Student Travel

Graduate students wishing to travel on university business are required to submit a travel authorization regardless of cost or how the trip will be paid for. Prior to submitting the Department of Biological Sciences Travel Pre-Authorization form you will need to have at a minimum the following information:

• Dates of Travel (Departure and Return)
• Destination of Travel
• Purpose of Travel (i.e., to present a poster at ESA 2019. etc.)
• Travel Expense Items (airfare, lodging, registration, etc.)
• Travel Expense Estimate
• Funding Source

If you are traveling as an employee of Boise State University and you will not incur travel costs or 100% of your travel costs will be paid by entities other than Boise State, you will need to complete the No Cost Travel Authorization Form. This includes local travel for field work related to research. This form is required for insurance purposes. Please send the completed form to Biol-Forms@boisestate.edu.

A Department of Biological Sciences Travel Pre-Approval Authorization form must be completed and fully approved before any purchases may be made toward a trip. Please submit your travel request at least two weeks prior to your planned departure date. When traveling to conferences and workshops please submit your travel request as far in advance of early registration deadline as possible.

1. Traveler prepares a trip estimate and submits the Department of Biological Sciences Travel Pre-Authorization form to Biol-Forms@boisestate.edu. (Submission)
2. Graduate Program Manager reviews the submitted form and estimates. If Advisor/Supervisor approval of funding source is needed she will submit it for approval of funding source. (Approver 1)
3. Upon Advisor/Supervisor approval, the Graduate Program Manager submits the Travel Pre-Authorization form to the Department for department approval. (Approver 2)
4. Upon Department approval, the Graduate Program Manager submits the Travel Authorization form in MyBoiseState for College level approval. (Approver 3)
5. Once the College level approval has been provided the traveler will be notified by the Graduate Program Manager to discuss next steps. (Approved)

• Prepared By – Enter the name of the person completing the Pre-Approval Authorization form
• Date – Enter Date form is completed
• TA# – Leave blank, this will be filled in by the Graduate Program Manager when your travel authorization is submitted in the MyBoiseState system.
• Traveler – Enter first and last name of traveler
• Employee ID – Enter the traveler employee/student ID Number
• Destination – Enter City, State, and Country (i.e., Tucson, Arizona or Beijing China)
• Conference Name – Enter the name of the conference or workshop (i.e., Ecological Research Meeting 2018)
• Departure Date/Time – Enter traveler expected departure date and time
• Return Date/Time – Enter traveler expected return date and time
• Purpose of Travel – Enter business purpose for travel (i.e., Present poster at ESA 2018)
• Personal Travel Yes/No – Indicate if personal travel will be included as part of this travel request
• If yes, # of personal days – If traveler is including personal days include the number of days which are personal

*When Personal Travel is Included traveler may be expected to pay all travel costs out of pocket and seek reimbursement on return from travel.

This section is used to indicate which travel expenses will be paid with P-Card. All other expenses will be listed in the next section.

• Registration – Enter amount to be paid by P-Card
• Airfare – Enter amount to be paid by P-Card
• Lodging – Enter amount to be paid by P-Card.
• Transportation – Enter amount to be paid by P-Card
• Baggage – Enter amount to be paid by P-Card
• Parking – Enter amount to be paid by P-Card
• Other – Please enter what other and amount to be paid by P-Card
• Funding Source – List the funding source(s) to be used to charge the P-Card expenses to.
• P-Card Subtotal – Automatically calculates total based on amounts put in P-Card expense fields

This section is used to indicate any travel expenses which the traveler will be requesting reimbursement for upon return from travel. Numbers listed in the “Employee Paid Amount” column should be best guess estimates for what the items will cost. The expected funding sources for these charges should be listed. Funding source numbers will be different based on funding source type:

• Appropriated Account Numbers – Fund Number – Department Number – Cost Center Number
  • Fund Number is Always 1001
  • Dept Number is 5 Digits (Biology Department = 70600)
  • Cost Center Number is 7 Digits
• Local Account Numbers – Fund Number – Department Number – Cost Center Number
  • Fund Number is Always 3010
  • Department Number is 5 Digits (Biology Department = 70600)
  • Cost Center Number is 7 Digits
• Grant Account Numbers – Fund Number – Department Number – Cost Center – Project Number
  • Fund Number is Always 4010
  • Department Number is 5 Digits (Biology = 70600)
  • Cost Center Number is 7 Digits
  • Project Number is 10 Digits

Once the form is filled out please submit to Biol-Forms@boisestate.edu for approval routing. Use this section to indicate electronic approval of travel authorization form.

1. Line 1 – Traveler Name, Title and Date
2. Line 2 – Advisor/PI/Supervisor Name, Title and Date
3. Line 3 – Department Approval (this will be collected after the travel pre-authorization form is submitted)
4. Line 4 – Dean Approval (this will be collected after the travel pre-authorization form is submitted)

Use this section to include notes for those preparing and approving your travel request. This can be about funding sources or needs related to travel and reimbursement.

Boise State University Travel Policy requires those traveling on University business to use the least cost method of travel.

Enterprise Rent-a-Car
Boise State Contract Rates can be found on the university financials website.

Personal Vehicle Mileage
The mileage rate for travel in a personal vehicle is 45.5 cents a mile

State  of Idaho Per Diem Rate
The Idaho State Board of Examiners has set the daily Per Diem rate for Idaho at $49.00/day.

Standard CONUS rate (The 48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia)
These rates may be found by visiting the Government GSA website. You will want to use the Meals and Incidental Expense (M&IE) when determining your Per Diem rate.

Outside CONUS rates (Hawaii, Alaska, Guam, Puerto Rico, etc.)
These rates may be found by visiting the Department of Defense website

Foreign Per Diem Rates
These rates may be found by visiting the U.S. Department of State website.

Doctoral students in good standing may apply for a total of two $600 awards for travel to attend and present their dissertation research at scientific meetings. To be eligible for travel funds the student must submit details of the conference, a budget, proof that you are presenting research at the conference, and evidence that you have applied for travel assistance if such assistance is offered by the conference organizers. If everything is in order, the Director will ask the Graduate Program Manager to begin processing travel request paperwork. Please note that the awarding of travel grants is contingent on the availability of program funds.
Please use the PhD Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Travel Award Request Form to request travel support from the EEB program. You will be required to upload a Department of Biological Sciences Travel Pre-Approval Authorization form as part of this request.

Upon return from travel, the traveler will complete the Department of Biological Sciences Travel Reimbursement Request form. The traveler will indicate on the form which expenses were prepaid via P-Card and which ones the traveler is seeking reimbursement for. There is also a section on the form to note which meals were provided when attending conferences and workshops. In order for the Graduate Program Manager to process a reimbursement request you must delegate access in the travel and expense system.

The process is completed in the myBoiseState Oracle Financials System. Step by step instructions for this can be found on this training document.

When personal travel is scheduled in conjunction with business travel, all expenses must be paid with personal funds. Reimbursement for the business portion of the trip will not be made until after the trip is complete. At the time travel authorization is requested, a complete itinerary of the business portion of the trip is required along with a statement of the beginning and end time of the personal portion of the trip. The traveler must document a cost comparison for transportation for the business portion of the trip. The cost comparison is required at the time the cost is incurred and must be submitted with the reimbursement request.

All foreign travel for official university business must be reported to the Boise State Risk Management and Insurance Office (RMI). Notification should be made at least 14 days in advance of travel to allow sufficient time to secure foreign travel insurance and address any other applicable requirements.

If the traveler plans to use their personal vehicle, the form for insurance is needed from the traveler along with a copy of the travelers driver’s license and proof of valid insurance. The traveler must justify why they prefer to use their own vehicle if a flight or rental car is less expensive. If it is simply their preference, they will be reimbursed at the least cost option.

Expense reimbursements need to be paid within 60 days of the expense or it will be reported for tax withholding. This means reports must be submitted and completely through the approval process within 60 days of the expense or last day of travel. Graduate students should follow up with the Graduate Program Manager if they do not receive email notification to approve their expense report within 5 business days of turning in their receipts.

Accountable Plan

• If more than 60 days have elapsed, then the expense is taxable
• If more than 120 days old, it is not reimbursable
• The final date is when the report is paid
• The Accountable Plan is a 2010 policy based on IRS regulations.