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Division of Business Affairs
Controller's Office

Travel Information

State Travel Office - Note: Questions & exception requests are to be routed through the Travel Program Administrators: Susan Clow, x5122 sclow@ulm.edu and Jessica Simmons, x5112 for travel cards/CBA, and Jessica Simmons x5112 jmoore@ulm.edu or Brad Bower x5106 bower@ulm.edu for travel authorizations, advances, and expense reports.

PORTALS:

TRAVEL PRESENTATIONS:

TRAVEL POLICY LINKS:

TRAVEL INFORMATION LINKS:

TRAVEL FORMS -- INTERNAL, ULM:

ULM STATE TRAVEL CARD/CBA INFORMATION & LINKS:

BANK OF AMERICA (BOA) WORKS/WORKFLOW INFORMATION:

Travel Announcements

FY 23 - September 14, 2022

The new travel regulations have been published by The Office of State Travel. Please refer to the new 2022-2023 PPM-49 for complete updates, changes, and regulations. The 2022-2023 PPM-49 is effective July 1, 2022. Following is the direct PPM-49 link, which is posted on the Controller’s Travel Website ():

https://www.ulm.edu/controller/travel.html

*Changes to FY22-23 State Travel Policy are located on the website below.

https://www.doa.la.gov/doa/ost/ppm-49-travel-guide/

The exemption to utilize personal cards for individual travel has been renewed for FY 2023.

For individual travel, State Cards are still required for in-state vehicle rentals, prospective employees, and other visitors. We also encourage the use of airfare for individual travel.

We have updated the forms for the travel website:

https://webservices.ulm.edu/forms/officesdepartments/controllers-office

Please view our website at:

https://www.ulm.edu/controller/travel.html

TRAVEL FORMS ---- INTERNAL, ULM

Some key points in the PPM-49:

Please contact Susan Clow (x5122), Lena Beutner (x5106), or Jessica Simmons (x5112) with questions.

Travelers may experience trouble with on-line booking for “In-State” vehicle rentals through Enterprise. Should this be the case, we are asking you to email Joey Rosenfeld at Joseph.G.Rosenfeld@ehi.com  with the information below.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.  Please forward this information to all applicable personnel within your agency/university.

State of Louisiana Vehicle Request

Renters Name

 

Rental Date & Time

 

Return Date & Time

  

Rental Location Needed

 

Size Vehicle Requested

 

Renters Phone #

 

Renters email address

 

Account Number

 

Billing # if applicable

  

Shelita Woods, State Travel Manager, Division of Administration, Office of State Travel

FYI from Office of State Travel

From: Shelita Woods
Sent: Tuesday, January 5, 2021 12:17 PM
Subject: Unused Tickets and Welcome Email
Importance: High

Good Afternoon

We have received numerous calls regarding unused tickets and welcome emails.  As of today this is the update regarding unused tickets.  Any unused tickets purchased through Short’s Travel must be handled as they have been in the past and in accordance to PPM 49.  These tickets must be utilized directly through the airlines and not Short’s Travel.   The agency and traveler must continue to  monitor and make every attempt to use the unused ticket.  If the ticket cannot be used, the traveler and/or agency must continue to properly document the reason regarding the loss of funds for the unused ticket.  We are fully aware that many travelers may not be traveling due to COVID-19, so documentation is very important.

Our office is still in negotiation with airlines regarding unused tickets that are COVID-19 related; however, for trips that were cancelled due to COVID-19, the airlines are working with our office to extend tickets beyond the normal expiration date.  Our office is also currently working with Delta, Southwest and United to get credits, minus administrative fees if applicable, for the COVID-related tickets.  However, until this process is completed, you should still be utilizing any unused tickets, first, for anyone traveling during this time.  Thus far, this is what the airlines are offering, again for COVID unused tickets only:

Welcome emails have been going out since December 29, 2020 and will be resent on January 5th and 6th for anyone whose welcome email link has expired.  If your travelers or arrangers have already set a profile up in Short's they will receive a welcome email to set up their password only.  Any new user that needs to set up a profile must go to the following website: https://legacy.cbtravel.com/business/profile/stateofla/.  Please do not utilize this link if you had a profile in Short’s.  Doing this would create multiple user ID’s for the traveler or arrangers and the traveler or arranger would automatically be deleted which will cause the traveler or arranger to create a new profile.

Please make sure this information is filtered to your travelers and arrangers so they are aware that the welcome emails are legitimate, not spam or fraud. Note: Please make sure your IT department has the domain, cbtravel.com, whitelisted to avoid any issues.  

Shelita Woods, State Travel Manager, Division of Administration, Office of State Travel

 

Enterprise Starting September 1, 2020

 

CONVENIENCE FEES

The section below is now officially part of the State of Louisiana Corporate Liability “Travel Card /CBA Policy and LaCarte” Purchasing Card/CBA Policy. 

Merchants may include a surcharge or convenience fee. VISA and MasterCard have strict merchant guidelines governing the assessment of surcharge fees:

For any charge where the Supplier has charged a surcharge, a cardholder or user should obtain a copy of the acknowledgment letter sent to the Supplier by Visa authorizing the Supplier to impose a surcharge as part of their supporting documentation.

Convenience Fees are charged as a flat fee (regardless of the total cost) when purchases are made via one form of payment channel over another – online or by phone vs. in store or by mail.

The decision to use a State Travel Card/CBA on a purchase that will incur a surcharge or convenience fee should be based on rare and extenuating circumstances such as no other form of payment is accepted, timeliness of payment to avoid late fees, urgency of the needed item or services, lack of other vendors, etc. Agencies are required to carefully evaluate the necessity of the State Travel/CBA Card transactions which are subject to surcharge or convenience fees.

Shelita Woods, State Travel Manager, Division of Administration, Office of State Travel

 

Additional security measures for international flights to the U.S.

Beginning later this week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will require additional security measures for all international flights to the United States.

These measures include enhanced screening of travelers, as well as heightened screening of electronic devices larger than a standard smartphone. Travelers may need to remove these devices from their protective cases or outer packaging for inspection.

For international flights, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recommends arriving at the airport at least three hours before your flight, allowing time for the additional security measures.

Our top priority is the safety of our customers and employees, and we will continue to work with DHS to comply with the new security directive. For more information and to read a fact sheet about the new directive, please visit the DHS website.

The travel guidelines require that in-state vehicle rentals (for all travel) and out-of-state vehicle rentals (for group travel) be charged to a state card. This new website will allow the state CBA account (Controlled Billing Account) to be charged directly each time a vehicle is returned to Enterprise. Enterprise will no longer directly bill the University, so it is important that this website be used for vehicle rentals in order for the University to more easily comply with the state travel requirements. Training for the use of this website was provided on May 6th and May 7th.

Important items to note:

Please contact our office with any questions.

Hotels have brought to our attention that travelers staying at hotels in the State of Louisiana are not presenting their tax exemption form. Hotels will begin charging in-state taxes and the employee will be responsible for reimbursement if the tax exemption form was not presented at time of check-in. Please advise all necessary personnel immediately. Thanks for your assistance in this matter.

Shelita Woods, Office of State Travel

Travel Advances/Expense Reports and Check Requests:

Please make every effort to send or deliver the Travel Advances/Expense Reports and Check Requests by the Friday, 11:30 a.m. deadline to Coenen Hall Room 103 so they may be stamped before being distributed to the proper processor. We are working very diligently and expediently to process all payments in a timely manner. It is our goal for all completed requests that have been received in Accounts Payable by Friday, 11:30 a.m. to be processed in the check run for the following week; however, incomplete Receivers and/or incorrect/incomplete Travel Advances / Expense Reports will delay payment. No travel expenses will be paid through Check Requests and you must submit your PRIOR travel authorizations for ALL out-of-state travel and in-state conferences.

In order to verify if payment has been made, first access FAIVNDH in Banner and check Vendor History. However, due to the high volume received in AP, please allow two weeks before making an inquiry to AP, preferably by email, as to why payment has not been made.

Questions should be directed as follows:

Travel – Brad Bower bower@ulm.edu or Jessica Simmons jmoore@ulm.edu

We appreciate your cooperation, patience, and adherence in these procedures.

We will inform you of the training sessions once the dates have been determined.

Nicole Walker, Controller; University of Louisiana Monroe; Phone: (318) 342-1040; Fax: (318) 342-5103

 

 


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