{"id":903,"date":"2025-12-18T17:36:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T17:36:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/?page_id=903"},"modified":"2025-12-18T18:31:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T18:31:01","slug":"faqs-funds","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/index.php\/faqs-funds\/","title":{"rendered":"FAQs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Travel &amp; Professional Development Funds FAQs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\"><strong>What expenses can be reimbursed up front?<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Conference registration fees (including workshop registration fees) can be reimbursed before the actual conference. Submit your TA form as usual, and then submit your TR form once the conference registration has been paid. You will be reimbursed for the conference registration fees now, but other conference expenses (like hotel, airfare, etc.) will be reimbursed after the conference.<br><br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>What expenses can be paid by the College up front on a P-Card (Purchase Card) instead of being paid for by the faculty member and later reimbursed?<\/strong><br>Concur Booking (via Christopherson Business Travel) is available for domestic and international travel to cover upfront costs associated with flights and hotel booking. Access Concur through the Tri-C Travel &amp; Expense tile on My Tri-C Space. Also, whether booking through Christopherson or booking yourself, Purchase Cards (either your Dean\u2019s P-Card or Karen Mrak\u2019s P-card) can be used to cover conference registration fees.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">This process differs a bit:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Ask your Dean to use their P-Card (Karen Mrak can provide a credit limit increase if needed), or contact Karen Mrak to request using her P-card for booking.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">For all Concur Booking (i.e. Christopherson) and upfront reimbursements, a TA\/TR form will still be required.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Under \u201cmethod of payment\u201d on the TA\/TR form, list \u201c ______\u2019s P-card\u201d (usually your Dean\u2019s P-card or Karen Mrak\u2019s P-card).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">You can use Christopherson to book hotels and flights directly. For hotel booking, if you want to get the conference rate, you\u2019ll need to contact the hotel by phone and request a \u201c3rd party authorization form\u201d for the hotel, which can be sent directly to Karen Mrak (<a href=\"mailto:Karen.Mrak@tri-c.edu\">Karen.Mrak@tri-c.edu<\/a>). You can also ask them about state tax exemption at that time, too.&nbsp;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Christopherson\u2019s phone number, if you need it, is 1-800-285-3603.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Administrative Coordinators in the Dean\u2019s office will not book the travel for you; they\u2019re there to help with payment and reimbursement only.<br><br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Can I receive partial reimbursement if my purchase exceeds the total funds I have available? <\/strong><br>YES&#8211;If your expense costs more than your remaining funds, you will still be reimbursed up to the limit of your remaining funds.<br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Can I add my Frequent Flyer number when purchasing plane tickets?<\/strong><br>NO&#8211;Due to ethics laws and Tri-C policy, you cannot be reimbursed for tickets that earned Frequent Flyer miles. If you plan to be reimbursed for your airfare, do not add your frequent flyer number to those tickets. <br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Can I use my funds to purchase commencement regalia?<\/strong><br>YES<br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Are &#8220;Travel Funds&#8221; only for travel?<\/strong><br>NO&#8211;What we often refer to as &#8220;Travel Funds&#8221; are actually for travel and all professional development expenses. Please see the list above for approved expenses. If you&#8217;re unsure as to whether an expense is eligible for reimbursement, please talk with your Associate Dean and a union rep.<br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Can Travel &amp; Professional Development Funds be used for tuition reimbursement?<\/strong><br>YES&#8211;Travel &amp; Professional Development Funds can be used for tuition and certification reimbursement. For faculty seeking reimbursement for courses or certifications, reimbursement cannot occur until the course has been successfully completed. <em>Final grades or certificates need to be submitted with the TR form.&nbsp;<\/em><br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Do we only have access to \u2153 of the money each year?<\/strong><br>NO&#8211;This is a common misconception. You can access all of your travel and professional development funds at any time during the 3-year contract. However, the College has the right to limit <strong>total <\/strong>reimbursements across the entire faculty to \u2153 of the total funds (not an individual faculty member\u2019s funds) in each year.&nbsp;Historically, this has not been an issue. <em>In fact, Tri-C and the AAUP encourages faculty members to use their Travel &amp; Professional Development<\/em> <em>funds throughout the 3-year cycle, not all in the last year.<\/em><br><br>Note: For faculty hired in year two or three of the 3-year contract cycle, amounts will be prorated based on when they started (Article 17). Retiring faculty members have access to all of their Travel &amp; Professional Development Funds, even if they\u2019re retiring in December of the first contract cycle year.<br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Can I check the status of my reimbursement request?<\/strong><br>YES&#8211;faculty members can check the status of their reimbursement request at any time in Concur:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Go to My Tri-C Space<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Navigate to Tri-C Travel &amp; Expense tile, and click on Concur<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Click on &#8220;Authorization Requests&#8221; and then the specific request you&#8217;re inquiring about<br><br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>What should I do if I have issues with the pre-approval or reimbursement process?<\/strong><br>Copy an AAUP rep to help advocate for your reimbursement or reach out to your AAUP rep.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Can we travel internationally?<\/strong><br>YES&#8211;Yes, faculty can use Travel &amp; Professional Development Funds to support international travel. Due to complexities of international travel (such as securing Tri-C issued international travel insurance), more lead time in required. \n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Please see <a href=\"https:\/\/kweb.tri-c.edu\/supplier\/travel\/_layouts\/15\/WopiFrame.aspx?sourcedoc=%7b0D704A2F-9527-437E-A265-6DD130563DB9%7d&amp;file=Faculty%20concur%20steps_and%20forms_090425.xlsx&amp;action=default&amp;IsList=1&amp;ListId=%7b18B30490-91CF-41B9-9045-B5795A7B4A7E%7d&amp;ListItemId=78\">Tri-C&#8217;s International Travel Policy<\/a> for more details.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">For international travel, <em>submit a TA form requesting approval at least 14 days in advance of proposed travel<\/em>.<br><br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>How does mileage reimbursement work?<\/strong><br>A faculty member traveling to either a second Tri-C location or to an off-campus site (like a conference) can be reimbursed for their mileage at the set rate listed on the TA\/TR forms.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">If traveling during a weekday during normal College business hours, the faculty member must deduct their home campus commute (from their home to campus and back home) from the total mileage they\u2019re seeking reimbursement for.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">If traveling during on a weekend day, no normal commute need be deducted<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">Mileage reimbursements rates are updated by the College each July 1 at the start of the new fiscal year.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\">According to Tri-C policy: &#8220;In addition to the standard mileage allowance, necessary and reasonable charges for the following automobile-related expenses are reimbursable with a receipt: tolls, ferries, parking, bridges, and tunnels. Traffic and parking ticket expenses will not be reimbursed.&#8221;<br><br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Do I need to fill out the &#8220;Purpose of Funds&#8221; box on the TA\/TR form?<\/strong><br>YES&#8211;The \u201cPurpose of Funds\u201d box on the TA <strong>and<\/strong> TR form must be filled out with a reasonable amount of detail. This isn\u2019t only for the Deans to be aware of the purpose but also for Tri-C&#8217;s accounting records\/financial audits\/public requests.<br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>I purchased something in a foreign currency. Can I still get reimbursed for it?<\/strong><br>YES&#8211;For international travel or purchases in a foreign currency, in addition to the receipt in the non-USD currency, please provide a screenshot of your bank statement showing the foreign currency to USD dollar conversion must be included with the TR form. You don&#8217;t need to provide your whole banking statement, just the part that shows the conversion.<br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>What happens if my actual expenses (on TR form) exceed my<\/strong> <strong>estimates (on TA form), or vice versa?<\/strong><br>When actual expenses end up being less than the amount approved on the original TA form, the administrative coordinator in the Dean\u2019s office adjusts that in Concur on their end. The faculty member doesn\u2019t need to submit a new TA form.<br><br>Actual amounts for <em>each line item<\/em> can exceed estimates by up to 15% with no need to resubmit forms. For reimbursement requests (TR form) of line item purchases that exceed the approved estimate (TA form) by more than 15%, a separate, second TA\/TR form will be needed to cover the overage.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">For example, if you submitted a TA form to be reimbursed for $500, but the actual expense for that approved expense was $1000, you would be reimbursed the original $500 through your TR form. You\u2019d then fill out a new TA and TR form for the additional $500 since it exceeded 15% of the original approved amount on the initial TA form.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><em>When initially filling out the TA, Tri-C recommends estimating costs on the higher side to avoid needing to submit a second TA\/TR form.<\/em><br><br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Can I be reimbursed for taxes? How do I use the Hotel Tax Exempt Form?<\/strong> <br><em>For purchase of goods, <\/em>College funds cannot be used to reimburse employees for taxes. <br>For <em>services<\/em>, sometimes College funds can be used to reimburse faculty, under these conditions:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">You can be reimbursed for sales tax on hotels, flights and car rentals.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Note: For hotels, Tri-C wants faculty to try to get <em>state tax<\/em> exempted at hotels (especially in Ohio). Some hotels will honor this when booking and others won\u2019t.&nbsp;When booking a hotel, call the hotel to ask them if they accept tax exempt forms for public colleges. <em>This only applies to state hotel taxes.<\/em><br><br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Are purchases made with Travel &amp; Professional Development Funds College property?<\/strong><br>NO&#8211;Purchases made with Travel &amp; Professional Development Funds belong to the faculty member for their professional development.<br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Can I book overnight hotel accommodations in Cleveland? <\/strong><br>NO&#8211;For reimbursement, overnight stays need to be at least 50 miles away from Tri-C.<br><br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"\"><strong>How can I save money on car rentals?<\/strong><br>Car rental for professional development purposes (like when attending a conference) is eligible for reimbursement <em>as long as it&#8217;s a compact or standard size car.<\/em><br><br>Remember that Tri-C offers great discounts on car rentals through Enterprise or Hertz, and faculty should use those discounts:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"863\" height=\"398\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Unknown-1.png?fit=863%2C398&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-834\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Unknown-1.png?w=863&amp;ssl=1 863w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Unknown-1.png?resize=300%2C138&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Unknown-1.png?resize=768%2C354&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Travel &amp; Professional Development Funds FAQs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-full-width.php","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-903","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=903"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":939,"href":"https:\/\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/903\/revisions\/939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ccc-aaup.org\/wp1\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}