Faculty Professional Conference Travel Fund

Purpose
The faculty travel program, administered by the Office of the Dean for Academic Affairs, is intended to support the instructional purposes of the College by enabling faculty members to participate regularly in meetings of learned societies.

Allowance
The allowance for 2007-08 is $1,200 for each benefits-eligible faculty member. As in previous years, those who give papers or serve as panelists may request reimbursement of 100% of all eligible expenses, up to the maximum; others may request 80%.

Faculty members are reminded that they may submit proposals to the Faculty Resources Committee to support conference travel in excess of what is available from the dean’s office or to support research-related travel.

Travel Prior to 2008 Reimbursement Request Form (pdf)

Reimbursement form for Travel after January 1, 2008 (with new mileage reimbursement.) 

Eligibility

Faculty members in the instructional ranks may apply to the dean’s office for reimbursement of conference travel expenses under the following conditions (prior approval is not required):

  • Benefits-eligible faculty members in the instructional ranks will have an annual travel allowance of $1,200. Funds may be cumulated over two-year periods (an unexpended balance in year 1 may be applied to eligible expenses in year 2). Travel allowances are not transferable.
  • Those who present papers, serve as discussants or panelists, or participate as officers or members of association committees may request reimbursement of up to 100% of their expenses for any trip. Others may request 80% of the total.
  • Eligible expenses include the costs of transportation by the most economical available means, lodging, meals, and conference registration fees. The College uses Hewins Carlson/Wagonlit Travel as the official campus travel agency. Hewins is located at Cook’s Corner (729-6261 or 800-370-3008). When booking with a Hewins agent, please provide the name (or acronym) of your conference so that we can account for travel costs more efficiently. The travel agent will have the account number for professional travel. These expenses will be direct-billed to the dean’s office. If the cost of transportation exceeds the balance in a faculty member’s conference travel account, the excess will be billed directly to the faculty member.

Requesting Reimbursement

  • To request reimbursement, faculty members should submit to the Academic Affairs office an itemized account of expenses on a Faculty Travel Program Request for Reimbursement. The College requires that all expenses over $25 be documented by a receipt. Please note that the College does not accept a per diem rate for reimbursement of meals. Those traveling by air should attach to the reimbursement form the original passenger receipt for your flight, even if direct-billed by Hewins.
  • Requests for reimbursement should be made within thirty days from the date of your return, and in all cases must be received in the same fiscal year in which the conference takes place. Trips that straddle fiscal years may be reimbursed in either year.

Please contact Kathi Lucas in office (ext 3065; email: klucas@bowdoin.edu) with questions.