August University Policy Distribution, SYS Policy Approvals, and Federal Fridays

Friday, August 22, 2025

August University Policy Distribution 

The August university policy distribution contains two (2) revised UW System Administrative policies and one (1) proposal to rescind a UW System Administrative policy.

Revised UW System Administrative Policies

Proposal to Rescind UW System Administrative Policy

Click on the links above to view the drafts 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 SYS 645 and the rescission of SYS 1288 are due by 5:00pm on Friday, September 12. Comments on SYS 180 are due by 5:00pm on Monday, September 22.

DRAFT REVISED POLICY

SYS 180, Campus Early Education and Care Centers

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

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

  • This policy affirms and/or addresses the following issues related to Campus Early Education and Care Centers:  access to childcare for students, faculty, and staff and the role(s) Campus Early Education and Care Centers (Campus Centers) can have within a university; accreditation requirements; use of funding sources; and accountability measures.
  • The following revisions have been made to the policy:
    • Policy has been updated to reflect current formatting standards for SYS Administrative policies. This includes the renumbering oof several subsections and the addition of the following sections:
      • Section 1: Policy Purpose
      • Section 2: Responsible UW System Officer
      • Section 5: Definitions
      • Section 6: Policy Statement
      • Section 7: Related Documents
      • Section 8: Policy History
      • Section 9: Scheduled Review Date
    • The title of the policy has been changed from “Child Care Centers” to “Campus Early Education and Care Centers.”
    • Throughout the policy, the term “child care center” has been replaced with “early education and care center” or the abbreviated version “Campus Center,” the term “institution” has been replaced with “university,” and, when appropriate, the term “UW System” has been replaced with “Universities of Wisconsin.”
    • In Section 4 (formerly Section I), Background, added reference to RPD 14-3, Equal Opportunities in Education: Eliminating Discrimination Based on Gender. Removed former Section II, Board of Regents Policy as duplicative of the RPD content.
    • Renumbered former Section I.A to Section 6.A, and updated information about accreditation requirements. Expanded upon this section to reflect current standards for obligations for quality at the universities.
    • Removed former Section II.A and moved listed references to Section 7, Related Documents.
    • Renumbered former Section III to Section 6.B and replaced the term “guidelines” with “framework.”  Removed header III.1, updated language to remove obsolete references, and added additional recommended partners and considerations to the needs assessment process.
    • Renumbered former Section IV to Section 6.C.
    • Renumbered former Section V to Section 6.D. Added considerations to be reflected in fee policy and reference to IRS Publication 5137 that allows for a discount on child care services to benefit-eligible permanent employees. Added language recommending a set General Purpose Revenue (GPR) allocation for Campus Centers and clarifying the utilization of grants and private funds. Added requirement that UW campuses that use vendor/contracted care or who create student subsidy programs shall ensure that support dollars allocated fund only state licensed, city and/or nationally accredited early education and care center options.
    • Renumbered former Section V.1 to Section 6.E and removed specific language regarding internal audit requirements. Added considerations to be included in the Campus Centers’ survey of families.
    • Renumbered former Section V.2 to Section 6.F.
  • See the Summary Document for a list of proposed revisions to the appendices.
DRAFT REVISED POLICY

SYS 645, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) Compliance

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

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

  • The purpose of this policy is to establish minimum standards for compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) (Public Law 101-601) throughout the University of Wisconsin (UW) System. Specific proposed revisions to the policy include:
    • Throughout the policy, updated terms defined in Section 5, Definitions, to align exactly with the way they are written in that section.
    • Throughout the policy, replaced “collections” with “holdings” as appropriate.
    • In Section 3, change the required adoption deadline for institution policies to July 31, 2026.
    • In Section 4, updated language to “protection and return” rather than “repatriation and disposition” to align with the current language of the National Park Service.
    • In Section 5, updated listed terms and definitions to align with the current definitions in the Code of Federal Regulation (CFR).
    • In Section 6.A.I.2 (bullet 3), updated language to “the Wisconsin Inter-Tribal Repatriation Committee (WITRC) and any requesting Tribal Nations” from “Wisconsin Indian Tribe Officials.”
    • In Section 6.A.I.3 (bullet 5), simplified language around WITRC representation.
    • In Section 6.A.II.1, removed specific reference to “Wisconsin Tribes.”
    • In Section 6.B.IV.1, clarified the reporting is required “annually.”
    • In Section 6.B.IV.2, removed the requirement for the report to also address how the institution intends to comply with 43 CFR 10.13 (Future Applicability).
    • In Section 6.B.IV.3, simplified language around other applicable laws that the oversight and review processes must comply with.
    • In Section 6.B.VI, VII, and VIII, updated language to include “Human Remains (Ancestors)” in addition to “Cultural Items.”
    • In Section 6.B.IX.2, added requirements around tribal consultation and consent prior to analysis, research, scientific investigation, or loan requests for NAGPRA-eligible Human Remains (Ancestors).
    • In Section 6.B.IX.3, added requirements for preliminary assessments of potential Humans Remains (Ancestors) before undertaking analysis, research, or scientific investigation.
    • In Section 6.B.IX.4 (formerly 2), clarified requirements around tribal consultation and consent prior to analysis, research, scientific investigation, or loan requests for objects that have not yet been claimed under the provisions of NAGPRA, but have a reasonable likelihood of being claimed in the future.
    • In Section 6.B.IX.5, added language regarding requirements for determining cultural affiliation under NAGPRA Compliance.
    • In Section 6.B.IX.6, added language to” prohibit the analysis, research, scientific investigation, or loan of Human Remains (Ancestors) or Cultural Items that are the subject of a repatriation request or that have been approved for repatriation without permission from a determined lineal descendant or Authorized Tribal Representative(s) for the culturally affiliated Tribes.”
    • Removed language in former section 6.B.IX.3 as more details about those requirements are now provided in the new language.
    • In Section 6.B.XI, clarified that the Unit Representative’s reports to the Institution Representative and the Institution Representative’s reports to the UW System NAGPRA Director must be in written format.
    • In Section 7, added a link to the Universities of Wisconsin Tribal Relations (NAGPRA) webpage.
PROPOSAL TO RESCIND

RESCIND- SYS 1288, Reinstatement of Employee Privileges Under Wis. Stat. § 36.115(6)

This rescission will be effective upon signature by the president.

Background Summary of Policy

  • The purpose of this policy is to establish a procedure that allows UW System employees holding positions in the classified service on June 30, 2015, to retain the reinstatement privileges that they had under Wis. Stat. § 230.31(1), which provides that employees are eligible for reinstatement to classified service positions in state agencies for a five-year period.

Rationale for Rescission

  • During the review of SYS 1200 Series policies to align with the current SYS policy template, it was determined that this policy only retained the eligibility for permissive reinstatement to classified service positions in state agencies for employees who held classified positions on June 30, 2015 until July 1, 2020.
  • Given that the five-year period of reinstatement privileges has passed, this policy is obsolete and proposed for rescission.

SYS Policy Approvals

On August 12, President Rothman approved revisions to the policy SYS 320, Internal Service Entities/Chargebacks, as well as the new interim policy action SYS 1200-15, Interim: UW System Pay Plan Distribution Framework for the University Workforce Amendments. 

For more information on the approvals, see the summaries below.

SYS 320, Internal Service Entities/Chargebacks

These revisions were effective upon signature by the president.

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions 

  • The purpose of this policy is to standardize the methods of accounting for internal and external sales and services for University of Wisconsin (UW) System internal service departments. Revisions are as follows:
    • Added policy sections to align with current SYS policy template, including Section 1, Policy Purpose; Section 2, Responsible UW System Officer; Section 3, Scope and Institutional Responsibilities; Section 5, Definitions; Section 7, Related Documents; Section 8, Policy History; and Section 9, Scheduled Review.
    • Removed Constraints section and moved content to Section 1.
    • Removed Procedures section and incorporated content into Section 6.
    • Throughout the policy, updated references to “internal service departments” to “internal service entities,” and references to “class codes” to “ledger account and revenue category.”
    • In the first paragraph of Section 6.A, updated accounting code for General Administration and Logistical Services included under Institutional Support to the new code in Workday.
    • In the second paragraph of Section 6.A, updated process for coding credits for interdepartmental transactions of internal service entities or storerooms which provide services to reflect the new process in Workday.
    • Moved information about sales and services of an auxiliary enterprise from Section 6.B to Section 6.A. Updated accounting code for Auxiliary Enterprises to the new code in Workday and updated process to new process in Workday.
    • In Section 6.A, added additional information about accounting for costs coded to internal service delivery expenses in Workday.
    • In Section 6.B, clarified the process for coding sales and services for departments funded by General Purpose Revenue (GPR) and for departments funded by Program Revenue (PR).

University Comments and Concerns  

  • One reviewer suggested the term “Internal Service Providers” was a better description than “Internal Service Entities.”
    • No change made. “Internal Service Entities” was chosen to avoid possible confusion because the term “Internal Service Provider” has a specific meaning in Workday.

SYS 1200-15, Interim: UW System Pay Plan Distribution Framework for the University Workforce Amendments

This interim policy action will expire on February 1, 2026, or upon the approval of substantive revisions to SYS 1278, whichever is first.

Summary of Interim Policy Action

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.