In May 2024, VIU’s Board of Governors approved a new Policy Framework that sets out a consistent process for developing, reviewing, renewing, and repealing/retiring VIU university-level Board of Governors-approved policies. With the Framework approved, the University is undertaking a process to align its policies to the Framework. The policy renewal process entails updating all existing university-level policies and introducing new policies. This process is expected to take approximately two years and started in late 2024.
Each policy will follow a common policy development process which includes comparator review, governance and best practice research, review by subject matter experts, and legal review. Additional preliminary consultation with administrative units and key constituents may also occur, if required.
Before policies are recommended for approval by the Board of Governors, consultation on each policy will take place with the campus community. Since multiple policies are being updated at the same time, as much as possible policy consultations will be done by the policy categories identified in the Policy Framework. However, there are policies that will need to be on a different schedule to meet institutional needs and priorities. Opportunities to participate in consultations will be broadly shared with the campus community.
Participate in Current Consultations at Open Policy Consultations
Participate in current consultations at Open Policy Consultations.
After consultations are complete, consultation reports will be provided to the Board of Governors as policies proceed to through the Board of Governors approval process. These reports will also be made available on this website.
Please refer to the Policy Framework for more information about the policy development process.
As part of the policy renewal process, all existing policies will be rescinded either because they are being replaced by new policies or because they are no longer required. New policies will be added to the Policy Index. Please see the Policy Index for which policies are in effect and which policies have been rescinded.
Academic policies governed by VIU’s Senate and policies related to the governance and administration of the Board of Governors are out of the scope of the policy renewal process.
Frequently Asked Questions
In March 2024, VIU adopted a new Policy Framework that sets out a consistent process for developing, reviewing, renewing, and repealing/retiring VIU university-level Board of Governors-approved policies. While individual policies are regularly reviewed, it has been some time since VIU has reviewed all its university-level policies. The adoption of the Framework means this is an ideal time to renew and align university-level policies to it.
The policy renewal process will also reflect policy best practices, the University’s values as well as ensuring VIU is in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. The result of the process will be a set of Board of Governors-approved university-level policies and procedures that are clear, easy to understand and support good governance and institutional transparency.
VIU’s existing university-level Board of Governors approved policies evolved over many years and followed a number of different processes for their development and review. As a result, there were varying levels of detail, different formats and other inconsistencies across policies that needed to be addressed. The new Framework establishes a common approach to how VIU establishes new policies and updates and maintains existing policies. This ensures that all VIU’s policies are consistent, clear, easy to understand, and support good governance and institutional transparency.
The Policy Framework was developed in 2023 and involved a review of VIU’s policies as well as a review of comparator post-secondary institutions in BC and two institutions outside of BC. See a summary of how the Policy Framework was developed.
The policy renewal process is being led by the General Counsel and University Secretary in collaboration with Executive and with approval from the VIU Board of Governors.
No timeline has been set for the review and renewal of VIU policies that are governed by the Senate. It is possible that they will be reviewed at some point in the future.
Project Contact
Office of the General Counsel and University Secretary via Policy@viu.ca