On June 18, 2025, UVU's Board of Trustees approved the following policy actions:
Policy 104 Advancement Boards and Program Advisory Boards
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Kara Schneck |
| Policy Steward | Tearsa Burke |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| Policy Document | Policy 104 |
Who does this apply to?University employees involved in program advisory boards and advancement boards
How was this policy revised? Policy 104 was updated to address that advisory boards have recently been split into two categories: program advisory boards and advancement boards. These boards have different expectations for their board members, which needed to be clarified. Revisions to this policy
- clarified the responsibilities of sponsoring executives
- documented what the responsibilities of board members are with confidentiality
- created separate charters for advancement boards and program advisory boards
- clarified the differences between advancement boards and program advisory boards, including the expectation for financial commitments and contributions
Policy 153 Religious Accommodations
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Marilyn Meyer |
| Policy Steward | Drew Burke |
| Policy Actions | New |
| Policy Document | Policy 153 |
Who does this apply to? Employees and students who may seek a religious accommodation and those who may be required to make these accommodations
How was this policy revised?This policy, originally a temporary policy, was updated to bring it into alignment with recent Utah legislation. Updates to this policy
- created an interactive process for accommodating religious accommodation requests for both students and employees
- designated individuals to receive student and employee accommodation requests
- established the standards by which requests may be granted or denied, including when an employee request imposes an undue hardship on the university and when a student’s request encroaches on a compelling interest of the University
Policy 161 Freedom of Speech
| Approval Process | Compliance |
| Policy Sponsor | Michelle Kearns |
| Policy Steward | Alexis Palmer, Ashley Wilson |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| Policy Document | Policy 161 |
Who does this apply to? All members of the university community
How was this policy revised? Utah’s two new statutory provisions have direct compliance implications for Policy 161 Freedom of Speech:
- Utah Code § 53B-27-203.5 prohibits public institutions from denying recognition, benefits, or privileges to student organizations based on their religious, political, or ideological character, expressive activity, or belief-based leadership criteria.
- Utah Code § 53B-27-501(4) requires that institutional free expression policies be viewpoint neutral in both their text and application and that they respect the rights of student organizations as described in the Code.
To ensure alignment with H.B. 390, the following compliance changes were made to Policy 161:
- added a statement to affirm its viewpoint-neutral application
- added a new subsection to further expand the existing club provisions of the current
section 4.6
Policy 172 Advertising
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Kara Schneck |
| Policy Steward | Matt Chambers |
| Policy Actions | New |
| Policy Document | Policy 172 |
Who does this apply to? MarComm employees and university entities who engage in advertising
How was this policy revised? Policy 172 is a new policy that covers university advertising. This policy
- lays out a process for determining whether a donation should be addressed as a qualified sponsorship, advertising, or exclusive provider
- provides a process for a transaction with non-charitable elements
- provides definitions for advertising, non-campus businesses, and commercial enterprises
Policy 234 Qualified Sponsorships
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Kyle Reyes |
| Policy Steward | Melanie LaFranca |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| Policy Document | Policy 234 |
Who does this apply to? University employees involved with qualified sponsorships
How was this policy revised? Policy 234 was last updated in 2006. In consultation with the Vice President of Marketing and Communications and their staff, the Vice President of Institutional Advancement and staff assessed the need to update this policy and separate it into two separate policies: Policy 234 covers sponsorships (owned by Institutional Advancement) and the other, which is a new policy, covers advertising and is owned by Marketing and Communications.
Policy 306 Recruitment, Selection, and Hiring of Faculty Positions
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Steward | Kat Brown |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| Policy Document | Policy 306 |
Who does this apply to? Employees involved in the hiring of faculty
How was this policy revised? In its previous version, Policy 306 did not set uniform expectations or procedures for faculty hiring practices across the University. Revisions to this policy established policy and procedures that reflect current practices as well as promote best practices, as compared to institutions both within the state and nationally.
Policy 447 Information Security
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Christina Baum |
| Policy Steward | Brett McKeachnie |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| Policy Document | Policy 447 |
Who does this apply to? All members of the university community who access university IT systems
How was this policy being revised? It was decided that it was appropriate to move language addressing private sensitive information from Policy 449 to this policy. Other than this, the policy update does not make any significant changes to the rest of the policy or its purpose and intent. Policy 449 Private Sensitive Information will now be deleted.
Policy 449 Private Sensitive Information
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Christina Baum |
| Policy Steward | Brett McKeachnie |
| Policy Actions | Deletion |
| Policy Document | N/A |
Who does this apply to? Not applicable
Why is this policy being deleted? It was decided that it was appropriate to move language addressing private sensitive
information from this policy to Policy 447. Therefore, this policy will now be deleted.
Policy 452 Electronic Information and Technology
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Christina Baum |
| Policy Steward | Brett McKeachnie |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| Policy Document | Policy 452 |
Who does this apply to? University entities and employees who are responsible to provide accessible electronic information and technology
How was this policy being revised? Revisions to this policy updated and clarified the roles and responsibilities of the University Accessibility Committee. Revisions also clarified the responsibilities of university entities and employees to provide accessible electronic information and technology.
Policy 616 Regular and Substantive Interaction
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Steward | Laurie Sharp |
| Policy Actions | New |
| Policy Document | Policy 616 |
Who does this apply to? Faculty
How was this policy being revised? In October 2024, the temporary version of this new policy was created in response to the NWCCU recommendation that the University needed to comply with federal law by implementing a policy that addresses the requirements for regular and substantive interaction between instructors and students in distance learning courses. This policy was drafted in accordance with the United States Department of Education (USDE) and the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). This version of the policy is the regular, long-term policy that will replace the temporary policy.
Policy 638 Post-Tenure Review
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Steward | Kat Brown |
| Policy Actions | New |
| Policy Document | Policy 638 |
Who does this apply to? Faculty
How was this policy being revised? This policy was developed to comply with Utah State law 53B-2-106.1, which requires public educational institutions to implement a post-tenure review process for tenured faculty. Key concerns the policy addressed:
- ensuring compliance with state law while maintaining faculty rights and academic freedom
- developing a policy that is distinct from existing tenure and promotion process
- addressing potential legal implications of dismissal processes for tenure
Policy 649 Faculty Sanction and Dismissal for Cause
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Steward | Kat Brown |
| Policy Actions | Revision—Limited Scope |
| Policy Document | Policy 649 |
Who does this apply to? Faculty
How was this policy being revised? Currently, the process to determine sanctions and dismissal of faculty for cause does not include the dean and deputy provost’s review of the Faculty Senate Appeals Committee (FSAC) report and the dean is not consulted during the president’s decision making. The limited scope changes in this policy address these issues:
- include the dean and deputy provost as recipients of the FSAC recommendation report
- ensure the dean is included in the initiation of a sanction, the filing of a response, and the President’s consultation process for making the final decision
- change the 15-day timeline for the President to make a final decision to “as soon as practicable”
Policy 655 Graduate Faculty
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Steward | Jim Bailey |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| Policy Document | Policy 655 |
Who does this apply to? Faculty
How was this policy being revised? Revisions to this policy were made to provide needed clarifications. The following revisions were made:
- eliminated the three categories of graduate faculty and replaced those categories with only two categories: academic graduate faculty and professional graduate faculty
- developed and focused on minimum uniform graduate faculty qualifications for the entire university. These qualifications will be based on initial preparation (master or doctorate degree) and currency (recent scholarly or artistic activities or work experience outside the University)
- gave the authority to graduate program directors to recommend approval of graduate faculty applications instead of department chairs and deans
- stipulated that Graduate Council members shall be tenured or tenure-track graduate faculty
- clarified whether non-tenure track graduate faculty are permitted to work in graduate program service roles
Policy 658 Establishment and Administration of Graduate Programs
| Approval Process | Regular |
| Policy Sponsor | Wayne Vaught |
| Policy Steward | Jim Bailey |
| Policy Actions | Revision |
| Policy Document | Policy 658 |
Who does this apply to? Faculty
How was this policy being revised? Policy 655 Graduate Faculty was revised in tandem with this policy; therefore, revisions made to Policy 655 needed to be reflected here. Key revisions made include
- changed graduate faculty terminology in Policy 658 to match the proposed definitions in Policy 655 and new definitions were added as well
- stated service role of full-time non-tenure track faculty in graduate programs
- updated language for selection of graduate program admission committee
- provided clarifying language in several policy sections
For questions or comments regarding any of the above actions, contact the policy sponsor or steward(s) listed, or contact the Policy Office. To learn more about the policy approval process at UVU, visit the Policy Office's Policy Process webpage.
Please note that some of the above links may become outdated or broken as the policy drafts progress through the policy approval process, or are approved for adoption to or deletion from the Policy Manual. For the most up-to-date status regarding a policy or proposed policy draft, see the Policy Manual and Policy Approval Pipeline pages. To request a previous version of a policy or policy draft or for addition questions, contact the Policy Office.