Updated February 8, 2022

Austin Community College District (ACC) is administered through a system of administrative rules (AR), which are informed by Board policy. These rules need to be updated occasionally due to various reasons, such as changes to administrative or operational practices, organizational structure, laws, or legal codes.

ACC’s shared governance model establishes two councils to review changes to these rules: 

  • Administrative Services Council 
  • Academic and Student Affairs Council

A third council, the Shared Governance Review Council, reviews and makes recommendations to the chancellor with respect to the structure, functions, and membership of councils and committees at ACC.

After a change is proposed to the respective council, it is presented to the ACC community. Employees have at least 20 days to comment on a proposed change. 

After reviewing the feedback, the appropriate council can either send it to the chancellor to be signed, or, if there are significant changes, it can be sent out for comment again. 

Below are proposed changes to the administrative rules that are now available for comment.

3.09.001, Sustainable Construction and College Operations

  • The documents have been updated to align with the College’s sustainability goals, current industry standards and best practices, and the City of Austin’s long-term resource plan.

The drafts are available for viewing and adding comments here. Please read the instructions before adding comments.

The deadline for comments is February 22, 2022.

.  .  .

Below are proposed changes to the administrative rules that were available for comment and have since closed.

3.07.001, LEGAL COUNSEL

  • A list of authorized Legal Liaisons has been added for reference.
  • Other changes update add clarity to the rule’s content.

3.1800.01, ACCEPTABLE USE OF COLLEGE INFORMATION RESOURCES

  • This new rule is intended to replace AR (and G/P) 3.05.002, Use of College Information Systems, which will be rescinded after the new AR is adopted.*
  • The AR has been condensed and refers students and employees to the appropriate regulations and resources on the ACC IT website.

3.1800.02, USE OF TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES

  • This new rule is intended to replace: AR 3.01.003, Use of Telecommunication Resources, and AR (and G/P) 3.05.006, ACCmail (Student Only), which will be rescinded after the new AR is adopted.*
  • The ARs have been combined and condensed, and the new AR refers students and employees to the appropriate regulations and resources on the ACC IT website.

* Annotated versions of the ARs and G/Ps to be rescinded can be viewed here. Yellow highlighting = incorporated in new AR, Green highlighting = not included in the new AR because the content already exists in InfoSec policy on the IT website.

6.06.002,  EMPLOYMENT OF PERSONNEL

Summary of changes:
– A statement has been added to affirm that employees must maintain Texas residency as a requirement of employment.
– Additional edits update and add clarity to the AR.

The draft is available for viewing and adding comments here.

Please read the instructions before adding comments. The deadline for comments was October 28, 2021.

SECOND DRAFT, TELEWORK POLICY (AR and G/P)

Following posting in May 2021, the Administrative Services Council (ASC) has conducted a second review of the following draft proposed Administrative Rule (AR) and Guideline/Procedure (G/P) and has approved the drafts to be posted for comments from ACC employees.

The documents have been edited significantly in order to provide concise terms and conditions, expectations, definitions, and responsibilities. 

The deadline for comments was August 17, 2021.

6.08.005, RESOLUTION OF AN EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCE

Please note:

  • The revision process included collaboration and feedback from the ad hoc committee that was formed for this purpose as well as various ACC stakeholders, and legal counsel.
  • The ad hoc committee, which included representatives from each employee association, re-envisioned the process to create an effective, timely, and understandable process, grounded in fairness and accountability.
  • A singular process that does not distinguish between complaints and grievances is being recommended based on the clarification from board policy DGBA.  
  • The creation of a new position, Employee Relations Officer, is being recommended to manage and facilitate the grievance process.
  • The Grievance Review Council was created in order to provide an additional level of oversight for the grievance process. 

The deadline for comments was June 30, 2021.

New, Telework policy

The AR was created to:

  • Create and sustain a strong culture while promoting remote working opportunities when in the best interest of the College,
  • Make available opportunities for remote work when it is in the best interest of ACC and meets the needs of ACC’s business operations, and 
  • Enhance staff productivity and support student success.

Deadline for comments was June 2, 2021.

5.03.002, INTERNAL AUDIT

The AR has been updated to:

  • Incorporate the “Internal Audit Charter” which currently resides on the Finance & Administration website,
  • Clarify the subject, and
  • Ensure consistent language throughout the document.