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General Procedures

Travel Authorization

Whenever possible, all transportation arrangements should be made in advance through the university's authorized travel agent, Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Carlson Wagonlit can be reached by calling:

• On Campus — 6-AWAY (6-2929)
• Off Campus — (617) 451-4210
• Toll-Free  — (800) 273-6973

You must provide the travel agent with an appropriate university account number as well as a Travel Authorization (TA) form number (these forms can be found at PeopleSoft Forms). The transaction fee for domestic tickets is $39 and international tickets are $59. The agent will have paper tickets delivered to the requested university office for an additional fee of $8. There is no additional fee for using electronic tickets since they are not delivered to campus.

Upon making the travel reservations, the office must forward two copies of the signed Travel Authorization form to University Services at MS 020. Both signature lines on the Travel Authorizations must be signed by the appropriate personnel. For information regarding authorized second signatures, please call University Services at ext. 6-4313.

Cash Advance

An advance against travel expenses (generally excluding air fare) may be obtained by forwarding a properly completed Payment Request Form bearing the required approval of the appropriate dean, vice president and/or Grant, Contract and Patent administrator, to the controller's office not less than 48 hours in advance of the date needed. The Payment Request Form should include the dates of travel and the appropriate account codes.

Each advance should be accounted for within 60 days of the conclusion of the trip. The university will not give an advance to anyone who has failed to account for any previous advance. If an advance is approved for a nonuniversity employee, the individual authorizing the advance is responsible for reconciling the advance.

Unused Tickets

All unused tickets must be hand delivered to University Services in Kutz Hall. This will ensure that the university and the proper account number will be appropriately credited. Unwanted tickets should be returned for refund (if applicable) as soon as possible in order to assure prompt credit and to avoid unnecessary paperwork. Changes in airfare pricing policies enacted in April 1992 have resulted in the airlines levying certain administrative charges against refunded and/or changed tickets. Delaying the final booking until your itinerary is certain (but within booking restriction) will avoid these additional costs.

Nonrefundable Tickets

Only on trips for which the traveler is confident that plans will not change is the use of nonrefundable tickets recommended. If plans do change, the airlines will assess a change fee when applying the ticket to future travel. Nonrefundable tickets which remain unused must be returned to University Services accompanied with a memorandum to the individual travel agent with whom the trip was booked indicating the ticket is being returned for re-use at a later time within one year on the same airline. It is the traveler's responsibility to make use of these unused tickets prior to expiration. The tickets are held at University Services until the traveler makes use of them on a future qualifying trip. Reissued and exchanged tickets involving a charge of any amount will require a new Travel Authorization form. (Changes in tickets that do not result in additional expenses do not require a new TA.)

For reimbursement on the Expense Report, air and rail fares not paid directly to American Express, as well as hotel charges, must be supported by the original bill. No airfare will be reimbursed if the expense report is not accompanied by the original receipt issued with the ticket which must include the traveler's charge card account number or note that remittance was made in cash. Charge card slips are not acceptable substitutes for hotel bills or air and rail receipts. Please support all other expenses with receipts whenever possible. Except for authorized guests' charges, meals are reimbursed on a per diem basis and generally do not require receipts. By federal regulation, any individual charge over $75 must be supported by a receipt.

Appropriate business related travel expenses paid for personally must be submitted for reimbursement on an authorized Travel Expense Report.

If the university's authorized travel agent is not used, the traveler runs the risk of disapproval of expenses if the expenditures are not appropriate or consistent with requirements of the funding source.

International Travel

For reporting expenses of international travel, including the domestic portions thereof, use a sheet with the following column headings:

• Date
• City, country
• Detail of expenses
• Amount of foreign currency
• Conversion rate
• Amount claimed

The amount of foreign currency should be totaled separately for each country with the conversion rate shown opposite the total. The grand total of all expenses shown on the supplemental sheet should be brought forward to the "Total" block on the front of the Expense Report.

Expense Report

As soon as possible after the conclusion of each trip, all travel expenses with supporting documentation, should be submitted to the controller's office on a properly completed and approved Expense Report. The Travel Expense Report must be reviewed and approved by the appropriate dean or vice president, consistent with the Travel Authorization approval process.

When the report is properly submitted and no cash advance is involved, a reimbursement check will be issued promptly.

When a cash advance is involved and approved expenses:

• are less than the amount of the advance, a personal check payable to Brandeis University in the amount of the difference must accompany the Expense Report.
• exceed the amount of the advance, a university check payable to the traveler in the amount of the difference, will be issued after receipt of the Expense Report.

Spouse Expenses

Expenses incurred by a spouse accompanying the traveler will be the responsibility of the traveler.

Direct Billing

With the exception of authorized air and rail fares arranged through Carlson Wagonlit Travel, no expenses are to be directly billed to the university.