2009-2010 Senate Travel Committee

Committee Information:

• Purpose:
  The Faculty Senate Travel Committee is a recommending body that evaluates the academic merit of a particular trip for Out-of-State domestic travel, only. Final approval for any travel is processed through the Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the Financial Services Department is responsible for the processing of disbursements of funds.

• Application Procedure:
  In order to apply for a recommendation of intuitional support for Out-of-State domestic travel, prior to traveling you must send an application package consisting of the following three items to the Faculty Senate Travel Committee Chair (eric.moreau@csn.edu, Mail Sort J1A) by the appropriate deadline listed below. Although not required, you are strongly encouraged to submit your application package via e-mail. Requests for international travel support must be sent directly to the Vice-President of Academic Affairs.
  

  1. A BRIEF Letter of Application indicating:
     1. Whether you are attending the conference/symposium/workshop (Attendee Cap is $1200), have official duties that require your participation (Official Duties Cap is $2000), or presenting materials (no cap on presenter expenses). Regardless of the responsibilities, itemized expenses for lodging and per diem rates are limited by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) rates.
     2. The benefits of attending the conference (e.g., how it will benefit the Program and College, and/or how it will improve student learning, outcomes, and the effectiveness of teaching).
     3. The number of classes that will be missed due to travel. Faculty cannot miss more than one week of teaching in any given semester.
     4. Your mail sort code, e-mail address, and phone number.
  2. A Letter of Support from the appropriate supervisor.
  3. Evidence of the conference, meeting, symposium, etc. If requesting the Official Duties cap, be sure to provide the supporting documentation.
      
• Deadlines:
  • If you are requesting the Official Duties Cap or presenting materials, your application package must be submitted at least 60 days prior to travel. If proof of Official Duties or presentation is not available 60 days prior to travel, you may only be approved for the Attendee Cap. When the said proof is presented to the Committee, the Cap will be updated, accordingly.
  • If you are requesting the Attendee Cap, materials must be submitted to the Travel Committee at least 45 days prior to travel.
  • If you are requesting support to attend a certification or specialized training, materials must be submitted to the Travel Committee at least 15 days prior to travel.
  • If any of the indicated deadlines fall during the summer, application packages must be submitted to the Faculty Senate Chair at Mail Sort W32E. See Summer Procedures: section below for more information.

• Summer Procedures:
  

  1. Please submit Out-of-State domestic travel request packet to the Faculty Senate Chair's office at W32E.
  2. Faculty Senate chair, with Senate Leadership and the Executive Committee, will review requests and make decision and inform the applicant and others.
  3. The Senate Travel Committee Chair will provide the currently used procedures to the Senate Chair before the beginning of the summer semester.

   

• Notification:
  Upon the Travel Committee's recommendation of the acceptance or denial of a request, the faculty member, the appropriate supervisors, Financial Services, and the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs will be notified. Upon this notification, the Travel Committee's part in the procedure is finished, and the application package will be returned to the faculty member for inclusion in the remainder of the application procedure. Once this notification has been sent, the Travel Committee's portion of the application procedure is complete. If recommended for support, the faculty member must then follow the remainder of the procedure, as indicated by Financial Services. As a courtesy, that procedure is listed at the bottom of this page.

• Conditions and Restrictions:
  
  1. Letters of Application will serve as the primary source of consideration. Insufficient Letters may result in a recommendation to deny the request.
  2. If any of the three items requested by the Travel Committee are incomplete or missing, the request for support will be recommended for denial.
  3. Requests not received by the appropriate deadline may be recommended for denial.
  4. Requests for reimbursement AFTER travel has occurred WILL be recommended for denial.
  5. Due to funding restrictions, faculty members will be limited to support for up to two distinct Out-of-State trips per academic year, provided materials are being presented during at least one of them.
  6. Funds are limited, therefore, requests for support will be considered on a first-come-first-served basis. Keep in mind; a request for support may be submitted several months in advance (e.g., requests for summer travel).
  7. The Faculty Senate Travel Committee is a recommending body. Final approval for travel is processed through the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Financial Services Department is responsible for the processing of disbursements of funds.

• AS A COURTESY, HERE IS THE REMAINDER OF THE APPLICATION PROCEDURE:
  

  1. Obtain and correctly complete an Employee Travel Request form. For help in completing the form, consult with Department Assistants and/or Financial Services, NOT the Faculty Senate Travel Committee members.
  2. For completion of Section III on the form, specify the Faculty Senate Travel Committee Account Number: FUND 8225, AGENCY 830, ORG 5740, OBJ 21, SOBJ T3 (for Out-of-State Airfare) or T4 (for Out-of-State Other Expenses). NOTE: The Travel Committee Account Number is to be used for Out-of-State domestic travel ONLY; In-State travel is supported by the individual Departments. For the Estimated Travel Costs, you may use the Internet or a travel agent. Remember, they do not need to be exact costs; merely estimates.
  3. Have your Department Chair and Dean sign the form, and then send the form AND your application package to the Vice President of Academic Affairs (VPAA), at Mail Sort W32E, for final approval. In case the applicant is not in agreement with the Chair's and/or Dean's approval decision, an appeal may be made to the VPAA.
  4. If the VPAA approves the request and signs the form, the package will then be returned (or a notification will be sent) to the traveler, or the Department AA for the traveler.
  5. Once the traveler receives (or is notified of) an approved travel request, appropriate travel arrangements can be made. Airline tickets may be purchased directly by the traveler or through the College's contact at Prestige Travel (Rosemary Rice: 702.253.9909, ext. 132), except for international travelers and college teams/groups who must book airline travel through Prestige Travel. If driving, the traveler should make his/her own arrangements.
  6. Once travel arrangements have been made, the traveler's entire package should be sent to Robert Sharp in Financial Services, Mail Sort J1C.
      

  Within 15 working days of completion of the travel, a Claim for Employee Travel Expense form must be completed and sent to Robert Sharp in Financial Services, Mail Sort J1C. The completed travel claim form must include all appropriate signatures, and be accompanied by any required receipts.
   
  A flow chart of the entire Employee Travel Request procedure can be found on the last page of the CSN Travel Policies and Procedures manual.
   
  All CSN Travel Policies and Procedures must be followed. Questions about the policies or assistance on completing the travel claim can be directed to Robert Sharp in Financial Services, at 702.651.4027.