Updated April 17, 2013.
Vanderbilt is launching a new travel system that offers faculty and staff traveling on university business a better, faster way to book and manage travel and handle expenses for trips.
The new system features a user-friendly online booking process, a faster reimbursement cycle and a simplified travel policy. The goal is to provide a best-in-class travel experience for faculty and staff.
Each year, about 8,000 Vanderbilt employees travel on official university business. Under the current system, these travelers generate more than 22,000 individual forms—the well-known green travel form—that must be filled out, authorized and processed. The new system does away with the green form and simplifies these processes, making travel easier and more efficient for employees.
Polk Corporate Travel Management will manage travel for Vanderbilt and coordinate use of the new online booking and expense technology, which is powered by Concur. Polk and Concur both have long, successful records for managing business travel and count a number of academic institutions among their clients.
All major airlines, including Southwest, will be available under the new system. The improved expense reporting process offers pre-populated reports, mobile uploading of receipts and the fastest possible disbursement cycle—a target cycle of five days. Travelers with special requests or emergency needs also will receive assistance more quickly under the new system.
To manage this new university-wide system, a University Travel Office has been created within Finance. Jeremy Williams, senior manager of treasury and payment cards, will lead the office.
The new system will be introduced to employees beginning in June. The system, and its accompanying website, will be available for use beginning June 17 at the same URL as the current travel website, vanderbilt.edu/travel. No changes are needed for employee trips already booked through Frosch, Vanderbilt’s current travel management company. After June 17, all new travel should be booked through Polk or directly through the Concur tool. All employee travel expense reporting and reimbursement will be handled through Concur.
The travel system is one of the first projects being implemented as part of the university’s IT Transformation initiative.
Contact: Jan Read, (615) 322-7253
jan.read@vanderbilt.edu
