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Faculty and Professional Travel

Questions concerning CLA's guidelines for faculty and professional travel should be directed to the Office of the Associate Dean for Faculty or CLA Human Resources.

General Statement

As part of a research University, faculty and staff regularly participate in such professional activities as scholarly/artistic conferences, professional meetings, exhibitions, invited lectures, fieldwork, and archival/library research.  Principles of responsibility and accountability must be respected and adhered to during such travel. 

Governing Documents

Faculty and Professional Travel

Faculty and staff are expected to notify their unit chairs and directors of all professional travel and/or travel for University business purposes at least one week prior to the commencement of such travel. 

Faculty and staff shall inform their chair/director of (a) the dates, place, and purpose of the professional and/or University-related travel; and (b) the arrangements that have been made to cover missed classes and other work assignments, including extra office hours that the unit might expect be held to make up for the absence due to travel. 

If a situation requires a faculty or staff member to undertake travel for personal/non-professional reasons, the chair must be similarly notified about (a) and (b) above.

Chair/Director Travel

Unit chairs/directors and center directors are expected to notify the Office of the Associate Dean for Faculty of their own professional travel and/or travel for University business purposes at least one week prior to the commencement of such travel. 

Chairs/directors and center directors shall inform the Associate Dean for Faculty of (a) the dates, place, and purpose of the professional and/or University-related travel; and (b) the arrangements that have been made to cover administrative responsibilities and missed classes (if any). 

If a situation requires a unit chair or center director to undertake travel for personal/non-professional reasons, the Office of the Associate Dean for Faculty must be similarly notified about (a) and (b) above.  In cases where the unit chair/director plans to be away for more than three business days, the chair/director should indicate that s/he will maintain contact by specified means during the absence (e.g., email, phone). If such contact is not possible, the chair/director should designate a faculty member as departmental contact during her/his absence and communicate that arrangement to the Associate Dean for Faculty.

Policy & Procedure

In addition to the reporting requirements described above, all faculty and staff are expected to adhere to the terms and conditions of the University’s administrative policy Traveling on University Business in all professional travel and/or travel for University business purposes.  

Faculty and staff must retain documentation associated with all professional travel and travel for University business purposes, including information related to the purpose of the travel and itemized receipts for all expenditures as required by the University’s travel policy, e.g., all non-per diem expenditures.

Units may require that faculty and staff complete a travel notification and authorization form prior to the commencement of travel undertaken for professional and/or University business purposes.

Benefits

Faculty and staff are advised to review the medical and dental benefits available to them when traveling for personal, professional, and/or University business purposes.  Information about the Travel Benefit provided to eligible University employee is available on the Employee Benefits website.   

Effective Fall 2009

College of Liberal Arts Magazine