Policies Regarding Travel to Multistate Research Committee Meetings

• Multistate research travel funds are withheld from multistate research allocations at the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) level.
• The determination of the official representative for a multistate committee is made by the MAES, in cooperation with the appropriate department chairperson(s), and researcher.
• The official Michigan representative to the committee is the only scientist who is authorized to attend and represent the MAES at the committee meetings.

• Multistate research travel will only be approved for meetings of funded committees, research committees, advisor committees, or temporary committees. MAES will support travel through the use of multistate research funds only once in each federal fiscal year (10/1-9/30).
• Travel, lodging and meal costs will be reimbursed for no more than one day prior and one day following the sanctioned meeting dates.
• A departmental account number must be used to cover any expenses which are incurred outside of the MAES "authorized travel dates."
• Exceptions must be requested in writing and sent to the MAES Director prior to travel.
• Costs for international travel or travel outside the continental United States to regional meetings is limited to $1000 or to an amount agreed upon in advance with the Director of the MAES.

Travel Procedures

• MAES receives the "official authorization letter" from the Administrative Advisor. If you have not heard from us, please call Linda Haubert at 5-0123 immediately. She will work with you to get an authorization letter as quickly as possible.
• MAES prepares and sends the "Multistate Research Meeting Authorization Form," along with a copy of the authorization letter to the committee representative, with a copy of the form to the department chairperson.
• Committee representative is free to make travel arrangements after receiving the "authorization form." PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:
• Travel arrangements cannot be made on an MAES account until the traveler receives MAES authorization.
• If meeting information is received from the committee and you have NOT received the "Multistate Research Meeting Authorization Form," authorizing travel on the MAES account, contact Linda Haubert at 5-0123 immediately. She will work with you to get an authorization letter as quickly as possible. The letter is necessary to fulfill federal audit regulations for regional travel expenditures.
• Reimbursement is subject to MSU travel regulations.
• After the meeting:

• Committee representative completes reimbursement portion of the travel voucher, attaches original receipts and forwards to Linda Haubert, MAES, 109 Agriculture Hall.

  NOTE: a departmental account number and authorized signature must be used to cover any expenses which are incurred outside of the MAES authorized travel dates.

• Linda Haubert obtains the appropriate MAES authorized signatures for the "authorized account" and "unit administrator" sections of the voucher; then forwards to the MSU Accounting Office.

  NOTE: Sending the travel voucher directly to the Accounting Office will delay the reimbursement process, as it will be necessary for the Accounting Office to forward the voucher to MAES for appropriate signatures in order to process for payment.

Multistate Research Travel Cancellations

Cancellations by the Airline:

If a flight is canceled by the airline with no other means of getting a traveler to their destination within the necessary time frame, many airlines will refund the cost of the ticket. To obtain a refund for a trip canceled by the airline:

• The traveler must immediately notify the CTA (MSU's Consolidated Travel Agencies) that issued the ticket. They will check to see if the airline will issue a refund. (If the airline will not issue a refund the policies in the "CANCELLATIONS BY TRAVELER" section below will apply.)
• If a refund will be issued you must either take your ticket to the CTA or arrange a mutually agreeable time when they can pick it up.
• The CTA will process the refund which will be issued within 4-6 weeks.

Cancellations by the Traveler:

When a traveler makes the choice to cancel a trip, the airlines will generally not refund the cost of discounted fare tickets. However, they may allow the value to be placed against future travel (minus an administrative fee) for one full year from the date the ticket is issued. The traveler should inquire of the CTA about using the ticket in this manner.

Most multistate research travel takes place once a year. Therefore, it may not be possible to book another regional trip using the value of the unused ticket within the year allotted. In order to make full use of the unused ticket the traveler may use the value of the ticket for their next MSU trip, not just MAES travel, by completing the following steps:

• Contact the CTA for a "Ticket Claiming Process" (TCP) credit slip.
• Forward the TCP credit slip to the MAES for record keeping purposes (keep a copy for yourself).
• When you are ready to make your next trip, contact Linda Haubert in the MAES in order to make arrangements to use the value of the unused ticket. YOU WILL NEED TO PROVIDE THE ACCOUNT NUMBER THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN CHARGED FOR THIS TICKET.
• MAES will initiate a JVE to transfer the charge to the account number you have provided.

NOTE: Cancellation fees incurred in the normal course of doing business are reimbursable. Fees incurred by the traveler through negligence, personal choice or carelessness of the traveler are not reimbursable, per the MSU travel regulations.

Any questions or concerns regarding this information should be directed to Linda Haubert, MAES, 355-0123.