Travel

Department Policies

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese provides $800 in travel funding per fiscal year (September - August) for all members of faculty.

Department RTAs and FTG requests should be submitted either to Spanish and Portuguese or to Tania Reyes (TEL678).

RTAs and FTG requests should be submitted one month in advance of travel to allow for processing. Not doing so may result in your FTG request being denied.

Receipts should be submitted to the department within 45 days of travel to allow for processing. Not doing so will delay your reimbursement payment.

COLA Travel Policies

 University Policy states that an RTA (Request for Travel Authorization) is to be requested prior to travel. In recognition of this policy, if authorization has not been requested prior to travel the faculty member will be asked to complete a signed memo acknowledging that he/she did not previously know that an RTA was necessary and submit this with the reimbursement request. Three exceptions (at most) will be allowed per fiscal year (per faculty). The fourth request will be denied.
 

• In order to be reimbursed for travel, receipts must be processed within 60 days of return date. Reimbursements are routinely denied for receipts submitted later than 60 days after faculty member has returned from travel.  
• We cannot reimburse you for personal travel.  If you expect to conduct research while on personal travel, the specific work dates have to be indicated prior to the travel in the notes of the RTA. 
• We cannot reimburse you for payments to non-commercial lodging without prior authorization.
• For travel during the first and last week of classes and finals periods, prior approval from the Chair is required. Chairs must review travel dates, missed classes, name of faculty member who will oversee missed classes, final exam dates and how exams will be administered, a plan for on time grade submission, and a method of contact for student queries. The TAR document notes must confirm the Chair's approval. Chairs traveling longer than a week require prior approval from the Dean’s Office.
• If classes are to be missed, the traveler should state the name of the faculty member covering each class.  If the traveler is a Chair or Director, they should also indicate who will be assuming their administrative duties.
• If you will be out of town for more than 30 days and wish to be paid for a meal allowance beyond the 30 days, you need approval from your department. The College will now allow these payments if they are approved internally.
• We strongly encourage faculty who will be paying for extraneous research needs to request a Cash Advance before travel. If a trip will include group travel and/or research payments, please ask about the possibility of a cash advance.

Travel Cash advances provide the convenience of receiving funds before travel begins.
 
Study cash advances are also available for payments made to study participants. 
 
Travel involving payments made to workers, non-commercial lodging, group travel, entertainment, and program expenses can be made via a travel cash advance with prior authorization.
 
With a Cash Advance, you are able to pay third party consultants or pay for group travel. Please remember that without a Cash Advance we cannot reimburse faculty directly for these payments.
For example: You cannot be reimbursed for paying for travel expenses for others, however you can pay expenses for other researchers on your team with your Cash Advance.
 
Cash advance requests should be submitted within 2 to 4 weeks before the date funds are needed, and receipts are due 14 days after travel has been completed.
 
If you or your faculty member are unfamiliar with the ease in which Cash Advances can cover your travel expenses, please ask to meet with us and we will go over the pros and cons for your particular situation.

All UT employees and students must adhere to the UT Austin International Travel Process, which mandates travel registration in the UT Austin International Travel Registry (ITR) for employees or students NOT participating in official Education Abroad programs, or in the MyAbroad portal for students enrolled in study abroad programs. Registration in the ITR or the MyAbroad portal automatically ensures enrollment in emergency assistance and overseas insurance through On Call International, as mandated by UT System.