GENERAL TRAVEL INFORMATION FOR

COLUMBUS STATE UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES

TRAVEL AGENCY

Updated May 22, 2003

Columbus State University faculty and staff should now make travel arrangements through:

Columbus Travel
123 12th St.
323-6471

Please contact Sharon May in Business Services at ext. 1584 if you have questions.

STATEWIDE AIRFARE CONTRACT INFORMATION

This contract is mandatory for use by State employees traveling on official State business, even if the employee is purchasing their ticket and will be reimbursed. Under the following conditions the employee can purchase a ticket outside the statewide contract:

In the event that the schedule for the contract flight does not suit the traveler's schedule and would cause undue hardship.

If an airline is offering a lower rate. The contract airline should be offered an opportunity to meet the special fare.

There are no restrictions relative to tickets purchased under this contract. Tickets may be purchased right up to flight time, subject to space availability. Ticket prices are fully refundable should the need for travel be canceled.

MOTELS APPROVED FOR DIRECT BILLING

Sheraton Inn 327-6868
Courtyard by Marriott 323-2323
Baymont Inn & Suites 323-4344
Holiday Inn-Airport 324-0231
LaQuinta Inn 568-1740
Columbus Wyndham 324-1800
Howard Johnson-Uptown 322-6641
Wingate 225-1000

(Always request the State/Government rate when making motel reservations)

DAILY MEAL ALLOWANCE - $28.00

Breakfast $ 6.00
Lunch $ 7.00
Dinner $15.00

MILEAGE RATE - $.28 per mile

FACULTY TRAVEL TITLE CODES

B5160 Professor
B5130 Associate Professor
B5100 Assistant Professor
B5030 Instructor

BLANK FORMS – Available in the Music Office

Travel Applications – must be submitted for the chair’s approval in anticipation of travel; when the gold copy is returned to you, retain it to attach to your reconciliation.

Travel Expense Statement – available on-line; paper copies on file. Upon completion of travel, submit the Travel Expense Statement with all receipts and the gold copy of your Travel Application.

Blanket Certificate of Exemption – when traveling on State funding (not Foundation) take a copy of this form to present upon arrival at hotels in the state of Georgia for exemption from some (not all) taxes.

(confirmed and revised 9/06/2001)

STUDENT ACADEMIC TRAVEL AND FACULTY DEVELOPMENT FUNDS

POLICIES REGARDING APPLICATION AND REIMBURSEMENT

All approved student academic travel and faculty development travel must occur during the time period originally designated. All trips must be completed by the end of the current fiscal year, and any special arrangements must be made clear prior to departure. Because student academic travel and faculty development funds are not directly allocated to the schools, ALL authorization to encumber funds must be submitted through the office of the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs (AVPAA), Richards Hall 209.

Receipts for ALL expenses (except meals) for student academic travel and faculty development travel must be submitted with the expense statement to the AVPAA within two weeks or ten university working days after the trip. If reimbursement is requested for travel expenses and no acceptable receipt is provided, the expenses will not be reimbursed. An attempt can then be made to request reimbursement through the department. Acceptable receipts are: original receipts, copies of credit card charges, or copies of paid checks. Expenses requiring original receipts are: hotel bill, airline boarding pass, car rental bill, taxi-limo, parking ticket and registration.

When student academic travel and faculty development travel is supported by multiple sources, only ONE travel application should be submitted. The travel application should state the appropriate accounts to be charged. ONE expense statement containing all expenses should be submitted to the AVPAA within the time limit specified in item #2 above. Original receipts must accompany the expense statement.

All requests for campus vehicles involving student academic travel and faculty development funds must be submitted on the appropriate campus vehicle request form to the AVPAA. Requests for the campus vehicles should not go directly to Plant Operations. If the requests are not approved in advance by the AVPAA and Plant Operations issues a campus vehicle, the department responsible will be charged for the vehicle cost for that trip.

If a campus vehicle is requested to support a trip and the trip is subsequently canceled, the AVPAA and Plant Operations must be notified by campus mail or a memo so that a “no-show” charge is not applied. The no-show charges for vehicles requested and not cancelled prior to the trip can be as high as $100. The no-show charges will be transferred to the department that originated the request for the vehicle.