On Thursday, November 21, Governor Tony Evers signed AB 38- University of Wisconsin research contracts into law as Act 36. The bill will streamline the process by which UW System faculty members can enter into research contracts involving the university and an organization with which the same faculty members are connected. Currently, if a university faculty member enters into a research contract with an organization with which the faculty member is involved, the contract must undergo a 45-day passive review process by the Board of Regents if the contract is worth more than $250,000. This delays getting beneficial research into the market that can improve lives and communities. AB 38 eliminates the passive review process and lifts the contract threshold, but it requires the Board of Regents to create a policy on management plans that institutions must adhere to, ensuring all research contracts continue to be appropriately managed. See the UW System news release for more on President Cross’s response on the bill signing.
The Governor also signed into law AB 189- Transferability of courses between the UW System, Technical College System, and Tribally controlled and private colleges as Act 46. This requires the number of credits under the Universal Credit Transfer Agreement to increase from 30 to 72 credits by the 2022-23 academic year, and it encourages institutions to enter into program-to-program articulation agreements that focus on high demand fields of study.
Lastly, the Governor signed into law SB 142- Late Payment of tuition benefits for student veterans enrolled in the UW System of Technical College as Act 47. This bill puts into state statute a prohibition that prevents the UW System and technical college system from taking any adverse action against a student who receives federal veteran benefits for tuition if the benefits are not paid to the institution by the institution’s deadline for tuition and fees. UW System institutions are already compliant and do not take adverse action in these cases. Congress also passed the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act on December 31, 2018, at the federal level with the same type of prohibition.