Skip to content
Board of Regents

Preparing Information and Action Items

Please review the following requirements when preparing items to be presented at Board of Regents meetings. If you have any questions, contact any of the staff members listed below.

Beginning in January 2019, the Board no longer accepts projected content or audiovisual materials, except in very exceptional circumstances. Meeting time should be devoted to discussion of pre-distributed items rather than to content delivery. Regents review all materials prior to meetings. Your item should therefore provide all relevant background. It may deliver this information in the cover sheet or in an appended report. The goal is to effectively deliver all relevant information to the Board for review prior to the meeting. All materials are delivered electronically. Your presentation during the meeting should offer highlights or critical points of your topic and elicit questions from the Board.

Beginning in January 2026, in preparation for compliance with Federal accessibility regulations by April 24, 2026, Board materials must be accessible before submission to the Board Office. General guidance is available here: https://www.washington.edu/accesstech/documents/.

  • Word documents are much easier to keep accessible in the conversion to pdf, so use slides only when necessary: a twenty-slide deck can easily become a five- (or fewer) page document. The amount of additional time required to write up an accessible Word document with embedded tables may be a more efficient use of time than creating accessible slide decks.
  • When slides are necessary, pay close attention to the guidance here: https://www.washington.edu/accesstech/slides/. Reading order must be specified in the document.
  • Use tables only when necessary. Do not embed tables as images. Make sure that headers and column content are tagged.
  • Images need alt-text.

The Board discourages distribution of print materials. If you wish to include a booklet, brochure, swag, etc. as an attachment, please contact the Office of the Board of Regents. If approved, we will need 25 hard copies delivered by the same deadline as other materials and an electronic version for the permanent record.

 

Item Cover: An agenda item will include an item cover.

  • Use the attached template to create the item cover.
  • No formatting is necessary (font/headers/footers/margins). Focus on the item content and we will format the item cover.
  • The item title on the cover needs to be the same as the item title on the agenda.
  • The item cover lists the attachments, if any. The document titles on the attachments should match the titles listed under Attachments on the item cover template.
  • When saving your items and attachments, please do not add an item number (A-#, B-#, F#, or M#) to the file name. Our office will number the items.
  • Note: If you have an item that you expect will come to the Board multiple times during the course of the project, please maintain consistency of name and format.

 

Attachments: Please submit attachments with your items, if applicable.

  • Add an attachment number to the file name. This number will correspond with the order you’ll be referring to the attachment(s) in your presentation. Standing items should be first.
  • Send all attachments in editable format, if possible (.docx, .xlsx, .ppt, etc.). They will be converted to .pdf format.
  • The title on the attachment should match the title listed under Attachments on the Item cover template.
  • Use UW templates to create accessible slides, if slides are absolutely necessary: https://www.washington.edu/accesstech/slides/.
  • The Board Office will add archival headers or footers: leave a .5″ to 1” margin at the top or bottom of the pages.
  • Reading order must be specified in the document.
  • Use tables only when necessary. Do not embed tables as images. Make sure that headers and column content are tagged.
  • Images need alt-text.
  • Regents appreciate brief bios, with photos, for faculty, student, and guest presenters. Please see the attached sample.
  • Example of file name: Quarterly report attachment 2 color.doc

 

Due dates: Please see the schedule for due dates. Staff will lightly proofread your items and attachments. Major additions and changes are the responsibility of the presenting units. If your item cover and attachments are late, the item may be pulled from the agenda. The Board will not accept last-minute materials except by prior agreement with the Secretary.

Note: Please be considerate of the time it will take to study the materials you intend to provide. Include enough information for Regents to identify the core issues, but do not overextend. All attachments should be tied directly to the objective of your presentation. If, during the presentation, the Regents request additional information from your unit, we will work with you and be the conduit for follow up.

Contacts:

Tyler Lange and Kristine Holmberg-Lennemann
Office of the Board of Regents
(for full Board and Governance Committee or Finance & Asset Management Committee items)
206-543-1633

Jason Johnson
Office of the Provost
(for Academic and Student Affairs Committee items)
206-543-2248

Karen Masuda
Office of the CEO, UW Medical Center
(for UW Medical Center Committee items)
206-498-4593