The following guidelines are intended to assist all CFA faculty in the furtherance of their professional development in the areas of teaching, research and other creative activity, as well as to enhance service opportunities and the academic programs of the University of Florida.
These guidelines are provided to assist faculty in understanding the various criteria considered by the director in making decisions in regard to funding for faculty travel. It is the responsibility of the Director to award allocated travel funds. It is the responsibility of the CFA Business Office to manage the budgets of awarded funding. Note: It is the responsibility of the staff in the CFA Business Office, working with UF core offices, to ensure proper interpretation and implementation of all UF policies that govern fiscal and human resources in the College.
STEP ONE:
Requesting Travel Funds from your School Director
All faculty who request funding in a given year must submit a request to your School Director no later than the end of the first week in October. Note: School Directors have discretion in determining the appropriateness of maintaining a reserve of travel funding for out-of-cycle requests.Requests for the academic year will be reviewed and allocated by the Director.
Faculty members who do not receive full funding may seek assistance from other sources. This must be coordinated with the School Director, and Assistant Dean for Research (if applicable). It is recommended that faculty members keep all records, as non-funded travel expenses may be eligible as tax deductions.
Some travel funds expire on June 30, while other funds expire December 31. Be very vigilant about when your funds expire. You will need to work with the CFA Business Office to process your travel expenses BEFORE your funding expires.
STEP TWO:
Authorization to Travel
A CFA Travel Authorization Request Worksheet
must be completed and filed with the CFA Business Office at least four weeks (4) prior to traveling. In addition to facilitating payment, these forms are required for insurance purposes, and may also be helpful to faculty with respect to tax deductions. The College will not be responsible for payment of any travel that occurs outside of these guidelines.
School Directors will submit detail travel budgets, including funding sources, to the CFA Business Office in mid-October. Note: If the travel requested is not on the approved Director’s budget, an email will be sent to the respective Director asking for an adjusted travel budget.
If airfare is included in your funding allocation please contact World Class Travel to purchase your ticket prior to the trip. This will reduce your “out-of-pocket” expenses. Hotel and per diem expenses will be filed after completion of the trip.
TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS
Staff in the business office is not authorized to make travel arrangements on
behalf of a traveler.
Are you paying with a UF-issued P-card?
If you are using the UF P-card to pay for your travel arrangements, please make
sure you have a CFA Travel Authorization Request Worksheet submitted. This is
needed to reconcile the actual p-card transactions in PeopleSoft.
- If you have a p-card: please make your own arrangements and just use your p-card
to pay. Make sure you turn in a signed receipt within three days as required by
UF P-card policy.
- If your department’s Director of Operations (or any other departmental staff
member) will be paying for your travel expense you should make arrangements with
them (or use your department’s policies) and then the cardholder will need to
turn in a signed p-card receipt within three days to the business office.
- If you need June (or another fiscal business officer staff member if she is
unavailable) to pay for your arrangements you can either:
-
Call World Class Travel at 352-371-3100 (they are the authorized University travel
agent). Have World Class hold the reservations for as long as they will and then
include the name of the person you spoke with on the travel form at
[http://www.arts.ufl.edu/business/travelpolicies/Travel.aspx] June will call
them and place the charge on her P-card.
-
Use an online booking website (priceline.com etc) and SAVE the itinerary. Then
call June and give her your account name, password, and itinerary number. She
will then be able to book the itinerary using her p-card.
Are you paying out of pocket and then waiting for reimbursement?
If you are paying out of pocket and waiting for reimbursement, you are free to
make any travel arrangements you wish. UF currently does not allow for personal
reimbursement for “trip insurance” (for example, paying $75 to make your trip
refundable if you cancel it) so make sure you ask for an itemized receipt to
turn in.
Reimbursement
All original receipts should be submitted to the CFA Business Office within 5 days after returning to Gainesville. University regulations do not allow reimbursements without ORIGINAL receipts and actual Boarding Passes (for airfare). KEEP EVERYTHING!!
REMINDER: Travel taken without following these guidelines is considered unauthorized travel and will not be reimbursable. It is for your own protection that these forms be signed and submitted well in advance of the trip to properly activate insurance coverage and to ensure the travel is justified to the satisfaction of the comptroller for audit purposes.