A53: Development and Approval of Faculty Policies

Approved By: Committee on Governance, Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee, and Faculty Senate
Effective Date: October 19, 2026
Responsible Faculty Committees: Policy Committee and Operations Committee
Office Responsible for Administration: Office of the University Secretary

Applicability

All UNM academic faculty and administrators, including the Health Sciences Center and Branch Communtiy Colleges.

Policy Rationale

The Faculty Handbook provides University of New Mexico (UNM) faculty with a written record of faculty policies and procedures. Policies in the Faculty Handbook are unifying documents that describe academic principles, the reasoning behind the principles, and institutional procedures necessary for implementation. Faculty Handbook policies contain governing principles and procedures that mandate or constrain actions and apply to UNM faculty; therefore, the development of policies requires input from faculty members who have extensive knowledge on the subject matter and review by faculty members from a variety of academic disciplines at UNM.

Policy Statement

All UNM policies which pertain primarily to faculty and academic matters are contained or referenced in the Faculty Handbook and are subject to the review and approval requirements defined in this Policy Document, with the exception of Section B “Academic Freedom and Tenure” which follows a separate review and approval protocol. The scope of Faculty Handbook policies is established by the Faculty Constitution and the right to review and take action on these policies is granted to the faculty by UNM Board of Regents Policy 5.1 “The Faculty’s Role in the University's Academic Mission.” This policy describes the process used to develop or amend Faculty Handbook policies, solicit input, and obtain approval.

1. Faculty Governance Body Jurisdiction

1.1 Committee on Governance
FH Policy A51: Faculty Constitution comes under the authority of the Committee on Governance (CoG). CoG is responsible for reviewing the Constitution and recommending appropriate changes. A revision to the Constitution requires approval by the UNM Voting Faculty and the Board of Regents.

1.2 Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee
Per FH Policy A51: Faculty Constitution, FH Section B: Academic Freedom and Tenure policies come under the authority of the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee (AF&T). These policies cover functions pertaining to faculty tenure, promotion, sabbatical leave, and employment. New and revised policies in Section B require approval by AF&T, the UNM Voting Faculty and the Board of Regents.

1.3 Faculty Senate
Per FH Policy A51: Faculty Constitution, policies not listed in section 1.1 and 1.2 above, come under the authority of the Faculty Senate. As an agent of the University Faculty, the Senate will determine the levels of approval required for specific policies under their jurisdiction.

2. Proposing a New Policy or Changes to Existing Policy
Any faculty member or academic administrator wishing to propose a change to an existing Faculty Handbook policy or propose a new policy should send their request to the Office of the University Secretary, who will forward it for consideration to the appropriate faculty governance committee or task force depending on the scope of the policy. If the scope of the policy spans more than one committee or task force, the committees will collaborate on policy development and review.

This request should include a draft policy document which shows proposed changes to the existing policy with track changes, or in the case of a new policy the request will include a proposed policy draft addressing the concerns it is intended to address. This request should also include a statement of the reason(s) for the proposed policy change(s) or the new policy. Because faculty policy is a shared governance process, policy actions generally require one to two full semesters for appropriate review, approval, and implementation. The appropriate committee and/or taskforce will review the request to determine the most effective course of action. The Office of University Secretary will notify the requestor of the action taken.

3. Approval

3.1 New Policies & Changes to Applicability, Policy Rationale, and Policy Statement
Proposed new faculty policy statements, in their entirety, and changes to the Applicability, Policy Rationale, and Policy Statement sections of existing policies will be posted on the Faculty Handbook website for review by UNM faculty members. The Office of the University Secretary in consultation with the committee and/or taskforce will address any comments received from faculty and will forward the final proposed draft to the authority(s) listed at the top of the policy for approval. Due to the nature of the policy or previous approval history, specific policies will also require approval at more than one level i.e. UNM voting faculty, the UNM Board of Regents, and/or the UNM President. If a higher-level approving authority wishes to change a proposed policy document that was approved at a lower level, the President/Chair of the faculty governance body with authority for the policy will negotiate with the higher level approving authority on behalf of faculty on changes that would be acceptable to their constituency.

3.2 Changes to Procedures, Definitions, and Information Sections
Proposed changes to procedural, definition, and information portions of a policy document will be reviewed by the relevant committee/taskforce in consultation with the responsible listed in the Policy Heading. The proposed changes can be made with approval by the parties listed in the approval box above the Procedures Section.

3.3 Approval of Legally Mandated Changes
When changes to existing policies are necessary due to federal or state laws and/or regulations, the director of the administrative unit responsible for compliance with those laws/regulations should submit a signed endorsement of the requested changes with a detailed explanation to the Office of the University Secretary. Policy revisions to address these legally mandated changes do not require a campus review period and only require approval from the parties listed in the approval box above the Procedures Section.

4. Distribution and Notification of New or Amended Policy
Upon approval, the new or amended policy will be placed on the Faculty Handbook website and announced to the campus. Deans and department chairs, or their designees, are responsible for:

• informing their faculty members of new policies or changes to existing policies; and
• updating all related departmental processes, procedures, and/or documents to reflect new or amended policies.

Procedures

Faculty Handbook policies are designed to ensure that policy level portions can only be changed with approval of the required bodies as listed in each policy, but also allow for a streamlined approval process for definition, procedural, and information oriented sections of the policy to allow for timely updating to reflect new practices and/or information.

1. Faculty Handbook policies are composed of the following sections.

1.1 Heading. In addition to policy title and number, the heading of the policy identifies:

• The approving bodies (i.e. Faculty Senate, President, Board of Regents, and/or Faculty).
• Responsible faculty governance body.
• Office responsible for administration of the Policy.

Proposed changes, other than legally mandated changes, to the applicability, policy rationale, and policy statement sections require campus comment and approval by the required bodies listed in the heading of each policy.

1.2 Applicability. Identifies which individuals and/or UNM units are subject to the policy.

1.3 Policy Rationale. Describes the reason for the policy, its relationship to UNM’s academic values and/or mission, and any philosophical, stewardship, legal, regulatory, or other requirements the policy aims to meet.

1.4 Policy Statement. Includes the overall intention and direction of the policy and major mandated actions or constraints. It does not include procedures, which are placed in a separate section to allow for greater flexibility when updating is necessary.

Proposed changes, other than legally mandated changes, to the following sections of a policy document do not require campus comment and only require approval by the parties listed in the approval box above the Procedures Section.

1.5 Procedures. Includes procedures necessary for policy compliance and outlines how the policy’s requirements will be met.

1.6 Definitions. Defines terms that have specialized or particular meaning in the policy.

1.7 Contacts. Contains information to assist faculty members in complying with the policy.

1.8 Who Should Read This Policy. Lists individuals who must understand the policy in order to make decisions and/or do their jobs.

1.9 Related Documents. Lists related UNM policy documents and other UNM and external documents that provide helpful, relevant information.

1.10 History. Lists dates of amendments and summary information on changes approved.

2. Corrections. Without requesting approval by the designated authority of each change, the Office of the University Secretary may revise affected policies to correct departmental or other unit names, position titles, grammatical errors, typographical errors, Uniform Resource Locator (or URL) links, or other similar occurrences.

3. Approval of Proposal to Remove a Policy from the Faculty Handbook. A proposal to remove an entire policy from the Faculty Handbook follows the same policies described in the Policy Statement above and Section 2 of the Procedures above. A proposal to remove a policy is the equivalent of proposing to change the entire policy.

Definitions

Policy and Procedures are sections of each policy document.

To assist with implementation of the policy, standards and guidelines may be issued by the office responsible for administration of a specific policy, as identified in the heading of each policy.

Contacts

Direct any questions about this Policy to the Office of the University Secretary.

Who Should Read This Policy

• Board of Regents
• Faculty
• Academic staff
• Academic deans and other executives, department chairs, directors, and managers

Related Documents

• UNM Regents' Policy Manual Policy 5.1 “The Faculty’s Role in the University's Academic Mission”
• Faculty Handbook Policy A50 “The Faculty’s Role in the University's Academic Mission”
• Faculty Handbook Policy A51 “Faculty Constitution”
• University Administrative Policies
• University Catalog
• Pathfinder
• HSC Policy on Policies, which contains procedures specific to the HSC

History

• October 19, 2026 - Approved by Committee on Goverance
• October 16, 2026 - Apprroved by Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee
• September 26, 2026 - Approved by Faculty Senate
• July 1, 2025 - Policy format updated to align with format approved in the last revision to this policy
• November 26, 2024 - Approved by Faculty Senate
• November 13, 2024 - Approved by Faculty Senate Policy Committee
• November 9, 2022 - Amended title for Executive Vice President for Health Sciences, per Faculty Handbook Policy A53 Procedures
• November 1, 2022 - Amended procedures approved by Faculty Senate Operations Committee
• October 5, 2022 - Amended procedures approved by Faculty Senate Policy Committee
• November 16, 2021 – Amended procedures approved by Faculty Senate Operations Committee
• November 3, 2021 – Amended procedures approved by Faculty Senate Policy Committee
• January 20, 2015 – Amended procedures section to remove AF&T and Research Policy Committees from process.
• January 19, 2015 – Amended definitions
• February 4, 2014 – Amended procedures approved by Faculty Senate Operations Committee
• January 29, 2014 – Amended procedures approved by Faculty Senate Policy Committee
• August 27, 2013 – Approved by the Faculty Senate