How can we help you?
The Office of the General Counsel and Board Secretariat manages the University’s Administrative Policies program, which includes maintaining a publicly-available website, and providing guidance on how to draft, review and approve University administrative policies. Administrative policies tend to be about non-academic matters; for example, human resources, financial, safety, IT, information management, or other operational issues. These policies apply broadly across the entire University and are approved either by the President or by the Board of Governors. In contrast, Senate Policies deal with academic matters and departments may have their own policies that apply to department-level activities. The Office of the General Counsel and Board Secretariat support is specific to University Administrative Policies.
A complete list of University administrative policies are provided on the Policy List webpage.
There is an established process for drafting, reviewing and approving University Administrative Policies, whether they are approved by the President or the Board of Governors. You can find out more information on the Policy Review and Approval webpage, including a step by step guideline, and a Policy Initiation (external link) form to signal to our office that you would like to begin a review or draft a new policy. Contact Heather Driscoll at policies@torontomu.ca for more information.
The University has a (google doc) template (external link) for Administrative Policies. Generally, all University Administrative policies should follow this template. As older policies are reviewed, they will be revised to reflect the template. Having University Administrative Policies follow this template improves readability, and ensures that all our policies have the required elements to make sound and sustainable policies.
The Office of the General Counsel and Board Secretariat provides advice and guidance on drafting, reviewing and approving University Administrative Policies. We can assist with drafting language, and help you to differentiate between content for policies, procedures, guidelines and standards. We can provide a legal review of policies, as needed. Contact Heather Driscoll at policies@torontomu.ca for more information.