Business Office

Travel Policies and Procedures

The Travel Policies and Procedures for Mercyhurst College were most recently updated and were effective for the Spring Term 2004 (March 8, 2004 until updated or superceded).

All comments, questions and clarifications should be directed to the controller.

You can find the full text of the Travel Policies and Procedures and download all Travel-related forms on the Forms&Documents page.

MAJOR FEATURES OF THE UPDATED POLICIES:

• Mileage (for use of personal vehicle for college business) is currently reimbursable at 43 cents per mile if and until the Administration approves the use of the Standard Federal Rate.
• The standard meal allowance is now tied to the Federal Government Services Administration (GSA) listing of Domestic Per Diem rates. The only exception to their rates is that the minimum rate for Mercyhurst purposes is the rate listed for Erie, Pennsylvania, which, effective January 1, 2007, is $39 per day. This rate applies to a full day when 3 meals are necessitated.
• The College is currently negotiating deals with a small group of travel agents to facilitate travel and lodging for College personnel. These travel agents are listed in the policies but the arrangements are still being finalized. We'll update you when this is finalized.

ADVANTAGES OF THE UPDATED POLICIES:

• The Polices and Procedures (P&P) are comprehensive and should serve as a guide and a resource for individuals to understand and work with the system.
• The P&P provide a basis for addressing all of the most common issues and circumstances encountered by individuals of the College
• It is organized in a logical manner so that it is easy to locate items.
• It incorporates applicable IRS regulations and guidelines that were previously unclear, misleading or missing.
• It includes many definitions of the terminology used throughout the document.
• It is flexible in that certain provisions are tied to federal guidelines and standards and, therefore, will be updated by the federal government on a regular basis.
• It is flexible in that it considers likely exceptions and provides a means for handling them within the system.
• The P&P include a number of updated forms to assist the user in providing the necessary information for transactions to be processed efficiently.
  Among these are:
  • Utilization of a Standard Daily Per Diem Allowance for a Group of Students
  • Documentation and Explanation in Instances when a Receipt could not be Obtained or has Since Been Lost
  • Request for Travel Policy Exception
  • The new Advance Request Form
  • A new and improved Expense Reimbursement Report is being developed and will be available soon.
• The P&P include an extensive Q&A section addressing a vast majority of the issues contained within the policies and procedures thus providing the user with answers to all of the most frequently asked questions.
• It includes references to related sources of information, web sites, etc.
• It provides an overview of the review and verification process to assist the work being performed by supervisors and budget directors.
• It contains a listing (not all encompassing) of known expenses not subject to reimbursement.
• It includes a copy of the expenditure reimbursement substantiation policy for ease of reference and clarification.
• It, and all of the related forms, will be available on the web (via LakerNet ) for easy access. This also means that making changes and updates will be painless.

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