Mar 28, 2024  
2022-2023 Employee Handbook 
    
2022-2023 Employee Handbook [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

7. Governance


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Employee involvement in the governance of the University occurs in several ways.  The most basic way is through your departmental meetings to consider the business of that department.  Policies and/or departmental matters move from their meetings to the Academic Policies Committee (APC) or Strategic & Operational Planning Committee.  APC makes recommendation to the President’s Council for approval. Approved changes are then communicated back to the departments via their VP.  Other employee involvement in governance occurs through their membership on committees.

A list of committees, their primary duty, and their reporting structure follows:

AdventHealth University

(Committee assignments are made annually, and current assignments can be found at R:\Committees\Committee List 21-22.docx). 

1.  Mission Week Meetings 

     (1st week prior to Fall Trimester) 

     Edwin Hernandez, Chair 

     Required attendance: 

     All full-time faculty and staff 

2.  Mission Check/Townhall Meetings 

     (2nd Monday - Monthly) 

     Edwin Hernandez, Chair 

     Required attendance: 

     All full-time faculty and staff 

Academic Chairs/Graduate Council (Monthly)

Reviews and discusses academic and operational issues and their potential impact on the academic programs of the University.

Reports to: Academic Policies Committee

Academic Policies (APC) (Monthly / 2nd Wed.)

Reviews and recommends all academic policies and processes, including the academic catalog and handbooks.

Reports to: President’s Council

Academic Review (Once a trimester)

Reviews academic progression for all undergraduate students who are not in a program, including those on probation.

Reports to: Academic Policies Committee

Alumni & Program Engagement (Every other month)

Provides input and recommendations to the Alumni Department on ways to better serve and engage the AHU Alumni community. Assists in the planning and execution of events, and outreach campaigns to alumni

Reports to: President’s Council

Citizenship (As called)

Upholds standards of conduct by assessing serious or repeated violations, assigning and recommending appropriate penalties.

Reports to: Health & Safety Committee

Community Engagement (Monthly or as called)

Oversight for Carnegie Classifications for Community Engagement and policy and procedure setter for Community Engagement efforts.

Reports to: Health & Safety Committee

Convocation (As called)

Planning and implementation the annual Convocation program.

Reports to: President

Curriculum (As called)

Reviews, evaluates and recommends to the Academic Policies Committee all program development as well as all academic changes of programs, tracks, certificates and courses.

Reports to: Academic Policies Committee

Diversity & Inclusion (Monthly)

Provides educational resources on diversity issues for faculty, staff and students and facilitates spaces for students to address identity concerns as they arise.

Reports to:  President’s Council

Educational Technology (Monthly)

Identifies challenges with current educational technology providing recommendations for improvement and new technology. Connects educational technology, faculty development, and IT infrastructure to enhance the delivery of education.

Reports to: President’s Council

Electronic Systems (Every other week)

Discusses issues and makes recommendations that impact the major applications used on the campus.

Reports to: President’s Council

External Funding Steering (As called)

Provides strategic direction and advice on funding opportunities for AHU and nominates research grant awardees.

Reports to: Strategic & Operational Planning Committee

Faculty Development (As called)

To strengthen and expand the professional development training offers for faculty at AHU.

Reports to:  Academic Policies Committee

Faculty Handbook (As called)

Reviews, edits, and produces the Full-Time and the Adjunct Faculty Handbooks.

Reports to: Academic Policies Committee

Faculty Rank & Promotion (Weekly)

Recommends academic rank to the President after examining the credentials of incoming faculty and regular faculty seeking academic promotion and includes the study of policies for academic faculty sabbaticals, annual portfolios, and merit awards.

Reports to: Provost & President

Graduation (As called)

Works with the President & Provost in the organization and implementation of the graduation programs of AHU, including responsibilities for planning the various components of the program, staffing the event, and preparing the printed program. 

Reports to: Provost & President

Health & Wellness (Monthly)

Makes policy and procedural recommendations to administration relative to the health, safety, and security of the University community.

Reports to: President’s Council

Hope Clinic (Monthly)

To ensure optimal clinic planning, functioning, sustainability, and growth.

Reports to:  Academic Policies Committee

Institutional Biosafety (As called)

Responsible for evaluating the biosafety containment level for research involving recombinant DNA and synthetic nucleic acid molecules. It carries out these functions pursuant to requirements set forth by federal, state, and local agencies, as well as AHU. It also oversees research with other potentially hazardous biologics.

Reports to: Academic Policies Committee

Institutional Effectiveness (As Called)

Oversees assessment processes on campus, reviewing and recommending instruments, summarizing and reporting the results of assessment, and suggesting policies regarding assessment practices.

Reports to: Institutional Effectiveness Leadership Council

Institutional Effectiveness Leadership Council (As Called )

Develops overarching approaches for institutional effectiveness.

Reports to:  Strategic & Operational Planning Committee

Institutional Review Board (IRB) (As called)

Ensures that research conducted under the auspices of AHU meets ethical standards for research that are congruent with the Mission of the University, the principles presented in the Belmont Report, and the federal requirements presented in 45-CFR-46 (Code of Federal Regulation, 1983).

Reports to: Academic Policies Committee

International Students (Monthly)

Create new opportunities to recruit mission fit students abroad and create, evaluate, and update policies effecting the success of international students.

Reports to: Strategic Enrollment Management

This committee is suspended until further evaluation & reorganization.

Interprofessional Practice and Education (2-3/term, As needed)

To foster the development, implementation, and ongoing assessment of evidence-based IPE experiences, practices, and resources internal and external to AHU.

Report to:  Academic Policies Committee

Library (As Called)

Provides guidance and oversight by serving in an advisory capacity to the Library Director regarding library policies and planning.

Reports to: Academic Policies Committee

Mission Week/Check (As Called)

Planning and implementation of annual Mission Week and monthly Mission Check meetings working closely with the President.

Reports to: President

Policies and Procedures (2nd & 4th Friday)

Reviews approved policies and procedures to ensure consistency in all posting on appropriate media, i.e. employee manuals, AHU website etc.  Approves final content for the Policies and Procedures Section of the AHU website.  Conducts an annual review and update of all documents containing policies and procedures to maintain accuracy.

Reports to: Strategic & Operational Planning Committee

President’s Council (Weekly)

Functions as the ultimate decision making group deciding what policies and procedures need Board approval as well as directing and implementing daily operations of the University.

Quality Enhancement Plan (Monthly)

Develops and coordinates the Quality Enhancement Plan by providing oversight to the faculty and staff actually employed in the day-to-day running of the plan.

Reports to: Academic Policies Committee

Recognition (As Called)

Oversees the process and nomination for merit/recognitions awards and recommends the names of awardees to the President.

Reports to:  President

Recruiting Events (REC)  (As Called)

The Recruiting Events Committee plans, supports, staffs, and conducts events to attract and recruit new students to AHU. It works closely with AHU marketing & communications, academic leaders and supporting departments. 

Reports to: Academic Policies Committee 

Registration (As Called)

Discusses the registration process, identifies problems, and requests changes or upgrades; significant changes to the registration process are first reviewed by this committee.

Report to: Academic Policies Committee

Research (Monthly)

Provides oversight and support for research processes, infrastructure, and productivity to assure that high standards for both scientific and ethical merits are upheld.

Report to: Academic Policies Committee

Research Institutional Clearance (RIC) (As Called)

(IRB review and non-IRB review track projects) are conducted in compliance with AHU and federal policies, guidelines and regulations that govern research and Quality Improvement (QI) and Quality assessment (QA). Institutional Review Board (IRB) review track projects include the Human Subject Research and Non-Human Subject Research. The non-IRB review track projects include the Quality Improvement (QI), and Quality Assessment (QA) studies.

Reports to: Academic Policies Committee

Scholarship Awards (Students) (Annually)

Determines who will be awarded endowed scholarships and the amount they will receive for the next school year.  Makes decisions concerning the cost of attendance for AHU students as it relates to Financial Aid.

Reports to: President’s Council

Scientific Review (As called)

Ensures proposed studies at AHU meet acceptable standards of scientific rigor and merit PRIOR to submission for IRB review.

Reports to: Academic Policies Committee

Simulation (Quarterly)

Monitors the development and implementation of the simulation initiatives at AHU as well as collaboration with AdventHealth Orlando.

Reports to:  Academic Policies Committee

Social (As called)

Promotes social interaction and communication among the faculty and staff of AHU.

Reports to: President

Strategic & Operational Planning (3rd Wed)

SOP focuses on strategic and operational planning.

Strategic Enrollment Management (Monthly)

SEM evaluates the enrollment process and student experience to determine best practices, close gaps, enhance interdepartmental communication, track retention, implement retention strategies, and recommend policy changes to leadership.

Reports to: President’s Council

This committee is suspended until further evaluation & reorganization.

University Mission (Monthly)

The Institute of Spirituality in Healthcare Education aims to assist in preparing students to meet the diverse spiritual needs within the healthcare environment.

Reports to: President’s Council

AD HOC Committees (As called)

Note:

  • The President is an Ex-Officio member of all Committees
  • The Provost in an Ex-Officio member of all Academic Committees
  • All committees report to one of the 4 committees listed below – with the exception of the Faculty Rank & Promotion Committee and the events committees (Convocation, Graduation, Mission Week / Check, Recognition, Social) that report directly to the President, the Provost or both:
    • Academic Policies (APC): academic committees.
    • Strategic & Operational Planning (SOP): strategic & operational committees.
    • Health & Wellness (HW): student affairs committees.
    • President’s Council (PC): see list.
  • These 4 committees have final approval authority over the committees that report to them – unless the committee chair deems a particular action should be elevated to President’s Council.
  • Only the Minutes for APC and HW will be approved by President’s Council.