Faculty Travel Fund Rules and Regulations
The Faculty Travel Fund (FTF) is available to voting members of the Brown faculty for assistance in meeting the costs of one professional trip during any academic year. The FTF will not cover travel undertaken for administrative purposes, nor for travel to and/or from a sabbatic destination, although a faculty member on sabbatical leave may apply to the FTF for aid in supporting travel expenses for scholarly research incurred in the course of one trip during that leave. Faculty who hold appointment to Chairs to which are attached special accounts are not eligible for FTF aid.
It is understood that the faculty member’s signature to this request attests to the fact that no funds, or insufficient funds, are expected to be available to the Traveler from other sources during the academic year for which this request is made. The signature of the Department Chair signifies that this state of affairs is correct, to the best of the Department’s knowledge. The application, whether for advance or reimbursement, must be countersigned by the Department Chair. If it is possible to supplement the FTF with money available from a grant, contract, department, or other source, please specify that amount on Line 8 at the time of the initial application to the FTF.
Requests for FTF assistance may be made at any time during the academic year, either in the form of a Reimbursement or an Advance, by contacting the Manager of the Office for Faculty Governance, 402 University Hall, Box 1830. It is expected that a Final Report will be made by the Traveler to the FTF within a period of three weeks following completion of travel. For trips completed in May and June, the deadline for submission of the Final Report is due two days after the Traveler’s return. Only original copies of expenses (e.g., an original airplane ticket, not a photocopy) and the original copy of the FTF Report Form itself are to be submitted as part of the Final Report; these are IRS rules to which the FTF must rigidly adhere. All expenses of $50.00 or greater (including meals) claimed on the Expense Form must be justified by original receipts enclosed with the Final Report. Faculty may elect to be reimbursed for personal meals on a meal per diem basis (no receipts required) according to Federal Travel Regulation guidelines. Expenses charged for accommodations and subsistence must be clear and reasonable, and may not exceed current US government limits.*
Failure to submit the Final Report to the Office for Faculty Governance within the allotted time will result in the forfeiture of any additional payments beyond the travel advance already received. Further, if no Final Report is received by the Office for Faculty Governance within 60 days of the trip’s completion, the Manager of that Office will declare the faculty member to be in default, and will assume that the Final Report will never be submitted; at that time the University will convert the travel advance into taxable income and shall withhold taxes on that amount. At its discretion, the University may also take steps to recover that travel advance. As the end of the fiscal year approaches, this 60-day deadline will be continuously shortened, to insure the closing of the academic year’s accounts by the end of June. It is the faculty member’s responsibility to inform himself or herself of this variable deadline.
When completing the Form, please note that Transportation by personal automobile will be reimbursed at the rate of .585 cents per mile. The amount appearing on Line 9 is the amount to be initially advanced, or reimbursed, to the Traveler up to a maximum payment of $850.00. The supplementary reimbursement procedure was eliminated effective July 1, 2008.
*For more detailed information on Brown’s travel policy, please consult the Controllers Website: http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Controllers_Office/travel/policy/