FAQ Index
- What forms are required when I want to travel on Official University Business?
- When is a Spend Authorization (Formerly known as a TA/Pre Approval) required for University related travel?
- When am I considered to be in Travel Status?
- How can I avoid having my travel reimbursement added to my taxable wages on my W- 2?
- What happens if I submit my Expense Report more than 6 months past the completion of my travel?
- Can I claim actual costs for meals instead of using per diem rates?
- Can I drive instead of flying?
- How do I get access to Frosch? Do I have to call or can I use the website?
- When are change fees paid by Mines?
- When can I get reimbursed for out-of-pocket airfare?
- What “upgrades” will be reimbursed related to airline expenses?
- May I purchase a bundle package from an airline?
- When am I eligible for a cash advance for travel?
- My cash advance covered all my expenses. May I keep unused amounts?
- If I requested a cash advance when will I receive it?
- Can I be reimbursed for travel costs incurred prior to the completion of the travel?
- What do I do if my destination city is not listed in Workday or on the Per Diem rates on the website?
- What is the difference between a prepaid expense and an out-of-pocket expense?
- If a third party is paying my airfare, can I still upgrade my seating based on our travel policy? Do I need to use the approved travel agent to complete the upgrade?
- What should I include in my Spend Authorization?
- My Spend Authorization or Expense Report is still Pending, with whom is the report pending?
- How do I know the status of an Expense Report?
- Can I use the preferred Rental Car Agency codes for personal travel?
- What are the Per Diem Rates?
- Where can I find the Mileage Rate?
A Spend Authorization in Workday (if applicable, see details below) and a Travel Expense Report in Workday must be turned in when traveling for University business. Note, the MAPS Travel team is available to help and prepare reports on your behalf- to utilize this service please use the following link: Travel Service Request.
A Spend Authorization (formerly known as a Pre-Approval/TA) is required if travel meets any of the following criteria:
- All International Travel including Mexico and Canada
- If any part of the trip is being funded by a grant-typically any index beginning with a "4---"
- The individual is requesting a cash advance. Processing times may vary, please submit request for cash advances at your earliest convenience.
When an Employee’s job duties require them to be away from their regular work location overnight and/or the travel includes airfare. To be considered in travel status (and therefore entitled to per diem) the destination must be at least 40 miles away from your regular work location.
An otherwise non-taxable reimbursement will not be added to an employee's W-2 if the Expense Report/Reimbursement request is properly submitted to the MAPS Office within 60 days of completing the travel and/or expense. Note, for reimbursement of non-Travel expenses, you must submit within 60 days of when the expense was incurred.
Per the Mines travel policy, a traveler may not be reimbursed for any out-of-pocket travel related expenses if the Expense Report is submitted more than 6 months past the Travel completion date. If there are extenuating circumstances a one-time exception can be request from the Controller's Office by contacting the MAPS-Travel Team. Exceptions will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Exceptions are subject to Controller approval. If the TE is processed, any reimbursement will be added to the employee’s W-2 for tax purposes.
No. Per the University Travel Policy and for IRS compliance purposes, the University has elected to use a standard cost method, per diems, as the basis for reimbursing travelers for meals and incidentals rather than the actual cost method. Daily or individual meal per diem amounts are the maximum a traveler may request. A traveler may elect to deduct specific meals on their Expense Report, if these meals were provided elsewhere.
An individual can elect to drive instead of flying as long as they understand the university will only reimburse their costs up to what a flight would have been. The individual is responsible for supplying a comparable airfare quote.
Email a request for an account with Frosch to onlinesupport@frosch.com. They will contact the school verifying your employment status and ability to purchase tickets on the behalf of school business.
Airline change fees are considered an allowable business expense if travel plans are changed for Official University Business reasons. The business purpose for the change must be included on the Expense Report. Any cancellation or change fees are the responsibility of the traveler if the charges are a result of a personal nature.
If the traveler elects to pay their own airfare, they will not be reimbursed for the cost of the airfare until the travel is completed. If, for whatever reason, the trip is delayed, postponed, or cancelled and airfare credit is received, the traveler will not be reimbursed for the airfare or any associated changes until the airfare credit is used for University Business at a later time.
Seat selection charges or early check-in charges are reimbursable. Seat selection does not include upgrading to economy plus. Expanded leg room (ex. Economy Plus) is allowable if the flight segment is greater than three hours. Business Class upgrades are allowable on international flight segments that are greater than nine hours non-stop.
Bundled packages often contain coverage categories that are not reimbursable under Mines travel policy. Bundled packages may not be reimbursed unless the traveler can show that the cost is less than the allowable fees for seat selection and checked baggage fees. Such documentation must be included in the final expense report.
Any student, faculty, or staff member may request a cash advance if they will be traveling for University Business. A cash advance can be issued for estimated out-of-pocket expenses incurred while traveling. The amount of the advance cannot exceed the estimated out-of-pocket expenses. The allowed maximum advance is $1500.00 per person. All exceptions must be approved by the Controller.
No, a cash advance is a loan from the University. If a cash advance was more than the actual expenses incurred on the trip, then the unused portion of the advance must be returned to Mines in the form of a credit card payment, cash (exact change), or a check written to Colorado School of Mines. The remaining advance can be repaid in person at the Bursar's office (located on the first floor of the Student Center) or online using the MAPS Storefront, this can be accessed by clicking the "PAY MAPS" button the MAPS Help Center homepage. .
Cash advances are issued up to seven days in advance of departure. The traveler will receive a check that can be picked up from the Controller’s Office or via direct deposit if the traveler is set up to receive funds that way. The traveler will get an email when the check is ready for pickup. For Cash Advances the rule of thumb is always the sooner we receive it, the better.
No. Per Mines Travel Policy, a traveler will be reimbursed for approved out-of-pocket travel costs when the travel is completed and the traveler has submitted their final expense report. Exceptions may be granted by the Controller.
For domestic travel:
If the destination city is not listed, look up the county and see if it is listed. If neither the city nor the county is listed, use the “Standard Rate” found in the link below. In Workday, you will need to type in "Other" and scroll down to the applicable US State.
https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/per-diem-rates
For international travel:
If the destination city is not listed, then it automatically defaults to the “other” amount listed at the end of every country’s per diem. In Workday, as mentioned above, you will need to type in "Other" and scroll down to the applicable Country.
https://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp
Prepaid expenses are those paid directly by Mines. For example, if a traveler books through Frosch, Mines preferred Travel Agency, and the airfare was charged to the Mines’s Ghost Card, then that is prepaid airfare. Likewise, if travel is charged to a Mines One Card, it is considered a prepaid expense.
If the traveler pays for their own travel with the goal of being reimbursed, that is considered an out-of-pocket expense. As a reminder out-of-pocket expenses related to travel will not be reimbursed until the travel is complete and the associate Expense Report must be submitted within 60 days of travel ending to avoid tax implications for the traveler.
You may upgrade your seating based on University single segment travel time requirements. You do not need to use the University-approved travel agent to upgrade.
The goal of a Spend Authorization is to get the most accurate proposed travel budget which helps expedite the approval process for the final Expense Report. Some of the most common expenses to include would be airfare, lodging, ground transportation (mileage, rental car, parking, etc.), per diem, and registration fees.
For any report you can access the routing steps and see whose approval is still pending by looking up the Expense Report in Workday and clicking on the "Business Process" tab. This will show the previous, current, and future routing.
You can check by going to searching in Workday by the Expense Report number, pulling the report "Find Expense Reports" and filtering for the one in question or searching "My Expense Reports" in Workday. All of these methods will allow you to open the report and on the header of the report will have the current status listed. “Expenses - Submitted Last 90 Days.” Here you will see the status of each report. The different statuses are: Pending Approval, Approved, Exported, and Paid.
No, but there is a special code for Enterprise and National that can be used for personal travel. This code still provides a discount but should not be used for official business travel. The current personal use code is XZ12433.
The Per Diem rates are based on your travel destination. When inputting an Expense Report in Workday you will be required to list your destination. This should be done by the city (or county) for Domestic Locations, for International Locations you will look up by the City. As mentioned above, if you cannot find your specific location, type in "Other" and then scroll to the specific US State, Territory or Foreign Country.
The Per Diem rates are determined by the US Government and can be found based on your type of travel at the links below:
Per Chapter 5 of the Mines Financial Policy we use the mileage rate established by the State of Colorado. The Current Rate can be found on the State's Website. It is important to note, you should be selecting 2-Wheel Drive as the default when adding mileage to your Expense Report in Workday. 4-Wheel Drive may only be selected if using such a vehicle was required by terrain, weather or road conditions. You will be required to add an additional comment justifying the use of the 4-Wheel Drive rate on your Expense Report.