Policies and Policy-Resources

RSOs may not exclude a student from membership or participation in the organization on the basis of their disability. Meetings and activities must be accessible. If an individual requires an accommodation to remove a disability-related barrier to attend an activity, those accommodations must be provided, if reasonable. For example, a student who is D/deaf or hard of hearing may require sign language interpreting or a blind individual may need printed materials provided electronically.

Those examples are not all-inclusive, therefore, if you have questions regarding a disability accommodation request, please contact the McBurney Disability Resource Center. The McBurney Disability Resource Center maintains UW-Madison’s Accessible Events guide that provides suggestions and information. Please use this document as a resource when working with your organization to assess the accessibility of the organization’s meetings and events to promote inclusion and ease of access for everyone, including disabled individuals. Other accessibility information and guides are available on the university’s Accessibility@UW–Madison and Office of Compliance websites.

In April 2024, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) adopted a new rule requiring digital tools and electronic resources used at public universities to be accessible by meeting technical requirements.

This rule may apply to RSOs when a specific event or activity aligns with the university’s mission or directly receives university funding. Examples of content that the rule does apply to include:

• Information hosted on university digital resources, such as Wisconsin Involvement Network (WIN).
• Information posted to university operated tools, such as kiosks and department’s social media accounts.
• Services, programs, or activities for which the university sponsors the event or provides financial support.

RSOs are encouraged to make all of their digital content (e.g., websites, social media posts) accessible. All RSO events and activities that receive university funding and/or take place in university facilities or on university lands must be advertised in a digitally accessible way.

For more information:

• UW-Madison’s Digital Accessibility Policy
• University Digital Accessibility Hub
• Fundamentals of Digital Accessibility

Discrimination or discriminatory harassment that are based upon an individual’s characteristics as protected under state law or federal law (“protected status”) or university policy are prohibited. Individual characteristics include race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, disability, pregnancy, marital or parental status, or any other category protected by law, including physical condition or developmental disability.

Discrimination is conduct that adversely affects any aspect of an individual’s participation in an institution’s activities or programs, or has the effect of denying equal privileges or treatment to an individual on the basis of that individual’s protected status.

Discriminatory Harassment is a form of discrimination consisting of unwelcome verbal, written, graphic or physical conduct that is directed at an individual or group on the basis of actual or perceived protected status.

Retaliation is defined as adverse action taken against an individual in response to, motivated by, or in connection with an individual’s complaint of discrimination or discriminatory harassment.

View Regent Policy 14-6 for the complete policy.

Broadly speaking, RSO contracts with external partners are the responsibility of the RSO and the students involved in the RSO. The university is not party to any contract made unless it involves university funds or significant sponsorship by the university. If this occurs, the contract must be referred to the departmental staff person to ensure compliance with the university’s contract requirements for signatures, etc. If it is a university contract, it cannot be signed by a student org.

If your RSO is receiving funds from a university department, office, or student government (including grants) to purchase goods or services, you must make arrangements with their budget person to coordinate the contract process well in advance! When department or office funds are used, the terms of any contract must comply with various laws and university policies, and a official university signatory must sign the contract. You must make sure you are not transacting business with firms that are ineligible to do business with the state. Visit the State of Wisconsin Ineligible Vendor Listings for more information.

Renting a video or using someone’s personal copy of a video and showing it at a club meeting, a residence hall lounge, or at a fraternity house may seem like a harmless, inexpensive form of entertainment. The problem with this scenario, unfortunately, is that it constitutes a public showing of a video, which is illegal if the material included in the video is copyrighted and those exhibiting the video have not purchased a special license. Without an agreement from the copyright holder, no one can show videos in a public forum even if no fees or ticket sales are involved.

Similarly, the use of music is governed by copyright laws. Generally speaking, students cannot make copies of music performances and sell them as a fundraiser without violating the law.

For additional information and information on licensing copyrighted work, see:

• UW System Frequently Asked Questions on Copyright
• UW System Administrative Policy 1310 and its’ appendixes
• Office of Legal Affairs Copyright Help Page

The University of Wisconsin–Madison requires faculty, staff, students, contractors, and affiliates seeking to use autonomous vehicles, including unmanned aircraft systems (drones), for UW-related education, research, and non-academic purposes to submit pilot and flight approval applications in Application Review for Research Oversight at Wisconsin (ARROW).

ARROW is a research oversight platform that allows researchers to submit and track research related applications and protocols across oversight authorities. All applications are reviewed by the Research Vehicle Safety Oversight (RVSO) Committee. Committee membership includes representation from across stakeholder areas including faculty, pilots, risk management, UWPD, teach and learning, research, marketing, and facilities.

Approved pilot applications are valid for one year and must be resubmitted annually. Flight applications should be submitted two weeks in advance of any proposed flights.

Prohibited activities include flying for recreational or hobbyist uses on campus. In addition, the campus adheres to FAA guidelines and prohibits the following without waivers:

• Flight(s) over people
• Flight(s) beyond the line of sight
• Flight(s) at night
• Flight(s) above 400′
• Flight(s) in controlled airspace (requires authorization)

Registered student organizations and students in connection with UW–Madison course work are eligible to apply for instructional use.

For more information:

• Policy UW-6010: Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Drone) Hobbyist
• Policy UW-4005: Research Vehicle Safety Oversight

Event Location: Different buildings on campus have different policies regarding food, so your best bet is first to determine where your event will be held and then to research that location.

Some event location restrict use of outside food venders. Generally, the Wisconsin Union and University Housing require that events held in their facilities must purchase food from the Wisconsin Union or University House, respectively. For any exceptions, including specific cultural foods, contact the Wisconsin Union and University Housing directly.

Authorization to Serve or Sell Food: Authorization prior to serving or selling food is required from Environment, Health, and Safety and Risk Management. To obtain authorization, read UW-2014: Temporary Food Service and fill out the application linked in that policy.

This authorization is not required for a “potluck.” Potlucks are communal meals where attendees bring food and/or beverages prepared in the home or purchased by an organization or its members to share. For a potluck, the food and/or beverages cannot be served or offered to the general public and the event must be limited to individuals that are members of a closed and pre-determined group (e.g., a student organization). No compensation or donation can be paid by any person for consumption of food and/or beverages at the event.

Funding for Food: There are several sources of campus funding for RSO events. However, most of these sources do not fund food. You may want to prioritize using your organization’s funds or donated funds for this part of your event budget. Alternatively, check out the Wisconsin Experience Grant and the WUD Late Night Grant for funding food.

Most RSO activities are not covered by the University’s liability programs. RSOs should be aware of the limits of the coverage and, at times, may need to purchase separate insurance. Review the information on the Business Services Students, Student Organizations, and Liability Coverage webpage.

The Risk Management Office has a Special Event Insurance Policy available to student organizations to minimize their risk when using University facilities. You can find more information on the Business Services Facility Use and Insurance webpage.

The most common legal issue with RSOs is negligence – Personal injuries sustained while attending an activity sponsored by a student group. The general standard in this situation is that you must behave the way a reasonable person would in a similar situation. The standard does not call for extraordinary insight or some other quality that an average person normally would not apply to similar circumstances.

University Words: You may NOT use any form of UW-Madison as the beginning word or words of the name of your RSO (e.g., UW–Madison, University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin). Instead, list the UW-Madison affiliation at the end of the name of your organization, followed by a comma or parentheses. Make sure all references to your RSO (official name, acronym, website, etc.) adhere to this requirement.

Example:

• Incorrect: UW-Madison Chess Club
• Correct: Chess Club, UW-Madison

Other UW-Madison trademarks may be used as part of the name of an rSO (e.g., Wisco Votes) with permission from the Office of Strategic Communication. Please contact the Office of Strategic Communication to make a request.

Affiliations: You are required to disclose any community, state, national, or international affiliations of your RSO by listing them on the registration application form. Note that the name of your RSO cannot be the same name as the affiliated group. For example, if your group is affiliated with United Way and you wish to use the words United Way as part of your name, then you may name your RSO (e.g., United Way, UW Student Chapter; Friends of United Way; United Way, UW; United Way Student Programming Board).

Special Characters: No RSO name may start with an article or a special character. This includes, but is not limited to: the, a, an, “, #, @, *, any number (other than written out), or any non-Latin alphabet text.

RSOs are encouraged to review UW-Madison’s Guidelines for Political Activity and Public Advocacy on Campus before any political activity. The remainder of this tab highlights a few key requirements and restrictions.

Political Activities: Political activity includes solicitation of campaign contributions; service in furtherance of candidates, political parties, and political action committees; advocating a particular position on a referendum; and also promoting action on issues which have become highly identified as dividing issues between candidates for public office at the local, state, or federal level.

RSOs may not use university resources to engage in political activities at any time. University resources include, but are not limited to: UW–Madison logos and trademarks, Office supplies provided by UW–Madison, UW–Madison owned photocopiers, UW–Madison telephones and telephone lines, UW–Madison websites, and UW–Madison facilities.

As a Registered Student Organization you are permitted to engage in political activity on campus, so long as you do so in public areas (subject to time, place, and manner limitations), or in a location that has been approved by the University for such activity.

Political Events: a political event includes, but is not limited to: a program, debate, or public forum featuring candidates for public office or political campaign issues.

RSOs may, under certain circumstances, host events for political purposes on campus. RSOs may only use university facilities for events for political purposes that are primarily for students, faculty, and staff. All publicity for these events must state that attendance is limited to students, faculty and staff and is not open to the public. RSOs can host political candidates an unlimited number of times as long as attendance is limited to students, faculty and staff.

RSOs that wish to hold a political event must contact Matt Olson, Director of UW Conference & Events.

RSOs may NOT host events for political purposes on campus that are open to the general public.

For more information, please review UW-6001: Use of UW–Madison Facilities for Political Purposes.

Political Fundraising: an event or activity during which individuals or groups are asked to contribute to a political candidate, party, or committee.

State law strictly prohibits the use of state-owned buildings for political fundraising. In accordance with UW System Administrative Policy 820: Segregated University Fees and consistent with campaign finance law, RSOs may not use segregated fees to make direct gifts, contributions, or donations to political campaigns or candidates. RSOs may, however, use segregated fees to support their own expressive activities and views on public policy issues and other interests.

Urging Students to Vote and Promoting Voter Education: RSOs can help educate and inform students about upcoming elections, including urging students to exercise their right to vote. RSOs are encouraged to contact BadgersVote to coordinate such efforts. Student organizations are also free to express their views about the parties and candidates, and to urge voting for particular parties or candidates, and to sponsor events for candidates so long as they comply with rules governing the use of university facilities. For more information about political activity in the residence halls, see UW Housing’s Advertising and Campus Relations.

Posting: In campus buildings, the posting of fliers and posters is only allowed on bulletin boards. In most cases departmental bulletin boards are maintained and regulated by individuals in the department’s main office or sometimes the caretaker of the bulletin board is listed on the bulletin board itself. In “general use” buildings (e.g., Memorial Union), consult regulations posted on the board or contact the public service information desk.

DO NOT post fliers or signs on the following: telephone poles, light poles, garbage cans, sidewalks, stairs/steps, fences, trees, buildings, Bascom Hill without a reservation.

Posting of fliers or signs in any of the places listed above is a violation of UWS Administrative Code 18.08(9)(a).

Please note that Library Mall is partially controlled by the City of Madison and partially controlled by the university. In the portions of Library Mall controlled by the City of Madison, posting fliers or signs in any of the places listed above is also likely a violation of Madison Ordinance 23.02 and carries a fine of at least $68.75 per occurrence. This ordinance applies only to City controlled property. DO NOT destroy or deface other organizations’ flyers, posters, and/or signs.

University Housing Posting: All posters and brochures must be approved to be posted/distributed in the halls. Please email deskservices@housing.wisc.edu for approval two weeks prior to your posters will go up. Any organization with posters found in the halls that have not gone through the approval process may be denied future poster approval.

Chalking: DO NOT chalk on the following: university buildings, courtyard areas, vertical surfaces, arch of bridge walkways, planters, doors, trash receptacles or light poles, steps, fountains or benches, Lakeshore Path, underneath any overhang.

You can only use water-soluble chalk. Oil-based and aerosol chalk will not come off over time of its own accord, nor through daily exposure to the elements; water-based will. Water-based chalk rubs off or smears when you wipe your finger over it. Chalk is only allowed on University sidewalks and University streets. Chalk is typically cleaned from sidewalks on Tuesdays (with the exception of Election Day, in which it is delayed).

RSOs who choose to chalk notices on sidewalks or streets should cooperate promptly with any University or Madison Police requests for identification and information about the chalking activity. Chalking (an act of writing or drawing messages using chalk) is illegal by law. The UW Administrative Code 18.08(9)(a) and Wisconsin State Statute 943.01 prohibit this activity. However, some chalking is allowed by the UW Police, UW Physical Department and the Dean of Students if the above restrictions are met and followed.

Leafletting: Leafleting is the process of distributing information in the form of a small (typically ¼ of a page) flier. If you wish to leaflet, you can ask permission from the building manager to distribute materials in the lobby of academic buildings.

DO NOT leaflet in campus classrooms of academic buildings. This activity is a violation of university policies and guidelines.

For more information:

• Expressive Activity Policy (Section M for Posting and Section N for Chalking)
• Free Expression at UW-Madison
• University Housing Advertising Information

The University of Wisconsin-Madison strongly values free speech both in the statement of an idea and in the response to that idea. Generating and exploring innovative ideas and realities requires us to permit multiple perspectives and dynamic discourse.

The UW-Madison is a public university and, as a matter of law and institutional values, is dedicated to the principles of free speech and free expression as protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and considers that dedication to be an essential part of its educational mission. Fulfilling the university’s mission requires that UW-Madison robustly protect the opportunity of our community to engage in expressive activity in a variety of ways and locations. We also have the responsibility to ensure that teaching, research, scholarship, service, and university-sponsored events can occur in a safe and orderly manner without disruption and in a manner that is open and welcoming.

UW Policy-6013 Expressive Activity on the UW Policy Library and the Expressive Activity Guide offers additional details.

RSOs are eligible to reserve university facilities for meetings and events. RSOs must keep all contact information up to date including the list of members authorized to make room reservations. These members should also be added to the RSO’s roster. An RSO’s reservation may be cancelled if the reserving facility staff are unable to contact the RSO.

Inviting the General Public: Generally, RSOs may only reserve university facilities for events intended primarily for students, faculty, and staff. If you are promoting your on-campus event, promotional material, advertising, and other publicity must indicate that “attendance is limited to students, faculty, and staff” and note clearly and prominently the name of the RSO hosting the event.

The general public may be invited only if authorized in writing by the chancellor or their designee, the event is sponsored by a university college, department, office, or school, or the event is at the invitation of the chancellor, vice chancellor, dean, or director.

• To establish that an event has been sponsored by a university college, department, office, or school, an RSO shall submit a letter to the appropriate space contracting department no later than two weeks prior to the event on college, department, office, or school letterhead signed by the sponsoring chair, dean, or director that states that the college, department, office, or school will assume responsibility for all administrative, financial, and insurance responsibilities associated with the proposed use of space. The head of the sponsoring unit or their designee must also be present for the duration of a sponsored event and will be responsible for ensuring compliance with this policy.
• To establish that an RSO is hosting an event at the invitation of an authorized inviter, an RSO shall submit a letter to the appropriate space contracting department on chancellor’s office, provost’s office, vice chancellor’s office, college, or center letterhead signed by the authorized inviter no later than two weeks prior to the event. An RSO hosting an event at the invitation of an authorized inviter shall be responsible for all administrative, financial, and insurance responsibilities associated with the event and shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with this policy.

Commonly Reserved Spaces:

It is generally permissible for RSOs to accept external support, or sponsorship, for events, programs, publications or other activities. Acknowledgment of sponsorship is not the same as paid advertising. University Relations strongly recommends pursuing qualified sponsorships rather than advertising. Depending on the RSO or event, it may be advisable and is permissible to decline support or sponsorship from a particular company or organization. The support, or sponsorship, may be in the form of a gift of money or a gift-in-kind of goods and/or services. Before entering into a sponsorship agreement, RSOs should consider the standard standard sponsorship terms and conditions to ensure compliance. Sponsors should be aware of these conditions. 

Sponsorship support from tobacco companies is not permitted; sponsorship by alcohol companies or organizations associated with gaming is subject to additional review.

For more information, please review UW-204: External Sponsorship of University Programs and Events.

Facility & Land Use and Sponsorship: RSOs that host an event with sponsorship in a University-owned space and land, are subject to additional regulations. Find related policy information in the Commercial Use section of UW-6000: Uses of Facilities and Land.

RSO Not-For-Profit Requirement: In order to meet minimum eligibility as a Registered Student Organization (RSO) a group must be not-for-profit, which means no individual or group may profit from the work/activities of the student organization. This means the sponsorship monies received need to be deposited into the organization’s bank account for programming or to sustain the organization. 

Unless the organization has a bank account through a university department, a sponsorship check would need to be made payable in the student organization’s name and be deposited into the organization’s (outside of the university’s) bank account. 

Licensed indicia are the names, symbols, designs, and colors of the university, including the trademarks, service marks, designs, team names, nicknames, abbreviations, city/state names in the appropriate context, slogans, logographics, mascots, seals, and other symbols associated with or referring to the university. The university asserts ownership and all rights, title, and interest in and to its indicia, which includes trademarks, service marks, mascots, slogans and any other indicia that is associated with or refers to the university.

To protect trademarks and promote a consistent visual identity, UW logos, symbols and marks may vary in size, but cannot otherwise be altered, tampered with, modified, incorporated into other marks, or overprinted with other words or design elements. Visit UW’s brand site to learn more about how to use logos in design.

Please note, the Motion W logo is only approved for use by the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics and by University sports club teams as designated by the University Office of Recreation and Wellbeing. 

Historical or vintage indicia, trademarks and logos are not permitted for use for any RSO.

RSOs are permitted to use the official university colors in their products. The Pantone’s of these approved colors can be found on the University’s official color guide.

Websites: RSOs will not be permitted to host websites on their own wisc.edu subdomains (e.g., studentorg.wisc.edu), nor brand their websites using the official UW WordPress theme. RSOs should instead host information about their organization on the Wisconsin Involvement Network (WIN) to clearly denote their student-run status. RSOs are not permitted to use university indicia/trademarks in the header area of their websites.

Social Media: RSOs are not permitted to use the university’s official social media avatars, nor use any university indicia/trademarks in their RSO avatar.

Apparel or Hard Goods: Request approval from the Office of Trademark Licensing via email. RSOs are required to have all fundraising requests reviewed and approved prior to activation. Explain how you intend to use the indicia/trademarks on promotional items or material. Include an actual design/layout of how the indicia/trademarks will be used (a licensed company can help you create a design/layout for approval).

The name of the RSO must be listed in close proximity to the university indicia/trademarks. The logo of a non-university business or nonprofit organization which is co-sponsoring or contributing to a student organization event or activity may appear on the item, but should be subservient to the UW-Madison indicia/trademark. Any university departmental or other RSOs that are co-sponsoring an event or activity can be listed as well. For more information, view the Logo Usage Guidelines.

Royalties are required when:

• Item is intended for resale, either to the public or to individual members of an RSO.
• Item includes a commercial message, sponsor, or endorsement (regardless of size).
• Item is used as a promotional marketing device for a particular event.
• (Note: the royalty will be built into the final cost of the product and paid to the university by the licensee).

Royalties are exempt when:

• The item (generally clothing) is used as a “uniform.”
• Distribution of the item is for internal use by a department or an organization.
• There is no royalty exemption for fundraising activities, including those where proceeds benefit a charitable organization. All items intended for resale—regardless of the end beneficiary—are subject to standard royalty requirements.

Once you have approval, work with a licensed vendor to produce your items. Only companies that are officially licensed by the university are permitted to produce items using university trademarks. Purchases must be made from licensed vendors to ensure quality, consistency and appropriateness of design on the goods, as well as adherence to a labor code of conduct.

Two vendors are licensed with appropriate rights for the RSOs to use. RSOs should disclose if they will be reselling merch for a profit or not when they set up their orders.

• Ad Madison, (608) 275-7888, info@admadison.com
• Underground Shirts, (608) 661-4350, ugpwisc@undergroundshirts.com

For any questions regarding working with university trademarks or licensed vendors, please contact trademarklicensing@wisc.edu.

Other Communications and Marketing Material: RSOs are not permitted to use the university’s logo generator to create RSO logos. For use of university indicia/trademarks on any other RSO communication/marketing material, please contact the Office of Strategic Communication.

Youth activities, events, operations, or endeavors intended for the participation by minors that are operated by UW-Madison on, or off campus are subject to the UW-1045 Youth Protection Policy. RSOs who seek to host youth activities on UW-Madison property should contact the Office of Youth Protection at least 90 days in advance. All youth activities must be authorized by a school/college/divisions Youth Protection Designee before entering a facility-use contract with UW-Madison.

For more information contact youthprotection@wisc.edu or visit the Office of Youth Protection online.