Editorial: Maximize Your Influence By Knowing University Policy

 

(''Court Gavel - Judge's Gavel - Courtroom'' by wp paarz via Flickr) 

Now that the reader understands that the most effective way to change campus policy is to go through his community’s governing body, then the next step for him is to know what the University’s current policies are. This brings us to discuss both The University's Handbook of Operating Procedures (HOP) and Student Affairs’ Manual of Policies & Procedures (MOPP).

Everyone should know HOP and MOPP in order to maximize their influence on campus. By knowing where the University’s commitments lie, an advocate can gain legitimacy to his on-campus actions and thereby maximize his influence on-campus by aligning with the institution’s commitments as much as possible.

As a result, when he aligns himself with the University’s commitments (whatever they may be), he can win institutional support for his actions (or at least, he should). This maximizes his influence on-campus because he know has institutional protection for engaging in whatever form of advocacy or activism he may be because he acts according to institutional policy. 

Contrarily, when he acts against the University’s commitments, then he warrants the University’s opposition.

Now, some may say this is no big deal because the University is a big bureaucracy and an enemy.
However, regardless of one’s affinity for the University, its opposition is a serious threat to one’s on-campus activism. Its tremendous resourcefulness allows it to inhibit individuals from freely acting on campus when their actions violate University policy.

For instance, the University may call disciplinary hearings for students, enact academic or behavioral suspension (upon students, faculty or staff), permanently bar visitors from the property, including religious and political leaders, and so on. The University’s resourcefulness in its authority makes it a formidable opponent in one’s effort to influence the campus environment. 

Therefore, given the University’s resourcefulness, it is best (and most productive) to avoid a direct conflict with the institution wherever possible in order to maximize one’s on-campus influence. While sometimes it may be necessary to challenge an institutional policy, even then it should be according to University’s agreed-upon institutional standards. 

It is strategically better to seek to win institutional support by abiding by the University’s policies.

Written Policy: Knowledge Ahead of Time

Now, when it comes to acting within the university environment, an environment in which the university is watching over and governs by its campus-wide policies, then to operate effectively in this setting it is necessary to know what those policies are. This is so that one does not violate them and garner the University’s opposition. This brings us to HOP and MOPP. 

The benefit to HOP and MOPP is that they help the individual know the boundaries of the University’s commitments upfront, before there is a conflict between oneself and the individual. 

Now, in HOP, an individual can know the University’s policies for the university premises. In MOPP, one can find the rules and regulations for student life and for student services (the ones students pay for through mandatory fees). In this way, through HOP and MOPP, any individual can know where the University’s commitments lie in order to effectively negotiate his relationship with the institution to gain legitimacy and maximize his influence on-campus. 

If someone knows what the University’s policies are, then he can better understand how to successfully negotiate his relationship with the University in a way that maximizes both his liberty and his on-campus influence. 

For example, if he passes out fliers to pedestrians on campus sidewalks, then he will know how to win the University’s support to protect him against hecklers’ opposition who might seek to steal his literature and drive him off campus. 

If one knows the University’s policies, then one might know how to appeal a parking ticket and escape the $35 citation. 

If one know the feedback forum for students for the cafeteria menu, then he may know how to influence the food options to healthier or tastier options. 

All in all, knowing where the University’s commitments lie helps the individual have greater leverage in his relationship with the University and to take advantage of processes and opportunities that maximize his influence on his campus environment. This is the benefit of knowing HOP and MOPP,the documents that contain University policy.

HOP & MOPP Examined

Now, to understand these two documents, let us examine each one. 

First, HOP stands for The University’s Handbook of Operating Procedures (or “HOP”). These policies pertain to the University’s premises. So, whether in Longview or in Tyler, these regulations govern the entire university premises. 

In this respect, HOP’s policies pertain mainly to staff and faculty, but also to students, vendors and even visitors. They span a broad range of topics from campus security, faculty and academics, to employee policies such as reasonable religious accommodations for the workplace and university travel policy. Pretty much anything one might have a question about regarding the University’s position on, he can find the answer here in HOP. 

The second major document is the Student Affairs’ Manual for Operating Policies and Procedures (MOPP). This manual contains all of the University’s policies that pertain specifically to student life and student services. 

To be clear, student services are those services which students fund through their mandatory semester fees, such as the recreational facility center (or “Rec Center”), the campus clinic and others (like those from The Student Services Fee, which funds other student services like the student counseling center, Greek Life and campus tutoring programs). All of these activities fall underneath the umbrella of student services, and their general policies, such as their authority and permission to operate on-campus. Their authority and policies lie here, in MOPP.

Chief Student Affairs Officer

What is important to know about MOPP is that it is the chief student affairs officer’s responsibility. In other words, the chief student affairs officer oversees the manual, along with the enabling policies for all other student services on-campus.  

Supplement, Not Replace

MOPP, like HOP, supplements, but does not replace other official regulations for UT-System, such as The Regents Rules of Order (Regents Rules) or current law. Again, these supplement and (most of the time) include these other regulatory requirements in their texts.

Reforming MOPP

Typically, the process by which the chief student affairs officer would change or update a policy in MOPP happens through an internal process within Student Affairs. The process involves a meeting with the executives within Student Affairs office, and then a vote among them to see whether a proposal will win approval and, with approval from the university president, win entry into the official manual. 

However, the advantage of working through one’s governing body (in this case, through student government) is that it fast tracks policy proposals by bypassing the student affairs process and by going straight to the university president. This happens when student government passes a resolution: it bypasses the typical bureaucratic process and goes to the university president, the chief decision-maker instead.  

Therefore, MOPP contains policies that are the result of both the “normal” bureaucratic process of internal review and of student government’s special advocacy. MOPP contains the University's commitments for student life and student services.

Policy Shows Possible Need for Reform

Now, one final benefit to having the University state its commitments upfront in HOP and MOPP is that these documents also reveal where the University might have a policy that one might believe needs to change. 

This information in HOP and MOPP allows a person to target his advocacy in a way that seeks to change the University’s policy on a particular issue before he engages in on-campus activity or because the campus situation just has undesirable consequences and needs a  better one replace it. The benefit to knowing policy upfront is that one can find poor policies on topics of interest and see whether he wishes to try to change them. (I am thinking specifically of pro-life causes, campus due process, student fees, parking policies, campus security and other such issues. One can identify where the University stands on these issues and see whether or not one believes these policies are helpful or harmful to their cherished cause.) 

Conclusion

All in all, both HOP and MOPP provides the university community with valuable information about where the University’s commitments lie. This allows individuals to successfully negotiate their relationship with the University.

To put it positively, HOP and MOPP can inform university members of how to live and act in the university environment in such a way as to maximize their influence upon the campus context. Good advocates familiarize themselves with HOP and MOPP because through them the University expresses its commitments upfront. The individual who knows these commitments ahead of time will know how to negotiate his relationship with the University, win legitimacy for his advocacy and so maximize his influence on-campus. 

So students should do it. They should know campus policy and bring their ideas to bear upon the community for its welfare. 

Feature image: ''Court Gavel - Judge's Gavel - Courtroom'' by wp paarz via Flickr

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Resources:

• Handbook of Operating Procedures (HOP) 
• Student Affairs’ Manual of Policies & Procedures (MOPP).