About

History

In 2014, Oregon State University inherited hundreds of Oregon Administrative Rules (OARs), Oregon University System (OUS) policies, and OUS Internal Management Directives (IMDs) when governance transitioned from the State Board of Higher Education to our own Board of Trustees. These “legacy policies” formed our first University Policy and Standards Manual, and we continue to update these policies as well as add new ones.

A Note on Nomenclature

The PDF is the official text of the policy. If there are any incongruities between the text of the HTML version and the text within the PDF file, the PDF will be considered accurate and overriding.

Use of the word policies: There may be references in University Policies or Standards or this website to "university policies" or "policy/policies." In this context, the term is used generically and may refer to University Policies, University Standards, Board policies, unit rules, or any of the other types of governance listed here.

Transition from OUS: As we transition to OSU-specific University Policies and Standards, our nomenclature is in transition as well. University Policies or Standards that were inherited from OUS will retain their previous names and numbers; generally, these policies and standards were originally codified as Oregon Administrative Rules and the adopted policy has retained the same number. As University Policies and Standards are updated they will be reformatted and renumbered. During this transition period, nomenclature within University Policies and Standards may be inconsistent. In general, to interpret University Policies and Standards that were inherited from OUS but have not yet been updated, note that “Board” or “State Board of Higher Education” now refers to OSU’s Board of Trustees; “Chancellor” means “President;” “Institution” means “OSU;” and so on.