4. Administrative Process: Guidelines and Steps
After program approval by the Vice-Provost
a. Pre-departure planning

Budgeting and financial planning

Budget approval | Program Directors must meet with ISO Business Manager to develop their budgets by the applicable deadline. The Business Manager will assist you in figuring out methods to set up a cost-effective and self-sustaining program budget. Do not publicize program costs until the budget has been finalized! Any change must first be approved by the ISO. All programs must be self-supporting.

Cash advance |

1. Please allow a minimum of five workdays lead-time for a cash advance.
2. You may ask the Business Manager to prepare your advance request or you may prepare it yourself. The Cash Advance Request form can be found in the Forms Directory. At the Forms Directory, scroll down to Special Cash Advance Request (or at the UVA Home page type in http://uvaforms.virginia.edu/cashier/spc-cash-adv.pdf). Fill out the form completely, print it, and forward it to Murielle Kervizic or Rebecca Brown for either of their signatures as “Departmental Approver.”
3. The Director of the International Studies Office will sign your request or your designee’s and forward it to the Finance Department for approval and check preparation.
4. The check will be held for pick up at the Cashier’s Office in Carruthers Hall. If you have elected to have someone in the ISO pick up your check, you will receive an email notifying you when it is available to be picked up in the International Studies Office. If you have elected to pick up the check yourself at Carruthers Hall, the Cashier’s Office will notify you by phone when it is available.
5. You will have 30 days after your return date to repay the advance in full to the Comptroller’s office. As a reminder, the Finance Department will mail an invoice to your home address.

Airfare and/or Rail Ticket Purchases for Faculty and Staff | The ISO will not purchase student airfare for programs it administers. However, the ISO will work with you to block seats on designated flights. You should allow students one full day on site before classes begin; this will allow them time to recover from jet lag, and time for you to deliver an effective orientation. Faculty and staff may find it easiest to make their personal travel arrangements through one of UVA’s contracted travel vendors. Cost of the program director will be covered by program fees.

Cosmopolitan Travel 1924 Arlington Blvd 971-3733
Covington Travel 1404 Greenbrier Place 295-0004
Enterprise Travel 400 East Main Street 296-7500
Peace Frogs Barracks Rd Shopping Cntr 977-1415
STA Travel Basement of Newcomb 924-4445

Once you have decided on your dates of travel, please contact an agent of your choice and make your travel arrangements. Please let the agent know that your ticket will be purchased with an American Express card and that the Business Manager of the International Studies Office will call them with payment information. As soon as possible after you have made your travel arrangements please provide the ISO Business Manager with your agent's name, the ticket purchase amount and your travel dates. The Business Manager will contact your agent and purchase your airfare. You may choose other Charlottesville area travel agents. As long as they accept American Express, the International Studies Office will be able to purchase your ticket.

You may also purchase your tickets with your own funding. For instance, if online rates are considerably better than travel agent rates, you may use this source. However, if you choose to purchase your own tickets, either online or through an agent, you cannot be reimbursed until after the program has been completed. The only method for travel prepayment is with the University Procurement Card (American Express). (See section 2.6.2 at http://www.virginia.edu/~polproc/pol/vig1.html for further details.

If you purchase your own travel, please be sure to keep your boarding pass, copy of your itinerary, and your payment receipt. These items need to accompany any request for reimbursement.

Tips for Travel Expense Reimbursement:
For a complete review of UVA’s travel expense reimbursement policy, please see:
http://www.virginia.edu/finance/polproc/pol/vigl.html

TIMELINES | : Per the above referenced policy, travelers are expected to turn in their receipts five working days after the completion of their trip. That’s not always possible and/or reasonable, but keep in mind, your total travel advance is due to be repaid to the Comptroller 30 days after your return date. The sooner your receipts are turned in, the sooner you will be reimbursed.
Per Diem | If your program budget allows, you may receive per diem for the duration of your program. Per Diem will be paid at 75% of the Charlottesville rate for your departure and return dates. Allowable foreign per diem rates can be found on the State Department’s official web site at:
http://www.state.gov/m/a/als/prdm.
The program’s actual per diem rate will be determined during the budget process, but the rate may not exceed and might be substantially lower than the rates listed by the State Department.
RECEIPTS | Please keep receipts. If you are receiving per diem, receipts are not necessary for food and/or housing unless you are requesting reimbursement for those items in excess of your budgeted per diem rate.
EXPENSE LOG | FORM (PDF) Please use the expense log. It will aid in processing your reimbursement. Numbering your receipts and logging them in as they occur will help prevent non-reimbursement for legitimate expenses that might be unidentifiable at a later date. Please do not turn in receipts in the proverbial shoebox style. This will only slow down the reimbursement process. Receipts should be dated and the type of expense easily determined. Small pieces of paper get lost easily. Please tape or staple the smaller items to a larger format, and keep all of your receipts either in the order they appear on your expense log or by expenditure category.
The information on your receipts will be used to prepare a Travel Workbook. Once prepared, you will be required to sign the workbook. As noted in the policy, by signing the workbook, you will be certifying the accuracy of all the information and the legitimacy of the travel.
GROUP MEALS | Please keep receipts. Please provide a list of the people sharing the group meal. If it is your whole student group, we will have the names and you do not need to list the participants, just let us know and we will provide the roster to procurement. If the meal is attended by other than the whole group, please provide names of all in attendance.
LAUNDRY | Laundry expenses are included in your per diem. They are not reimbursed separately.
CASH ADVANCE FEES | ATM access fees and traveler’s check fees are reimbursable.
Traveler’s checks, passport, and visa expenses are reimbursable.
Telephone Calls, telegrams, and facsimiles for official University business paid by the traveler are reimbursable.
Personal Calls are reimbursed as part of your per diem and are not reimbursed separately.
Non-Reimbursable Travel Expenses Include:

Contracts, Vendors, and Payments to Individuals:

Contractual Agreements | In some cases, a host institution and/or other service provider will require a signed contract to guarantee payment for their services. It is very important to note that under no circumstances are program directors authorized to sign any contractual agreement. Your signature will not bind the University; however, you may become personally liable for the contents of the agreement.
If signed contracts are required, the non-UVA party must submit their signed contract (in English) to the ISO for subsequent review and approval prior to any payments being made. The contract review/approval process may take as long as three weeks. The actual payment may take an additional two to three weeks. Program directors must incorporate these time constraints in their program planning. The University does not usually approve pre-payments for services and/or products. Contracts that require pre-payments or deposits may have a delayed approval process.

Vendors | Anyone or any organization receiving payment from the University must either be an employee or a vendor. If the payee is not already a registered vendor, they must provide certain information to the University. The information needed can be found at the following sites:
Foreign Company: https://www.procurement.virginia.edu/forms/ForeignVendorReg.html
Individual: https://www.procurement.virginia.edu/forms/IndividualPayeeReg.html
US Vendors: https://www.procurement.virginia.edu/forms/USVendorRegForm.html

Please advise your vendors/ service providers that invoices describing their services are required before payment can be made.

Payments to Individuals | Payments to Individuals during your program are highly discouraged. The Procurement Department policy states that there will be no “reimbursement” to individuals for payments to other individuals. Individuals may be paid directly by Procurement for Honoraria provided that the correct form (http://www.virginia.edu/procurement/forms/HonorariaApproval.doc ) is prepared and the individual is a vendor. Individuals may also be paid directly by Procurement once they have been established as an independent contractor : (http://www.virginia.edu/procurement/forms/EmployeeIndependentContractor.doc ) and an Academic Consulting Agreement has been signed: (http://www.virginia.edu/procurement/forms/AcadConsultAgt.doc ).

To view these payment policies go to:
http://www.virginia.edu/procurement/departments/BuyPayGuide.html .
To avoid the pitfalls of paying individuals, please consider asking your host institution and/or service provider to incorporate payments to your speakers or other individuals as part of their invoicing procedure.

Payment Methods:
Payments may be made to vendors by check in U.S. Dollars or by foreign wire transfer. The foreign wire transfer may be made in U.S. Dollars or in the host country currency. Please note that there are a few exceptions where foreign wires may not be possible. Also, in some cases, vendors may accept payment by American Express. American Express is the most expeditious payment method; however, vendors normally add fees for this privilege. Contracts for services should stipulate the form of payment and the currency required. If a foreign wire is requested, the following information is required (in English):

Bank Name:
Branch Address:
Account Number
Sort Code (bank routing number):
SWIFT Code (and/or BIC or IBAN – International Bank identifier)
Name of Account Holder:

Auto Rentals: Traveler’s Responsibilities
Car rental for personal use is not reimbursable
For other tips and the complete policy on auto rentals please go to:
http://www.virginia.edu/procurement/travel/AutoRental.html
Insurance Options for University business:
If renting a vehicle in the U.S. or Canada, you will not be reimbursed if you choose to purchase Collision, Liability Damage, and/or Personal Accident insurance. Unless you are willing to pay the expense for these waivers out of your own funds, please decline these options. University insurance covers both collision and liability. Personal Accident Insurance or personal effects coverage are both considered personal expenses and cannot be reimbursed.
If renting a vehicle for university business outside the U.S. or Canada, you should accept the collision or liability damage waiver insurance. Because University insurance does not cover the collision and liability damage in other countries, you will be reimbursed for this expense.

Fueling | Per the University Auto Rent policy, please refuel your car prior to returning it to avoid rental agency refueling charges. If it is not practical to refuel, please provide justification. An example of a possible acceptable justification would be: “It was late at night and I felt unsafe stopping at a gas station close to the rental agency”. The link above offers other examples.

Receipts | Please keep your receipts pertaining to the rental of vehicles for University business.

Last but not least:
If you have any questions relating to financial and fiscal matters, please do not hesitate to contact the ISO Business Manager.

FISCAL FORMS:

Click here to access the following forms:

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