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Change Management Policy and Procedures

Policy Purpose

This policy defines the Change Management process for the IT Department at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith to minimize disruptions in service to users of the technology infrastructure. For purposes of this process, changes are defined as installs, modifications or deletions that alter the production infrastructure and operations environment.

Policy Statement

It shall be the policy of the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith to implement a common approach for requesting/documenting change requests/requirement. The following encompass these changes:
1. Ensure proper controls/sign-off’s/authorizations for all change requests.
2. Provide an audit trail within the University ticketing system of all UAFS IT Infrastructure requested and implemented changes.
3. Ensure that the end users are identified early on and kept fully up-to-date on the project plan.
4. Reduce risk to the University while implementing new technologies with reduced downtime across the IT infrastructure.
This policy includes, but is not limited to the following:
1. Hardware changes
2. Software changes (operating level) including upgrades/enhancements/patches
3. Application changes (functionality updates, fixes, version releases, etc.)
4. Network changes
5. Interface changes
6. Database changes

Applicability

This policy applies to all University employees in the IT department.

Definitions

Change Advisory Board (CAB) - Structure for review and approval of all Comprehensive Changes. It consists of all Information Technology Services Management Team members.
Change Implementer - Information Technology Services Staff member requesting and in charge of implementing the change.
Change Manager - Director of Information Technology Services or his/her designee.
Change Overview - A record of all change requests in University ticketing system and their current status, updated continuously throughout the process.
Comprehensive Change - A change that impacts a significant number of users or a mission critical system.
Emergency Change - An urgent request to correct a problem or restore service in the production environment.
Lead Time - Time required to obtain necessary approvals, plan and communicate upcoming changes to the University.
Routine Change - A change that will have minimal or no impact to the user community.
Staging Tests - Application system and network tests to validate planned changes will perform as expected.
UAFS IT Infrastructure - All hardware, network and software components for the common infrastructure environment.

Policy Procedure

Change Requests:
1. All change requests must be entered into the University ticketing system change section.
2. The change request will include a description of the change, detailed instructions for the change, testing instructions for after the change, and back out instructions if problems are encountered.
3. The change request is forwarded via University ticketing system to the appropriate supervisor(s) or CAB for approval.
4. No routine or comprehensive change can be made until the change has been processed through the approval process detailed below. Emergency changes are an exception and are shown below.
5. The lead time for routine changes requires that the requestor must initiate the change approval process by end of day on the Monday prior to the Wednesday change window or by end of day on Wednesday for the Friday change window.
6. If the change affects the campus community, then a notification must be sent out.
Routine Changes:
1. These changes are automatically sent to the supervisor of the Change Implementer.
2. Once approved by the supervisor, the University ticketing system automatically notifies the person assigned to process the change.
3. If a routine change is entered after the lead time deadline but needs to be scheduled during the specified change window, the Change Implementer can contact their supervisor or his/her designee to get approval.
Comprehensive Change:
1. The Change Advisory Board (CAB) meets as needed to review comprehensive change requests. Each Board member represents their department and provides guidance on the change requests.
2. The CAB approves or rejects the change request.
3. Approved changes are scheduled for production implementation.
4. The lead time for comprehensive changes requires the requestor must initiate the change approval process by noon on the Friday of the week before the weekend change window.
Emergency Change:
1. If time and circumstances permit, the emergency change is entered into University ticketing system.
2. If time does not permit the change to be entered into University ticketing system
immediately, the change manager should be contacted by phone or email to give oral approval to proceed.
3. The change manager evaluates how the change impacts the infrastructure and may elect to involve other IT members or the wider CAB if the change is evaluated as major Impact (multiple systems, etc.).
4. The change implementer completes the change and enters updates into University ticketing system as time permits to provide information to the change manager and to update and close out the change management documentation.
Change Freezes:
1. For the Spring semester, one week before the first day of the semester classes, and during the first week of semester classes, there shall be no changes, except those that are deemed critical or time sensitive (e.g. a critical security update needed immediately). Example: Spring semester starts Monday the 17th, no changes starting Monday the 10th. New changes can start Monday the 24th.
2. For the Fall semester, two weeks before the first day of semester classes, and two weeks after the first day of semester classes, there shall be no changes, except those that are deemed critical or time sensitive. Example: Fall semester starts Monday the 17th. No changes starting Monday the 3rd. New changes can start Monday the 31st.
3. All comprehensive changes shall be frozen two weeks before and two weeks after the first day of each Fall and Spring semester.
4. At the end of the Fall and Spring semester, there shall be no changes 5 days before the beginning of finals, during finals week, or the week after until grades are posted. Example: Finals starts Friday, last change is the previous Friday before finals starts, and next change window is after grades are posted.
5. Exceptions to the above rules can be made by the IT Director or his/her designee. In the absence of the IT Director, the Associate Director of IT can make exceptions. In absence of the IT Associate Director, the IT management team can agree on exceptions.
Change Windows:
1. Routine Changes should be on Wednesdays from 9:00pm to 6:00am Thursday morning.
2. Comprehensive or any Disruptive Changes from Fridays from 9:00pm to 6:00am Sunday morning.
Change exceptions:
1. In situations when the change can be made earlier due to the schedule maintained in the specific location, an exception to the time frame can be obtained by contacting the Director of Information Technology Services for approval. 

Enforcement

This policy is enforced internally by the IT management and by the current campus ticketing system in use. 

Policy Management

This policy is managed by the IT department. The IT Director and appointed IT personnel are the primary administrators of this policy. The responsible executive is the VCFA.

Exclusions

None applicable.

Effective and Approved Date

This internal policy was approved by Terry Meadows – Director of IT/CIO on 8/19/2019

Last Updated

10/20/2025 – Reformatted for accessibility by Terry Meadows Director of IT/CIO