University Travel

The Travel Authority form must be completed prior to any travel related to Official University Business. This form should be filled out completely, listing all anticipated expenses related to the travel. All form fields should be completely filled out regardless of how the actual expense will be handled (whether the hotel/motel prepaid via check requisition, and/or their rental vehicle reserved through E-Procurement). The Authority to Travel form is what authorizes the employee to travel for University Business and authorizes the anticipated expenditures. For example, a traveler would include the estimated cost of airfare on their authority to travel form, even though their airfare will be handled via University Purchasing card, or a traveler would include the estimated cost of a rental car as the mode of travel on the authority to travel form, even though their rental vehicle requests will be reserved through an e-Procurement requisition. The Authority to Travel form is required to authorize travel even when no expense ($0) will be incurred.

International travel must be approved by the President’s Office (additionally if traveler is a member of the faculty, the VP for Academic Affairs must approver international travel as well). Also, US travel to offshore locations (i.e. Hawaii) should also be approved by the President’s Office.

Mileage rates for reimbursement are determined by the State of Georgia and apply to employees using personal vehicles for official university business, ensuring fair compensation for travel expenses.

Determining Business Miles Traveled
Employees using their personal vehicle for business use (outside of the normal commute to and from work) are eligible for mileage reimbursement ONLY when it has been approved in advance by Supervisor, Department Chair, and Unit Vice President, and is the most cost effective option (all of which must be attached and approved along with travel authorization). (Note: Mileage reimbursement does not apply to employees under a signed contract that requires the use of one’s personal vehicle as an condition of employment). Reimbursement for mileage is for any and all business use miles off-site.

Cash Advances are given for University Group/Team Travel and Foreign Travel where a purchasing card would not be practical or allowable, and for Employee authorized travel where a hardship is declared. The Travel Cash Advance Request form should be fully completed and submitted to Business & Financial Affairs for processing.

No cash advances will be issued to the following groups:

• Any employees that make $50,000 or more a year. 
• Any requested advance that is below the $100 threshold.
• Any employee with outstanding cash advance balance(s).
• Any employee who have previously been payroll deducted for outstanding advance. 

All money not used must be returned to the Student Financial Services window and receipts must be reconciled and turned into Accounts Payable within ten days of returning from travel or the next request, whichever is first. All expenses (all receipts – **excluding meal receipts), amount of cash advance, and amount returned to the University must be documented and submitted to Accounts Payable (please use the cash advance clearing form that was emailed from AP for this reconciliation). Only original receipts will be accepted. The individual receiving the cash advance will be held responsible for the funds received.

Cash Advance funds should not be used for chartered busses, registrations, and Airline/Train tickets. In most cases, these can be paid by p-card or directly to the vendor.

For the full policy on cash advances click here.

**Meal receipts are ONLY required as documentation for a cash advance when the conference agenda/travel agenda indicates that meals have been provided.

Note: If the travel authorization is being submitted outside of 7-10 business days, a cash advance request cannot be guaranteed.

Savannah State University uses Summit Cruise & Travel as well as Four Seasons Travel to secure flights. If you would like the Procurement Office to purchase your flight, please call Maria at Summit Travel at 912-961-0979 or Becky or Margaret at Four Seasons at 912-598-8000 to get a price quote. Then prepare your Travel Authorization Form indicating the amount of the flight. It would be wise to add about $100 to the price quoted to allow for any price fluctuation that may occur during the process. Once you have received your approved travel authorization form back, call Summit Cruise & Travel or Four Seasons Travel to reserve your flight with the authorization number issued on your form. The travel agents will then call Pamela Wright, Sr. Procurement Specialist in the Procurement Office to verify and authorize the charge. Your ticket will be an electronic ticket. You can get the ticket confirmation number from the travel agent or go to www.checkmytrip.com to print your itinerary and your ticket if you chose. Your ticket can also be printed at the airport kiosks the day of your flight.

Student Lodging
Students and Employees are not to share rooms with each other. Employee lodging is accounted for in a different manner than it is for students, as required by the Board of Regents. Further, while student lodging can be handled through the Procurement Office, employee lodging cannot. The Procurement Office can under no circumstance pay for employee lodging via a Purchase Order or P-Card. An e-Procurement requisition should be completed for student lodging, with a list of students, dates of travel, hotel contact information, etc… provided in or attached to the e-Procurement requisition.

Employee Lodging
Employees must submit a check requisition made payable to the hotel, or pay out of pocket to be reimbursed via an expense report to cover lodging expenses. Employee lodging may not be processed through Procurement or placed on a P-Card.

At the completion of any authorized University travel an expense report should be prepared when actual expenses were incurred. The Travel Expense Report Form should be filled out completely and submitted along with all itemized receipts (excluding meal receipts), itineraries, and post-travel forms (Title III only).  Note: There is a 60 day grace period post travel as it relates to the submission of travel expense reports. Any expense reports submitted beyond this 60 day grace period will not be honored for reimbursement.

Non-Employee Reimbursements (Per Diem)
The allowable per diem rate for non-employee travel is the same as the per diem rate for in-state travel for non-high cost areas regardless of location origin and/or destination. Thus, the per diem rate reimbursable for meals of non-employees is limited to $28 per day. For more information, see our Travel Expense Reimbursement policy & procedure