Pre-Travel Approval Process

All faculty are required to complete the COMMITTEE ON FACULTY DEVELOPMENT FUNDING GRANT APPLICATION prior to traveling. (Please contact Collette Ridgeway if you need a copy of the form.) In addition to the appropriate form you will need to include supporting documentation and submit all paperwork to the Associate Chief Academic Officer (ACAO) and receive notification of approval by the Chief Academic Officer (CAO) prior to completing any travel that will be charged to a Penn State Fayette budget. 

You will be notified of approval by email. If any questions arise during the review process you will be notified via email.

To determine current travel rates (mileage) visit http://guru.psu.edu/home.cfm

If you submitted a travel request to support presentation of research, please forward the correspondence to the CAO that states your paper, concept or research idea has been accepted for presentation at the specified conference.

If you submitted a travel request for professional development, please forward to CAO and a one paragraph summary of how the concepts, methodologies, knowledge learned from the conference will be applied to a course that you teach or research project you are conducting (this process is similar to RDG and TDG funding requests as both of these also required a summary be submitted at the end of the project or travel). Please forward this summary within two-weeks of your return.

Post Travel Authorization Form Directions (SAP Concur Travel Worksheet)

  1. Faculty and Academic Affairs staff are to complete the personal and travel information fields at the top of the Employee Travel Form/Worksheet for SAP Concur. The Report Name should provide a brief description of the trip.  The Business Purpose and Notes fields are to be used for explaining the purpose and justification of the trip. Because the same form version will be used for both the authorization and the reimbursement process we ask that you also note in the Business Purpose field if it is an authorization request or a reimbursement request.  Access/User field please enter your 9 digit PSU ID number.
  2. The Travel Itinerary should list your departure and arrival destination for the day of departure and the day of return.  Layovers or connecting cities do not need to be included unless you plan on incurring travel expenses associated with overnight stays (e.g., Lodging).
  3. Estimated expenses should be entered under the “Amount” column with an indication as to what will be covered by PCard and personal expenses.  
  4. The University’s Meal per diem rates and policies will mirror those of U.S. government employees. In addition, the ability for travelers to take a voluntary reimbursement reduction to adjust to actual meals will continue to be encouraged.  As part of the alignment with government policies, employees on official travel will be reimbursed 75 percent of daily per diem on their first and last day of travel of multi-day trips.  Users will continue to create itineraries that will automatically calculate the allowances, and the Meal Per Diem Expense worksheet on pg. 2 of the ERS worksheet may be of assistance in calculating per diem expenses.

    Per IRS regulations, the single day meal per diem will also continue to be taxable income to the employee.

    Please note: Receipts are no longer required for meals.

  5. For miscellaneous expenses ("Other"), the three lines under the heading should be used.  If necessary, you may combine miscellaneous items on one line.  However, a total estimated amount should be entered in the "Estimated Amount" column.  Please note your estimated expenses will be totaled on the "Total Estimated Travel Expense" line.
  6. Please include supporting documentation for every estimated expense put on the document. For example, if including an estimated expense for your personal vehicle, please include a Mapquest or similar document showing the miles that are expected to be traveled or if you will be staying overnight for your trip, please include documentation from the hotel website about the cost, etc. If this is not done, you will be requested via email to supply the necessary documentation.
  7. If you are receiving funding from non-campus sources (e.g., University department, professional society, grant), please list each next to the appropriate heading with the totaled amount received from each source.  If receiving funding from multiple sources of the same type (e.g., two grants), please list each grant but enter the total amount of funding in the "Amount" column.  If the funding is coming from the campus, please list the discipline (e.g., College/Department: Business).  This information must be included on the form in order to charge the appropriate discipline budget.  If the funding is coming from a PDG, RDG, or TDG, please indicate on the “College/Department” line.

    Please note your funding from "Non-Campus" sources will be summed, and the total amount requested from the campus budget will be adjusted accordingly.

  8. Once you have completed the authorization form, please print the form and forward the form with the necessary documentation (see below in Approval and Reimbursement Procedures) directly to the ACAO. Your signature is not required.
  9. Please direct any questions to either the ACAO or the Academic Affairs Office.

International Trips

International travel is required to be registered in the Travel Safety Network (Note: The Travel Safety Network review includes the export review). The University will no longer reimburse international travel that is not registered and requires your registration receipt to be submitted with your authorization and reimbursement forms. Please visit the Penn State Travel Safety Network (https://tsn.psu.edu) to register your trip (This process is required for all international travel after June 30, 2016). Additionally, review the Travel Safety Network brochure for more information. For information on countries that are considered dangerous enough that Penn State’s insurance will cover travel to these destinations, please visit https://controller.psu.edu/risk-management/misc. 

It is also recommended that international travelers register their travel through the US State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) at https://step.state.gov/step/. This free service is designed to keep US travelers connected to the nearest American embassy or consulate in case of a disaster or an emergency.

Lodging costs for international trips is based on the OCONUS rates and should be entered in the Lodging OCONUS worksheet found on pg. 2 of the ERS worksheet.

Reimbursement Process for Travel

The Employee Travel Form/Worksheet for SAP Concur has to be completed and submitted with required receipts to receive reimbursement for approved travel requests. The Business Purpose and Notes fields are to be used for explaining the purpose and justification of the trip. Because the same form version will be used for both the authorization and the reimbursement process we ask that you also note in the Business Purpose field if it is an authorization request or a reimbursement request. Access/User field please enter your 9 digit PSU ID number.

Print completed form and submit with all itemized receipts and supporting documentation. All itemized receipts are to be properly organized by date and taped to an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper if they are smaller than an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.  Do not staple the smaller receipts to form.

*Expenses will not be reimbursed if you do not have itemized receipts.*

All non-PSU employees are required to use the Non Employee Travel Reimbursement Form.

Submit all documents to Collette Ridgeway in Academic Affairs with the exception of the Nursing Department. The Nursing Department should submit all post travel documents to Michelle Henrish.

Reimbursement Process for Non-Travel
The Non Travel Reimbursement Form should be utilized to ensure accurate tracking of non-travel discipline expenses. As such, purchases charged directly to discipline budgets should be approved prior to making the purchase. Please note grant purchases DO NOT require submission of this form. These purchases follow the guidelines established by the grant and can be submitted directly to Academic Affairs once they have been made).

Reimbursement Approval through SAP Concur
Once the documents have been entered by Academic Affairs into the SAP Concur you will receive an email notification from ERS letting you know the data has been entered and your electronic signature is required.

The email will be from: [email protected]

You will be required to log into SAP Concur at http://www.concursolutions.com/ to review and submit your travel.  

  1. Click on the link in the e-mail message. This will take you to the SAP Concur Website.
  2. Enter your complete email address in the box.
  3. Click "Log on with Penn State University" and use your password and second factor authentication.
  4. If not taken directly to the report, look for My Tasks section for the report.
  5. Select the desired report by clicking on the report name.
  6. In the Expense List screen check expenses.
  7. Select the Receipts link on the right to review receipts.
  8. When satisfied with the accuracy of the report click the Submit Report link located on the upper right area of the screen.
  9. Selecting Accept & Submit in the Expense Certification window is your electronic signature confirming accuracy of the expense report.  The Accept & Submit link is located in the lower right area of the window.
  10. Next the Report Totals window opens. Check the Amount Due Employee for the amount to be direct deposited and the Amount Owed the Company for an amount that may be a payroll deduction.

You will receive email updates as the report advances through the approval process.

If you incur any problems or have any questions you can contact the Academic Affairs office 724-430-4140 or the SAP Concur Helpdesk at 814-863-9713.