Faculty Conference Travel Reimbursement Policies 07-08

The Government Department's  Travel Funding Policy for the 2007-08 academic year (August-May) is outlined below. We are pleased to announce that the annual travel subsidy for faculty will remain at the increased level of $900 for this academic year, contingent on availability of funds and prior approval from the Department. Individual Departmental Research accounts can also be used to support conference travel. Faculty are expected to exhaust their allocated research funds before requesting additional travel funding from the Department.

* All requests for Departmental funding need to be submitted via the Conference Travel Request Form at least three weeks prior to the conference. Pending availability and approval, funds will normally be provided to: a) faculty presenting papers or posters at a conference or b) faculty not presenting papers but actively participating in a scholarly meeting to include: chairing a panel and taking part in a workshop; discussant on a panel or committee. We will keep a file of all approved forms and will refer to them when processing your reimbursement request.

* Faculty with secondary appointments in Government may request travel support but are expected to exhaust travel support offered by their primary units prior to doing so.

* With regard to faculty on leave, we ask that you draw on other sources of income, such as your fellowship, grant or host institution, where possible; if none are available, we would ask that you petition
the Chair for funding. If possible, please include a preliminary (estimated) budget with your written request.

* Upon your return, please submit your request for reimbursement to Christopher Cruden with a memo outlining the costs and attach the respective original receipts. Because of the large influx of requests
that come through our office, reimbursement requests will be submitted to the Payroll Department only on the 1st and 15th of each month.

* In fairness to others, requests for reimbursement will not be accepted without prior funding approval. Additionally, please note that the Department can only reimburse for the following types of expenses: transportation (air, car, train, bus, cabs), accommodations (hotel, motel, inn, or hostel) and registration fees. All other types of expenses need special approval from the Chair for reimbursement.

* In the interest of keeping the reimbursement processing flowing in our office, please adhere to the following procedures when submitting this and any other requests for reimbursement:
1. All reimbursements must be accompanied by a signed memo indicating the purpose of the expense(s) as well as an itemized list of the costs. If you are seeking reimbursement from a particular account or source of funding, please indicate that as well. If your reimbursement comes from a non-GOVT account, you will need to submit your reimbursement to the appropriate department; we cannot process reimbursements from other department accounts.
2. Receipts must include the proof of transaction (amount, payment method) information. For credit card purchases you may also submit your statement listing the charge if a receipt is not available or lost.
3. Please note that airfare and train reimbursements require that you keep and submit all original boarding passes and receipts.
4. Please remember that all business meal receipts must include the purpose of the meal meeting, as well as all the participants. This information can be detailed in the cover memo of your reimbursement request.
5. If you are traveling abroad, you will also need to provide documentation of the exchange rate for the currency of the expenses. This can easily be done by going to sites like http://www.xe.net/ucc/ and printing the calculated exchange rate.
6. If you are seeking reimbursement for any business mileage use of your personal vehicle, please note that the 2007 reimbursement rate for this cost is 48.5 cents per mile. You will also need to include a printed out map evidencing the distance in miles. Again, sites like http://www.mapquest.com/ are very useful with this.
*All reimbursement requests not adhering to the above policy will be returned and significant delays may result.*

We understand the the above procedures may seem cumbersome, but please note that these procedures are part of the greater University-wide financial policies, and we must comply. Any questions or concerns, please let the staff know.