eTravel: Reimbursements

Travel Reimbursement Process:

Disclaimer: We will not process reimbursements for any travel expenses related to non-employees that may be traveling with you. We will only reimburse for business related expenses for the OSU Department of Microbiology Employee.

1. You have 90 days after you return to submit your receipts for reimbursement. It is the employee's responsibility to submit their receipts to the office for reimbursement- employees will not be reminded. After 90 days, the request will not be reimbursed per departmental policy.
2. Reimbursements will only be completed after you have returned from a trip and have a valid pre-approved travel request.
   • If you pre-pay using personal funds for registration, lodging, rental car, etc., you will not be reimbursed prior to the trip.
   • If you would like items pre-paid using university tools, seek advice/help from the departmental office with reasonable advance notice BEFORE you travel.
   • If you booked airfare outside of the university travel tool after 8/1/18, you will not be reimbursed for said airfare. (The only exception is purchasing airfare for short flights within countries where pre-paying for the flight was not possible via CTP; the department must be made aware prior to purchase, though)
3. All receipts must be submitted together at the end of the trip to the Program Coordinator (micro.grad or little.458). Please submit all receipts as ONE document in ONE email. Hard copies can be turned in, but must be turned in together at the same time.
   • We cannot accept bank statements alone for reimbursement. While some items require additional documentation for verification, like a bank statement for proof of payment, an itemized/detailed receipt is still required.
     • We will let you know when a bank statement is required after reviewing receipts.
     • Please be sure to redact any information that is not relevant to the reimbursement on your bank statement.
   • Final itemized receipts must be provided.
     • This includes--but is not limited to--hotel receipts, mileage logs (if driving personal vehicle), at least one boarding pass (photos of boarding passes are acceptable), gas receipts (if driving a rental only), uber receipts, and meal receipts.
     • If you will be getting per diem but the event provides any meals, the meals listed on the agenda will not be reimbursed.
     • If pre-approved vacation is taken in conjunction with business travel, no receipts will be reimbursed for that period of time.
       • Vacation in conjunction with business travel must be pre-approved.
       • A valid eLeave vacation request must also be submitted/approved prior to your trip.
       • Keep in mind that vacation in conjunction with business travel does not have to be approved by the PI, department, College, or University.
4. An agenda of the event must be provided (If a link to the event program is available, that should be provided along with the receipts)
5. Again: If you fail to receive prior eTravel approval for business related travel, you will not be reimbursed.

Please note: We will not process your reimbursement while you sit and wait in our office(s). All requests are processed in the order of which they are received and we get to them as quickly as possible while completing other required duties to meet the needs of the entire department. Once it is submitted by the department, we cannot give an exact date by which you will receive your reimbursement as it is subject to higher level review and approval. If additional information is needed, you will be contacted directly.

Additional Information to keep in mind:

• If you are driving your personal vehicle, you can now only request a mileage reimbursement. You cannot request gas reimbursement unless you are driving a rental vehicle.
  • The department/your PI is not responsible for paying for oil changes/car service fees.
  • Lab employees (including students) must obtain pre-approval from their PI to request mileage reimbursement (when they are planning to drive) and/or per diem.
    • This pre-approval must also be confirmed by the PI prior to departmental approval.
    • If the PI would prefer to reimburse at a lower rate that total mileage, the employee must be given advanced warning by the PI and have this documented on the approved travel request prior to departure.
  • Also, please keep in mind that if you are driving you may be required to provide a flight comparison (dependent upon the distance of travel) and explanation as to why you're driving (this is also dependent upon the distance).
    • Please note that it is not always cost effective to drive and the request will be reviewed. This request may also be denied.
• If you are driving a rental car and you fail to use the contracted vendor or fail to obtain the appropriate required insurances, the rental charge will not be reimbursed.
  • This applies even if you use the preferred university vendor, but fail to book the car via the appropriate travel tools in order to make sure the appropriate insurances are added.
• Flight upgrades (including but not limited to: early bird check-in, business select, economy plus, first class, same-day seat upgrade, etc.) are not allowable on University/OSP funds and will not be pre-paid or reimbursed.
• Do keep in mind that the University Travel Policy can/will be updated without warning and the Service Center may deny payment if a reimbursement is not in compliance or does not have enough detail.
• Vacation costs must be paid with personal funds if additional costs are incurred if/when taken in conjunction with business travel.
  • Vacation requests taken in conjunction with business travel require prior PI and Departmental approval.
    • These requests will be reviewed on a case by case basis.
  • The Department may deny these requests. If the Department approves of a request, there is still a possibility that the College could deny the request.

If you have any questions about the university policies, please contact Staci (schweinfurth.22)

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