Hi Rebecca, funding can be in advance or reimbursed. Usually with the group travel the department pays for the group with a corporate card and reconcile the budgets accordingly. We are working on giving students access to Concur Travel and Expense, so that they can book their own travel and submit the expenses for reimbursement. Of course, we have oversight and approvals in place at the department level. We are even requiring that the students book all Tulane related travel (academic (study abroad and business travel) through Concur or with an agent, even if they will be partially reimbursed. This helps with keeping all these expenses on record. Probably went off the subject a little, but we have individual travel cards, not Ghost cards. All travelers must purchase separately, unless in a group or it's staff traveling with the student(s).

Hi Rebecca, funding can be in advance or reimbursed. Usually with the group travel the department pays for the group with a corporate card and reconcile the budgets accordingly. We are working on giving students access to Concur Travel and Expense, so that they can book their own travel and submit the expenses for reimbursement. Of course, we have oversight and approvals in place at the department level. We are even requiring that the students book all Tulane related travel (academic (study abroad and business travel) through Concur or with an agent, even if they will be partially reimbursed. This helps with keeping all these expenses on record. Probably went off the subject a little, but we have individual travel cards, not Ghost cards. All travelers must purchase separately, unless in a group or it's staff traveling with the student(s).

Hi Rebecca,
We have been wrestling with the question of student travel when it's primarily for the student's academic benefit for a while. In our state (WA) there are a lot of restrictions on travel spending and it's definition as business related- the non-taxable reimbursements, for example. But I'm learning that some kinds of student travel funding aren't necessarily considered financial aid (even when it's primarily for the student's academic support)- some student activity fees and some grants, for example. I'm consulting with our assistant attorney general office on this to get a clear outline of types of student travel and allowable sources of funding in place, but ultimately it will be the determination of the departments paying for the student travel. That being said, we usually pay for student travel in the same way employee travel is paid- it's allowed on the pcard, and to be reimbursed to the student if it's an allowable student travel expense.
I'm interested to hear more about how you move forward with student travel. Thanks for broaching the topic!
Sally

We allow purchase on payment card when it university sponsored travel and the student doesn't have the financial means to pay out of pocket for reimbursement (grad and undergrad) - e.g. a grant is paying for conference attendance. When it is travel for academic credits ... e.g. study abroad it goes through Financial Aid if needed. In addition, student group travel is paid for on a university payment card as the airlines cannot always take multiple forms of payment and we cannot get group airfare discount.