This policy describes eligibility and benefits provided under the learned society travel fund. The fund provides reimbursement of certain transportation and hotel expenses for an eligible participant who meets the criteria for eligible participation. Specific eligibility criteria must be met under the policy and all expenses must have a valid business purpose. In addition, expenses incurred on behalf of the University must be necessary, reasonable and appropriate under this policy. Should you have any questions regarding this policy, please first contact the financial administrator in your department. Who is Eligible Full time, non-visiting, professors, associate professors, assistant professors, emeritus faculty, instructors, senior lecturers, University lecturers, professors of the practice, lecturers, members of the Society of Fellows, senior research scholars, research scholars, senior academic research managers, and senior professional specialists. Criteria The eligible participant must not be receiving any travel subvention from the society or conference and must be participating in one of the following manners: Delivering a paper at a meeting Chairing a session Participating as an invited discussant in a session Be otherwise involved as an officer A Learned Society is broadly defined as a professional organization in which membership is open to members of a particular discipline. The intent of the Learned Society Fund is to support travel to attend conferences in which the participant is presenting a peer reviewed scholarly work to an open audience of members of the discipline. Eligibility as an officer or board member of a professional organization expands on this participation to include officers of the organization who are involved with efforts related to the conference. To be eligible for the Learned Society Fund, an invited participant must be presenting a paper or poster session that is related to a scholarly work of which the participant is the author (or one of). The participant must provide a copy of the conference program listing the title of the paper with the participant's name. An invited discussant or session chair for a scholarly paper presented by another author would also be eligible under the Learned Society Fund. Individual talks given at other universities or institutes are not eligible under the fund. Eligible Expenses The fund will reimburse the following expenses: 1. Economy class airfare direct to/from conference location i. If the travel includes stops in addition to the conference location or a business class air fare, appropriate documentation including an economy fare comparison direct to/from the conference location at the time of purchase must be included with the request. The fund will reimburse the lesser of the direct comparison fare or the actual airfare. In the absence of a comparison at the time of purchase a closest equivalent fare should be obtained using a similar itinerary and advance purchase parameters. ii. For faculty members on leave of absence, transportation will be reimbursed from the leave location. 2. Personal auto – using the authorized mileage rate per the Travel Policy 3. Auto rental (maximum 3 days) including a maximum of 3 days fuel expense 4. Taxi to/from airports 5. Taxi to/from hotel and conference location 6. Train fare direct to/from conference location 7. Airport parking (maximum of 3 days) 8. Hotel and hotel taxes (maximum of 3 nights) i. Normally up to three nights of hotel expenses (including state and local taxes) will be covered, not to exceed the fixed maximum amount. When appropriate and with the approval of the chair, additional nights of lodging in advance of or subsequent to the "learned society" conference may be authorized in order to take advantage of savings available via airline ticket length of stay requirements so long as the total expenses for the additional lodging are less than the amount of the airfare savings. Appropriate documentation including the fare comparison at the time of purchase must be included with the request for reimbursement. Eligibility Period 1. Expenses will be reimbursed for at most one trip during the fiscal year (from July 1 through June 30), and up to the fixed maximum. 2. Eligibility is determined by the date the talk is given. If the talk is given on June 30th or before, the trip is eligible for the current fiscal year fund.If the talk is given on July 1st or later, the trip is eligible for the next fiscal year fund.The dates of travel are not relevant in determining eligibility. 3. Grant amounts cannot be carried over from one year to the next if not used. 4. For travel prior to May 1st the expense report must be submitted and approved by the deadline set by Finance & Treasury for business travel expenses or Prime journals(cost transfer/correction) to be processed during the current fiscal year. 5. Expenses incurred in May and June should be substantiated within 60 days of occurrence in order to be considered for the current fiscal year grant. 6. All travel reimbursements are subject to the business expense deadline policy. Annual Maximum The annual maximum reimbursement level is announced via Memorandum each year. Ineligible Expenses The fund does not reimburse for: registration expenses meals movies room service telephone calls internet services tips taxis to and from meal locations any expenses incurred by spouses or partners accompanying the traveler baggage fees visa fees fees for changing flights for personal reasons business or first class tickets or upgrades: An equivalent economy class airfare comparison must be obtained at the time of purchase. The fund will only reimburse the economy portion of the fare. Reimbursement To request reimbursement: Please refer to the guidance provided on the Office of Finance & Treasury website under Buying & Paying (Buying & Paying > Pay for Travel > Learned Society Travel). Excerpted from the Office of Finance & Treasury Travel & Entertainment website: Charge qualified Learned Society expenses to your Department and the General Fund (A0000) using Program AM025, Learned Society Travel. The Office of the Dean of the Faculty (DOF) periodically will review charges made on this Program to the General Fund. If costs appear not to comply with the DOF policy guidance, the DOF’s office will contact your department to discuss the charges. If the cost exceeds limits or otherwise does not comply with the Learned Society Policy memo, the DOF’s office will request that you create a Prime Journal (cost transfer/correction) to move any non-compliant costs to another chartstring in your Department. To assist in the DOF’s review, please attach in Concur (or to the Business Expense Reimbursement Request) a copy of the conference program, which includes the name of the society or conference, the dates of the meeting, and the title of the paper. Please include only the page(s) listing the faculty member's paper and the program cover or page listing the conference location, name of the society and the dates of the meeting. To attach this document in Concur, click: Receipts > Attach Receipt Images. If you are moving already recorded Learned Society-qualified costs from another chartstring on to the Learned Society chartstring, please make sure to include the name of the faculty member and the fiscal year of the approved trip (Faculty member’s name, FYXX) in the journal line description when making the cost transfer. You do not need to send your expense report to DOF for approval.
