Office of the Chief Financial Officer Releases Updated Travel Policy

The University has updated its policy governing University travel, including new guidance around hotel and meals reimbursement, allowing for trip insurance as a reimbursable expense, and encouraging travelers to New York City to utilize the University’s Joseph I. Lubin House as overnight lodging. The updated policy will be available on Jan. 1, 2025, and is applicable to all faculty, staff and students traveling on University business.

Some items of note included within the policy:

• Trip interruption or cancellation insurance has been removed from the unallowable list of expenses.
• Further explanation has been added to clarify what is meant by “necessary and appropriate,” “reasonable” and “allowable expenses.”
• Travelers are asked to consider using the University’s Joseph I. Lubin House in Manhattan when traveling to New York City.
• The daily limit of lodging gratuities increased from $5 to $10.
• The required receipt floor was raised from $50 to $75.
• A $25 floor was solidified in the policy for department sales tax recoupment efforts.
• Hotel and meal reimbursements for receipted travel have been limited to 2.5X the average federal per diem amount for that trip (dependent on location; as established by the U.S. GSA. This applied for both credit card activity and expense reimbursement when using the actual receipt method. Per diem method of travel is unchanged.
• Allowable business class flight upgrades have changed from time-based (six hours) to distance-based (2,200 miles) from origin to destination.
• The policy now notes that if charges are incurred for the benefit of a supervisor on a staff card, the next-level supervisor must approve.

The Comptroller’s Office will hold virtual training and information sessions. All University credit card holders and approvers will receive an invite to attend a Microsoft Teams session, which will also be recorded:

• Thursday, Dec. 5, at 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 11 a.m.

Please contact Jean Gallipeau (jbgallip@syr.edu) or Brian Pendergast (bwpender@syr.edu) with any questions.