Travel Guide

• • Under no circumstances will alcoholic beverages be reimbursed
  • All receipts for expenses incurred while on foreign travel MUST be translated into English
  • The use of First Class Travel is NOT Authorized

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All travel is to be documented. Pre-approval is required for SMCM employees and sponsored visitors for out-of-state and international travel. Pre-approval is required for SMCM travel which includes an overnight stay, regardless of whether the destination is in-state or out-of-state. For the purposes of clarity, SMCM business conducted within the State of Maryland and the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area is classified as in-state Travel. Required approval may vary according to the travel destination. For in-country travel, approval by the Budget Manager to incur expenses is required. Faculty travel must be approved by both the Budget Manager and the Dean of Faculty. For travel outside the United States, approval by the Budget Manager, Dean of Faculty for faculty travel, as well as the President or a Vice President is required.

SMCM Travel Authorization and Advance Form must be completed before the commencement of or the incurrence of any expenses for any travel. Forms must be picked up in person from the Accounts Payable Office located in room 260 of Glendening Hall. Requestors are required to sign for the form and provide a budget number for the travel. The form may not be forwarded to a requester via inter-office mail. Once the proper approvals have been obtained, the original copy of the form must be sent to the Accounts Payable Office. Traveler should keep the second copy for their records. Travel authorization and advance forms must be completely filled out. Forms with missing budget numbers and/or approvals will be sent back to the requestor for correction.

SMCM Authorized Travel Agencies

Reservation Travel Office: (301) 570-0800, press 1
Reservation Travel Toll Free: (800) 322-7032, press 1
Travel Fax: (301) 570-9514
Travel E-Mail: travel@globetrottermgmt.com
Official Globetrotter Website: www.globetrottermgmt.com

Globetrotter Travel offers a full range of services under their contract.

Services include:

• Individual Travel for air, hotel, car rental, visa services, travel insurance
• Official Business Travel for St. Mary’s College
• Off-campus Meeting Planning for groups and events
• Hotel Selection, Reservation Service, Registration Technology and services for Meetings, Conventions, Events and Forums
• Group Travel for domestic and International Travel
• Athletic Travel, Hotels, Buses, Group Air, Van Rentals – Local and Away Games

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In addition to Globetrotter Travel, the College has accounts with the following local travel agencies:

Cole Travel
46924 Shangri La Drive
Lexington Park, MD 20653
Ph.: (301) 863-9497
Fax: (301) 862-1700
Website:

Travel Leaders
22325 Greenview Parkway
Suite 1C
Great Mills, MD 20634
Ph.: (301) 862-6012
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Travelers are urged to check the service fees charged by the referenced travel firms, in as much as they may vary greatly.

Travelers have several ways to pay for travel services. When purchasing airline or train tickets through one of the above listed firms, charges will be direct billed to the College and no further action by the traveler is required. Lodging and other in-trip expenses are normally paid by the traveler at the time of use by utilizing their State issued Corporate Purchasing Card or other preferred personal funds. Note: The purchase of food using the State issued Corporate Purchasing Card is strictly prohibited and will be denied at the point of sale. Traveler will be required to provide detailed receipts for expenses incurred with their purchase card activity log. If a traveler chooses to utilize their personal funds (cash or personal credit card) to pay for travel services, the traveler must then provide detailed receipts together with an SMCM Expense form to the Accounts Payable office for reimbursement within five (5) business days of returning from the travel.

Travelers may incur out-of-pocket charges depending on the travel arrangements that are made. These charges will be reimbursed at the conclusion of the trip with proper approval. When possible, the State issued Corporate Purchasing Card should be utilized. If necessary, please request the assistance of the support personnel in your department in making arrangements. The traveler or department designee is responsible for making reservations and arranging for payment using the following guidelines:

Conference Registrations

If a conference registration cannot be paid with a State issued Corporate Purchasing Card, and advance payment is required, the traveler may either pay the charges with their personal funds and request reimbursement at the close of the conference, or he/she may submit a Requisition for Purchase (RP) along with a copy of the registration form to the Purchasing Office in the Business Office. Purchasing will process the requisition and issue an Official Purchase Order to the vendor. Please note that in order to expedite the processing of this request, traveler MUST provide the Purchasing Department with valid Federal ID number (nine-digit number) for the contractor. Failure to provide this information will prevent the processing of the requisition. Please allow three weeks for payment to reach the vendor.

SMCM Vehicles

The College maintains a fleet of vehicles for use by faculty and staff for authorized purposes within the state of Maryland and the Washington, DC metropolitan area. To request a vehicle, traveler must fill out the Employee Request Form for Use of State Vehicle.

All completed forms are to be submitted to the Physical Plant. Forms may be dropped off in person or faxed to (240) 895-4913. If you have questions regarding the vehicle fleet, please call extension 4287.The Athletic Department is authorized to utilize these vehicles for use outside the state of Maryland with no additional approvals required. All other requests for use of SMCM vehicles outside the state must be approved by the Vice President for Business and Finance.

Gas Credit Cards

Gas credit cards are available when an SMCM vehicle is used for business travel. Credit cards are available from the Student Accounts Office located in room 140 of Glendening Hall, extension 4315. To secure a gas card, traveler must submit a copy of the approved Employee Request form for Use of State Vehicle request form. All SMCM vehicles have EZ-Pass transponders on them. Use EZ-Pass toll lanes while traveling.

Rental Cars

Travelers may rent cars while on travel status when other means of transportation are unavailable, more costly or impractical. The lowest cost vehicle necessary to achieve the traveler’s mission shall be used.

Original copy of the vehicle rental agreement and any original receipts MUST be provided with the traveler’s submission of their SMCM Expense Account Form or Corporate Purchasing Card Activity Log. Liability insurance offered by the rental company MUST be purchased on all rental vehicles to be operated outside the State of Maryland or the Washington DC area. When leasing a vehicle for use within the State of Maryland and/or the Washington DC area, insurance offered by the rental company should not be purchased.

If during the rental period of a vehicle being used within the State of Maryland and/or the Washington DC area damages occur which result in a claim by the rental company, State of Maryland “Notice of Claim Form” shall be filled out by the traveler and returned to the Accounts Payable Office in room 260 of Glendening Hall as soon as practicable after the event.

NOTE: The State will not authorize reimbursement for Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in leased vehicles.

Lodging

Every effort should be made to ensure that lodging costs are reasonable and appropriate. Globetrotter Travel can assist with reserving Government and other discount rates. Some discounts also apply to personal travel.

Travelers securing lodging in Maryland and Washington, DC should advise the hotel that the College is exempt from sales and use tax in these areas. Travelers should verify that sales and use tax are not Rev: 03/14 SMCM Official Travel Policies Page 5 charged to their final bill at checkout. If needed, the Purchasing Office can fax a copy of the College’s Sales and Use Tax Exemption Certificate to a vendor.

The cost of hotel accommodations will be reimbursed on the basis of receipts. Any overage above the single room rate, which is a result of non-official travelers utilizing the accommodations, will be the personal financial responsibility of the traveler. Itemized receipts (including hotel’s itemized bill) must be submitted with either the Expense Account form for reimbursement or the Corporate Purchasing Activity Log (depending on method of payment). A credit card slip alone does not satisfy the receipt requirement.

In-room cable TV/movies and other items of a personal nature are not reimbursable.

SMCM provides reimbursement per-diem for certain cost. Per-diem rates are as follows:

Privately Owned Vehicle Mileage Reimbursements:
Current mileage rates can be found: Privately Owned Vehicle Reimbursement Rates

Meal & Incidental Expenses (M&IE) Reimbursement Rates
Please refer to the following link for current per diem rates: 

• Meal rates for high cost metropolitan areas.
• Porter fees and hotel tips. The reimbursable rate is $1.00 per bag.
• Transportation Tips. Tips for taxi, bus, shuttle and airport limousine services are limited to 15% of the total fare amount.

When seeking reimbursement for meals paid on behalf of others, receipts will be required for those individual’s meals. The name(s) of the person(s) must be shown on the receipt(s) together with a justification as to why the College is being asked to pay for the meal(s). A credit card receipt that does not indicate a detailed description will not be accepted.

When seeking reimbursement for meals the following criteria must be met:

Breakfast: Business travel begins prior to two (2) hours before scheduled workday.
Lunch: Business travel requires a traveler to be on travel status during his/her
normally scheduled lunch period;
Dinner: Business travel concludes more than two (2) hours after scheduled
workday.

When traveling to certain high cost metropolitan areas the per diem meal allowance will be as shown on the Maryland Department of Budget and Management Meal and Tip Reimbursement Limits.

Foreign Travel Meals per Diem»
Foreign travel is reimbursed at actual cost with original receipts or at the applicable U.S. Department of State Meal and Incidental (M&IE) rate without receipts. A list of the , once you have the M&IE rate, . You may not mix these methods of reimbursement for your travel. It must either be actual cost with original receipts or the applicable U.S. Department of State M&IE.

Miscellaneous Expenses:
Work-related small miscellaneous expenses such as parking fees, tolls, small supplies and the like are reimbursable. Original receipts will be required for all miscellaneous reimbursements. An expense account, along with all original receipts, should be filed for any type of reimbursement.

Hosting per Diem:
Per Diem meal allowance for hosting someone who is not a College employee for legitimate business purposes:

• Breakfast $15.00
• Lunch 18.00
• Dinner 39.00
• Total $72.00

NOTE: On the rare occasion when it is deemed appropriate and desirable to include a spouse at employee recruiting discussions, the Vice President for Academic Affairs (in the case of faculty recruitment) or the appropriate Vice President (for recruitment of others) may approve the reimbursement of expenditures incurred to feed a candidate or employee’s spouse. In these instances, authorization documentation must be provided with the SMCM Expense Account form.

Travelers may obtain a cash advance for certain travel related expenses such as per diem allotments for meals and miscellaneous expenses such as tips, taxi, etc., from the Accounts Payable Office. Travelers are urged to request the cash advance at least two weeks before your departure date to insure the cash advance is available. Approved advances may be obtained three (3) days prior to scheduled travel.

All travel expenses for which reimbursement is to be requested, i.e.: lodging, telephone, transportation, registration, parking tips, etc., must be accompanied by itemized receipts. Receipts are used to verify that the travel services purchased were used for the approved traveler, dates and locations for which official travel was approved. Receipts also document the actual cost and payment of each expense. Itemized receipts are required for all travel expenses including airfare, rail ticket, parking, car rental, ground transportation, lodging, conference/event registration, vehicle rental and fuel. Receipts should show the date and specific services rendered, vendor name, the amount charged and the form of payment. Receipts for air, rail, car rental and lodging should also include the traveler’s name. Travelers should take care to submit receipts rather than confirmations which do not show how payment was made. Out-of-pocket travel expenses must be reported to the Accounts Payable Office using the SMCM Expense Account form within five (5) business days of return to the College from travel. Enter all travel expenses, sign and obtain Budget Manager’s approval before submitting the form. In addition, all required receipts for all expenses MUST accompany the form. Expenses charged to the Corporate Purchasing Card will be included on the appropriate Purchasing Card Activity Log with all original receipts.

All receipts from foreign countries MUST be translated into English and the total dollar amount converted to US currency on the receipt.

Careful records must be maintained to separate the expenses of travel companions from the reimbursable expenses of St. Mary’s College of Maryland official travelers. Written verification of a hotel’s applicable single rate should be obtained at time of check-out and submitted along with the actual bill. The College will not reimburse any expenses incurred on behalf of a travel companion unless a specific determination is made by the approving authority in advance that the companion’s travel is official business necessitated by the nature of the event. Any additional cost incurred due to stopovers or route modifications made for the convenience of the traveler will be borne entirely by the traveler. For wholly personal or vacation travel, contact Globetrotter Travel for information about St. Mary’s College of Maryland employee discounts.

For information regarding: Vendors, Purchase orders and requisitions please contact the SMCM Purchasing Office at extensions 3312 or 4307.For information regarding:

• Direct-bill travel forms
• Expense Account Reporting
• Cash Advance
• Receipts
• Reimbursement

Please contact the SMCM Accounts Payable Office at extensions 4308 or 4238; For payment of funds due the College please contact the SMCM Accounts Receivable Office at extension 4302.

For SMCM Vehicle availability please contact the Physical Plant at extension 4287.

• SMCM Travel Authorization and Advance Form
  This form is used to pre-authorize travel before incurring expenses and whenever a traveler requests a
  travel advance. The request should be submitted to the Accounts Payable Office as far in advance as
  possible. If approved, the travel advance may be obtained three (3) days prior to scheduled travel.
• Employee Request Form for Use of State Vehicle
  This form is used to request a College vehicle.
• SMCM Expense Account Form
  This form is used to summarize all travel expenses and to provide authorization for reimbursement.
• State of Maryland Notice of Claim Form
  This form is used to report damages to a leased vehicle.