Update on Act 15 policy provisions

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents has approved the Regent Policy Document 20-25, “Teaching Workload Policy” and the Regent Policy Document, “Core General Education Requirements,” as established in 2025 Wisconsin Act 15. 

2025 Wisconsin Act 15, effective September 1, 2026, requires faculty and instructional academic staff to teach a minimum of 12 credits each academic year (at least one course per semester), plus three summer credits for those with 12-month appointments. The legislation allows the Board of Regents to submit a policy with guidelines for exceptions and course buyouts to the Joint Committee on Employment Relations (JCOER) by December 1, 2025. 

The law also contains a provision pertaining to ensuring the transferability of general education credits between Universities of Wisconsin institutions. 

With the completion of feedback periods and Regent passage, the policies will now be sent to JCOER for their consideration. 

Pending JCOER review, the Universities of Wisconsin will create or revise UW System Administrative Policies that are impacted by the regent policy documents. UW-Madison (and other system institutions) will then create or revise its instructional workload and general education policies to align with the new Regent and system-level policies.  

Updates will continue to be provided as they are available.