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Procedure No. 602.4

Reimbursement of Travel Expense

Adopted: 04/23/96
Revisions Approved: 4/24/08, 3/9/10; 3/10/26

 

  1. GENERAL: Employees who travel on official College business or to attend workshops and seminars will be reimbursed for ordinary and necessary business and travel expenses within the limits of their respective departmental/divisional budgets. Employees should use discretion when incurring business and travel expenses to ensure that expenditures are necessary and appropriate for meeting business needs. Only expenditures in accordance with the following procedures will qualify for reimbursement.

    The purpose of the travel procedures is to support staff travel expenditures for conducting official college business and to comply with regulatory guidelines of an accountable plan. If expenses are reimbursed that do not meet an accountable plan, they must be reported as additional compensation to the employee. Adherence to the following procedures allows for efficient processing of the requested travel expense reimbursement. If any required documentation is missing or incomplete, the form may be returned for follow-up action.

 

  1. APPROVAL:Travel authority is under the jurisdiction of the appropriate senior staff member, and advance approval is obtained by the traveler from his/her immediate supervisor. In addition, out-of-state travel needs the approval of the President through an out of state travel form. Employees will be responsible for any unauthorized travel expenses.
  2. SUBSTANTIATION: Payment receipts are required for all expenditures incurred for which reimbursement is expected, excluding per diem meals. Documentary evidence will be considered adequate to support an expenditure if it discloses the amount, date, place, and essential character of the expenditure. In order to substantiate the business purpose of the trip, attach the registration and program document/ agenda to the reimbursement form.
  3. RATES: The Finance Department will notify the college community of the IRS per diem and State of New Jersey mileage rates.
  4. FORMS:
    1. A Travel Advance Request Formmay be used to request approved funds for anticipated travel if processed at least two weeks prior to departure date.  Only one employee per Travel Advance Form should be submitted. The amount of the advance should not exceed estimated expenses, less any expenses paid in advance by the College. All travel advance requests must have estimated pricing or quotes attached as reasoning for the amount requested. The form must be supported by an out of state/overnight travel form signed by the college President. Travel advances must exceed $25.00.

All conference registrations should be purchased through a Purchase Order or Payment Request. If the conference does not accept purchase orders, please receive prior approval before adding it to the travel advance.

Funds requested in a travel advance will be dispersed to the traveler no sooner than two weeks before the travel date. Any airfare and registration fees requested will be paid at the time the advance request is received in order to account for booking ahead of time. All travel advances are charged to a Travel Advance account. Travel advances are to be settled within thirty days from the return of travel by submitting a Travel Expense Report/Voucher Form (see supplemental info). Please note that no additional advances will be made to an employee until a previous advance has been settled.

For Athletics and club advances, travel procedures refer to the respective procedures (see links under supplemental information below). For Club travel procedures, refer to the SGA Policy & Procedure Manual

  1. A Travel Expense Report/Voucher Form is used to request reimbursement for approved travel. This form is also used to settle all expenditures requested on a travel advance form.  A travel expense report serves as a final summary of actual expenses made and must have all payment receipts, excluding meals, attached. These must be submitted within thirty (30) days after return from travel. If money is due back to Atlantic Cape Community College please make your payment to the bursar using a deposit form. (See Below)

Employees with routine travel between campuses shall be reimbursed on a quarterly basis.  Please submit mileage reimbursement requests no less than quarterly to ensure a timely turnaround.

Routine travel reimbursements (mileage and tolls) should be submitted separately from travel associated with conferences, training, conventions, etc.

The end of the fiscal year deadline is July 15th for travel expenses incurred prior to June 30th. Failure to submit on time may risk not being reimbursed due to funds being unavailable.

Before submitting either the Travel Expense Report/Voucher Form or the Travel Advance Request Form through self-service as a Payment Request, please check the following:

  • Is the conference schedule (with meals included) attached?
  • Are payment receipts attached?
  • Are the starting, middle, and ending locations documented when requesting mileage
  • Is a home deduction needed when calculating mileage?

If all questions answered "yes", then upload completed form along with applicable payment receipts, conference agenda, and map printouts through self-service as a Payment Request.

  1. GUIDELINES:The traveler(s) should determine which mode of transportation is most economical.
  2. MILEAGE: The State of New Jersey Department of Treasury mileage reimbursement rate will be paid for appropriately approved travel by employees in private vehicles. When two or more employees are traveling to the same destination, the College encourages its employees to carpool. Use of a College vehicle and/or public transportation is also encouraged when practical.

Mileage claimed should be the actual mileage. An Internet map printout must be attached to substantiate the miles submitted.

Where an employee is dispatched directly from home, or travels from a travel destination to home, then the employee's normal commute from home to his/her primary location must be deducted from the total mileage submitted for reimbursement. The traveler's starting, middle and ending locations should be clearly identified on the Travel Expense Report/Voucher Form. Please refer to the respective bargaining unit contract for further detail on how to calculate mileage above normal commute.

Mileage shall not be paid if the employee's travel does not exceed his/her normal commute from home to primary assignment.

The College has established standard mileage for travel between frequent destinations, as follows:

  • Mays Landing Campus and Worthington Campus 17 miles each way
  • Mays Landing Campus and Cape May County Campus 39 miles each way
  • Worthington Campus and Cape May County Campus 37 miles each way
  • Mays Landing Campus and Casinos or Convention Center 17 miles each way

Travel on non-scheduled workdays or holidays to anywhere other than the employee's primary location is reimbursable from the employee's home. No home deduction is needed in this case. Travel to an employee's primary location on non-scheduled workdays is not reimbursable.

Employees on official College business driving personally owned automobiles are required to be properly licensed and sufficiently protected by personal liability and collision insurance at their own expense. The College will not reimburse fines incurred for traffic, toll or parking violations for personal or College-owned vehicles.

  1. ROOM:The traveler will be reimbursed for actual expenses for overnight room accommodations while away from home on College business. The maximum allowance for this purpose will be the current IRS per diem rate. Please note on the out of state travel form any amount over the per diem hotel rate before booking accommodations. Reimbursements for accommodations over this rate will be made if specific approval is obtained from the immediate supervisor.

When traveling on grant funds follow the per diem hotel rate as the grant restricts overage. Any amount over the per diem hotel rate will be charged to your institutional budget and requires pre-approval from your supervisor.  

It is not the policy of the College to pay charges for lodging directly. Each employee is to pay for his/her own lodging and related expenses. Hotel receipts must contain the name and location of the hotel, the date or dates of stay, and separate amounts for charges such as lodging taxes, meals, phone, etc. Personal charges appearing on a hotel bill must be deducted and the deduction noted on the bill.

Internet hook-up reimbursement requires receipt from hotel, documentation of business purpose, and approval by senior staff person.

Any overnight travel in New Jersey needs preapproval. The overnight travel form should be completed stating reason for in state hotel purchase.

  1. Transportation: Transportation such as taxi, uber, lyft, etc. may be used while on College business to approved locations for business purposes. Payment receipts are required for reimbursement. Tips will be reimbursed up to 20% of the ride fair, anything over is the responsibility of the employee.

Car rental must be pre-approved and should only be used when it is the most economical mode of transportation.  Arrangements are the responsibility of the employee

Shuttle service (excluding limousines) to and from the airport is authorized if it provides the most economical means of transportation.

If a traveler needs to park a vehicle at the airport, parking will be reimbursed at long-term parking rates. Hotel and other parking reimbursement will be at the most economical rate available.

  1. AIR TRAVEL:
    1. All air travel must be pre-approved using the Out of State/Overnight Travel Form and signed by the appropriate Senior Staff Member and President. Tickets cannot be ordered without it. Budget number must be included.
  2. When the most efficient means of transportation is air travel, it is expected that travelers will obtain the lowest available fare with logical routing and is limited to coach fair. Travel arrangements should be made as early as possible to obtain the lowest fares possible.
  3. MEALS & INCIDENTALS:  Meals and incidentals will be reimbursed based on the current IRS per diem rate. Please attach the conference itinerary with all meals included by the conference noted. Meals included as part of the conference registration fee cannot be claimed under the per diem method. Any meal not provided by the conference will be paid to the employee based on the IRS Per Diem Rate at the time of travel.

No individual meal receipts are needed when submitting the Travel Expense Report.

Please find IRS Per Diem rates here: https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates.

The following guidelines should be used to determine eligible meal reimbursement for overnight trips when travel is for less than a day

Departure from home or campus:

  • Breakfast Departure before 7:00 am
  • Lunch Departure before 11:00 am
  • Dinner Departure before 4:00 pm

Return home from the destination:

  • Breakfast Return is after 10:00 am
  • Lunch Return is after 2:00 pm
  • Dinner Return is after 7:00 pm

For one-day trips, meals are not provided unless the cost of meals is inseparable from the charge for a meeting, convention, or seminar. When an employee is not in travel status, meals are considered to be personal expenses and not reimbursable.

  1. OTHER EXPENSES: The College will reimburse the traveler for the following items (payment receipts must be provided):
  • Tolls
  • Parking Fees
  • Registration, Meeting and Convention Fees
  • Checked Baggage Fees
  • Local Transportation (Business Related)
  • Internet Access Charges (Business Related)
  • Local cabs, ride sharing companies, and public transportation fees (Business Related)
  1. OTHER TERMS:The terms and rates of agencies or organizations funding the travel may take precedence over these guidelines.
  2. Non-Reimbursable Expenses:The following is a list of items which are considered to be personal in nature and, therefore, not reimbursable as a business expense. This list is not all-inclusive.
  • Any expenses incurred on behalf of a spouse or non-employee travel companion
  • Entertainment
  • Personal care items/ services such as haircuts, laundry, toiletries, medicines, etc.
  • Unnecessary additional nights of accommodations
  • Childcare
  • Kennel/ boarding expenses for Pets
  • Air Seat Upgrades to business and/or first class
  • Flight/ Travel Insurance - Unless for a specific business purpose and Pre-Approved
  • Insurance on rental cars - Unless for a specific business purpose and Pre-Approved
  • Personal telephone calls
  • Liquor
  • Credit Card fees or interest
  • Costs for commuting between your home and primary work location
  • Other costs not directly associated with the business purpose of the trip

 SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION:

Procedures:


Travel Advance Request Form Supplement 1, No. 602.4
Travel Expense Report/Voucher Supplement 2, No. 602.4
Air Travel Request Form Supplement 3, No. 602.4 

 

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