1.39 Bucks County Community College Decision-Making Policy
Scope
This Decision-Making Policy (DMA) defines the how significant matters affecting the entire institution are to be decided. The Board of Trustees is the final authority on governance decisions affecting the entire institution. The purpose of this policy is to ensure the appropriate individuals, administrators, and officers, as well as the Board of Trustees, know all the component parts of decisions necessary for the operation of the College.
Decision Making authorization and approval are control activities that mitigate the risk of inappropriate or ill-advised transactions. These safeguards serve as fraud deterrents and enforce the proper segregation of duties within the organization. The overall purpose is to ensure that the College fully complies with its Board approved mission and strategies.
College Policy Requirements
The College is routinely faced with making decisions of varying magnitude and impact. College Policies define the procedures and set of criteria governing prospective purchases, leases, offers of employment, engagement of third parties, initiation of new projects or taking advantage of any unexpected opportunity.
Where appropriate, College Policies are required to include the structure and processes, both formal and informal, of decision-making within and among groups and the relationships between and among these groups and the individual decision-makers. Where necessary, each policy must require and define the authorizer and the approver – who must be two separate individuals. Thinking in advance about how the College should handle decision-making can streamline the process while promoting due diligence and avoiding analysis paralysis. These requirements may take the form of a Decision-Making Matrix which can stipulate authorizer, reviewers, and concurrent approvers as well as financial threshold clip levels which require additional approvers. This matrix must include the approval date of the applicable College Policy by the Board of Trustees.
- Authorization is the power granted in a College Policy to an employee to perform the tasks of defining the need for a decision. This responsibility includes the action to obtain and review the necessary background requirements and recommend whether a decision should be determined affecting the organization or the College’s mission consistent with Board of Trustees approved institutional strategies. Documenting and recommending internal operating decisions (such as engaging a contractor or to make a purchase or lease) must be consistent with all other relevant and applicable internal policies, particularly all purchasing policy provisions and statutory requirements.
- Approval is the power granted in a College Policy to an employee to make the final decision committing the resources or assets of the College and/or its employees. The College Policy may also require a concurrent additional approval.
College Policy Decisions do not have to be binary, go/no go. A well- conceived pilot program that is clearly communicated to the organization’s constituencies can provide an opportunity to experiment and time for evaluation to inform subsequent decisions. Limited one-off projects to address specific immediate problems/needs may be totally appropriate.
All College Policies require Board of Trustees review and approval.
Principles of good Decision-making for Bucks County Community College
- Decisions that affect the whole College are not made unilaterally. The Board of Trustees and the President will strive to involve the cognizant individuals in each circumstance.
- Day-to-day operating decisions are within the purview of staff leaders following an established internal decision-making procedure, documented in College Policies, that, for each decision, establishes clear accountability, authority, time and budget parameters and an evaluation component.
- Major decisions require a well-researched proposal that is vetted by an ad hoc group comprising members of senior staff, affected departmental leaders, and selected board members as determined by the Board of Trustees Chair. The group will follow a set of criteria that determine the viability of the project based on its impact on current programs and mission relevance, finances, staff, faculty, financial viability, image and legal considerations.
- This DMA policy does not define “major decision”. Rather, the DMA Policy anticipates that candid, open and honest communication between the staff and the Board of Trustees (or designated board leaders appointed by the Board Chair) will result in the appropriate procedures being implemented and threshold criteria applied.
- Board approved College Policies in effect as of this date should define the decisions to be made. When existing board approved policies do not specifically prescribe procedures for decision-making, the President shall consult with board leaders appointed by the Chair to determine the procedures and decision-making criteria. This criteria must be approved by a Board of Trustees resolution prior to the final, determinative decision.
- The Authorizer should define the decision to be made and set a specific deadline by which the decision shall be made.
- The Approver shall be the Authorizer’s direct supervisor or other designated employee, as approved by the College President and the Chief Financial Officer. When the Approver is the College President, the CFO must also approve the decision or the decision is required to be ratified by the Board of Trustees.
- The Approver is assigned specific responsibility for implementing the result of the decision.
- In extreme emergency conditions where normal decision-making procedures cannot operate as defined in College Policies, the approver will be the College President with the concurrent approval by the Board Chair.
Implementation and Effective Date for Board Review and Approval of Existing College Policies
The President, the Provost and the Chief Financial Officer shall collectively be responsible to establish a regular review process for existing and new policies so that all currently existing or new College policies can be presented to The Board of Trustees for review and approval on a timely basis.
Date of Approval
December 14, 2023