March University Distribution Reminder, FY2026 Q4 Policy Preview, and Federal Fridays

These policy revisions will be effective June 28, 2026.

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• This policy describes the process for calculating salaries and fringe benefits to University of Wisconsin (UW) System employees.
• Proposed revisions include:
  • Edits to Policy Section 6.N.I to allow flexibility when establishing salary ranges to round to the nearest wage increment utilized by the responsible authority (e.g. nearest whole dollar, nearest hundred dollars, etc.).
  • Edits to Policy Section 6.N.II for FLSA-Exempt employees whose wages are expressed as a salary, for purposes of establishing starting salaries, salary increases pursuant to a pay plan increase, merit increases and any other salary changes, mathematical calculations will be to nearest whole cent. This will allow flat percentage increases to be granted and entered into Workday and the resulting amount would match the percentage increase.

Draft revised policy

SYS 342, Extramural Support Administration

These policy revisions will be effective upon signature of the President.

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• The purpose of this policy is to set forth the systemwide parameters related to extramural support, which includes gifts, grants, sponsored contracts, and cooperative agreements. Proposed revisions include the following:
  • Making minor language changes to improve clarity.
  • Updating the definition of Sponsored Contract to reflect Workday terminology. (Section 5)
  • Clarifying that certain fee-for-service contracts involving the transfer of federal funds between UW institutions or a UW institution and a state agency are subject to the policy. (Section 3, Section 5, Section 6.C.XII.)
  • Updates UW System Administration policies to include preparation of the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) and assisting in review of federal award terms and conditions. (Section 6.B.)
  • Updating institution responsibilities to include review of the terms and conditions of federal awards.
  • Updating language regarding gifts-in-kind to be consistent with the State Accounting Manual and to provide limited flexibility on the timing of report submission to the Board of Regents. (Section 6.C.X.)
  • Aligning language on reporting requirements with Regent Policy Document (RPD) 13-1, General Contract Approval, Signature Authority, and Reporting.

Draft Revised Policy

SYS 805, Tuition and Fees Policies for Credit Instruction

These policy revisions will be effective July 1, 2026.

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• The purpose of this policy is to outline statutory, Board of Regents, and administrative policy provisions with respect to the parameters for establishing and authority for approving tuition and fees. Proposed revisions include:
  • Updating several sections the appropriate Fund into which revenues should be deposited, including the process for doing so.
  • Updating references to UW System offices, including the Office of Online & Professional Learning Resources.
  • Eliminating redundancy in reference to certain non-resident tuition rates. (section A.I.)
  • Defining full-time enrollment status as 12 credits for undergraduate students, and sets parameters for graduate students, which is to be further defined in individual university policy. (section A.II)
  • Eliminating the reference to special instruction fees, which have been subsumed into other tuition and fee structures. (section A.V.)
  • Eliminating the reference to the Extended Degree Program, which has been incorporated into other program offerings. (section A.XVII.)
  • Adding language that specifies institutions may assess a uniform application fee for special graduate students that may be different than the fee assessed to graduate school applicants. (section A.XVIII.)
  • Updating that UW System Administration and not the Higher Educational Aids Board (HEAB) is responsible for managing the reciprocity agreement with the State of Minnesota. (section B.II.)
  • Providing flexibility in how universities apply charges for partial payment plans.
  • Updating that partial payment plans must be reviewed by the UW System Office of General Counsel and not the Vice President for Finance and Administration. (section C.II.)
  • Updating language regarding when universities may withhold transcripts due to non-payment of fees for students receiving Title IV funds to align with federal regulations. (section C.V.)

Draft Revised Policy

SYS 1277, Compensation

These policy revisions will be effective upon signature of the President.

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• The purpose of this policy is to outline parameters for setting and adjusting salaries of University of Wisconsin employees.  Revisions to the policy primarily address removing the need to go before the Joint Committee on Employee Relations (JCOER) for a pay plan that is part of the approved biennial budget. There are some additional clarifications included.
  • Edits to section 5. Definitions removing range spread and range mid-point since those terms are not referenced in the policy.
  • Edits to section 6.A.X. clarifying that pay upon appointment is not a salary adjustment and should not be listed in the sequencing of salary adjustments on the same date.
  • Edits to section 6.B.I removes the requirement of going before JCOER.
  • Edits to section 6.C.I removing a reference to an outdated Wisconsin Statute.
  • Edits to section 6.D. removes the requirement of going before JCOER.

Draft Revised Policy

SYS 1278, UW System Pay Plan Distribution for the University Workforce

These policy revisions will be effective upon signature of the President.

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• This policy provides guidance on the distribution of a general wage adjustment (pay plan) as approved by the legislature and governor as part of the State of Wisconsin biennial budget. Revisions to the policy primarily address not needing to go before the Joint Committee on Employee Relations (JCOER) for a pay plan that is part of the approved biennial budget.
  • Edits to section 4 to remove the requirement of going before JCOER.
  • Edits to section 5:
    • Pay Plan is the General Wage Adjustment approved by the legislature and governor as part of the State of Wisconsin biennial budget.
    • Effective Date is the first day of the payroll period closest to July 1, or first day of the payroll period closest to the date prescribed by law or by the appropriate authority.
    • Implementation Date is the first date of the pay period, on or after the effective date, when pay plan is paid to employees.
  • Edits to Section 6.C. to clarify that all employees in active pay status on payroll at time of implementation of pay plan includes new employees starting on the implementation date.
  • Edits to Section 6.E. removes the option for Chancellors to earmark up to 15% of total pay plan for Chancellor’s discretionary use as this would deviate from what was approved by the legislature and governor as part of the State of Wisconsin biennial budget.
  • Edits to section 6.F. to clarify that pay plan increases are applied only to an employee’s regular base salary and do not include any temporary salary increases such as temporary work allowances, overloads, period activity pay, temporary base adjustments or any other non-permanent increases to base compensation.

March Policy Action Summary

Between March 6, 2026 and April 3, 2026, there were no UW System Administrative policy approvals. Information on policies being finalized can be found in the Q4 Policy Preview document.

FY 2026 Fourth Quarter SYS Policy Preview

Please see the FY 2026 Q4 Policy Preview Memo pdf . It details the policy work anticipated between April and June 2026, including policies and procedures to be distributed to universities, as well as policies and procedures that are anticipated to be approved by the President.

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.