1. Introduction

The purpose of this manual is to provide all employees of Michigan Technological University with a reference manual containing policies and procedures established by the Board of Control, deans, department chairs, or directors. In the interest of brevity, an attempt has been made to include only that information which will be used under normal operating circumstances within the University. For special situations, it is recommended that the appropriate department be contacted.

The material in this manual ranges from partial Board of Control policies, to Administrative policies and procedures, to policies and procedures necessitated by state or federal laws and regulations. Consequently, for some policies and procedures, it is difficult, if not impossible, to implement modifications or obtain approval for exceptions. On the other hand, many of the policies and procedures, particularly Administrative policies and procedures, are subject to internally initiated change. Additionally, exceptions to Administrative policies and procedures are allowable when the justification is documented and is processed for approval through the normal channels of your organizational unit, including approval from the department responsible for the policy or procedure, to the appropriate vice president with notification to the provost and senior vice president for academic and student affairs.

The Michigan Technological University Operating Procedures Manual is available on the World Wide Web at www.admin.mtu.edu/admin/procman/index.htm. Copies of the printed version are maintained at: the Human Resources Department, Room 235 of the Administration Building; the Provost's Office, Room 503 of the Administration Building; The office of the Chief Financial Officer in Room 505 of the Administration Building; the Library Archives, J.R. Van Pelt Library and the Documents Resource Room, J.R. Van Pelt Library.

The policies and procedures in this manual are issued by the appropriate vice president. These policies and procedures apply uniformly to all departments and employees of Michigan Technological University. Any exceptions will be noted in the manual.

These procedures are designed to be of use to employees of Michigan Technological University. Therefore, all persons are asked to make suggestions for improvement of these procedures to the department that is directly responsibility for rendering the service. Departments should make a concerted effort to see that these policies/procedures reflect the most current practice of their department. It is important that no procedure be changed without incorporating the change in this manual.

From time to time it will be necessary to add new procedures or revise certain sections or pages of this manual. Ann Roth, policy coordinator, of the office of the chief financial officer will be responsible for revising both the printed copy and the World Wide Web version of the manual. New or revised pages will be forwarded to the five departments maintaining a printed copy of the manual. A transmittal notice explaining the exact deletions, additions, or substitutions needed will accompany any new pages for the printed copies and will be distributed to the departments that house the MTU Operating Procedures Manual. The Web version will have a What's New page explaining the changes made to the manual.

Requests for advice and service for the MTU Operating Procedures Manual should be directed to Ann Roth at aroth@mtu.edu, the office of the vice president for Administration of Michigan Technological University.