The following is a list of College of Liberal Arts travel policies for all employees. Please review them carefully and share this information with staff, students and faculty.
Authorizations
• University Policy states that a Request for Travel Authorization (RTA) is to be requested prior to travel. Refer to HBP Part 11.2. In recognition of this policy, if authorization has not been requested prior to travel a faculty member will be asked to complete a signed memo acknowledging that he/she did not previously know that an RTA was necessary and submit this with the reimbursement request.
• If you will be out of town for more than 30 days and wish to be paid for a meal allowance beyond the 30 days, you need approval from your department. The College will now allow these payments if they are approved internally.
• Faculty have additional travel policies to follow. Please review the Faculty Travel Policy wiki.
Reimbursements
• Refer to HBP Part 11.5.
• In order to be reimbursed for travel, receipts must be processed within 60 days of return date. Reimbursements are routinely denied for receipts submitted later than 60 days after employee has returned from travel.
• We cannot reimburse you for personal travel. If you expect to conduct research while on personal travel, the specific work dates have to be indicated prior to the travel in the notes of the RTA.
• We cannot reimburse you for payments to non-commercial lodging without prior authorization.
• You cannot be reimbursed for travel to a Restricted Region unless you have received advance approval from the International Oversight Committee in the International Office for such travel.
More information about international travel requirements and precautions for travel to Restricted Regions is available on Texas Global. Information about processing international travel requests is on the International Travel Requests page.
For example, anyone traveling on University business or programs must be enrolled in the International SOS system. The International Office has automated registration for faculty and staff who purchase travel through a UT-contracted travel agency. Students in Study Abroad programs register in the Study Abroad Portal or in the International Travel Registry at the International Office website. All other UT travelers are required to complete travel registration with International SOS. Failure to register travel with International SOS may result in program suspension or the IOC decision to withdraw approval.
Cash Advances
We strongly encourage faculty who will be paying for extraneous research needs to request a Cash Advance before travel. If a trip will include group travel and/or research payments, please ask about the possibility of a cash advance. Read more about the procedure on the COLA Cash Advance wiki. You may also refer to HBP 11.4.
Travel Cash advances provide the convenience of receiving funds before travel begins.
Study cash advances are also available for payments made to study participants.
Travel involving payments made to workers, non-commercial lodging, group travel, entertainment, and program expenses can be made via a travel cash advance with prior authorization.
With a Cash Advance, you are able to pay third party consultants or pay for group travel. Please remember that without a Cash Advance we cannot reimburse faculty directly for these payments. For example: You cannot be reimbursed for paying for travel expenses for others, however you can pay expenses for other researchers on your team with your Cash Advance.
Cash advance requests should be submitted within 2 to 4 weeks before the date funds are needed, and receipts are due 14 days after travel has been completed.
If you or your faculty member are unfamiliar with the ease in which Cash Advances can cover your travel expenses, please ask to meet with us and we will go over the pros and cons for your particular situation.
All travel for University of Texas at Austin business purposes requires a Request for Travel Authorization (RTA) to be approved in advance of travel. For all travel outside the 50 states, prior approval through Texas Global is required. Additional information on Travel can be found in HBP Part 11. Chairs will be the final approvers for all faculty travel during first/last week of classes and finals periods. The Dean's Office will remain the final approver for all chair/director travel during first/last week of classes and finals periods. Requests for Dean's Office approval should be sent to Dean Steven Hoelscher and copy Hannah Young. Please add a note in the VE5 indicating permission.
In addition to university travel rules, the college has additional policy guidelines. For more information on college specific guidelines, please visit the College of Liberal Arts Travel Policy.
Authorization
Prior authorization is required for faculty, staff and students for all university travel. The authorization also ensures faculty accountability for missed classes and academic responsibilities. Authorization may require multiple steps based on the destination and specific needs for the trip. Any time an UT Employee is away from the office for four hours or more for UT business, authorization is required.
Travel Authorization Request (TAR)- Travel authorization system through the Request System in UT Direct that allows UT personnel to submit travel authorization requests outside of DEFINE (mainframe). Information will export from this system to DEFINE for final processing. To begin the request, please visit the Request System webpage. Training resource: a detailed guide for the TAR system can be found here.
Request for Authorization to Travel (VE5)- Travel authorization processed directly in the DEFINE (mainframe) system. The VE5 is the document used to process this, and the Request for Travel Authorization number (RTA Number) is used for arrangements, payments and reimbursements related to the specific trip. For more information on the Travel Authorization Process, please visit the Travel Management Services webpage. Training resources: Travel Authorizations VE5 (51min) webcast, VE5 slides used in the webcast, and a VE5 example video will walk you through how to create and submit a VE5.
Travel Authorization Corrections (VE6)- Once a travel authorization has been approved, changes can be made to the VE5 using a VE6 document. For example, you need to add an additional account number. Training resources: Travel Authorization Corrections VE6 (27min) webcast and VE6 Slides used in the webcast training.
Faculty Travel Grant (FTG)- The Faculty Travel Grant program allows eligible faculty to apply for funding to cover travel expenses to present original papers at scholarly and professional meetings. For more information, please visit the Faculty Travel Grant wiki.
Texas Global- Additional authorization steps may be required for international travel. For more information on international travel authorization, please see the Texas Global International Travel Process webpage. Training resource: Texas Global hosts frequent Q&A sessions on the international travel process via zoom.
Foreign Travel on State Funds- International travel using state funds requires pre-approval from the dean. The approval request for foreign travel on state funds, is to DocuSign Powerform that automatically routes to the Dean and requests approval. A copy is sent to the Office of Accounting to be scanned as part of the DocuSign routing. The VE5/VE6 should be completed prior to submitting this form, and the approval to be indicated in the voucher notes.
Non-Employee Travel Authorization- This form allows for payment of direct billed travel expenses for a visitor. This does not allow for reimbursement of individual expenses or payment for service. (Please refer to HBP 11.5.5)
Arrangements
The university has specific rules pertaining to booking travel. Please review all travel guidance noted above prior to making arrangements.
Please note that any University of Texas at Austin employee, prospective employee, student, or independent contractor is entitled to reimbursement for their own travel expenses (not for any other individual) incurred while conducting official university business, regardless of who paid the travel expense. HBP Part 11.5.A. For example, a partner accompanies a UT employee on a business trip and the hotel folio indicates double occupancy. Only half of the daily rate would be reimbursed if the rate differs from single occupancy.
Only travel related to university business may be reimbursed. For each destination, a business reason is required. For example, if a UT employees flies to New York City to visit family prior to flying to London to deliver a paper at a conference, no expenses related to New York City would be reimbursable. In this case, a comparison showing the cost of a direct flight to London vs a flight with layover in New York City would be required.
The university has three preferred travel agencies for booking airfare: Concur, Anthony Travel, Corporate Travel Planners. For contact information on each, please visit the Travel Management Services Travel Planning website. For car rentals, the university has five allowable companies to use: Avis/Budget, Enterprise/National, Hertz. This request form is for use only when requesting an exception to use a rental car agency outside of the 5 allowable companies. Please note this form should be completed prior to travel to ensure reimbursement is allowable. Travelers can provide a Hotel Tax Exemption Form to the hotel to have Texas hotel occupancy taxes removed from the bill. UT does not pay this tax because we are a state institution.
Payments
Travel-related payments to third-party vendors are made using a VP2 voucher in DEFINE. For example, a visitor stays at a local hotel and the expenses are direct billed to the university. This payment would be made to the hotel using a VP2. Training resources: videos and handouts on VP2s are on the payment voucher wiki page.
Reimbursements
Individual travel reimbursements are made using a VP5 voucher in DEFINE. This voucher requires the previously created RTA Number to process the reimbursement. The voucher may include hotel expenses, airfare, ground transportation, and other allowable travel expenses. Additional information on Travel Reimbursements can be found at HBP Part 11.5. Receipts should be processed for reimbursement within sixty days of return date. Training resources: a VP5 example video will walk you through how to submit a VP5 in Define, a webcast Travel Vouchers VP5 (47min), and VP5 Slides used in the webcast training.
The travel reimbursement exception request form should be used to request an exception to reimburse a traveler beyond the 60 days post travel rule. Please note receipts beyond this may not be reimbursed per college guidelines.
