Travel Policies & Procedures

1. Begin by identifying your funding sources. Think of funding sources as falling into two categories: those in H&S (H&S Faculty Travel & Research Fund) and those that are outside H&S (grants, start up funds, CFE awards, and Provost's Office mini-grants). If you're requesting funds within H&S, you'll need to submit an H&S funding request.
2. The associate dean of faculty evaluates all requests under these parameters: a) The category--is the faculty member disseminating research?; b) the significance of travel/research to the faculty member and the school’s mission; c) compliance with the college’s travel policy. Please note that, while decisions are generally made promptly, they can take up to two weeks.
3. Faculty are notified via email when a decision is made, and they are instructed to generate a Spend Authorization in HR Cloud. (Expenses cannot be generated prior to the approval of a Spend Authorization). The faculty member's department admin assist and Maria Haner, the Budget Officer in the Provost's Office, will be cc'd in the communication. It is common practice for the admin assist to generate the spend authorization as delegate on behalf of the faculty member; however, faculty should follow departmental norms.
4. Once a Spend Authorization is approved, faculty may use their IC travel card to make purchases; however, be sure that you have reviewed the Ithaca College Travel Policy. There may be certain requirements (such as tax-exemption in certain states) or restrictions (such as expenses that need to be generated through our travel agent, CTP). If you have questions regarding the college travel policy, please contact Sheryl Moore in Travel Services.

5. As expenses appear in Finance Cloud (or as faculty incur expenses for travel), be sure to reconcile them as soon as possible. It is common practice for the admin to assist faculty; however, faculty should follow departmental norms. 

Important Note: If you are planning to travel internationally, please review Ithaca College’s International Travel page and follow the Step-By-Step International Travel Checklist to help you prepare for your trip.

Ithaca College is a not-for-profit institution and is exempt from New York State sales tax on all goods and services purchased by employees for business use. In order to obtain the sales tax exemption, present the Sales Tax Exempt Form to the vendor at the time service is rendered or goods are received and paid for.

Ithaca College is exempt from sales tax in the following states:

• Florida
• Kansas
• Maine
• Michigan
• Mississippi
• New Jersey
• New York
• North Dakota
• Rhode Island

• Wisconsin

Travelers may obtain copies of Tax Exempt Forms from the Travel Services website.

If sales tax exemption is denied using the Ithaca College JP Morgan Chase Travel Card, note the name of the vendor, a contact person, and telephone number so that Departmental Coordinator may follow up with the vendor. If cash or personal credit card is used, vendors are not required to honor Ithaca College’s sales tax exemption. Therefore, it is beneficial and cost effective to use the JP Morgan Chase Travel Card.

If sales tax is paid because the service provider does not accept the Ithaca College Sales Tax Exempt Form, reimbursements are allowed. In this case, a written explanation must be submitted with the Expense
Report Form.