Colorado Law Travel Policy
The purpose of your Faculty Development (FD) Fund is “To support research and scholarly activities, professional growth, and development by faculty.”
Below you will find important information regarding expenses.
Each faculty member will have their own speedtype and will be responsible for tracking their expenses and staying within their annual FD allotment. Please ensure you track your expenses, including RA hours, accordingly so you do not exceed your annual FD budget. Faculty are responsible for approving RA timesheets and ensuring RA’s reportable hours are accurate and do not exceed your FD available balance.
Tracking Expenses
Amanda Rochette, Assistant Director of Operations & Finance, will provide each faculty member with a speedtype balance report monthly. However, we strongly suggest that faculty keep a “shadow-system” analogous to a checkbook, in order to track their FD expenses/RA hours accurately. A shadow-system is useful because there may be expenses that faculty have paid for which have yet to post to the general ledger and are not reflected in your speedtype balance. If you would like to learn how to track your expenses, please email Amanda Rochette.
- Please review the Colorado Law Facutly Development Policy
- Any expenses submitted for reimbursement after 90 days will be considered taxable income.
- You can pay for expenses with your personal card and reimbursed via the Concur expense system. Please work with your Faculty Coordinator or Administrator to submit your expense report.
- Some expenses, such as conference registrations, can be paid via a University Procurement card. Please contact your Faculty Coordinator or Administrator to make such purchase.
- Most travel expenses must be made on your personal card or, if you travel frequently, you may apply for a CU Travel Card. There is some mild training and time involved with obtaining a Travel Card. Please see the Travel tab for more information.
Type of Expenses Allowed
Your Faculty Development account may be used for the following expenses:
- Professional membership dues and licensing fees
- Research materials, subscriptions, and books
- Your Faculty Coordinator or Administrator has a tax-exempt Amazon Prime membership; please request book purchases through them.
- Expenses related to scholarly conferences (such as travel or conference registration), or for research
- Additional reprints of articles
- The first 100 reprints of an article are paid for by CU Law; all reprints after the first 100 are allocated to your FD.
- Student hourly workers (research assistants)
- Technology purchases which comply with the Faculty Technology Purchase Policy
- Please obtain pre-approval from the IT Director before making a technology purchase. Please forward the approval to the person preparing your expense reports.
The Special Allocation account may be used for:
- Testifying (or giving a public service presentation) before a government body
- Interdisciplinary functions: these must be with other faculty members across campus and tied to an event. Meals between colleagues are not allowable under University procurement rules. If you are planning an interdisciplinary function and want to pay for expenses related to the event, please reach out to Amanda.Rochette@colorado.edu to check if the expense is allowable.
- Alumni or Employer engagement functions
How to Submit Expenses for Reimbursement
- Obtain an itemized receipt from the vendor. It must show the vendor name, amount spent, date, and method of payment.
- Give your Faculty Coordinator or Administrator the receipt(s) and any supporting documentation relating to the expense.
- Your expenses will be processed through the the Concur Travel and Expense system, which is accessed through the myCUinfo portal. A notification email will be sent to you from Concur when the report is ready to submit.
- Submit the report through Concur. The reimbursement will deposit directly into your bank account on file.
- If Accounting requires more information after you submit the report, your Faculty Coordinator or Administrator can process the changes.
Exceeding Annual FD Budget
You may not exceed your yearly FD budget unless you have received prior approval from the Dean. If you anticipate needing funding in excess of your allotted budget, you must complete the “Application for Additional Faculty Development Funds” form and submit it via email to the Dean with a cc to Assistant Dean of Budget & Finance and Assistant Director of Operations & Finance prior to incurring expenses. The deadline for submitting Additional Funding Requests for the current fiscal year is 6/1. The request must include: the amount of additional funding requested, the intended use, the relation to professional development objectives, and other sources of funding available or sought.
Please review the full Colorado Law Travel Reimburement Policy, as well as the information below before you book a trip.
- All domestic and international travel must be approved prior to booking a trip. Approval must be sent to your supervisor via Concur..See Instructions for Requesting Pre-Approval or reach out to your
Faculty Coordinator or Administrator if you need assistance seeking pre-approval. All international travel must be approved using Concur Request and you will need to enter your Request ID to finalize your international reservation.
- If you have a question about your FD balance, please contact Amanda Rochette at amanda.rochette@colorado.edu. Travel by a faculty member should be for research/education or University business only. Please refer to the Travel Reimbursement Policy .
- The authorized travel agent for the University is Christopherson Business Travel.
- More information about University travel policies can be found on the Procurement Service Center website at https://www.cu.edu/psc/travel.
How to Book Travel:
- Use your Faculty Development (FD) speedtype through Christopherson Business Travel to book airfare. Christopherson can be accessed via Concur for domestic travel. Airfare must be economy unless there is a documented medical need. Note that Frontier Airlines flights are not accessible via Concur; please contact Christopherson directly via email or phone to get rates and book flights on Frontier.
- FD speedtypes are not grant-funded (Christopherson will ask this when booking).
- For hotel and rental car reservations, a travel/personal credit card must be used. Please use Concur to book a rental car. For more info, please see the Car Rental Page.
- Forward travel plans to your Faculty Coordinator or Administrator.
Important Information regarding Travel
- All University-related travel should be booked through the University’s travel management program: Christopherson Business Travel (CBT). CBT airfare can be booked via Concur. This allows CU to monitor your travel location and provide assistance if you encounter a health, emergency, or security issue. Airfare purchased outside of Christopherson Business Travel is only allowable under certain circumstances which are described here: https://www.cu.edu/psc/internet-airfare
- Although hotel/car reservations can be booked via Concur, these may not be charged to a speedtype. Use a travel/personal credit card to make hotel/car reservations. Once the travel has occurred, your Faculty Coordinator or Administrator can assist with seeking reimbursement.
- If you expect to travel often for the University, you may choose to apply for a CU Travel card. Talk to your Faculty Coordinator or Administrator to start the process.
- Your Faculty Coordinator or Administrator may book travel on your behalf: be sure to clarify your travel preferences and provide them with any frequent flyer numbers. You will also need to add then as a travel approver and expense delegate. Please see your Faculty Coordinator or Administrator for details.
- Expenses for reimbursement must be submitted with itemized receipts.
- IMPORTANT: Any expenses submitted for reimbursement after 90 days will be considered taxable income.
How to Submit Travel Expenses for Reimbursement
- Obtain an itemized receipt from all vendors. It must show the date, vendor name, amount spent (including tip of no more than 20%), and method of payment.
- Give your Faculty Coordinator or Administrator the receipt(s) and any supporting documentation relating to the expense.
- Your reimbursement through will be processed through the Concur Travel and Expense system, which is accessed through the myCUinfo portal. A notification email will be sent to you from Concur when the report is ready to submit.
- Submit the report through Concur by following the link in the notification email. The reimbursement will deposit directly into your bank account on file.
- If Accounting requires more information after you submit the report, your Faculty Coordinator or Administrator can process the changes.