October University Distribution, SYS Policy Approvals, and Upcoming Policy Effective Dates

October University Policy Distribution

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

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• In accordance with federal regulations, universities are required to disclose state-specific professional licensure and occupational certification information to students or prospective students based on the state in which a student is located. This policy is necessary to provide a general structure under which universities shall determine a student’s location. Adherence to federal regulations is a condition of Title IV eligibility. The following policy revisions were made:
  • Updated the policy title to include “and Occupational Certification.”
  • Throughout the policy, language was updated to reflect the current state of the regulation, as the policy was originally drafted when the regulations were new.
  • Throughout the policy, replaced the term “institutions” with “universities.”
  • Throughout the policy, replaced “professional licensure” and “professional or occupational licensure” with “professional licensure and occupational certification.”
  • In Section 5, a definition for “Time of Enrollment” was added.
  • In Section 5, the definitions of “Location” and “Professional Licensure or Certification Program” were revised and expanded upon.

Draft Revised Policy

SYS 1210, Vacation, Paid Leave Banks, and Vacation Cash Payouts

These policy revisions shall take effect on July 1, 2025.

 Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• This policy establishes guidelines for the administration of paid vacation for UW System employees. Revisions are as follows:

  • In Sections 6.B.I.1 and 6.B.I.5, convert the accumulation of vacation for University Staff from a calendar year basis to a fiscal year basis.

  • In Sections 6.D.I.1,6.D.I.2, throughout  6.E.I, and throughout 6.E.VI.2,  relevant decision dates with respect to banking or cash payouts are also updated to reflect the new fiscal year basis for this benefit.

  • In Section 6.H.IV, the ability to change the type of leave used for a particular absence is time-limited, with the deadline being the end of the second pay period following the absence.
• No substantive changes are made to the benefit itself.
• This change is made to coincide with the implementation of Workday on July 1, 2025.

Draft Revised Policy

SYS 1211, Personal Holiday and Legal Holiday Administration

These policy revisions shall take effect on July 1, 2025.

 Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• This policy establishes guidelines for the administration of personal and legal holidays for UW System employees. Revisions to the policy are as follows:

  • In Sections 6.A.II and 6.A.III.2.a, convert the accrual and usage of personal holidays and legal holidays for University Staff from a calendar year basis to a fiscal year basis.

  • In Section 6.A.III.2.c and 6.B.III.5, some language with respect to unused holiday carryover has also been updated to reflect the new fiscal year basis of the benefit. The ability to change the type of leave used for a particular absence is time-limited, with the deadline being the end of the second pay period following the absence.

  • In Section 6.A.V, simplified language around movement to another UW System Appointment.

• No substantive changes are made to the benefit itself.

• This change is made to coincide with the implementation of Workday on July 1, 2025.

Draft Revised Policy

SYS 1212, Sick Leave

These policy revisions shall take effect on July 1, 2025.

 Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• This policy establishes parameters for the administration of sick leave for all UW System employees. Revisions are as follows:

  • In Section 6.A.II, clarify that an employee holding a sick-leave eligible appointment continues to be eligible for sick leave, even if they transfer to a new position that would not otherwise meet the criteria for initial eligibility.  (This is an existing rule- only included for clarity.)

  • In Section 6.B.I.2, convert the accrual of Sick Leave for University staff from a calendar year basis to a fiscal year basis.

  • In Sections 6.C.I.2 and 6.C.II.1, clarify the requirement that Paid Parental Leave be used prior to sick leave for any absence that qualifies for Paid Parental Leave.

  • Throughout Section 6.G, update reflect name changes for organizational units involved in the administration of sick leave

  • In Sections 6.G.IV, clarify that the ability to substitute other kinds of leave for sick leave is time-limited, with the new deadline being the second pay period following the use of the leave.

• This change is made to coincide with the implementation of Workday on July 1, 2025.

Draft Revised Policy

SYS 1238, Crafts Workers

These policy revisions shall take effect on July 1, 2025.

 Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• This policy provides compensation structures and benefits information for crafts workers employees working at a UW System institution. Revisions are as follows:

  • Add Section 2. Responsible UW System Officer, Section 3. Scope and Institutional Responsibilities, and Section 9. Scheduled Review Date to align with current policy template.

  • In Section 5, eliminate some obsolete titles from the definition of a “Trades Supervisor.”

  • In Section 6.C, transition the accrual of vacation hours from a calendar year to a fiscal year basis.

  • In Section 6.E, simplified list of employees by using term “Trades Supervisors.”

• No substantive changes have been made to the benefit itself.

• This change is made to coincide with the implementation of Workday on July 1, 2025.

Draft Revised Policy

SYS 1254, Performance Management

This policy shall take effect on July 1, 2025.

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• This policy provides a framework for managing and evaluating performance that fosters employee engagement, encourages continuous performance improvement, and maximizes the individuals; contribution to the University of Wisconsin System. These revisions reflect upcoming changes to the performance management system that will accompany the transition to Workday on July 1, 2025. Revisions are as follows:

  • In Section 6.A.VI, added that the baseline evaluation process and template will be created with input from system-wide shared governance.

  • In Section 6.B.I, clarified that a baseline evaluation template, rating scale and timeline will be implemented, retaining the ability for each institution to supplement the baseline standards with institution-specific performance measures. Shifted the performance evaluation timeline for all employees to a fiscal-year evaluation period.

Draft Revised Policy

SYS 1277, Compensation

These policy revisions shall take effect on July 1, 2025.

 Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• This policy outlines parameters for setting and adjusting salaries of UW System employees. Proposed revisions to the policy include:

  • Throughout Section 6.A, create a single source for compensation appendices and remove references to individual categories.

  • In Section 6.D.II.4, update changes the conversion date for compensatory time to reflect the changeover to a fiscal year compensation and benefit basis for FLSA non-exempt employees. This change is made to coincide with the implementation of Workday on July 1, 2025.

  • Throughout the policy, replace several instances of “his/her” with “their,” reflecting current institutional practices regarding pronoun use in policies.    

Draft Revised Policy

SYS 1310, Copyrightable Materials Ownership, Use, and Control

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

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• The purpose of this policy is to clearly define copyright ownership for the faculty, staff, students, and affiliates who use the UW system’s facilities or act under contract with the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. The policy recognizes and codifies the System’s longstanding commitment to the academic tradition of assigning copyrights to the creators of scholarly, academic, and artistic works.
  • The policy has been updated throughout to fit current UWSA formatting standards and template. This included the addition of Section 1. Policy Purpose, Section 2. Responsible UW System Officers, Section 3. Scope and Institutional Responsibilities, Section 5. Definitions, Section 7. Related Documents, Section 8. Policy History, and Section 9. Scheduled Review.
  • In the title, removed the word “Instructions.”
  • Section 4 has been shortened to provide a brief history of the need for this policy and to unify the language of the SYS 1300 series policies.
  • Section 6.A has been redefined to determine copyright ownership based on category of work and no longer the type of material.
  • Section 6.B now discusses conditions of copyright transfer, and the policy no longer lays out developmental conditions for copyrightable instructional materials.
  • Section 6.C now lays out a standard for copyright ownership of jointly authored works.
  • Section 6.D was added to include the following definitions for Institutional Work:
    • Disposition: UW System units most closely associated with the authorship of Institutional Work may authorize use of the work. The disposition of Institutional Work within the UW System shall be managed by the president, chancellor, or designee.
    • Notice and Registration: Institutional Work that is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office or that includes a copyright notice should identify “The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System” as the copyright owner.
    • Release of Institutional Rights: Authors of Institutional Works may request that the UW System transfer ownership to the Author. The UW System institution where the work is created may release its rights in copyrighted works to the As of 09/18/2024 Author(s) via a written agreement upon a determination that the transfer will not 1) conflict with an obligation to a Sponsor or third party; 2) violate any legal obligations of or to the UW System or Institution; 3) limit appropriate UW System use of the materials; 4) create an unmanageable conflict of interest for the Author; or 5) otherwise conflict with the UW System institution’s goals or principles.
  • Section 6.E was added to lay out terms in which UW System may license uses of or transfer copyright in an Institutional Work or to acquire copyrights.
• See the Frequently Asked Questions- SYS 1310, Copyrightable Materials Ownership, Use, and Control page for more information on the purpose of the proposed changes and additional clarification.

Draft Revised Policy

SYS 1315, Patents and Inventions

These policy revisions will become effective upon signature by the President.  

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• The purpose of this policy is to establish the applicable UW System policies with respect to inventions and outline the responsibilities, privileges, and options of faculty, staff, and students when they have made an invention.
  • Number schematics were updated to reflect the current standardized template used for UW System Administrative policies.
  • Throughout the policy, references to SYS 346 were updated to SYS 1315.
  • In the second paragraph of section 6.A, language was updated to reflect that researchers have multiple options to disclose intellectual property they feel has potential commercial value.
    • “at their option…”
  • In section 7, references to SYS 190 were updated to SYS 1305.
  • In section 7, references to SYS 191 were updated to SYS 1310.

Draft New Policy

SYS 216, Academic Basis Pay Deferral Policy

This policy shall take effect 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.

SYS Policy Approvals

On October 7,  President Rothman approved technical revisions to SYS 205, Employment of Student Help, SYS 206, Student FICA Exemptions, and SYS 210, Educational Assistance for Faculty & Staff. 

On October 7, President Rothman also approved substantive revisions to SYS 236, Utilization of Independent Contractors.

See below for a brief summary of these items.

SYS 205, Employment of Student Help

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• This policy was identified for policy owner review because of a scheduled review date June 2024.
• The policy owner reviewed the policy and determined that it did not need revision at this time.
• Following this review, the scheduled review date has been extended to September 2029.

University Comments and Concerns

• As this was a technical amendment, this policy did not go to the universities for comment. The FGAPC did not have any concerns during their review.

SYS 206, Student FICA Exemptions

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• This policy was identified for policy owner review because of the scheduled review date in June 2024.
• The policy owner reviewed the policy and determined that it did not need revision at this time.
• Following this review, the scheduled review date has been extended to September 2029.

University Comments and Concerns

• As this was a technical amendment, this policy did not go to the universities for comment. The FGAPC did not have any concerns during their review.

SYS 210, Educational Assistance for Faculty & Staff

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions

• This policy was identified for policy owner review because of the scheduled review date in May 2024.
• The policy owner reviewed the policy and determined that it did not need revision at this time.
• Following this review, the scheduled review date has been extended to September 2029.

University Comments and Concerns

• As this was a technical amendment, this policy did not go to the universities for comment. The FGAPC did not have any concerns during their review.

SYS 236, Utilization of Independent Contractors

Summary of Policy and Policy Revisions 

• This policy establishes the requirements associated with UW institutions’ use of independent contractors and the processes that may be used for payments related to their services.
• In response to an internal audit regarding practices surrounding the use of independent contractors, this policy update adds section 6.E, which includes the following provisions, to the independent contractor policy.
  • If a contractor requires digital or physical access to a UWS institution, an individual must be designated who is responsible for both granting and eventually terminating that access.
  • Access granted to contractors must terminate when the contract ends, and grants of access must be regularly reviewed to ensure the associated contracts are still active.
  • Prior to accessing UWS IT resources, contractors must either complete UWS IS Security awareness training or certify that their employees have completed similar training that meets the standards established by UWS IS.

University Comments and Concerns

• This policy received two comments from UW-Madison:
  • Section 6E, subsection I- replace the term “individual” with the term “employee.”
    • Revision made.
  • Section 6E, subsection IV, suggested rewording to clarify that training requirement falls on all individual employees of the contractor and that each individual employee must attest to their completion of the training.
    • Revision declined.  The intent of the policy is that the contractor provides the attestation for all of their employees.
• This policy received one comment from UW-Milwaukee, suggesting that contractors would not be able to be entered as employees in HRS and so would not be able to access UWS training.
  • Revision declined.  Non employees can be entered into HRS as “Persons of Interest” for purposes of training access, and other purposes.

Upcoming Policy Effective Dates

The following policy revisions were previously approved by President Rothman and have effective dates of December 1, 2024. Please review the revisions in preparation for the upcoming effective date:

• SYS 1030, Information Security: Identity and Access Management (Approved March 4, 2024)
• SYS 1030.A, Information Security: Identity and Access Management Standard (Approved March 4, 2024)
• SYS 1031, Information Security: Data Classification (Approved March 4, 2024)
• SYS 1031 Guidance: Data Classification Examples (Approved December 1, 2023)