT for final approval);
      2. Revise the procedure in response to the comments and/or the Sponsor’s responses and approve it for final approval by the President (for policies, CAC may recommend further changes by the BOT before it grants final approval); or
      3. Revise the procedure in response to the comments and/or the Sponsor’s responses and re-post the proposal (for policies, recommend further changes and re-posting to the BOT before it grants final approval).
   7. After final approval by CAC, a procedure will be sent to the President for signature. With the President's signature, the procedure will then become "approved" and shall be published on-line in the College Policy / Procedures Manual. The original copy of the signed procedure will be kept on file in the Office of Legal Affairs.
      1. After final approval of policy proposals by the BOT, policies will be published on-line in the College Policy / Procedures Manual.  The official record of the BOT action shall be maintained in the BOT minutes and records.
   8. Annually, the Office of Legal Affairs shall prepare an agenda item seeking Board approval of the procedures adopted, amended or repealed during the preceding fiscal year.

Recommended by:	Executive Team/CAC	Date:	10/22/2019
Signed by:	President, Georgia L. Lorenz	Date:	10/30/2019