May University Policy Distribution, SYS Policy Approvals, Upcoming Effective Dates, Federal Fridays, and FY2026 Policy Prioritization

Friday, May 23, 2025

May University Policy Distribution 

The May university policy distribution contains one (1) revised policy, one (1) new guidance document, and one (1) policy proposed for rescission.

Revised Policy

New Guidelines

Policy Proposed for Rescission

Click on the link above to view the draft and ensure that your feedback is captured for review during the post-comment period. Comments can include attachments, including word documents and PDFs. Comments on the SYS 615 guidelines and SYS 616 rescission are due by 5:00pm on Friday, June 13. 

Feedback on SYS 185 will be due at 5:00pm on Monday, June 23.

DRAFT REVISED POLICY

SYS 185, Awarding of UW System Credit in Wisconsin Schools

These policy revisions will be effective upon signature by the president.  

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

  • This policy establishes academic and financial expectations for the UW System institutions and participating Wisconsin schools for credit-bearing courses taught in Wisconsin schools by school instructors that have been authorized to do so by a UW System institution. The following revisions have been made:
    • In Section 6.C, language regarding the reimbursement of tuition was changed.
      • “After this reimbursement, tuition will be assessed based on the tuition rates established in the prior academic year”.
    • In Section 7, updated the format of the revision history dates to match other SYS policies.
    • Throughout the policy, replaced the term “institution” with “university” where appropriate.
DRAFT NEW GUIDELINES 

SYS 615 Guidelines: Guidelines for Student Driving Universities of Wisconsin Vehicles

This guidance will be effective upon signature by the Chief Compliance and Risk Officer.

Summary of Guidance

  • The purpose of these guidelines is to provide guidance on when students can be considered “agents of the State” when driving university vehicles and therefore eligible for the liability protections afforded under Wisconsin statute. They were developed as part of the response to the internal audit of SYS 616, University of Wisconsin Student Drivers Under the State’s Liability Protection, and are designed to replace that policy to eliminate redundancies.
PROPOSED POLICY RESCISSION 

SYS 616, University of Wisconsin Student Drivers Under the State’s Liability Protection

This policy will be rescinded upon signature by the president.

Background Summary of Policy

Rationale for Rescission

  • In accordance with the 2024 Audit Plan, an internal audit of SYS 616 was conducted at all UW universities, with the objective to evaluate and test compliance. One of the system recommendations from the audit was a review of SYS 616.
  • As part of its management response to this audit, the Office of Compliance and Risk Management convened a taskforce comprised of risk and fleet managers from four UW universities to review SYS 616. Over a five-month period this taskforce regularly met and discussed SYS 616. After consulting with the Office of General Counsel, the taskforce’s final recommendation was that SYS 616 be rescinded for the following reasons:
    • The language pertaining to acceptable vehicle use by student drivers is generally duplicative to that found in SYS 615, Vehicle Use and Driver Authorization, which explicitly applies to student drivers.
    • After consulting with the Office of General Counsel, the taskforce determined that the guidance language found in SYS 616 would better serve the universities in a separate SYS 615 guidance document and not in the form of a system policy.

SYS Policy Approvals

On May 9, Chief Compliance Officer Paige Smith approved the new guidance document, SYS 655 Guidance: Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Applications Guidance.

On May 13, President Rothman approved the new policy SYS 655, Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Applications.

On May 22, President Rothman also approved the new policy SYS 216, Academic Basis Pay Deferral Policy.

See below for a brief summary of these items.

SYS 655, Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Applications

SYS 655 Guidance: Accessibility of Web Content and Mobile Applications Guidance

This policy will be effective on April 1, 2026. 

Summary of Policy

  • This is a new policy that implements the requirements of the United States Department of Justice’s April 24, 2024 rule created under the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding accessibility of web content and mobile apps, in alignment with Regent Policy Document 14-10, Nondiscrimination on Basis of Disability. It upholds the Universities of Wisconsin commitment to fostering a culture of inclusion for people with disabilities by ensuring that web content and mobile applications (apps) associated with administration, instruction, departmental programs, and University-sponsored activities are accessible for independent and equal use.
  • The policy includes an associated guidance document to assist with implementation and set the floor for compliance.
  • For additional support and resources, see the Digital Accessibility at Universities of Wisconsin webpage.

University Comments and Concerns

SYS 216, Academic Basis Pay Deferral Policy

This policy will be effective on July 1, 2025.

Summary of Policy
  • This policy creates a new short term pay deferral program for Academic year (“C” Basis) employees that allows them to spread their 9-month compensation out over a period of 12 months. It also articulates how benefit contributions will be spread out over the year, and specifies those circumstances in which a participating employee could receive an accelerated payout under the program. Also included are the rules related to beginning and terminating one’s participation in the program. This new policy is set to take effect upon the implementation of Workday on July 1, 2025.
University Comments and Concerns
  • A professor from UW-La Crosse requested that faculty members on sabbatical be permitted to participate (excluded under current language).
    • This change was declined. Sabbaticals are often partially funded with outside grant money. Some grants do not permit deferred compensation. Complexity of assessing every grant to determine if eligible for compensation deferral would be administratively infeasible.
  • A professor from UW-La Crosse requested that, if faculty on sabbatical not permitted to participate, that the re-election requirements for faculty be clarified in the policy.
    • Change accepted. Added language that faculty returning from sabbatical must re-enroll in 9/12 program.
  • A professor from La-Crosse identified a typographical error.
    • Error corrected.

Upcoming Policy Effective Dates 

The following policy revisions were previously approved by President Rothman and have effective dates of July 1, 2025. Please review the revisions in preparation for the upcoming effective date.

Federal Fridays 

The Universities of Wisconsin Federal Update Working group has a Federal Updates web page for the public to learn about the federal issues the UW is monitoring. The site provides a dashboard view of the various issues organized by topic, with a summary and links related to the topic.

FY 2026 Policy Prioritization

UWSA policy owners are currently reviewing the recommendations from universities and compiling their list of priorities for their offices.

A memo detailing the policy work expected in FY 2026 will be shared in our June distribution on Friday, June 20.