Service Alerts

IT Policy Approval Process

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The following outlined steps should be used to determine the approval process for IT policies created by Information Technology Services for use by the University of Texas at Austin.

Campus IT Policies Not Requiring HOP Approval

  • UT System policy, or other official language, is established as the basis for the policy document.
  • Policy document is approved by ITS senior staff.
  • ITS identifies and consults with key campus stakeholders (for example, Tech-Deans).
  • VPIT, or designee, submits proposed document to ITCC for final approval.
  • Policy is published to appropriate UT Austin Web site(s).

Campus IT Policies Requiring HOP Approval

  • Policy document is approved by ITS senior staff.
  • ITS shares and consults with various campus committees, key stakeholders, etc.
  • VPIT, or designee, submits proposed document to ITCC for approval.
  • VPIT, or ITS senior staff, conducts final review of the document.
  • VPIT submits proposed policy to President:
  • Sends e-mail and hard-copy (using official University forms).
  • President reviews and decides next step:
    • Discusses with the VP Council and/or University Leadership Council (ULC).
    • Vice President of Institutional Relations and Legal Affairs and/or the Deputy to the President propose changes on the President’s behalf.
  • President approves proposed document.
  • If the policy is not a student policy:
    • It is submitted to UT System for review by the Office of General Counsel and/or the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
    • Once the policy returns from UT System, the President, or the Deputy to the President, may suggest minor changes that do not change the core content.
    • The policy is added to the Handbook of Operating Procedures (HOP) and published to appropriate UT Austin Web site(s).
  • If the policy is a student policy:
    • The Vice President for Institutional Relations and Legal Affairs will decide whether or not the document should be submitted to UT System. In most cases it will not require UT System’s approval and will be added to the appropriate catalogs and published to appropriate UT Austin Web site(s).