Staff Handbook 2007

FOREWORD

A SIMPLE GUIDE TO UPNG RULES, REGULATIONS AND PROCESSES

This document is designed as a simple access guide to the academic policies and processes that impact on the every day professional life of all who work at UPNG. It is designed to help staff by bringing together in one place all those University wide academic procedures they are expected to be familiar with, and act upon. While working according to the rules can sometimes be painful, if the principal of equity, of equal treatment for all, is to apply in an organisation, then the same policies and processes must apply equally to all as well. Corrupt practices emerge when compliance to rules is not taken seriously, or is deliberately subverted. Chaos in an organisation emerges when units within the organisation do not work in harmony, or establish alternate and conflicting operational procedures.

In a University, policies are established through the formally established collegial processes of Boards and Committees of the University, its Academic Senate and its Council. Their development is guided by the enduring question of quality assurance. What are the most effective common requirements necessary to ensure that equity in academic matters and academic merit are the guiding principles of University management processes?

Too often staff express ignorance of contemporary approved policies and processes. Too often decisions of Academic Senate have either not been shared with them, or assimilated by them. This booklet aims to overcome this problem. It is commended to you for your reading and absorption. Compliance with the policies and processes is a given. This booklet should help clarify what the expectations, as approved by the Committees and Council of the University, are.

The document is a first draft in a continuous improvement process. Suggestions regarding its improvement, the need for additional information to be included, etc. are very welcome. It is important to the University that all policies and procedures are unambiguous, transparent and available to the whole community.