SILS Travel Procedures
Schedule
INLS 582
Faculty, staff, and students
frequently travel to attend conferences, meetings,
and perform other duties. The procedures have been documented, and
involve 2
forms, the Assistant Dean for Administration (ADA), the Contracts
& Grants
Specialist (C&GS), a couple of University and School
information systems,
and, of course, the traveler.
The
documentation, forms, and information from interviews with the ADA and
C&GS
presented here form the basis for the Work Models and ER Model
assignments.
Note that some details have been changed from reality for the purposes
of the
assignments.
Artifacts
The 3
artifacts the traveler needs are found on the SILS Administrative Sakai
site.
Procedures
First, the
traveler
should complete and submit the Request form. It is an editable .docx
form that
the traveler can download, complete, and email as an attachment to the
ADA.
After
returning from the trip, the traveler completes the Expense Form, an editable .xlsx form that automatically calculates the totals, and
gives it
to the C&GS, along with all the necessary documentation (e.g.,
receipts).
The
ADA and
C&GS are responsible for many steps of approval, entering
information into
various university information systems, and otherwise keeping track of
travel
and travel expenses.
When
the ADA
receives a Request Form from a potential traveler, she prints it out and then checks the
traveler's
funding source (e.g., SILS funds or a grant) to be sure there's enough
money to
cover the estimated expenses. If there is, she signs and dates the form
to
indicate the travel has been approved, and deletes the electronic copy.
If the
funding source is insufficient, she informs the traveler, and they can
work
together to find additional funds. For example, the traveler might be
able to
use some SILS funds to augment a grant.
The ADA
gives
the signed Request form to the C&GS, who enters the information
into the
University Travel System (UTS). The C&GS files the form.
After
the
trip, the C&GS receives the completed Expense form and
accompanying
documentation from the traveler. It's not unusual for her to have to
ask for additional
documentation. She recommends that travelers take the per diem payments
for
meals, because then they don't have to keep the receipts.
The
C&GS
enters the information from the Expense form into the UTS. Each item
has to be
entered into the correct category. Then she prints out a report from
the UTS
that includes the expenses and a bar-coded authorization form. She asks
the
traveler to review the expenses and if they are correct, to sign the
authorization form. The signed authorization form is then faxed with
the receipts
to the UTS. She submits the online form, which triggers a message to
the ADA
that it is ready for final approval. Once the ADA approves it, the
submission
is complete. The printed Request and Expense forms are filed in the appropriate binder.
Reimbursements
usually are made as direct deposits into the traveler's bank account
within a
few days of submission. The traveler receives an email from the UTS
when the
reimbursement is issued.
Interview
with the ADA
Q: Is a travel
request ever denied?
A: Not in my
experience. It may not be fully funded, but I don't think anyone has
ever been
denied permission to go somewhere.
Q:
Why does a
traveler need to complete the request form if he or she isn't asking
for
funding?
A: It documents
that the trip is for University business, and will therefore be covered
by
University insurance.
Interview
with the C&GS
Q:
Why do
receipts have to be taped to 9 X 11 paper?
A: When we
submit the expenses for reimbursement, we fax all the receipts to the
University travel system. The faxes are automatically scanned into the
system
and associated with the trip number. If receipts aren't securely taped
to
regular paper, they'll jam the fax machine.
Or get lost somewhere.
Q:
What's the
hardest part of entering expenses into the travel system?
A: Hotel
bills. Some entries are for the hotel, others are miscellaneous, such
as charges
for internet. Often people will charge meals to the hotel bill, so
those have
to go under meals. And some are personal charges, such as paying for a
movie.
Each line has to be checked to go into the right category.
This
page was last modified on Oct 1, 2012, by Stephanie W. Haas.
Address questions and comments about this page to Stephanie W. Haas:
shaas at email dot unc dot edu
© Stephanie W. Haas All rights reserved.