PM-13 University Travel Regulations

I.

Introduction

II.

For the purposes of these regulations, the following words have the meaning indicated:

III.

Methods of Transportation

The most cost effective method of transportation that will accomplish the purpose of the travel shall be selected. Among the factors to be considered should be length of travel time, cost of operation of a vehicle, cost and availability of common carrier services, etc.

A.	Air 1. Common carrier shall be used for out-of-state travel unless it is documented that utilization of another method of travel is more cost efficient or practical in accordance with these regulations.     2. Before travel by personally-owned or by chartered aircraft is authorized, the traveler shall certify that:  1) at least one hour of working time will be saved by such travel, and 2) no other form of transportation, such as commercial air travel or a State plane, will serve this same purpose.   a) Chartering a personally-owned aircraft must be in accordance with the Procurement Code. b) Reimbursement for use of a chartered or unchartered privately-owned aircraft under the above guidelines will be made on the following basis:   (1) At the rate of 52 cents per mile; or (2) At the lesser of state contract rate or coach economy airfare. Note:  If there are extenuating circumstances requiring reimbursement for expenses other than those listed above, approval must be granted by the Commissioner of Administration. c) When common carrier services are unavailable and time is at a premium, travel via State aircraft shall be investigated, and such investigation shall be documented and attached to the travel expense reimbursement request for the trip in question. 3. All travelers may purchase commercial airline tickets through the state-contracted travel agency. The state-contracted travel agency can provide state-contracted rates for airfare. State contract rates are non-penalty, fully refundable tickets. Therefore, no penalty fees are charged for changes/cancellations, and no restrictions are imposed on flight schedules. The state contract rates are available for official University business only. The state contract rates cannot be used for personal/companion or spouse travel. This is a requirement of the airlines. Failure to monitor the use of these state contract rates could cause their cancellation. Therefore, persons booking tickets for nonofficial University business using state contract rates will be subject to disciplinary action as well as payment of the difference between state contract rate and full coach airfare. In many cases, airlines that did not win an award for a certain city will now offer the same or lower price than was awarded to the contract vendor. This is known as a matched carrier. Matched carriers are not to be used unless there is two or more hours' difference in the departure or arrival time. The State does not have a contract with the matched carriers; therefore, we do not have the last seat availability and certain rules including cancellation penalties will apply to these fares. Once the decision is made not to use the state contract rate, an employee has forfeited the option for the non-penalty ticket, and must use the lowest logical fare available. Commercial air travel will not be reimbursed in excess of state contract rates when available, or coach/economy class rates when state contract rates are not available. The difference between state contract rates or coach/economy class rates and first class or business class rates will be paid by the traveler. If space is not available in less than first or business class air accommodations in time to carry out the purpose of the travel, the traveler will secure a certification from the booking agency indicating this fact. The certification is required for travel reimbursement. a)   Due to the fact that the state contract rates are fully refundable and carry no penalties, the tickets will typically cost more than lowest logical fares. The University encourages the use of lowest priced airfares. State contract rates should be used in circumstances where the traveler's schedule is not firm, or the state contract rate presents a savings over the cost of the lowest logical fare. Lowest logical fares are penalty tickets that can have restrictions and charge penalty fees for changing/canceling ticket purchases. Lowest logical tickets must be purchased from the statecontracted travel agency unless prior approval is granted by the Commissioner of Administration or their designee to purchase from an alternate agency. b) If a lowest logical priced ticket is purchased, and the traveler's schedule changes resulting in a penalty and additional cost to change the ticket, the University will reimburse the penalty incurred when the change or cancellation is required by the University or other unavoidable situations approved by the Provost or their designee. Certification of the requirement for the change or cancellation by the traveler's department head/supervisor is required on the travel expense reimbursement request. c)  For international travel only, when an international flight segment is more than 10 hours in duration, the University will allow the business class rate, not to exceed 10 percent of the coach rate. The traveler's itinerary provided by the travel agency must document the flight segment as more than 10 hours and must be attached to the travel expense reimbursement request. d)  A lost airline ticket confirmation is the responsibility of the person to whom the ticket was issued. The airline charge for searching and refunding lost tickets will be charged to the traveler. The difference between the prepaid amount and the amount refunded by the airlines must be paid by the employee. e)  When a companion fare is purchased for a State employee and a non-State employee, reimbursement to the State employee will be the amount of the lowest logical fare. f) Employees may retain promotional items, including frequent flyer miles, earned on official State travel. However, if an employee makes travel arrangements which favor a preferred airline/supplier to receive promotional items/points and this circumvents purchasing the most economical means of travel, the employee is in violation of this travel policy.  Costs for travel arrangements subject to this violation are non-reimbursable. g) When making airline reservations for a conference, the traveler should provide the travel agency the name of the conference and the airline that is offering a discount rate, if available. In many instances, the conference registration form specifies that certain airlines have been designated official carrier offering discount rates. If so, providing this information to the state-contracted travel agency could result in securing the discount rate for the traveler. Employees must use caution when purchasing tickets from sources other than the state-contracted travel agency, particularly restricted fares, many of which cannot be changed. The state-contracted travel agency will not be available to help with changes, cancellations, or other needs when a ticket has not been purchased through their office. It will be the responsibility of the employee to ensure the ticket meets their needs and to make changes, cancellations, etc. after the ticket is purchased. Any fees associated with changes or cancellations are also the responsibility of the employee. 4. Use of Corporate Travel Credit Card a) The University contracts an official corporate travel credit card to form one source of payments for all travel expenses. All travelers shall apply through their appropriate campus business office. The current contract is with Bank of America for a Visa corporate travel credit card. b) Airfare at state contract rates must be charged to the corporate travel credit card or to a CBA (Centrally Billed Account). Airfare not charged to one of these two accounts may result in airlines not allowing the employee to board at the contract rate. Airlines may reject contract fares when tickets are not charged to the corporate travel credit card or to the CBA. When this happens, the employee is subject to non-boarding or being charged the difference from coach fare cost. The additional fare cannot be reimbursed by the University. c) The corporate travel credit card is the liability of the employee and not the University. An employee terminating University service must return the card to the appropriate campus business office for cancellation. A retiree may not retain his/her card.
B.	Motor Vehicle No vehicle may be operated in violation of State or local laws. No traveler may operate a vehicle without having a valid State driver's license in his/her possession. Safety restraints shall be used by the driver and passengers of vehicles. All accidents, major and minor, shall be reported first to the local police department or appropriate law enforcement agency. An accident report form, available from the office responsible for campus safety, should be completed as soon as possible and returned to that office, along with the names and addresses of principals and witnesses. In addition, the accident must be reported to the Department of Public Safety as required by law. 1. University Vehicles a) No person may be authorized to operate or travel in a fleet vehicle unless that person is an employee of the University; any duly appointed member of a state board, commission, or advisory council; and any other person who has received specific approval from the department head or his/her designee to operate or travel in a fleet vehicle on official university business. Each employee operating a fleet vehicle or using their personal vehicle for official university business must complete form DA2054 (Authorization and Driving History). The DA 2054 form must be in the centralized file located in the Property Management office for employees (including student employees) granted approval. b) All receipts for purchases made on University gasoline credit cards must be signed by the approved traveler making the purchase. The license number and the unit price and quantity of the commodity purchased must be noted on the delivery ticket by the vendor. Items incidental to the operation of the vehicle may be purchased via University gasoline credit cards only when away from official domicile in travel status. In all instances where a University gasoline credit card is used to purchase items or services which are incidental to the operation of a vehicle, a tissue copy of the credit ticket along with a written explanation of the reason for the purchase should be attached to the monthly report required to be filed for all University vehicles. c) University credit cards will not be issued to travelers for use in the operation of personally-owned vehicles. d) University-owned vehicles may be used for out-of-state travel only if permission of the department head has been given prior to departure. If a University vehicle is to be used to travel to a destination more than 500 miles from its usual location, documentation that this is the most costeffective means of travel should be readily available in the department's travel reimbursement files. e) Unauthorized persons should not be transported in University vehicles. Approval of exceptions to this policy may be made by the traveler's supervisor if he/she determines that the best interest of the University will be served and if the passenger (or passenger's guardian) signs a statement acknowledging the fact that the University assumes no liability for any loss, injury, or death resulting from said travel. 2. Personally-owned Vehicles a) When two or more persons travel in the same personally-owned vehicle, only one charge will be allowed for the expense of the vehicle. The person claiming reimbursement shall report the names of the other passengers. b) A mileage allowance shall be authorized for travelers approved to use personally-owned vehicles while conducting official University business. Mileage shall be reimbursable on the basis of 52 cents per mile. Mileage for moving expenses shall be reimbursed at the federal rate in effect at the time of the move. c) Mileage shall be computed by using one of the following options:   (1) On the basis of odometer from point of origin to point of return; or (2) A website mileage calculator or published software package indicating mileage (to be attached to the travel expense reimbursement request). d) An employee shall never receive any benefit from not living in his/her official domicile.  In computing reimbursable mileage to an authorized travel destination from an employee's residence outside the official domicile, the employee should always claim the lesser of the miles from their official domicile or from their residence. e) When use of a personally-owned vehicle has been approved for out-of-state travel for the traveler's convenience, the traveler will be reimbursed for in-route expenses on the basis of 52 cents per mile only.  The total cost of the mileage may not exceed the cost of travel by using the lesser of the following: (1) State contract rate; or (2) Lowest logical fare obtained at least 14 days prior to the trip departure date. The traveler is personally responsible for any other expenses in-route to and from destination which is inclusive of meals and lodging. If a traveler, at the request of the department, is asked to take their personally owned vehicle out-of-state for a purpose that will benefit the agency, then the department head may on a case by case basis determine to pay a traveler for all/part of in-route travel expenses. f) When a traveler is required to regularly use his/her personally-owned vehicle for University business, the campus head or a single designee may authorize a lump sum allowance for transportation or reimbursement for transportation (mileage). Requests for lump sum allowance must be accompanied by a detailed account of routine travel listing exact mileage for each such route. Miscellaneous travel must be justified by at least a three-month travel history to include a complete mileage log for all travel incurred, showing all points traveled to or from and the exact mileage. Requests for lump sum allowance shall be granted for periods not to exceed one fiscal year. g) The traveler shall be required to pay all operating expenses of the vehicle, including fuel, repairs, and insurance. Repairs and routine maintenance required in the use of personally-owned vehicles are the responsibility of the traveler and do not qualify for additional reimbursement. 3. Rented Motor Vehicles (Receipts Required) a) In-state Vehicle Rental - There is a state contract with Enterprise for in-state vehicle rentals for which use is mandatory unless it is determined that the vendor does not have the appropriate size fleet in stock for the date of use. b) Out-of-state Vehicle Rental - There is no state contract for vehicle rentals outside of Louisiana. However, there are price offers that will be available from multiple vehicle rental companies listed in the Louisiana Travel Guide. When a traveler is approved to rent a vehicle for out-of-state use, a vendor listed in the Louisiana Travel Guide must be selected or a lower fare should be sought. c) Approvals - Written approval of the traveler's dean (or equivalent level supervisor) prior to departure is required for the rental of vehicles. Such approval may be given when it is shown that vehicle rental is the only or most economical means by which the purpose of the trip can be accomplished. In each instance, documentation showing cost effectiveness of available options must be attached to the travel expense reimbursement request. d) Vehicle Rental Size - Only the cost of rental of compact models is reimbursable, unless 1) non-availability is documented, 2) the vehicle will be used to transport more than two persons, or 3) the cost of a larger vehicle is no more than the rental rate of a compact model. e) Insurance for Vehicle Rentals within the 50 United States - Insurance billed by vehicle rental companies (i.e., CDW or LDW) is not reimbursable for domestic travel. Insurance coverage for rental vehicles is provided by the Office of Risk Management. If a collision occurs while on official State business, the accident should be reported to the Office of Risk Management as soon as possible. The department will be responsible for the cost of the repairs up to a deductible of $1,000. f) Insurance for Vehicle Rentals outside the 50 United States (Receipt Required) - The Office of Risk Management recommends that the appropriate insurance (liability and physical damage) provided through the vehicle rental company be purchased when the traveler is renting a vehicle outside the 50 United States. With the approval of the department head, insurance costs may be reimbursed for travel outside the 50 United States only. g) Insurance for vehicle rentals by non-employee contractors will be reimbursable. The following are some of the insurance packages available by rental vehicle companies that are reimbursable: (1) Collision Deductible Waiver (CDW) - If a collision occurs while on official University business, the cost of the deductible should be paid by the traveler and reimbursement claimed on a travel expense reimbursement request. The accident should also be reported to the office responsible for campus safety. (2) Loss Damage Waiver (LDW). (3) Auto Tow Protection (ATP) - Requires department head approval. (4) Supplement Liability Insurance (SLI) - * If required by the vehicle rental company. (5) Theft and/or Super Theft Protection (coverage of contents lost during a theft or fire) - * If required by the vehicle rental company (6) Vehicle coverage for attempted theft or partial damage due to fire - * If required by the vehicle rental company.   The following are some of the insurance packages available by rental vehicle companies that are not reimbursable: (1) Personal Accident Insurance (PAC) - Employees are covered under workmen's compensation while on official University business. (2) Emergency Sickness Protection (ESP). h) Any personal mileage or rental days on a vehicle rented for official State business is not reimbursable and will be deducted from the claim for reimbursement. i) Reasonable gasoline cost is reimbursable when receipts are submitted; mileage is not reimbursable on rental vehicles. Pre-paid fuel options are only to be allowed when the traveler can document that the pre-purchased amount was necessary and that the amount charged by the rental company is reasonable in relation to local gasoline cost. j) Navigation equipment (GPS Systems) may only be reimbursed if an employee justifies the need for such equipment and with prior approval from the department head or his/her designee.
C.	Public Ground Transportation The cost of public ground transportation such as buses, subways, airport limousines, and taxi cabs is reimbursable when the expenses are incurred as part of approved University travel. Receipts are required for expenses in excess of $15 per day.  At a department level, the dean or department head may implement a department-wide policy requiring receipts for an amount less than $15 per day.
D.	To and From Common Carrier Terminals and Home or Office 1. Reimbursement will be allowed for taxi cab fares between a common carrier or other terminal and either the employee's home or office. Receipts are required for individual amounts over $15.     2. Instead of using a taxi cab, payment on a mileage basis at the rate of 52 cents per mile will be allowed for the round-trip mileage of a personally-owned vehicle.

Reimbursement for Lodging and Meals

The following expenses incidental to travel may be reimbursed:

All international travel must be approved in writing by the campus head or single designee prior to departure. Requests for such travel should be submitted through appropriate administrative channels (department head, dean/director, Vice Chancellor and Provost) and should reflect:

Each campus must report all international travel authorizations to the Commissioner of Administration on a monthly basis. Copies of approved travel authorizations may be submitted as the report.

International airfares available from other sources may be less expensive than fares available from the state-contracted travel agency. Once an employee has been granted approval to travel internationally, the employee is free to either:
(1) Book their airfare through the state-contracted travel agency; or
(2) Utilize one of the options below:

Option 1: If an employee decides to seek and finds a lower fare available from a source other than the state-contracted travel agency, the employee may purchase that ticket without any State approvals if the cost is at least 30% less than the state-contracted rate to the destination city. The cost of the transaction fee charged by the travel agency should not to be used in the calculation.

Option 2: If an employee seeks and finds a lower fare available from a source other than the state-contracted travel agency and there is no contract rate for the destination city, the employee must obtain from the outside source a copy of the proposed itinerary and the complete cost. This information must be faxed to the state-contracted travel agency for review. The agency will determine if the airfare can be matched or beat and, within 24 hours, fax back a response. If the fare can be matched or beat, the ticket must be purchased from the state-contracted travel agency and an exception request will not be approved. If the travel agency cannot match the price, the itinerary will be stamped “approved” for outside purchase. This approval must be attached to the travel expense reimbursement request to obtain reimbursement of the cost of the ticket.

Employees must use caution when purchasing tickets from sources other than the state-contracted travel agency, particularly restricted fares, many of which cannot be changed. The state-contracted travel agency will not be available to help with changes, cancellations, or other needs when a ticket has not been purchased through their office. It will be the responsibility of the employee to ensure the ticket meets their needs and to make changes, cancellations, etc. after the ticket is purchased. Any fees associated with changes or cancellations are also the responsibility of the employee.

When visitors are brought to the campus with the understanding that travel expenses will be reimbursed, the following procedure should be used:

A.	A letter should be addressed to the visitor prior to his/her departure informing him/her of the necessity of obtaining receipts, keeping a record of expenses of his/her trip, and that reimbursement will be made in accordance with PM-13, University Travel Regulations. State-contracted travel services may be used to arrange travel for visitors to the campus but are not required if the visitors make their own arrangements from their departure city.
B.	The University official at whose request the visitor is on the campus shall be responsible for preparing the reimbursement request and obtaining the visitor's signature.
C.	Written authorization for reimbursement of travel expenses must be obtained from the department head (previously campus head) prior to being invited to campus for an employment interview. Travel for the spouse of a candidate may also be authorized for the employment interview. An annual report is prepared by the business office and submitted to the Commissioner of Administration of travel expenses reimbursed to or paid on behalf of persons invited for employment interviews, giving the name of the person, the title of the vacant position, and the amount of reimbursement. Travel expenses may not be paid or reimbursed to candidates for employment except for expenses incurred for interviews and/or official business trips. Local living expenses upon relocation to new domicile are not eligible for reimbursement.
D.	Written approval of the Dean is required for reimbursement of expenses for superior graduate and medical students being recruited by the University.