Travel on University Business

Travel Authorization
You must complete a travel authorization Form 17 TWO WEEKS prior to the date of the travel. If travel forms are not completed two weeks prior to leaving, a reason for late filing is required.

Do not use abbreviations, estimate your costs as close as possible, and always be complete and thorough. REMINDER: A U.S. Flag carrier must be used for air travel unless extenuating circumstances exist. The extenuating circumstances must be approved in advance of the travel.

Complete the form 17 (the form can be found at http://www.purdue.edu/travel/xls/form17jan2005.xls), and forward to the business office. Please note that airfare and conference registrations can be pre-paid on our departmental credit card. We encourage you to take advantage of this option whenever possible. Detailed travel rules and regulations can be found at http://www.adpc.purdue.edu/~travel/.

Please also remember that foreign travel on federal funds requires prior approval by SPS. If you need to request approval, procedures can be found at http://www.purdue.edu/sps/accountmgmt/priorapproval/index.html.  Graduate students traveling on your accounts will need your signature authorization on the Form 17.

Travel Reimbursement
Upon completion of your trip, you must fill out a travel reimbursement Form 25 (which can be found at http://www.purdue.edu/travel/xls/form25jan2005.xls). It is required that you have your original receipts for airfare, rental car, lodging, registration fees, and parking fees. You do not need receipts for tolls, taxi, or parking meters, but the charge must be reasonable.

Bring the completed Form 25 along with a copy of the From 17 and all original receipts to the business office. The business office will obtain dept. signatures and forward to Disbursements. The business office does not keep copies of your receipts. It is strongly advised that you keep copies for your records.

Transportation Services
University
owned vehicles are available for official University business. Submit a Form 1 with the required information at your request to the business office. The business office will forward the completed Form 1 to Transportation Services.

Travel Advances
PRF: For those individuals eligible for the American Express program, a travel advance in the amount of the airfare may be granted if the airfare is required to be purchased 45 days in advance of the date of travel. See your account manager for details of PRF Travel Advances.

American Express Corporate Card: Members of the faculty and A/P staff may fill out an application for American Express Corporate Card program. The Card will be issued in the individual's name, with full financial liability being accepted by the individual. There is no annual fee for this card. See the following website for further information on this program: http://www.purdue.edu/travel/Publications/charge.htm.

Registration: The first option is to charge the registration fee to the departmental credit card. If this is not an option, travel advances for registration fees can be done through the accounting office. The request for registration fee must be filed two weeks prior to the date of travel and an approved Travel Form 17 is required. Please allow sufficient time to process both the Form 17 and the registration advance.

(Please note: Travel advances are rarely necessary with the advent of the Purdue purchasing cards. Please remember that airfare and registration can be paid for with the credit card thereby avoiding any out-of-pocket costs to you for these expenses.)

Insurance
The University maintains blanket insurance coverage for various situations. Contact your departmental Business Office to verify coverage. Optional insurance on rental cars should be declined as the University does cover this while you are traveling on official University business.