Student Advocacy Guidelines

UW Email and Listserv Guidelines

Generally, students can use their emails for anything they’d like and are not subject to the Washington State Ethics Act. They can share petitions as well as comments to vote for a specific candidate or specific ballot initiative. However, they cannot use department listservs for such activity.  Keep in mind that student email use is subject to the UW’s Student Conduct Code. Links to an external site.

Student Disclaimer Guidelines

Students, like employees, may use their credentials when writing an op-ed for a newspaper or making a statement in a venue, such as a town hall. But should not refer to UW Medicine unless using a disclaimer to indicate the views expressed in the article/statement represent their personal opinion and not that of UW Medicine.  (The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the University of Washington School of Medicine.)

State Funding Guidelines

(examples: pizza, printing, giveaways, etc.  at advocacy events where students will be working on specific legislative bills or candidates)

The Washington State Ethics Act does not apply to students. However, students may still be restricted from use of state/institutional resources for political activity. Contact the Service Learning Team (somserve@uw.edu) with questions.

Lobby Day Guidelines

State employees are prohibited from lobbying. However, students may do so, given the following:

  • The visit needs to be educational in purpose.
  • Students need to drive the agenda themselves.
  • Students need to very clearly identify that they are speaking as students in the context of their class and they are not representing the University/UW Medicine.
  • Lobby Day events/Advocacy work may be supported with state dollars if the intent of the funding source includes this activity.
  • State funds may not be used to buy ads or advocacy materials.
  • (Seattle only) For additional information on lobbying, see the Associated Students of the UW’s Office of Government Relations website Links to an external site..

The following UW Medicine FAQs include sections that may be useful, including political campaigning and use of institutional resources. https://depts.washington.edu/comply/coi-faqs/ Links to an external site.

Students who are also employed by the UW

Student employees are subject to the Washington State Ethics in Public Service Act and will have additional restrictions that need to be considered to ensure compliance with employee policies that cover ethics and conflict of interest issues. UW HR has a student employee website with helpful resources and links to applicable policies and guidance: https://hr.uw.edu/studentemployment/.