Travel

If you are a frequent traveler (3 or more trips/year), please email sehdfinance@ucdenver.edu about obtaining a university travel card.

First, please check with your corresponding fiscal staff to ensure funds are available to cover the pending trip expenses. For international travel, please submit a Concur travel request for the Dean’s approval. Once this has been approved, you may move on to the next step and contact Christopherson.

All airfare purchases **need to be made through Christopherson Business Travel by contacting them directly or through Concur in the employee portal. CU travel procedures allow an exception to this policy under one of these circumstances: - The fare is not available for purchases through the University Travel Program. Limitations could be related to international in-country travel, remote travel, etc. - Exceptions for these fares must pe approved prior to purchase by emailing an exception request to psctravel@cu.edu. - Significant cost savings are demonstrated to the Univesity. The quote will have to be attached to the Concur report with your airfare expense. - For an internet airfare purchase to demonstrate significant cost savings, all of the following requirements must be fulfilled: - Obtain comparison quote from Concur dated on or prior to the date of the internet purchase. If you cannot locate the exact fare in Concur, contact a CBT agent. The comparison quote must be for the exact itinerary- same travel dates, times, routes, and airline(s) as the planned internet purchase. - When compared to the quote from Concur or CBT, the cost of the internet airfare purchase must be: - $50 less for domestic flights - $200 less for international flights - For **combined business and personal trips, the airfare must be booked through Concur or CBT. You will still need to obtain a comparison quote documenting the cost of the business-only fare prior to or on the date of purchase and attach it to the Concur report. If the extended trip results in a greater cost, the difference will need to be paid by the traveler.

Airfare comparison quote required if vehicle travel is determined to be lower cost than airfare.

You will need to make your own arrangements for lodging. You may use a travel card to book lodging.

Conference Registration methods for payment are:

To have your registration handled by SEHD, fill out this Conference Registration form prior to the conference.

Pay for the registration yourself and submit the receipt to SEHDFinance@ucdenver.edu for reimbursement after **the travel has been completed. - Pay via CU Procurement Card (P-Card). - To be reimbursed for items such as hotel, taxis, shuttles, parking, etc., please keep your itemized receipts and turn them in to your corresponding Concur delegate when you return. Again, reimbursement cannot occur until after travel is completed. Conference agenda MUST be provided for reimbursement! The agenda must include the name and dates of the conference as well as a breakdown of the schedule. Please refer to the following link for more information/important travel guidelines https://www.cu.edu/psc/travel. - Meals/food will be reimbursed at the per diem rate only per university policy. There is no need to keep food receipts when traveling. Per Diem rates can be found at the following link http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104877. - You may NOT request per diem reimbursement for any meals that are provided at the conference, even if you don’t eat the provided meals. - On days of travel, the final destination for the day determines the traveler’s per diem rate all day. However, on the day traveler returns home, the city from which the traveler leaves determines the per diem rate. - On begin and end travel days, reimbursement cannot exceed 75% of the daily M&I (meals and incidentals) per diem rate. If travel is wholly within a single day and the trip lasts 12 hours or more, then meal reimbursement is allowed. Reimbursement cannot exceed 75% of the daily M&I per diem rate. Per IRS regulations, meal reimbursements for single-day trips are reportable as income for CU employees. - Mileage calculations MUST deduct **normal round-trip commute to primary work location–regardless of type of transportation used for normal commute; see mileage calculation guidelines.

Reimbursement is NOT appropriate for:

On-campus parking (Be sure to apply for re-entry privileges if you come & go to prevent payment more than once a day.)

Parking tickets from the police

Driving off-campus to have lunch with other professionals, even for purposes of business

Lunch with SEHD/University colleagues

Other expenses that are denied by a dean (Please check in advance if you think there will be any concerns or questions!)

Student Travel

All student travel must be approved prior to making any travel arrangements by the faculty member or program paying for their expenses. Students are able to book their flight through Concur Travel & Expense System or Christopherson as long as they are provided with a speed type. Students are also able to submit a conference registration request using the SEHD Impact Form (https://ucdenverdata.formstack.com/forms/sehd_conference_registration) to have the conference registration handled by and paid for by SEHD. For all other expenses, students will have to use personal funds and then submit receipts for reimbursement upon their return to the corresponding Concur delegate. Contact SEHDFinance@ucdenver.edufor general fund, extended studies and professional development account purchases and services, and Jamie Purevsuren for grant related purchases.

Following is a link to the Procurement Service Center website which answers all questions about travel including a step by step guide: https://www.cu.edu/psc/payables/travel.htm

If additional assistance is needed, please email SEHDFinance@UCDENVER.EDU.

Frequently Addressed Travel Questions

Alcoholic Beverages: Not reimbursable in general; only covered when part of an official function, when entertainment account funds are available, and when proper University signatures have been obtained IN ADVANCE! This requires an Official Function form regardless of dollar amount. Not to be paid with sponsored project funds unless authorized by the sponsor.
Lodging-Staying with Friends: Travelers who arrange private lodging (staying with friends/family) can be reimbursed up to $25/day for associated costs.
Mileage-Personal Vehicle: **Reimbursable, using the current State rate of $0.59 per mile, $.62 a mile for 4-wheel drive vehicles (when necessary for road conditions at the time of travel).| |Mileage vs. Airfare-Traveler’s Option: Traveler will be reimbursed for driving cost (mileage, lodging, meal per diems) up to actual total flight cost (transportation to/from DIA, airfare, destination ground transportation). Calculation of airfare cost is based on lowest obtainable 14-day advance fare. If the traveler is planning on purchasing a flight outside of Concur, please talk to Daisy Salazar for required documentation to make sure reimbursement won’t be a problem. Traveler must declare annual leave for any additional days required as a result of alternative travel. Additional Information may be required.| |Parking: Reimbursable when it is a necessary part of the trip, e.g., parking at traveler’s destination, parking at DIA.| |Personal Expenses: Expenses incurred for traveler’s benefit—e.g., magazines, dry cleaning, movie rentals, other entertainment—are NOT reimbursable.| |Procurement Card: University Visa. Not used for travel expenses. Exception: Can be used for conference/event registration, if accepted by vendor.| |Receipts: Travelers must submit original itemized receipts (credit card receipts/statements are not acceptable) for all individual charges. Exceptions: All rental vehicle gas receipts are required regardless of dollar amount. All receipts are required for lodging expenses incurred except Lodging-Staying with Friends. No receipts are needed to claim meal per diems. NOTE: The University is requesting an exemption from this rule. We will keep you updated on the status of the request.| |Rental Car Expense: Rental Cars must be rented using the University travel card because it automatically provides insurance coverage. The following is a link to the State’s rental car policy which lists approved automobile rental vendors and other information about each vendor. http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/DPA-DCS/PA/1201542229336| |Receipts are always required for reimbursement of car rental costs and for rental car gasoline purchases regardless of dollar amount. (Note: If travel is covered by sponsored project funds, rental vehicle use will be determined by sponsor policies and may not be allowed).| |Tax Implications: Per IRS regulations, the Concur expense reallocation and all supporting documentation must be received in the PSC Travel Office within 90 days of trip completion to avoid having reimbursement reported as income.| |Telephone/Fax/Modem Line Charges: Charges for University business are reimbursable. You will receive $5.00 per day in incidentals – which includes any personal telephone charges.| |Tips: Reasonable tips given to bellhops, porters, maids, and ground transportation personnel are reimbursable. Exception: Tips on meal service already included in the meal allowance and cannot be claimed separately. University Policy limits tips up to 20%.| |Toll Road Charges: **These charges are a reimbursable expense only if they are not part of the daily commute.