106 · Representative Documents: Travel Policies
Northwestern University
Travel Policy
3
• Employees whose salary is in the lower 15% of salaries and who are not new librarians will be given an
additional $200.00 per year as long as the salary remains in the lower 15%.
Employees who are eligible for either provision will be notified of their status in the annual travel memo, which will
include the total amount of the allowance (base +supplement) available to them.
All requests for non-administrative travel must be submitted using the travel request form. A request for travel may
be made at any time during the year and is submitted to the immediate supervisor for approval. This approval is for
consideration of the relevance of the travel as well as the consideration of the time off. Each eligible employee is
free to use his or her travel allowance for any travel which:
• is relevant to the individual’s employment
• is in compliance with University guidelines for travel and
• has been approved in advance by the supervisor.
Within the parameters of the travel allowance, employees are not limited to a specific amount of money per single
trip provided the expenses for which reimbursement is expected follow University guidelines for travel. Exempt
employees are free to choose to spend the total travel allowance on one trip or spread it over a number of trips.
There is no roll over of funds to the next year nor is there borrowing from one year to pay for travel in the previous
year.
Staff will notify their supervisor if not taking a trip for which approval was granted.
Within four weeks of the completion of the travel, the employee should complete a travel expense form and submit
appropriate travel receipts to the Business and Finance Office to obtain reimbursement. In accordance with
University policy, the signature of a supervisor is needed on the request for reimbursement.
International travel:
International travel is funded either as administrative or non-administrative travel, whichever is appropriate.
Employees traveling internationally should use the procedure for the type of travel they are requesting, as described
above. No extra funding will generally be available for non-administrative international travel. However, if the
employee can demonstrate that part of the trip fulfills the criteria for administrative travel, the employee may submit
a blended proposal for reimbursement of expenses for the administrative portion.
REPORTING
It is expected that employees who engage in travel for which there is either time off or funding given, will share the
benefits of their attendance with their colleagues in an appropriate form such as a written brief report or a verbal
report at a departmental meeting, a meeting with interested parties or other forum. Not all meetings, such as annual
ALA meetings need to be reported on in detail, however, sharing relevant information from the ALA or other
similar professional meetings is always welcomed.
Historical notes: Originally issued Dec. 15, 1976. Revised: April 30, 1993 and August 29, 2002. Issued as Policy &
Procedure Manual p. 90-95A (Chapter II). Modified: August 29, 2002. Revision submitted to the Assembly for
approval: April 2, 2007. Revisions approved by the Assembly: April 16, 2007. Administrative Committee approved
Policy: June 19, 2007
Northwestern University
Travel Policy
3
• Employees whose salary is in the lower 15% of salaries and who are not new librarians will be given an
additional $200.00 per year as long as the salary remains in the lower 15%.
Employees who are eligible for either provision will be notified of their status in the annual travel memo, which will
include the total amount of the allowance (base +supplement) available to them.
All requests for non-administrative travel must be submitted using the travel request form. A request for travel may
be made at any time during the year and is submitted to the immediate supervisor for approval. This approval is for
consideration of the relevance of the travel as well as the consideration of the time off. Each eligible employee is
free to use his or her travel allowance for any travel which:
• is relevant to the individual’s employment
• is in compliance with University guidelines for travel and
• has been approved in advance by the supervisor.
Within the parameters of the travel allowance, employees are not limited to a specific amount of money per single
trip provided the expenses for which reimbursement is expected follow University guidelines for travel. Exempt
employees are free to choose to spend the total travel allowance on one trip or spread it over a number of trips.
There is no roll over of funds to the next year nor is there borrowing from one year to pay for travel in the previous
year.
Staff will notify their supervisor if not taking a trip for which approval was granted.
Within four weeks of the completion of the travel, the employee should complete a travel expense form and submit
appropriate travel receipts to the Business and Finance Office to obtain reimbursement. In accordance with
University policy, the signature of a supervisor is needed on the request for reimbursement.
International travel:
International travel is funded either as administrative or non-administrative travel, whichever is appropriate.
Employees traveling internationally should use the procedure for the type of travel they are requesting, as described
above. No extra funding will generally be available for non-administrative international travel. However, if the
employee can demonstrate that part of the trip fulfills the criteria for administrative travel, the employee may submit
a blended proposal for reimbursement of expenses for the administrative portion.
REPORTING
It is expected that employees who engage in travel for which there is either time off or funding given, will share the
benefits of their attendance with their colleagues in an appropriate form such as a written brief report or a verbal
report at a departmental meeting, a meeting with interested parties or other forum. Not all meetings, such as annual
ALA meetings need to be reported on in detail, however, sharing relevant information from the ALA or other
similar professional meetings is always welcomed.
Historical notes: Originally issued Dec. 15, 1976. Revised: April 30, 1993 and August 29, 2002. Issued as Policy &
Procedure Manual p. 90-95A (Chapter II). Modified: August 29, 2002. Revision submitted to the Assembly for
approval: April 2, 2007. Revisions approved by the Assembly: April 16, 2007. Administrative Committee approved
Policy: June 19, 2007
