The Austin Community College Board of Trustees adopted this policy on February 12, 1996 and amended it on March 4, 1996.

I-5. BOARD POLICY PRINCIPLES

1. The Board acts primarily through the adoption of written policies. The College President shall cause all sectors of the College to be informed of the Board policies relevant to their activities and shall ensure the compliance of College activities with Board policies. The College President may set additional administrative rules, as long as they are consistent with and supportive of any Board policies to which they are related.
2. The Board may use resolutions rather than policies for some short-term decisions or directives. Resolutions are limited in effect to the specific items and time periods they address, and are effective in no case for more than a year after their adoption, except for contracts with effects of more than one year.
3. There are no unwritten Board policies or decisions. The only authorizations, limitations, or directives in effect at the Board level are those explicitly stated in the current Board policy manual adopted at a meeting of the full Board within the previous year. Individual or collective statements by Trustees in any other form have no authority in College operations.
4. To the extent activities in an area are not covered by a current Board policy or resolution, those to whom the College President has delegated authority are to act in the best interest of the community and students in their discretion, subject to such administrative rules as the College President may set.
5. Board policies are to be used only to directly express the decisions of the Board; they are not to be used to simply repeat or ratify either administrative rules (which do not require Board approval) or external laws and regulations (which the Board has no power to change).
6. When a Board policy or resolution (except one related to Board procedure) has more than one reasonable interpretation, the College President may specify which interpretation the College shall follow, with notification to the Board of any significant policy ambiguities revealed by this process.

The content of this page is the responsibility of Carol Nasworthy, ACC Board of Trustees Chair. It was last updated on October 1, 1996.