Procedure 170: Organizational Department Structure

Section 1. Purpose

This procedure outlines the processes for maintaining organizational department data. It includes new, deactivated, and/or changed to organizational department names and/or organizational department roll-up structure.

Section 2. Definitions

Organizational department field lengths – Within ISRS, each organizational department has a 12-character short description including spaces, 40-character long description including spaces, and a 4-character (no blanks or spaces allowed) abbreviation. Any proposed changes must fit within those parameters and may not include special characters such as “/” and “&”.

Organizational department mapping table – Translation table maintained by IET that contains organizational department abbreviations and the associated full description of each organizational department (no character limit).

Significant organizational change – modification of parent-child relationships in more than one department and/or re-naming of multiple departments, bringing about a shift in the responsibility and authority lines within the organization.

Section 3. Procedure

Changes to the list of organizational departments, organizational department names, or their relationships to one another must be limited to once per year using the timeline outlined in this procedure. The university president can approve off-cycle changes due to extenuating circumstances.

The minimum timeline to propose a change is below. Longer lead time is encouraged and preferred. Requests made shorter than this timeline are allowed only at the discretion of the President.

All changes must be approved by the President prior to implementation. Detailed operational controls shall be put in place to ensure organizational data is in sync across the various University platforms.

1. Timeline for Academic Departments
   1. September: Review and discuss potential department names or minor organizational changes. Consultation with the Registrar’s Office is required for review and validation of proposed naming conventions in the course schedule.
      1. Significant organizational changes under consideration shall be reviewed with implementation stakeholder groups well in advance of submission to provide opportunity for assessment and feedback on functional impacts. Implementation stakeholder groups include but are not limited to: Institutional Effectiveness and Technology (IET), Human Resources, Registrar’s Office, Finance and Operations. Institutional Effectiveness and Technology shall be responsible for convening stakeholders when needed.
   2. September 20: Proposed designations or redefinitions of academic departments submitted to the Provost and President (prior to creation of October Meet and Confer packet.) Consideration of name change impact on department/subject/course is important to have reviewed in advance.
   3. October: Proposed designations or redefinitions of academic departments reviewed in October IFO Meet and Confer meeting. At this time, these proposals must be accompanied by the corresponding roster.
   4. November 5: President’s Office communicates decision(s) on proposed designations or redefinitions of academic departments to IET, the Registrar’s Office, and Human Resources.
   5. November/December:
      1. Entry of academic department changes into ISRS with effective date set as the first day of upcoming summer term.
      2. Registrar’s Office makes department updates to published summer term class schedule and curriculum, as needed
      3. Note: Entry of department changes into Organizational Maintenance module must be entered and effective until the last week of June, to coordinate with other IFO required start dates. As a result, ISRS and Organizational Maintenance are not in sync for the first 6-7 weeks of the summer term.
   6. March 1: IFO seniority roster reflects updated department names and/or organization structure.
   7. First day of summer term: Department name and/or organization changes that were communicated in November become effective in ISRS.
   8. Last week of June: Department name and/or organization changes that were communicated in November are entered and become effective in Organizational Maintenance module.
   9. June/July:
      1. Human Resources reviews and updates organizational department assignment on employee record(s) as needed.
      2. Other system updates made as needed (website, University Directory, etc.)
2. Timeline for Non-Academic Departments
   1. January: Review and discussion of potential non-academic department name or minor organizational changes. Consultation with Registrar’s Office is required for review and validation of proposed naming convention.
      1. Significant organizational changes under consideration shall be reviewed with implementation stakeholder groups well in advance of submission to provide opportunity for assessment and feedback on functional impacts. Implementation stakeholder groups include but are not limited to: Institutional Effectiveness and Technology (IET), Human Resources, Registrar’s Office, Financial Management, Campus Operations. IET shall be responsible for convening stakeholders when needed.
   2. March 1: Proposed designations or redefinitions of non-academic departments submitted to the Provost and President.
   3. April 1: President’s Office communicates decision(s) on proposed designations or redefinitions of non-academic departments to IET the Registrar’s Office, and Human Resources.
   4. Last week of June – Non-academic department designations or redefinitions that were communicated in November are entered and become effective in ISRS and in Organizational Maintenance module.
   5. June/July –
      1. Human Resources reviews and updates organizational department assignment on employee record as needed.
      2. Other system updates made by IET as needed (website, University Directory, etc.)

Section 4. Authority

This procedure directs the implementation of University Policy #1700 which is issued pursuant to the authority granted to the University’s President by the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State system (Proc. 1A2.2, “Delegation of Authority”).

Section 5. Effective Date

This procedure shall become effective upon signature by the President and shall remain in effect until modified or expressly revoked.

Section 6. Responsibility

Responsibility for implementation of this procedure is assigned to the Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness and Technology/CIO

Section 7. Review

This procedure shall be reviewed every three years or as needed

Section 8. Signature

Issued on the 1st day of July, 2023.

Virginia “Ginny” Arthur, JD

President