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Student Payments - L&S

The L&S process for making payments to students, including non-service lump sum payments to UW students.
For service-related payments to students, please contact the appropriate HR representative assigned to your department.  Information about service-related payments are not included on this page.

Resources

If you need the special Student Travel Award Item Type, send an email to busservapprovals@ls.wisc.edu.

Gift Cards, Gifts, Surveys or Contests 

IRB Approved Human Subject Payments – For the purpose of human subject payments, a student (or employee) lose their identity as a student and are paid like any other human subject participant following the Payments to Research Participants Policy UW-3005.

Surveys or Contests Only Open to Students – In general, if students receive payment for things only open to students, then it must be considered a scholarship.  Students are not allowed to receive gift cards or anything that can be construed as contributing to their cost of attendance.  In these cases, it is recommended to provide them with UW branded items or have a pizza lunch where you gather and discuss the survey topic. 

Surveys or Contests Open to the General Population – These would be surveys or contests that are open to the general population, including students.  Since these are not based on their status as a student, they would be treated as a prize or award and would not be paid through a scholarship.  UW System Policy 330 for Prizes, Awards and Gifts would need to be followed for payment.

More information on the student payment aspect of prizes, awards, surveys and competitions can be found on page 18 of the Student Payment Guide.

Payments as Scholarships

Payments to Students Considered US Persons for Tax Purposes

In an effort to simplify and streamline this process and maintain our ability to track requests for student payments, L&S uses a fillable form which is available via the following links on the L&S Administrative Gateway:

Single payee -Non-ServiceStudentLumpSumPaymentForm-DepartmentUse (Single Payment)

Multiple payees -  Non-ServiceStudentLumpSumPaymentSpreadsheet-DepartmentUse (Multiple Payees)

Note that the submission forms allow for multiple funding sources to be included, if necessary.

Payments to Non-Resident Alien (NRA) Students

1. When making a payment to an NRA student, you must first determine the student's tax residency status.  For the most up to date procedure and the NRA Scholarship Spreadsheet, go to the Campus Human Resources Nonresident Alien Lump Sum Payments page.
 
2. Send the completed non-service student payment request form together with the award letter* and OHR-Glacier tax residency determination (for NRA students) to the following email address: studentpayment@ls.wisc.edu (payments to multiple students with the same type of payment may be submitted on an accompanying spreadsheet rather than filling out a separate form for each student – if you submit a spreadsheet, please include all of the same pieces of information as shown on our individual submission form, and list undergraduate and graduate students on separate spreadsheets).
*Special note to departments who use WiSH (Wisconsin Scholarship Hub) to administer scholarships: Although the scholarship recipient is notified via an automated process in WiSH, when submitting a request for a non-service lump payment through payroll, L&S must collect an award letter (or notification e-mail) to document 1) that the payment is non-service (i.e., there is no work requirement in exchange for the payment), 2) the amount of the payment, and 3) that the recipient was notified about receiving the payment.
 
3. Staff from the L&S Business Office will notify the person requesting the lump sum payment if the payment should be processed via the Bursar's Office or via PIR.  If the L&S Business Office determines that the payment must be processed via the payroll system, the L&S Business Office will forward your submission to the L&S HR/Payroll Office.

4. If the L&S Business Office forwards the request to the L&S HR/Payroll Office, L&S HR will determine the appropriate title and will send additional processing instructions to the person who requested the payment.  Do not make entries in JEMS New Hire prior to receiving such instructions.

At any time during this process, any/all of the staff involved will be able to determine the status of the payment. We have developed an internal tracking system for this purpose. The person in your department requesting the lump sum payment (as indicated at the bottom of the completed form) will be kept informed as actions occur. 
5. Non-Service Job Aid Form Non-Service Job Aid Form must be completed and kept on file for all payments on non-service appointments. This form provides documentation that the payment being provided is not subject to employment taxes. 

Non-Credit External Internship or Research Support Payments 

Must meet these five criteria and be approved by Campus

  1. Not associated with a course requirement
  2. Not required for degree or certificate completion
  3. For educational experience enrichment only
  4. Requires participation in regular activities outside of the normal curriculum
  5. Payment not restricted for a specific use 


Keywords:
award, prize, scholarship, fellowship, resident alien, nonresident alien, lump sum, welcome check, student payment, student, NRA, gift card, student payments 
Doc ID:
84553
Owned by:
Michele G. in L&S KB
Created:
2018-08-07
Updated:
2025-04-09
Sites:
L&S KB