Overview of the ECAS Professional Travel & Development Approval and Reimbursement Process

Effective Sept. 19, 2024

The Office of the Dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences,supports faculty professional development, especially travel to professional conferences across fields and interests. All professional travel must be approved by the Dean’s Office before any expenses are incurred.

All requests for professional travel in the current fiscal year (June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025) must be submitted no later than April 1, 2025. Funding support is limited to the academic fiscal year in which the conference travel occurs. If your presentation is scholarship of teaching and learning, plan to request funding from CATL.

Below are important guidelines related to professional travel and development support. Failure to abide by the guidelines and procedures outlined below may result in your travel request being either unfunded or not reimbursed.

Step 1: Complete the Travel Request Form

  • Fill out the online Travel Request form after your work has been accepted for presentation or you have decided to attend.
  • Note: If you are having trouble logging in, please use your full Elon email address as your username.
  • Note: If you receive a “critical error”, please use a different browser (Chrome and Safari are ideal).
  • Submit the form for approval before you incur expenses. Provide the best expenses:
    • $40 per day for food
    • Add $15 per night for hotels that do not include taxes and fees in the per night rate.
    • If you plan to check bags, include the airline charge per bag (estimate $50 for roundtrip).
    • Mileage is reimbursed at a per mile rate. Please consider cost when deciding on form of transportation.
  • Expenses that are not reimbursed:
    • Membership fees
    • Expenses related to the preparation of presentations (e.g., posters, handouts)
    • Expenses related to childcare, pet care, or elder care during your professional travel
    • Expenses related to car rental unless previously approved by the Dean due to special circumstances (e.g., the airport is more than 100 miles away from the conference site).

Step 2: Submit Travel Reimbursement for prepaid expenses

  • Complete the ECAS Travel & Professional Development Reimbursement Form. If you have more than four receipts to submit for reimbursement, please use the ECAS Travel & Professional Development Expense Form and number each receipt to correspond with the item number on the form.
  • Work with your program assistant to upload all receipts and other documentation needed to support the reimbursement request. Your program assistant may ask you to provide additional information, as they are trained in what is required in the accounting process.
  • Please upload p-card receipts into WORKS, but do not sign off on them. Complete the reimbursement form and include a list of transactions, noting they are on a p-card and the cardholder, if different from faculty member. Submit the reimbursement form and supporting documents to your program assistant. The Dean’s Office will reallocate the transaction once received and verified.
  • The completed reimbursement form and receipts will be sent by your program assistant to the Dean’s office for processing. Please do not contact Linda Hibbard or Melissa McBane in the Dean’s office. Your program assistant will work directly with the Dean’s Office on your behalf.

While at the conference:

  • P-cards may be used to cover costs associated with professional travel.
  • Please keep all original receipts and write a brief description on each receipt (e.g. conference lunch for J. Doe, M. Smith). Make sure to retain all itemized receipts. Receipts need to show the last four digits of any credit card used.
  • Write down any expenses for which you did not receive a receipt. For any missing receipts, please fill out the Missing Receipt Affadavit.

Step 3: Submit Travel Reimbursement for conference expenses

  • Complete the ECAS Travel & Professional Development Reimbursement Form. Please complete only one post-travel request per conference. If you have more than four receipts to submit for reimbursement, please use the ECAS Travel & Professional Development Expense Form and number each receipt to correspond with the item number on the form.
  • The responsibility for submitting materials for reimbursement rests with the individual faculty member. All receipts for reimbursement must be submitted to the Dean’s Office by your program assistant no later than 4 weeks after the conference concludes to be assured of reimbursement.
  • Do not include expenses already reimbursed through pre-paid process.
  • Work with your program assistant to upload all receipts and other documentation needed to support the reimbursement request. Your program assistant may ask you to provide additional information, as they are trained on what is required in the accounting process.
  • The completed reimbursement form and receipts will be sent by your program assistant to the Dean’s Office for processing.
  • Attach a Mapquest screenshot if you are seeking reimbursement for mileage.
  • Please upload p-card receipts into WORKS, but do not sign off on them. Complete the reimbursement form and include a list of transactions, noting they are on a p-card and the cardholder, if different from faculty member. Submit the reimbursement form and supporting documents to your program assistant. The Dean’s Office will reallocate the transaction once received and verified.
  • If you use a p-card for professional travel, it is your responsibility to submit receipts through the Works system to support those charges, and note those transactions on the Travel & Professional Development expense form as “p-card tx.” If you spend more than was pre-approved for the professional travel, you are responsible for reimbursing the University for the overage. You can drop off a check to the Bursar’s office to settle your account.
  • If a credit card charge is in foreign currency, Accounting requires a copy of the credit card statement reflecting the charge in USD amounts for each transaction, in addition to the receipt. If you paid cash in a foreign currency, Accounting requires you to submit a screenshot of the foreign currency conversion rate covering the relevant period (day/month) in addition to the receipt.
  • Hotels: Hotel bills cannot be reimbursed in advance. Accounting requires the final hotel bill received at checkout, not the reservation confirmation. Be sure the hotel bill is in the faculty/staff member’s name.
  • Flights: Flights can be reimbursed prior to travel; however, the charge will be reallocated to the following fiscal year, if the travel doesn’t occur until the following year. [Note: Fiscal years run from June 1 – May 31.] Accounting requires a full itinerary of the route, including departure and arrival, in addition to the total cost paid and payment method.
  • If you use a p-card for professional travel, it is your responsibility to submit receipts through the Works system to support those charges.  If you spend more than was pre-approved for the professional travel, you are responsible for reimbursing the University for the overage. You can drop off a check to the Bursar’s office to settle your account.

Additional information:

  • Faculty participating in professional travel may be approved for up to $2,000 per fiscal year.
  • Faculty will not be approved for more than $2,000 per fiscal year.

If you’re not presenting:

  • Faculty attending a conference or workshop, but not presenting, are eligible for a maximum of $800.
  • Faculty members who attend a conference without presenting (and received the aforementioned $800) and then request funds to present at another conference are eligible for no more than a total of $1,200 in travel support for the subsequent request.

Organization leadership:

  • Faculty members who hold an office or significant leadership position in an organization may be awarded additional travel funds (maximum $500) to meet their responsibilities to the organization.
  • A limited amount of leadership funding is available.

International Travel:

  • Faculty making presentations at international conferences held outside North America may be awarded additional travel funds (maximum $500).
  • Additional funds to support international travel are limited.

Approved Expenses for Summer Travel:

  • All expenses related to summer travel count towards professional travel funding in the fiscal year when the travel occurs.
  • For conferences that run across fiscal years (e.g., the conference runs from May 30-June 2), reimbursement must be based on the date of receipts so that expenses may count towards travel for different years. For example, a flight purchased in February that takes place in May, will go against the current fiscal year, while the meals and hotel for the conference would go against the next fiscal year when the receipts are submitted.

ECAS Policy for Publication Costs:

  • Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences, will support up to $1,000 of publication costs per fiscal year for permanent faculty scholars who have work accepted for publication. College faculty co-authors can both apply for support.
  • Requests are to be submitted through the travel/professional development request portal. Please upload a scanned copy of the acceptance letter that indicates the full cost of the publication.
  • We strongly encourage faculty scholars to seek additional support from their home departments and the Provost’s Office.
  • Elon University has agreements with several publishers that enable researchers to publish their articles open access. Belk Library has more information.

Questions about procedures, status of reimbursement requests, or funds available, please work with your program assistant. In addition, especially for questions regarding travel policies and procedures, please contact Angela Lewellyn, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Administration and Operations (alewellyn@elon.edu; x6447).

Links (You can also locate these links in the monthly ECAS Digest.)