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If you are like most of us, filling out forms for travel is not one of your favorite activities. Hopefully this page will help address what many consider the biggest hurdle: knowing how to get started and having the basic road map of what to do. If you can also obtain copies of filled-out forms from a colleague, that could certainly help you along the way. If you've had travel support available to you at your previous university, the information on this page may look rather familiar.

DISCLAIMER: Your department (or research center, etc.) may have procedures in place that are not covered here. It is also possible that some of the information on this page is not given in sufficient detail for your travel situation. More details are provided in the UGA Travel Regulations page. Be sure to have the appropriate departmental staff person check your forms to make sure all bases are covered.

Support may or may not be available to you for a specific professional trip, or the available support may only be partial. You will want to make sure you are clear about how much is available to you and what accounts are involved (actual account names and numbers will typically be supplied by your department).

II. Before Your Trip

What is a "Travel Authority"? It may sound like this is a person or an office, but it's really a piece of paper (or electronic form). More properly, the document is titled "REQUEST FOR AUTHORITY TO TRAVEL ON OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY BUSINESS." A link to this form is provided at the top of this page, as well as here. The web form generates a unique Travel Authority number when you open it. (Some departments have paper or pdf Travel Authority forms as well.)

To fill out your Travel Authority, you'll have to take a little time to research the costs of your trip so you can get those costs approved. You'll also need to check on how much is normally allowed for daily expenses when traveling to the particular city you are visiting. For example, the hotel rate offered in the main hotel(s) at a conference may be discounted, but the discounted rate will often exceed the per diem amount allowed for hotel costs for that particular city.

Fill out this form: 4 weeks before your trip for international travel; 3 weeks for out of state; and 2 weeks for in state.

Here is the scoop on filling out the Travel Authority, in the simplest terms I can come up with. Type into the web form before printing:

1. First Section/Accounts. The first couple of lines are self-explanatory. For the accounts, be familiar with the sources of your travel funds, but don't worry about the account information if you don't have it. Your department will add that information.

2. Meals and Lodging. Amounts allowed for meals and lodging outside of Georgia are listed in tables at the following links, with amounts corresponding to the location where the expense is incurred:

Domestic Per Diem Meal and Lodging Rates
Breakdown of Amounts Per Meal
Foreign Per Diem Meal and Lodging Rates
(Note: For overnight travel within the state of Georgia, please see the UGA Travel Regulations page.)

For meals, the information in the above links is your best estimate of what will be claimed after the trip. (Note that the $3 per day for "incidentals" is not allowed at UGA, so be sure to exclude that amount.)

For lodging, the simplest approach (for paperwork purposes) is to find the allowed rate per day in that city and see if you can find accommodations that fall within that amount.

(Alternatively, if you feel you have responsibilities that require you to stay in a more expensive hotel (e.g., if you are an organization officer in charge of various aspects of an event), you may be able to have a letter of justification submitted after your trip and see if you can get the larger amount approved. In that case, you will want to include this larger amount in your lodging expenses in the Travel Authority.)

Depending on how early you submit the Travel Authority, you may want to go ahead and book your flights and make hotel reservations at the same time.

3. Transportation. Obtain the best airfare you can get, whether through a travel agency or through online booking, and start with this amount. Add any amounts for airport shuttle, cab, or rental car (usually your hotel can point you in the right direction for this information). If you need a rental car, you may be asked to explain why in an attached document.

Check off the appropriate items under "Mode of Travel." Add your starting and ending dates and the departure time.

If you go through a local travel agency, you may possibly be able to set up direct billing from the travel agency to UGA for your airfare, saving you the trouble of getting reimbursed for this amount later. Check with your department about this.

4. Other. Most often a conference registration amount will go here. There may also be other things specific to your trip that would go in this category. Airport parking can go here also.

5. Remaining lines: For "Nature of Official Business," just put the name of the conference or other event. For "Address at Destination," put your hotel address if you have it, or put the conference headquarters address. For "Means of handling classes and other business while absent," put "no classes missed" if this is true for you. If not, you may want to consult with your department secretary or other faculty for the right wording about other responsibilities (e.g., online teaching, etc.). In any case, do not merely indicate that you have cancelled classes.

6. Print, sign, and submit the Travel Authority to the appropriate person in your department. As a precaution, either make another copy at this point, or obtain a copy of the form once it has your department head's signature on it, to keep for your records.

III. During Your Trip

Keep receipts for all travel expenses (cab or shuttle fare, parking, etc.) and for your hotel. You do not need to keep receipts for meals.

IV. After Your Trip

Access the Travel Expense Statement and fill it out online. Here are some notes about filling it out:

1. For the first several lines, keep in mind that "Headquarters" will be your department and "Institution" will be the University of Georgia. "Residence" will be your home address. Put the starting and ending dates of your travel.

2. For the first two columns, type in the date of each day and the approximate departure time and arrival of your first day and last day at each location (usually there is only one location). Do not fill in the times for the full days at a location - leave these blank.

3. For the third column, put the acronym of the conference or event (they have the full name of this in the Travel Authority) and the city.

4. Meals. The good news is that you can put the per diem amount for everything regardless of the exact amount you spent (yes, this is policy now, as of October 2006 - see the Travel Regulations). The exception to this would be an occasion in which meals are covered for you at the event. Do not claim a meal if someone else paid for it!

There is a maximum amount for starting and ending dates given for each location, along with the per diem amount for each meal on full days. Enter meal amounts for starting and ending days (e.g., lunch and dinner only) so that they add up to the allowed maximum.

According to official UGA regulations:

"There are specific instances in which an employee may be eligible for the three-meal per diem rate on
departure/return days.

Day of departure:
Departure for overnight trip prior to 6:30 am: Employee is eligible for per diem for breakfast,
lunch and dinner.
Departure for overnight trip prior to 11:00 am: Employee is eligible for per diem for lunch and dinner.
Departure for overnight trip prior to 5:30 pm: Employee is eligible for per diem for dinner.

Day of return:
Returning from overnight trip after 6:30 am: Employee is eligible for per diem for breakfast.
Returning from overnight trip after 1:30 pm: Employee is eligible for per diem for breakfast and lunch.
Returning from overnight trip after 7:30 pm: Employee is eligible for per diem for breakfast,
lunch and dinner.

Times of departure (for the day of departure) and return (for the day of return) should be noted on the employee expense statement to substantiate meals eligible for payment of per diem."

5. Lodging. Put only the allowed amount for each overnight stay, unless you plan to appeal for more support for your lodging expenses with an attached letter of justification.

6. Vehicle Mileage. On page two of the form, fill in the amount that exceeds your commute miles, according to the rate given. Do not claim personal vehicle miles unless you drove further than the distance of your normal commute. Totals will automatically be entered on page one of the form.

7. In the bottom section of page two, enter your taxi or shuttle expenses on the left and any "other" items (such as conference registration or parking fees) on the right. Totals will automatically be entered on page one of the form.

8. As before, save an electronic copy of the form for future use. Print, sign, and submit the Travel Expense Statement, with receipts attached, to the appropriate person in your department. Keep a printed copy for your records.

Et Voila! You have survived the red tape of faculty travel! You will receive an email advisement of the reimbursement, usually within a couple of weeks.

Be sure to have your forms checked by your department.

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