The policies on this website, including others that the University may add from time to time, are the official policies of Syracuse University. To the extent that different versions of these policies may appear elsewhere, the version set forth on this site shall be the official version and take priority over any inconsistent or conflicting version appearing elsewhere.
What is a University Policy?
Syracuse University policies are statements of commitment to institutional principles, or mandates that respond to legal or regulatory statutes, address issues of behavior and interaction, or govern use of University resources. A University policy typically:
- has broad institutional application;
- enhances the University’s mission and provides operational efficiencies;
- mandates action or constraints and establishes boundaries for conduct;
- helps ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations and reduces institutional risk;
- changes infrequently and sets a course for the foreseeable future; and
- requires approval at the highest administrative levels of the University.
Policy Administration
Each University policy has a policy owner, policy sponsor, and a unit or office responsible for day-to-day implementation of the policy. As set forth in the University’s policy template, the term “policy owner” refers to the Vice Chancellor or Senior Vice President to whom the unit or office responsible for day-to-day implementation and enforcement of the policy. The term “policy sponsor” refers to the primary author of the policy, which may be a school, college, department, unit, office, committee, council, the University Senate, or an individual member of the University community. The unit or office responsible for day-to-day implementation of the policy will administer the terms of the policy, respond to questions regarding procedures or compliance, monitor and enforce the policy, and update the policy as necessary.
Standard procedures, business forms or other incidental information associated with a specific policy are subject to change more frequently than the general policy and therefore are maintained by the unit or office responsible for implementation, often separate from this policy website. As appropriate, the policy document will contain hyperlinks to the procedures, forms, etc., along with contact information and links to other related policies, definitions, and frequently asked questions.
The University maintains a policy administration function as part of the Office of University Counsel, which exists to assist in the policy development process. The current Policy Administrator is:
Abby R. Perer
Associate General Counsel
supolicy@syr.edu
315.443.8979.