CG
TRAVEL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
PURPOSE
The purpose of this travel policy is to inform all campuses and individuals of the procedures for
any and all travel associated with their assigned duties at South Plains College.
APPROVAL
All travel must be approved through the online Travel Requisition process in the DPS system.
GENERAL PROCEDURES
1. Travel Request
The purpose of the online Travel Requisition (TR) is:
1. Seek approval for travel in advance.
2. Initiate arrangements for coverage of classes/duties during absence.
3. Scheduling of college vehicles.
4. Verify that students are absent from classes while representing the
college.
5. Provide information regarding itinerary and place of stay in case of
emergencies.
6. Prepare cash advance when travel involves students.
The online TR should be entered into the DPS system as soon as you determine that
you would like to travel. The online TR takes the place of the “green” travel request
form. All information about the travel is entered into one TR. You will need to
enter “notes” on the TR to cover items that you have been sending by memo. This
includes lists of students and SPC vehicle requests.
The online TR will go through all approvals and the purchasing office will issue PO’s
to the various vendors from this document to cover your registration, lodging,
personal reimbursements, etc. A copy of the PO’s will be forwarded to the
Purchasing Office. The Purchasing Office will provide the Dean of Students with the
list of students that will be traveling and notify the Physical Plant Director of the
need for an SPC vehicle.
When you are ready to travel, you will check out credit cards from the Purchasing
Office and upon your return the Travel Expense form (Attachment #1) supporting
documents and receipts will be returned to her.
Page 1 of 7
CG
2. Payment of Registration Fees.
Registration fees can be processed 90 days in advance or earlier if payment discount applies.
This should be included in the TR which you have entered into the DPS system for initial
travel approval and the original registration form forwarded to the purchasing office for
payment processing.
3. Travel by rented or public conveyance
Air
Airline reservations can be made directly with an airline website and also an
approved travel agency 90 days in advance with an approved Travel PO. This
expense should be included in the TR which you have entered into the DPS system.
The purchase order number will be called to the travel agency within 24 hours. If an
employee should prefer to pay for their own airline reservations, they can be
reimbursed this cost after the travel has occurred. The college will reimburse an
employee for the actual cost of commercial airfare. The amount of reimbursement
shall not exceed the lowest available airfare, considering all relevant circumstances.
Rented Vehicles
The college has a direct bill service with Enterprise Rent-A-Car that includes
insurance. The direct link to website is located on the MySPC website under
Employees, Purchasing, and Shared Documents.
The college will reimburse an employee for the actual cost of renting a motor vehicle.
Reimbursement costs include applicable taxes, and similar mandatory charges.
Charges for collision damage waiver charges, liability insurance supplements,
personal accident insurance, safe trip insurance and personal effects insurance are not
reimbursable. The college carries this type of insurance.
Travel by Mass Transit, Taxi or Limousine
The college will reimburse an employee for the actual cost of transportation by
these modes of travel. The fares must be itemized on the Travel Expense Form
and receipts attached.
4. Travel by College Vehicles
Request for College Vehicles
Vehicles reservations should be entered in the online TR as described earlier. In
emergencies vehicles may be reserved by calling the Director of Physical Plant. Note
that to insure getting a vehicle, requests should be made well in advance.
Expenses
When using a college vehicle, credit cards are issued for fuel, oil, etc. These credit
Page 2 of 7
CG
cards are the property of the college and may be used only for the operation
of a college vehicle.
Parking expenses shall be itemized on the Travel Expense Form and receipts
attached.
5. Travel by Personal Vehicle
The college will reimburse an employee for the mileage incurred during his use of a
personally owned vehicle. With the exception of parking expenses, a mileage
reimbursement is inclusive of all expenses associated with the operation of the
vehicle. The mileage guides are found at www.mapquest.com and
www.randmcnally.com . The college current mileage reimbursement rate is $.40 per
mile.
Rules for personal auto mileage reimbursement can be found in the Mileage
Reimbursement Memo (Attachment #2).
Mileage reimbursements should be submitted through the travel requisition
process. For reimbursement, a
Travel Expense Form should be completed, a itemized mileage report
(Attachment #3) attached and forwarded to the
Purchasing Office for payment processing.
Coordination of Travel
Coordination of travel should occur when two to four college employees are
traveling to the same destination, at
the same time, in a personally owned vehicle. In such instances, the college will
reimburse only one of the
employees for mileage.
6. Lodging Expenses
South Plains College will reimburse an employee who travels with overnight stays
for lodging expenses not to exceed the authorized travel reimbursement amounts
set by the State Comptroller for both in-state and out of state travel. These
reimbursement amounts can be found on this link:
http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/104711
The present reimbursement limit for instate lodging is $85 per night. If lodging is
arranged through the conference/seminar provider, SPC will pay the
conference/seminar rate per night per person regardless of the reimbursement limits
Page 3 of 7
CG
published by the State Comptroller’s office.
When two or more employees’ share lodging, the college will pay each employee’s
share of the actual lodging expense. Each employee must submit a Travel Expense
Form in order to be reimbursed...
When necessary an employee may reduce his meal expenses/reimbursement rate and
use that reduction to increase his lodging rate.
Most hotels will exempt college employees state sales tax provided a tax exemption
certificate is provided. Hotel Tax Exemption Forms are available from the
purchasing website under shared documents. All efforts must be made to make sure
SPC is not charged sales tax. It is the responsibility of the employee to contact the
hotel if tax is charged and provide them the necessary documentation to remove the
charge.
7. Meal Expenses
South Plains College will reimburse an employee for meal expenses, on a per diem
basis not to exceed thirty dollars ($30) per day for in-state travel and the State of
Texas meal rate for out-of-state travel. To qualify for per diem reimbursement, the
employee must be away from the campus over night on college business. If meals are
included as part of any conference or seminar fee, the meal expenses are fully payable
or reimbursable, notwithstanding any maximum reimbursement limits established
elsewhere. Meals included in conference/seminar fees are not chargeable against the
$30 per diem allowance.
The $30 per diem allowance is allocated based on the time the employee leaves
campus.
 If departure from the city limits or airport is before 8:00 AM or return is after
8:00 AM you may claim 20% of the daily meal allowance for breakfast, or
$6.00. For out of state meals, use 20% of the allowed expense.
 If departure from the city limits or airport is before noon or return is after
1:00 PM. you may claim 30% of the daily meal allowance for lunch or $9.00.
For out of state meals, use 30% of the allowed expense
 If departure from the city limits or airport is before 5:00 PM or return is after
7:00 PM you may claim 50% of the daily meal allowance or $15.00. For out
of state meals, use 50% of the allowed expense.
Meals should be paid by the employee and reimbursed upon return. Meals may not
be put on a SPC travel credit card. Reimbursement limits do not carry over from one
day to another.
Employees may also be reimbursed for meals incurred during travel on college
business that does not require an overnight stay. The per diem rate per meal may be
Page 4 of 7
CG
used ($6 for breakfast, $9 for lunch, $15 for dinner) in lieu of receipts for actual meal
expenses incurred. Otherwise, actual meal receipts must be furnished in order for
reimbursement to be made to the employee.
The college is aware that, in extraordinary circumstances, actual daily meal expense
incurred by the employee may exceed the maximum daily allowable expense as
previously set forth. Should that situation arise, meal receipts must be furnished and
reimbursement approved by both the appropriate department head/director and the
appropriate vice president/provost. In addition, those reimbursements may be subject
to review by executive administration.
All employees must submit a Travel Expense Form to claim reimbursement for meal
expense. Employees may elect per diem reimbursement in lieu of submitting actual
meal expense receipts.
8. Parking Expenses
The college will reimburse an employee for parking expenses incurred when traveling in
a personally owned or rented vehicle. The parking expenses must be itemized and
receipts attached to the Travel Expense Form.
PAYMENT METHODS
1. Travel Card
South Plains College provides travel credit cards for use during job related travel. These
cards are to be used for hotel, parking and other miscellaneous expenses incurred during your
time away from the college. Rules for use of this card can be found in the Travel Card Guide
(Attachment #4).
If use of the college travel card is requested, this should be included in the TR entered into
the DPS system when initial travel is approved. Cards will not be checked out without prior
approval. These cards can be checked out from the Purchasing Office. The cards cannot be
picked up by student workers, but can be picked up by department secretaries or the actual
card user. See Attachment #4 for travel card rules.
These expenses should be itemized on the Travel Expense Form, receipts attached and
submitted to the Purchasing Office in the Business Office.
2. Travel Advances
The college does not provide cash advances for meal expenses except when accompanying
Page 5 of 7
CG
student groups. The cash advance will be for the anticipated cost of faculty/student meals
only. This expense should be included on the TR and a note attached with the date funds are
needed.
3. Travel Reimbursements
Personal Funds
If an employee chooses to use personal funds while traveling on college business,
they will be reimbursed their expenses after travel has occurred.
These expenses should be included in the online TR entered into the DPS system for
initial travel approval. A travel expense form must be completed for personal
expenses. This form must be forwarded, with supporting documentation, to the
Purchasing Office in the Business Office.
TRAVEL EXPENSE FORM REQUIREMENTS:
Complete documentation must accompany all Travel Expense Forms. This includes
seminar itineraries, airline ticket receipts, lodging receipts, and receipts for other
expenses, excluding meals. All forms must include reason for travel, the dates, times
and places traveled and supporting documentation.
Incomplete forms will be returned to the employee.
TRAVEL INVOLVING STUDENT GROUPS
Student Groups
The college will reimburse student groups and their sponsors for travel when
representing the college (such as judging teams, athletic teams, cheerleaders,
music groups, etc.), provided specific budgetary funds have been approved.
MISCELLANEOUS SITUATIONS
Prospective Employees
The college will reimburse prospective employees for travel expenses related to
employment interviews. Travel expenses will be paid at the same rate as for
college employees. Note that travel expenses will not be reimbursed for
prospective employees who are offered employment, but do not accept.
Page 6 of 7
CG
Incidental Expenses
The following is a partial list of reimbursable and non-reimbursable incidental expenses:
1.
2.
Reimbursable Expense - (The following expenses are reimbursable if they are
incurred for official college business reasons.)
a.
Hotel occupancy and similar taxes that a college employee is
not exempt from paying.
b.
Telephone calls.
c.
Gasoline and toll charges when rented vehicles are used.
d.
Repair charges when college owned vehicles are used. NOTE
- If charges are substantial, approval must be received from
the Director of Physical Plant and/or Division Dean.
e.
Copying charges.
f.
Admittance fees to events related to purpose of travel.
g.
Postage.
h.
Emergency medical or health costs incurred on students while
traveling.
i.
Tips and gratuities (Federal grant accounts do not allow this
expenditure)
Non-Reimbursable Expenses a.
Expenses that do not relate to official college business.
b.
Any expenses, with the exception of parking expenses that are
related to the operation of a personally owned vehicle.
c.
Personal expenses such as the rental or purchase of videotapes
for personal entertainment, alcoholic beverages, and dry
cleaning.
Page 7 of 7