School of Medicine & Public Health – Official Functions

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Policy Number:
SMPH-3015
Old Policy Number:
30.15
Responsible Office:
SMPH Office of Fiscal Affairs

School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) Policy

Rationale/​Purpose:

In accordance with UW-3075 Official Functions and Expenses Policy and UW System Administrative Policy 312, Official Functions, this policy outlines School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH)-specific requirements for virtual and in-person official functions. Official functions actively promote the university’s mission, support community values, and recognize and reward exceptional performance and service. This policy also governs the use of the specific funds used to pay for SMPH official functions.   

Definitions:
Department leader
The chair, administrator, director, associate dean, or other individual in a leadership role for an SMPH department, center, institute, or other administrative unit.
Expenses
Reasonable and moderate expenditures (excluding those for alcoholic beverages) directly associated with an official function.
Faculty
Professors, associate professors, and assistant professors on the tenure track, clinical health sciences track, or clinician-teacher track. This includes instructors and clinical instructors in permanent, temporary (non-training), or fellowship positions.
General purpose revenue (GPR) funds
Revenue received by a state agency related to GPR appropriations in the course of accomplishing program objectives. 101 funds are the most common GPR funds. 
Learners
Residents, fellows, post-doctoral candidates, graduate students, and enrolled SMPH health professions students, undergraduates, etc.
Official function
An SMPH-sponsored event that has a business purpose and a social component and is not directly related to ongoing UW–Madison operations and programming, but substantially advances or contributes to SMPH’s mission.
Pre-approval letter
The document, signed by the SMPH senior associate dean for finance, granting formal approval for a defined set of SMPH official functions and expenses.
Sponsored project
A project funded by an external organization such as a federal, state, or private organization or agency. Typically includes a specific scope of work or a set of aims and is delineated by fund 133 or 144.
UW Health
The health system formally comprising UW Hospitals and Clinics and the UW Medical Foundation. Some SMPH faculty are dually employed by UW Health and SMPH.
Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association (WFAA)
The official fundraising and gift-receiving organization for UW–Madison. WFAA is the university’s development and financial partner.
Policy:
  1. Department leaders have the authority to be more restrictive than UW–Madison and SMPH policies on official functions and expenses.
  2. The SMPH pre-approval letter identifies the set of regularly occurring official functions and expenses approved by the SMPH dean and senior associate dean for finance.
  3. Department faculty and staff must work with their department leadership prior to incurring any expense related to the event in the pre-approval letter to ensure the event aligns with the department’s goals, mission, and budget.
  4. For all official functions not identified in the SMPH pre-approval letter, an SMPH pre-approval form is required prior to planning the event. You must fill out the appropriate form for virtual or in-person events.
  5. The SMPH pre-approval letter or a fully executed SMPH pre-approval form must accompany all requests for payments that include official function expenses, including purchasing card statements.
  6. Responsibilities of parties with respect to the SMPH pre-approval form:
    1. The department or unit funding the event is responsible for completing and obtaining signatures on the SMPH pre-approval form.
    2. The pre-approval form must be signed by a department leader.
    3. The department leader is attesting to all items on the form, including the appropriateness of the funding source and donor intent.
    4. The department is responsible for defending expenses in open records or audit requests.
    5. SMPH signature authority is limited to the senior associate dean for finance or delegated divisional executive, which is the assistant director for finance.
  7. Official functions and expenses may not be paid for with GPR funds, sponsored-projects funds, or competitive grants funded by the Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP). The WPP director is the signature authority and is responsible for determining appropriateness for official functions funded by the Wisconsin Partnership for a Healthy Future Administration project (currently 233FR92).
  8. Failure to obtain pre-approval for official functions or expenses or to follow UW–Madison or SMPH policies and procedures negates financial obligations of UW–Madison and SMPH.
  9. SMPH allows limited gifts or flowers for major life events (weddings, births, family deaths, and retirements).
    1. No cash equivalents, such as gift cards or donations to charity.
    2. Life-event gifts may not be purchased with a purchasing card. Life-event gifts other than flowers must be purchased and invoiced from the vendor for direct payment or paid for from personal funds and reimbursed through e-reimbursement.
    3. Gifts are to be UW-branded items, including items unique to the university such as a terrace chair (e.g., for a total of $100: $50 UW and $50 WFAA).
    4. If a UW item exceeds $100, the amount over $100 must be paid for from personal funds.
    5. Up to $100 for flowers is allowable through UW funding for UW employees’ life events and may be purchased on a purchasing card.
  10. A licensed vendor must be used for official functions serving food, and contracts must follow all UW–Madison purchasing and catering policies. If an alcohol permit is necessary, it must be fully approved prior to the official function date, according to the alcohol beverage permit system.
    1. Official functions (excluding faculty and staff recruitments) limit payment of alcohol types to wine and beer.
    2. Alcohol is not allowed at an official function during normal work hours.
  11. Any official function must be inclusive, meaning all employees of the same classification of that department, group, or unit are welcome to participate.
  12. The per-person meal maximum for official functions is $100 (which includes food, beverage, and tip).
  13. SMPH will collaborate with UW Health with regard to official functions/staff relations. The UW Health/SMPH Staff Relations Committee Matrix will identify and classify official functions/staff relations events by entity (UW Health or SMPH), including “preferred payer” for clinical departments.
  14. Official function guests may include faculty members, SMPH staff, learners, guests, spouses, community members, UW Health employees, or other affiliated employees.
Procedure:

The SMPH pre-approval letter for identified events with standard SMPH approval has been distributed to department administrators and unit directors. Contact them for a copy of the letter. Contact the assistant director for finance if you have questions.

Related UW-Madison Policies:
Related UW–Madison Documents, Web Pages, or Other Resources:
External References:

Policy Administration

Approval Authority:
Dean, School of Medicine and Public Health
Policy Manager:
Chief Financial Officer
Contact:
SMPH Finance Associate Director -- Heather Richter, hjrichter@wisc.edu, (608) 263-7765
Effective Date:
06-13-2019
Date Issued:
06-13-2019
Revised Dates:

08-01-2021, 04-01-2021, 10-01-2019

Retrieved:
06-22-2025 10:50:50