Travel and Business-Related Expenses | ECC

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Administrative Procedure 2.601

Related Administrative Procedures:

2.401 – Purchasing 2.401

2.404 – Purchasing Card Program 2.404

3.705 – Mileage Reimbursement 3.705

5.105 – Expense Money Allowance for Candidates 5.105

General

• The Travel and Business-Related Expenses administrative process applies to anybody who travels or does enterprise on behalf of Elgin Community College (the College, faculty) as a university consultant, and contains faculty staff and candidates, Board of Trustee members, and college students.
• All faculty funds, no matter their supply of origin, are thought of public funds and expenditures should be:
  • In accordance with faculty and state coverage,
  • Reasonable and needed, and
  • Part of a bona fide enterprise operate of the College.
• The fundamental coverage governing journey bills is that a person shall neither acquire nor lose funds in the middle of conducting faculty enterprise. To obtain this purpose, it’s the duty of every faculty consultant to know and cling to the next procedures when requesting authorization and reimbursement for journey. Traveling on behalf of the College ought to be handled as a duty and alternative by the school consultant.
• College representatives could use their very own private funds to pay for journey or registrations; nonetheless they won’t be reimbursed previous to the journey or occasion.

Authorization to Travel

• Approvals from supervisors and the suitable finances officer(s) should be obtained previous to conducting enterprise and journey on behalf of the College. The finances officer is accountable to make sure that funds can be found within the acceptable journey finances codes to satisfy all journey and enterprise related-expense commitments. If a predetermined journey finances isn’t current inside a finances officer’s division, the Business Services workplace has the authorization to disclaim journey requests.
• Requisitions for buy orders ought to be processed for expenditures that aren’t being charged on a university buying card or a private bank card.

Student Travel

For any pupil journey sponsored by the College, the worker is to finish the Field Trip Request Form discovered on the worker portal situated underneath Forms/Teaching, Learning and Student Development Forms/Student Action Forms and acquire the approval of the Vice President of Teaching, Learning and Student Development a minimal of two weeks previous to the dates of journey. Once accepted, the College’s Risk Manager shall obtain a duplicate of the accepted Field Trip Request Form. Before departure, the worker should present the College’s Risk Manager with an inventory of scholars touring and their emergency contact data. 

International Travel

• Travel exterior the United States will need to have prior approval from the College President. Written approval, using the Request for Travel Form situated on the worker portal underneath Forms/Business Services, should be accomplished previous to journey and submitted with the journey declare kind or buying card assertion. Unauthorized journey would be the duty of the traveler.
• Because the cost-of-living varies from nation to nation and the speed of forex exchanges fluctuate, the next bills can be reimbursed on the precise value except provisions for reimbursement of worldwide journey are decided earlier than the touring happens:
  1. Commercial transportation
  2. Hotel/motel lodging
  3. Meals, Incidentals, and Expenses (see Per Diem part)
  4. Work-related long-distance calls
  5. Miscellaneous bills incurred with journey similar to baggage dealing with and parking charges.

Receipts for bills ought to be hooked up to the Employee’s Travel Claim Form. 

Reservations

After journey has been approved, faculty representatives could make their very own journey preparations by using their very own private bank card or faculty buying card, or the buying card of the worker’s division finances officer. Air journey and limousine service will be procured with a purchase order order by way of a university accepted vendor. Purchasing can be out there to help staff with vendor data for his or her journey preparations. 

Reimbursement of Travel Expenses

• The College will reimburse solely these bills incurred by/for a university consultant in reference to faculty enterprise which are appropriately documented by the school consultant. Reimbursement is on the premise of precise and cheap bills incurred, topic to the restrictions set forth on this coverage.
• The journey declare kind should be accomplished in its entirety with the suitable approvals and hooked up supporting documentation previous to submitting it to buying for reimbursement.
• Electronic variations of the Travel Claim Form are on the worker portal situated underneath Forms/Business Services.

Responsibility of the Authorized Signatory

• In most instances the approved signer is the finances officer; nonetheless when a finances officer travels, their supervisor would be the approved signer.
• College representatives could not authorize reimbursement of their very own journey bills. While division coordinators or employees could assist put together journey vouchers, it’s the approved signer’s duty to verify that bills and journey claims meet the next standards:
  1. Only journey bills incurred whereas conducting faculty enterprise are included.
  2. The data contained on the Travel Claim Form and the documentation hooked up is correct and in accordance with faculty coverage.
  3. The journey bills incurred meet relevant faculty tips and are fiscally accountable. Grant associated bills shall be as guided by the grant settlement.
  4. The bills are charged to the suitable finances codes and that funds can be found.
  5. Original detailed receipts are submitted in accordance with this coverage.
• The buying division will audit Travel Claim kinds for conformance with coverage and procedures. The buying division will confirm and proper addition and extension accuracy and can deny fee for reimbursable expense reviews which aren’t in conformance with coverage or process. Denied bills larger than $50 can be communicated to the requestor and approved signatory.

Payment for Travel

• Other than meals, vacationers could use any of the under means to pay for his or her journey. Detailed receipts shall accompany the journey declare, as needed.
  1. The request for fee could also be submitted by way of an accepted requisition for buy order. If the seller won’t settle for a purchase order order, a accomplished test request kind could also be submitted to the Accounts Payable Department, payable to the seller or affiliation.
  2. A private bank card could also be utilized; receipt shall be submitted with journey declare.
  3. A finances officer buying card could also be utilized; receipt shall be submitted with buying card submission.
  4. A university buying card could also be utilized (contact the Purchasing Department); finances officer approval and finances code shall be offered by the requestor.
• Except underneath extenuating circumstances, the College could not reimburse bills because of a traveler’s failure to cancel journey preparations.

Per Diem (for home and worldwide journey)

• For home journey, meal bills can be reimbursed at a flat per diem price. The per diem will cowl all each day meals, ideas, and sundries. Receipts and affirmation of convention meals offered usually are not wanted for reimbursement of an worker’s each day per diem. The per diem for journey for all in a single day stays is $65 per day, together with first and final day of journey.
• The per diem for at some point journey native is $20. A one-day journey occasion is outlined as a gathering that requires an worker to be away from the workplace for 5 hours or extra (assembly time and journey time) for school enterprise.
• For worldwide journey, the school reimburses meals and incidental bills (M&IE) on the international per diem price established by the Office of Allowances and the U.S. Department of State. The per diem charges will be discovered within the hyperlink under within the “meals and incidentals” column. These charges are in U.S. {dollars}. Please choose the town closest to the one you’re touring to from the web site. If touring to a number of cities in a single nation, choose the town that you may be spending probably the most period of time in when touring.

When touring internationally, please enter on the journey declare kind the US greenback quantity within the “meals and incidentals” column on the web site. Please be aware that the M&IE portion is meant to considerably cowl the price of meals and incidental journey bills similar to laundry, gratuities, and dry cleansing. Therefore, these incidental bills shouldn’t be included on the journey declare kind. Please embrace a duplicate of the speed from the web site together with your journey declare. 

The per diem for all journey with an in a single day keep can be on the M&EI price per day, together with first and final day of journey. 

Transportation and Lodging Guidelines

• Air Travel Guidelines:
  1. Fares shall be economic system class solely and the traveler should concentrate on further charges and penalties related to seats.
  2. One commonplace bag every means can be reimbursed and the traveler should concentrate on further baggage charges and related penalties, particularly for carry-on baggage, which can be based mostly on the ticket kind or tier that’s booked.
  3. Every try ought to be made to e book flights 30 days upfront of the occasion.
  4. Additional costs (insurance coverage, seating costs, further baggage, and so forth.) shall be pre accepted/declined on the discretion of the finances officer in an equitable method. The College will reimburse for carry-on baggage, carry-on charges or penalties so long as the airline ticket was booked appropriately.
• Air Travel vs. Driving Guidelines:
  • The finances officer will work with the traveler to judge the fee variance between flying and driving and can decide which technique is acceptable for the state of affairs.
• Ground Transportation Guidelines:
  1. For the worker’s use of their private autos to locations aside from the worker’s major administrative center, the worker shall adjust to Administrative Procedure 3.705 – Mileage Reimbursement. A driver authorization kind shall be on file in Human Resources previous to driving for College enterprise.
  2. The traveler can be reimbursed for the spherical journey distance between their major administrative center and the assembly vacation spot or second work web site; a printed copy of an web mileage calculator to the journey declare kind in assist of the expense can be submitted with the journey declare.
  3. Mileage reimbursement can be calculated on the prevailing IRS price; all prices related to using the car are included on this mileage price.
• Car Rental Guidelines:
  • Car leases are strongly discouraged by the College and will solely be used when it makes financial sense. Travelers shall make the most of lodge shuttles, taxis, limousines, or ridesharing firms every time doable. It is as much as the discretion of the finances officer as as to whether a automobile rental ought to be allowed/reimbursed. Car leases for private use shall not be reimbursed.
• Lodging Guidelines:
  • Whenever doable, the worker/College consultant shall keep on the identical lodge because the convention or occasion to keep away from pointless transportation prices.
  • It is the duty of the finances officer to find out as as to whether or not journey, together with Chicagoland occasions, warrants an in a single day keep at a lodge and the variety of nights that’s acceptable for the occasion.

Business Meals and Refreshments

Expenditures for meals should reveal prudence within the utilization and be: 

• Reasonable and needed;
• Part of a bona fide enterprise operate of the College; and
• Clearly reveal profit to the establishment and its college students.

It MAY BE acceptable to make the most of faculty funds for enterprise meals or refreshments within the following circumstances: 

• Pre-approved particular division committee conferences or capabilities similar to a as soon as a semester retreat to debate setting objectives (not routine departmental conferences).
• College-hosted occasions with invited visitors from exterior the school.
• Refreshment breaks at school hosted occasions that foster group associate collaboration or advance the objectives/mission of the school.
• For all situations, approval is required by the suitable finances officer/supervisor.

It is NOT acceptable to make the most of faculty funds for enterprise meals or refreshments within the following circumstances, together with however not restricted to: 

• Lunches or refreshments for division employees not in accordance with allowable meals purchases.
• Regular meals purchases that solely profit a choose few staff. • Social occasions (child showers, retirement events, and so forth.).
• Training periods, workshops, or conferences for workers if the size of occasion doesn’t necessitate meals for contributors.
• Alcohol isn’t an acceptable expenditure of school funds.

Consequences for Inappropriate Use

Employees who spend faculty funds inappropriately as outlined on this process will both not be reimbursed or will reimburse the school for any funds expended. In addition, the worker could also be topic to disciplinary motion as much as termination for misappropriation of school funds.

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This coverage was final reviewed on 04/10/2024.