November University Policy Distribution and SYS Policy Approvals

November University Policy Distribution

The November university policy distribution contains two (2) revised policies, and one (1) proposal to rescind a policy.

Two (2) revised SYS policies:

• SYS 425, Use of Personal Vehicles, Rental Cars, and Fleet for Business Transportation
• SYS 135, UW System Undergraduate Transfer Policy 

One (1) policy proposed for rescission:

• SYS 171, Recruitment/Retention of Students 

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 the revised policies are due on Friday, December 8th, 2023 by 5:00pm. Comments on the proposed rescinded policy are due on Tuesday, November 21st by 5:00pm. 

DRAFT REVISED POLICY

SYS 425, Use of Personal Vehicles, Rental Cars and Fleet for Business Transportation 

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

This policy prescribes the mileage reimbursement rates and the requirements for using contract vehicle rental vendors, communicates driver authorization requirements, defines the responsibility for determining the most appropriate mode of transportation, vehicle expense than can be reimbursed, business mileage and calculation of miles for reimbursement and the responsibilities for institutions that operate a fleet. Revisions were made to reflect that the University has entered into a new contract term with Enterprise and National. Technical revisions to the policy include:

• In Section 6.H, the second paragraph now includes the “State of Wisconsin (WSCA/NASPO) contract with Hertz” and redefines Eligible business renters as “Employees authorized by the University.”
• In Section 6.H, the third paragraph was revised to reflect that the University now considers Enterprise/national to be equal to Hertz as contracted partners.
• In Section 6.H, the 7th paragraph was added to include information about which contract Student Organizations and Student Clubs should use as their insurance coverage and rates are now separate with Enterprise/National.
• In Section 6.I, the first paragraph was revised to include the following:
  • “The Big Ten Alliance contracts include collision (CDW) and liability (LDW) insurance coverage for U.S. originating rentals, excluding Student Club and Student Organization rentals.”
  • “Travelers and those that arrange travel for others must review the rental vehicle contracts for rates, surcharges and included coverages prior to renting a vehicle.”
  • “The Hertz contract with the State of Wisconsin also includes the necessary CDW/LDW insurances for domestic rentals.”
• In Section 6.I, a third paragraph was added to include a requirement for drivers to inspect their vehicle prior to leaving the rental agency.
• In Section 6.K, universities will allow for refueling packages on a rare occasion.
• In Section 6.N, universities will now allow for transponder purchases.
• In Section 6.O, the first bullet point in the right-hand column now includes “unless renting under the Student Club and Student Organization contract.”

DRAFT REVISED POLICY

SYS 135, UW System Undergraduate Transfer Policy 

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• This policy establishes procedures and guidelines for UW System institutions to facilitate the overall transfer process for all students. The policy has been revised to make permanent the language that was included in SYS 100-07, Interim: UW System Undergraduate Transfer Policy Amendment to comply with the recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Students for Fair Admissions v. the University of North Carolina and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University. Following these decisions, the interim waiver removed the mention of membership in an historically underrepresented racial or ethnic group for consideration from this System Administrative Policy.
  • This revision, as was done in the interim policy, amends section 6.A.II of this policy, to read “II. While academic factors are the most important consideration, other factors may also be considered. These factors include, but are not limited to, student experiences, work experience, leadership qualities motivation, community service, special talents, status as a non-traditional or returning adult, status as a veteran of the U.S. military, and whether the applicant is socioeconomically disadvantaged.”
  • This aligns with the supersession to section II.C of RPD 7-3, University of Wisconsin System Freshman Admissions Policy.
  • The draft policy also reflects technical revisions throughout the policy, including:
    • In Section 2, updated the responsible officers to reflect current offices within the Division of Academic and Student Affairs.
    • Throughout the policy, Throughout the policy, replaced references to “institutions” with “universities” except in sections quoting external sources or other policy titles.
    • Throughout the policy, replaced references to the rescinded RPDs 4-11, 4-17, and 7-2 with a reference to SYS 138, Award of Credit by Prior Learning Assessment.
    • In section 7, updated the title of RPD 7-1 to “Transfer and Award of Credit for Extra-Institutional Learning.”

DRAFT POLICY RECISSION

SYS 171, Recruitment/Retention of Students

This policy was designed to promote standardization across UW System universities regarding the amount of information/assistance provided to prospective undergraduate and graduate students to determine if a particular university can provide instruction, research and academic support services to meet their needs. It also addresses special efforts that may be needed to recruit and retain targeted groups of students, including minority and/or disadvantaged students, students underrepresented by gender in a particular discipline, or exceptionally talented students a university is attempting to recruit to remain competitive in the higher education environment.

• SYS 171 dictates which funds may be used for this purpose and lists expenditures that are considered appropriate for general recruitment, as well as additional expenditures that may be approved for recruitment and/or retention of targeted groups.
• This policy was initially approved in 1975 as Financial Policy and Procedure Paper (FPPP) 26, during the formation of the UW System. It was designed to promote standardization across the universities in terms of their informational offerings to prospective students. Subsequent revisions added consideration for targeted groups.

Rationale for Rescission

• Upon review, this policy does not provide universities with additional funds for recruitment of additional information beyond what is found in other policies and practices. At this state of maturity as a System, it is determined that the standardization this policy was designed to promote has been achieved and is now codified in campus policies and practices. Therefore, this policy is proposed for rescission.

SYS Policy Approvals

On November 8, President Jay Rothman approved the substantive revisions to SYS 640, Foreign Gifts & Contracts Reporting.

On November 13, President Jay Rothman approved the substantive revisions to SYS 805, Tuition and Fee Policies for Credit Instruction and the recession of SYS 815, Student Technology Fee Expenditures.

On November 14, President Jay Rothman approved the substantive revisions to SYS 336, Sales & Use Tax. 

See below for a brief summary of these items.

SYS 640, Foreign Gifts & Contracts Reporting 

• The purpose of the policy is to establish general parameters for completing reports regarding foreign transactions required by law throughout the University of Wisconsin System. Federal law requires institutions to report to any Oversight Agency any gifts received from, contracts with, and any ownership interests in the institution by a foreign source. Institutions must report any gifts from or contracts with a single foreign source that have a value as set by the Oversight Agency (alone or when combined) within a single calendar year. Institutions must also report any ownership interests in or control over the institution by a foreign source.

University Comments and Concerns

• For a summary of the feedback and how it was addressed, please see the SYS 640 University Comments and Concerns Page.

SYS 805, Tuition and Fee Policies for Credit Instruction

• The purpose of this policy is to outline the statutory, Board of Regents, and administrative policy provisions with respect to the parameters for establishing and authority for approving tuition and fees. Revisions to this policy are being considered in conjunction with the efforts to revise and merge the Regent Policy Documents on tuition and the rescission of the System Administrative Policy (SYS) 815, Student Technology Fee Expenditures. These drafts were shared with a wide variety of stakeholders, including Chancellors, Provosts, Chief Business Officers, Senior Student Affairs Officers, Senior Diversity Officers, Shared Governance representatives (including student governance representatives).

University Comments & Concerns

• For a summary of the feedback and how it was addressed, please see the SYS 805 University Comments and Concerns Page.

SYS 815, Student Technology Fee Expenditures

• SYS 815 was created in 2001 to specifically define the provisions related to the newly applied Student Technology Fees. In proceeding years, much of this work has been normalized and incorporated into normal operating procedures.
• This policy was originally drafted during an advent of new technology that required consideration for how to build and maintain infrastructure to support their integration into the learning environment.
• Given the assimilation of these fees into existing financial processes, it is no longer deemed necessary to maintain a separate policy to specifically govern Student Technology Fees; therefore, this policy is proposed for rescission.

University Comments & Concerns

• For a summary of the feedback and how it was addressed, please see the SYS 815 Rescission University Comments and Concerns Page.

SYS 336, Sales & Use Tax

• The purpose of this policy is to outline the responsibilities of the University of Wisconsin (UW) universities in terms of paying and collecting state and county sales and use taxes.
• Revisions were made to update policy formatting to current standards.
• Section 4 was updated to no longer include specific counties that have instituted additional tax rates and now directs users to the Wisconsin Tax Bulletin for current rates in Wisconsin.

University Comments and Concerns

• There were no comments on the draft policy during the university feedback period.

Effective Dates Reminder

SYS 1038, Information Security: Network Protection and SYS 1038.A, Information Security: Network Protection Standard, which were approved on November 9, 2022 become effective on December 1, 2023.