Tag Archives: travel

100% Airfare Reimbursement made permanent

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Dear Fondren staff:

We have wonderful news!

After a review of the annual report of the Library Travel, Training, and Development Committee, the full reimbursement of airfare costs for staff travel/development has been made permanent. Many thanks to Sara for making this determination!

You can find the updated form by going to the Fondren wiki (in wiki.rice.edu) and searching for “travel form” in the search box in the top right of your screen. (You don’t have to log in.)

Fondren Library encourages all library staff to attend professional and scholarly activities which enhance skills and knowledge. To facilitate maximum staff participation in scholarly activity, the Library will reimburse the FULL cost of a reasonable airfare.

The definition of a reasonable airfare€ remains unchanged:

“The most economical and direct form of transportation should be used  Economy class airfare should be used.”
€ (https://professor.rice.edu/uploadedFiles/Professor/Finance/Controllers_Office/ACF78.pdf)

This does not change the maximum fiscal year limit of $2,100 for active participation (or the $850 limit for non-participation attendance). As usual, these limitations will be applied when requests for travel funds are submitted to the Library Travel, Training, and Development Committee.

Fondren Library Travel, Training and Development Committee

New Staff Travel Request Form

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As announced at the Fondren Library Town Hall, there is a new staff travel request form.

You can find the form by going to the Fondren wiki (in wiki.rice.edu) and searching for “travel form” in the search box in the top right of your screen. (You don’t have to log in.)

The search landing page has a link to the updated form, as well as links to Texas tax exemption forms and the administrative travel request form.

The Library Travel, Training and Development Committee also wishes to remind staff that there may be funds for administrative travel available from the office of the Vice Provost/University Librarian. Administrative travel is defined as travel that is necessary to the basic functioning of Fondren Library. (The policy for administrative travel is documented in the Fondren wiki.) Final approval for administrative travel rests with the VP/UL; requests should be made well in advance, and eligible travel may not be approved if budgeted funds are not available.

International Travel

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International SOS information:

Rice University uses International SOS services for international travel on university business. A benefit of the service is the opportunity for Rice employees to purchase medical and travel security assistance on an individual basis for personal travel at a 20% discount. Staff interested in this should contact the ISOS Individual Membership Department, who will walk them through the process.

International SOS Individual Membership Department
Customer Support
1-800-523-8662 toll free

In order to get the 20% discount, we need to use the Rice membership number (11BYSG000011) and our Rice NetID and password.

Coverage for each trip will be written separately and each quote depends on the details of the trip, such as the travel destination, the age of the traveler, and the number of people traveling. Also, family coverage has some additional requirements that will be addressed during the registration process. We can get a quote for free without an obligation to purchase.

More information can be found at the Office of Risk Management, along with the Rice membership number. Another resource can be found here.

Concur Revisited

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The Staff Travel, Training and Development Committee has offered a second series of classes to allow staff to ask questions about uploading receipts into Concur for preparing expense reports. The meetings were held in the Collaboration Space on two dates: at 9:30 AM on Friday February 13th and at 1:00 PM on Wednesday February 18th. This is the second series of classes provided by the STTD committee to help provide support for the transition to the Concur system for reporting expenses. The first series, held in December 2014, provided training in creating a personal profile for staff in the system.

There was a demonstration of the process of creating travel expense reports and uploading receipts into the report in a test environment for those attending. Staff members were encouraged to ask questions about particulars related to their travel expense experiences. The committee gathered helpful information from the discussions and will create a list of tips for Concur based on the feedback from users. The Concur Tips page will be uploaded to the Staff Travel, Training and Development home page in Fondranet.

As you discover issues or helpful items please contact the committee and we will add your suggestions to the Tips page. Your Staff Travel, Training and Development Committee are: Dara Flinn, Lauren Mueller, Nadalia Liu, Shannon Kipphut-Smith, Judy Howell, Mary Brower, Andy Damico, and Nyssa Juneau-Kimbrell.

Tips for Concur:
1. Travel expense reimbursement requests must be submitted within 60 days from the last day of the trip.
2. Itemized receipts must be included for each expense of $25.00 or more. There is an option to enter an expense if you have lost the receipt which can be found in the drop-down under “receipts” in your expense report.
3. Meals and parking should be paid for separately, rather than included with lodging in your hotel bills. This will simplify the audit process from the Concur side.
4. It’s possible to submit multi-page receipts, or add pages to receipts already in the system.
5. Any alcohol (such as a glass of wine with a meal) must be itemized and the alcoholic beverages account used for the expense (70880).