Bates College | Professional Travel to Conferences

Professional Travel Funding Deadline: ongoing
Supplemental Travel Funding Deadline: 1 April

The purpose of professional travel funds is to encourage scholarly activity by the faculty through partial subvention of the many costs associated with professional activity. To assist faculty in maintaining their scholarly work, the following provisions are in place for professional travel by faculty members:

If a faculty member is presenting (or engaging in an analogous activity) at one or more conferences, an annual maximum of $1500 is available to defray the cost of conference travel.
If a faculty member is attending only (and not presenting), a maximum of $500 is available to defray the cost of conference travel. A faculty member can receive reimbursement for attending (and not presenting at) a meeting only once per year.
Should the faculty member attend one meeting and present at one or more other meetings, an annual maximum of $1500 is available for reimbursement of travel expenses.
Faculty in the arts (theater, dance, music, and studio art) may use professional travel to attend exhibitions, studios, and performances.
Faculty members are reimbursed after the completion of the travel. (More information and guidelines.)
No funds are "carried over" from a prior year, nor may funds be "borrowed" from future years. The fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30.
All expenses must be accompanied by original receipts. When requesting reimbursement for air travel, the original airline ticket receipt and/or electronic payment receipt must be provided as a receipt (an itinerary from the travel agency is not sufficient proof of purchase, per federal guidelines).
Requests for reimbursement for professional activities should be made to the dean of the faculty's office promptly following those activities.
Travel advances may be secured for a variety of purposes. Cash amounts up to $150 can be advanced. Amounts advanced by check can be issues in higher amounts if substantiated by acceptable invoices or planned budgets. (More information and guidelines.)
All unused cash advance funds and a completed Travel Expense Report form must be returned within 10 days of your completed travel.
Expenses such as registration fees and hotel deposits should be paid by personal check or credit card. These expenses should not be charged directly to this office.
By federal regulation, the College cannot reimburse faculty members for expenses related to pet care, lawn care, laundry, house sitting, child care or physical fitness expenses while traveling.

Supplemental Travel Funding. There are two uses for Supplemental Travel Funds. 1) To reimburse for expenses with exceeded a faculty normal annual allocation; or 2) to fund additional travel before the end of present fiscal year. Supplemental Travel Funding requests must be submitted electronically to David Baker in the Dean of the Faculty's Office, and must include a compelling argument that the travel was/will be critical to one's scholarly work.

Reimbursement. The Bates College Travel Expense Report form is used for reimbursement of professional travel. This is a form everyone in the College uses. (Faculty should note any paper presentation or analogous activity under "Purpose.") Reimbursement is made upon receipt of the completed Bates College Travel Expense Report, with original receipts attached. This form may also be used for faculty recruiting, or any other reimbursement requested from the College. Please note that this form must be used for reimbursement requests. Additional copies may be acquired through the the accounting office, or on the accounting web site.

Additional Funding for Conference Travel: Bates Faculty Development Fund. The College provides up to $1,500 for faculty members' professional travel activities. Through this support, the College invests in the continued scholarly development of the faculty. Over the past years, faculty increasingly attend multiple conferences. Funds from the Bates Faculty Development Fund may be sought to assist with additional expenses beyond one's annual allocation. Applications for funding beyond the $1,500 allocation must include a compelling argument that attendance at the additional meeting is critical to one's scholarly work. (More information and guidelines.)

For questions or concerns regarding travel contact David Baker for assistance.

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Tips for the Savvy Bates Traveler

The Bates Accounting Office has been working hard to streamline procedures and still remain in the good graces of their auditors and the Internal Revenue Service. The promulgated Travel Policy has made things easier for all employees of Bates College, such as you all, to be active professionally and be reimbursed properly for many activities.

Bates College Travel Policy

Advance Request Form

Travel Expense Report Form

Travel Advances - Expense reimbursements for an activity YET to Happen

Register for conferences and book transportation early!! Stretch your allotted travel dollars. In the past no one wanted the large bills for early booking of expenses to sit on their personal credit card or in their checkbook, either tying up personal income or generating monthly interest expense. Now, airline tickets and conference registration fees may be reimbursed as a travel advance!!

Must use the Advance Request Form and attach:
Document substantiating activity, e.g. program, letter from collaborators
Attach original receipts from vendor e.g. Professional Association, airline, hotel (NO credit card entries) and send to the DOF office.
The Bates Account Payable office will issue you a check.
When you return, gather all your receipts, fill out the Travel Expense Report including all expenses that were on your Advance Request, enter the amount of your advances and generate a balance due.
Note: A completed Travel Expense Report and all unused cash advance funds must be returned to Cashiering at 221 Lane Hall, within ten (10) days of the completion of the trip.
Cash advances must be noted on the Travel Expense Report form and will be deducted before reimbursement funds are issued. Documentation for outstanding travel advances must be submitted before additional funds may be requested.

Travel Expense Report- Expense reimbursements for COMPLETED activity

TIP #1:

Use a Travel Expense Report and attach:
A copy of program page showing your name as presenter or other discipline specific equal if you presented at a national/regional professional peer-reviewed conference.
Copies of documents on Advance Request Form for same activity.
Additional receipts from meals, taxis, trains, etc.
A MapQuest download to show personal car mileage use.

TIP #2:

In order to fill out the Travel Expense Report we all must separate receipts into piles, one for each calendar day of the trip. So as not to duplicate the task at each stage use a piece of 8.5 x 11 inch paper for each day and tape the receipts to the correct day paper – trim them, slightly overlap them, as long as the vendor name, date, and amount can be read. Underline the total amount.

TIP #3:

If you share the meal bill with a colleague, write the amount of your share clearly on the receipt.
Reasonable and customary expenses for meals and tips are reimbursable and should be claimed only when there is an out-of pocket expense.
Out-of-pocket meals should normally be limited to $50.00 or less per day, with the exception of meals that include College sponsored guests for the purpose of conducting College business.
When total meal expenses do not exceed $25.00 per day, meal receipts are not required.

TIP #4:

For foreign travel ask for large amount receipts in U.S. dollars or get them to convert it for you as per that day's exchange rate. If the U.S. dollar is worth more on the day your report is processed you could lose substantial money on the reimbursement.

TIP #5

Do not use Highlighter on the receipts printed by Mastercard/Visa printers in restaurants. The highlighter ink dissolves the receipt ink quickly and there is no invoice proof to show Bates Accounts personnel or the auditors who come later !! Use a standard pen to circle the total on the receipt or to show your portion notated on the receipt.

Technology and Being a Presenter

TIP #1

Communicate prior to or schedule a time on location to meet with that venue's electronic support staff. Do Not Wait until it is too late for them to accommodate your electronic needs.

TIP #2

Always bring a "hard copy" of your presentation on a Thumbdrive or CD. We are striving to make sure you get reimbursed in a timely manner-it's a team sport. Call for help whenever a question arises.

Travel, learn, enjoy to the fullest

8/2009