Yankowski said that MSU’s policy management has been identified as an area needing improvement in the past, and that the new program aligns with “best practice” in policy management for universities across the nation and for MSU’s Big Ten peers. 

Oversight for the program is managed by the Office of Audit Risk and Compliance and the Policy Library Advisory Committee, which consists of representatives from departments and offices across the university.

One key element of the program is to create a standard template for all university policies. The deadline for all departments to update their policies to fit the new standard template will be Dec. 31, 2025. 

Under the new template, each policy must be assigned an approval authority (usually the president or a high-ranking executive like the vice president or dean) a responsible office, a responsible officer and a responsible executive (the head of whichever office is responsible for that policy).

Yankowski said that Modified Operations, Conflict of Interest, Background Checks, and Access to Facility Information and Critical Data policies have presented past difficulties in regards to which office is responsible for the policy. 

“From time to time, we’ve had policies where people aren’t really sure who owns the policy,” Yankowski said.

Yankowski said that while the review and revision process for some policies may involve collaboration between two offices, one office will ultimately be responsible for each policy.  

Also under the new template, each policy must be placed under a category such as Ethics, Compliance and Integrity or Academics and Student Life. Policies must also have an effective date, a next-review date and include a history of all revisions made to it.

So far, 11 of the approximately 200 university-wide policies have been updated in accordance with the new template. These updated policies can be found under the “New and Revised Policies” tab on the website. 

Yankowski said that at a minimum of three years, every university-wide policy must be reviewed and possibly revised. However, some possibilities may be reviewed and revised more frequently. 

Yankowski cited the Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct policy as a policy that is expected to be reviewed and revised more frequently than the minimum three year period due to changes to Title IX policy at the federal level. 

Although the website at this time is mostly for university-wide policies, the Policy Management Program aims to eventually include department-specific policies on the website as well. 

The university is taking a “phased approach” for the implementation of the Policy Management Program, Yankowski said. He identified 2025-2028 as the third phase of the program in which there will be a focus on department-specific policies. 

“Ultimately, (the program) speaks to the culture of ethics, integrity and accountability, and I believe that this central policy library will create an environment that provides clarity, transparency and accountability for the entire MSU community,” Yankowski said.