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 Jamie Mondragon, x5115 stahley@ulm.edu for travel cards/CBA, and Beth Weatherford, x5106 eweatherford@ulm.edu for travel authorizations, advances, and expense reports.

PORTALS:

CHRISTOPHERSON BUSINESS TRAVEL - CONCUR:

TRAVEL PRESENTATIONS:

TRAVEL POLICY LINKS:

TRAVEL INFORMATION LINKS:

TRAVEL FORMS -- INTERNAL, ULM:

  • Request for Rental Vehicle Upgrade .DOC -- TO BE SUBMITTED WITH TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION FORM
  • Travel Advance Request .DOC
  • Travel Authorization - Revised 9/14/2022 .XLS
  • Travel Expense .XLS
  • Travel Policy .PDF
  • Travel Procedure .PDF
  • Travel Procedure (International) .PDF
  • Travel Card Exit Form .DOC

ULM STATE TRAVEL CARD/CBA INFORMATION & LINKS:

BANK OF AMERICA (BOA) WORKS/WORKFLOW INFORMATION:

Travel Announcements

AMERICAN AIRLINES

American Airlines now offers a direct flight from Baton Rouge to Washington, DC, option that departs at 5:46 a.m. from BTR and around 7 p.m. from DCA each day. Starting in November, the morning flight out to DCA will leave BTR an hour later at 6:45 AM.  Christopherson has increased the visibility of these flights in CBT and has modified the window of time when a traveler chooses to search for "morning" flights. Previously, when "morning" was chosen, the earliest flight displayed would be 6 a.m., but that has been changed to 4 a.m. When booking a flight to DC, the traveler must still follow PPM49 and choose the lowest logical fare.

Per Shelita Woods, State Travel Manager

TRAVEL INFORMATION

The Office of State Travel publishes updated travel regulations every fiscal year, which go into effect on July 1. The updated travel guide, which provides guidelines and establishes procedures for individuals incurring business travel expenses on the State’s behalf, can be located at: 

University of Louisiana Monroe Travel Information

Louisiana Office of State Travel

Here are the two key areas that were updated this year:

  1. Under Methods of Transportation, Uber Black, Uber Black XL, Uber Premier, Lyft Lux, Lyft Lux Black, and Lyft Lux Black XL are not reimbursable.
  2. Under Lodging, the Commissioner of Administration must approve rates exceeding the Conference Lodging Rate. 

Refer to the new 2023-2024 PPM-49 for complete updates, changes, and regulations.  

The exemption to utilize personal cards for individual travel has been renewed for FY 2024.

Please remember that all travel expense forms are to be submitted within 30 days of the travelers’ return date.

In the event you have any questions concerning state travel, please contact Susan Clow (x5122), Jamie Mondragon (x5115), or Beth Weatherford (x5106).

Effective April 10, 2023 Christopherson will no longer offer State of LA manual approval process when a traveler needs to make changes to a ticket that causes creating a new ticket at a price increase.  Changed tickets booked through CBT at an increase cost above the original ticket, will automatically be charged to the agency’s CBA without going through the approval process with the CBA accountholder.  Justification will need to be kept on file when a change and/or increase occurs.

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

ENTERPRISE

If problems occur with Enterprise booking, please contact Joey Rosenfeld at Joseph.G.Rosenfeld@ehi.com  with the information below.

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

UNUSED AIRFARE TICKETS should be utilized before purchasing new tickets. Christopherson is the commercial travel company and must be used.

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

Enterprise

  • Enterprise has added a Premium segment to their cars.
  • Please note PREMIUM cars are not allowed.
  • Including the new full-size premium designation are not allowed.
  • You will have to reimburse the difference between a full size and a premium.
  • Also we have had people using it was the only car on the lot excuse.
  • This is not an acceptable excuse.
  • Enterprise is supposed to charge what you asked for online.
  • Upgrade forms are still needed.
  • The travel authorization and expense report have been updated on the website.

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:

  • The merchant must register with VISA 30 days prior to beginning a surcharge policy.
  • The merchant must provide clear disclosure to the customer.
  • The amount of the surcharge must be listed as a separate item and detailed on the receipt.
  • The surcharge must apply to all credit cards accepted by the merchant.
  • The surcharge must be equivalent to the merchant’s interchange rate, but cannot exceed 4%.

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

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:

  • Taxes will appear when the reservation is made through the website. However, those taxes should not appear on the paper receipt that you receive at the Enterprise location and the taxes will not be charged to the University’s CBA account.
  • A unique billing code is needed in order to reserve the vehicle. Please contact Susan at #5122, sclow@ulm.edu, and they can coordinate getting the billing codes to those who need them or direct you to who is responsible for your billing code.
  • If the vehicle is picked up a day early in order to leave for the trip before Enterprise opens the following day, when you pick up the vehicle, you will need to notify Enterprise that charges should start the following morning.
  • If the vehicle is being returned after hours, remind Enterprise (when the vehicle is picked up) that the charges should be stopped on the night the vehicle will be returned.

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 – Beth Weatherford, 318.342.5106, eweatherford@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.

[per Nicole Walker, CPA, Ed.D., Controller; University of Louisiana Monroe; Phone: 318.342.1040; Fx: 318.342.5103]

 

 


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