(Approved by the President by authority of the Board of Regents, Standing Orders, Chapter 1)
The primary mission of the University is the creation and dissemination of knowledge. In carrying out this mission, it is often necessary for the University and its affiliated units to provide goods and services for fees which enhance, promote, or support its teaching, research, and public service functions. At the same time, the University must be mindful that when it provides goods and services for fees, it may be competing with local private businesses.
This policy has been developed to define the legitimate purposes under which sales of goods and services for fees may be approved, and to establish a mechanism to review such sales. Recognizing that the central mission of the University is providing instruction, research, and public service, this policy shall not apply to charges for instruction in its regular, extension, evening, or continuing education programs; services provided in the practicum aspects of its instructional and research programs; services for fees in its extracurricular or residential life programs, including residence halls, food services, athletic and recreational programs, and the performing arts programs.
The University of Washington may engage in the direct sale of goods and services to individuals, groups, or external agencies for fees only when those services or goods are directly and substantially related to the educational mission of the University. Charges for such goods and services shall be determined taking into account their full cost, including University overhead, as well as the competitive price of such items in the local community.
The direct sale of goods or services to faculty, staff, students, and patients for fees which are for the convenience of and in support of the broad educational mission of the University is distinctly different from sales to individuals or organizations external to the University. Therefore, different criteria have been established to evaluate requests for such sales programs.
Each of the following criteria shall be used in assessing the validity of providing goods or services to members of the campus community:
The University shall not engage in any sales activities solely for the purpose of raising revenue to support an educational or research activity if the goods or services sold are not directly and substantially related to the educational program.
Each of the following criteria shall be used in assessing the validity of providing goods or services to the external community.
Approval for the direct sale of any goods or services covered by this policy shall be vested in deans and vice presidents for the units under their authority. Before any sales project may be implemented, the unit proposing the project shall provide to the dean/vice president a request setting forth all pertinent information about the sales plan, and justification for such program addressing the elements of this policy and the stated evaluation criteria. The dean or vice president shall, if he/she approves the project, notify the Budget Office of said approval as a condition to the creation of a revenue budget, and provide the Budget Office with copies of the documentation supporting the request.
Each category of goods or services sold is to be considered individually so as to avoid the unplanned expansion of any sales program. All new categories of sales shall be justified to and reviewed by the dean/vice president in accord with this policy.
The Senior Vice President for Finance and Facilities is designated as the officer who shall be available to:
For more further information contact the Office of Planning & Budgeting:
May 1, 2002; RC, January 12, 2011; RC, January 27, 2014.