The purpose of professional development is to give faculty and staff the opportunity to learn and apply new knowledge and skills that can help them in their job and further their career. It is a key factor in keeping up with the ever-changing landscape of academia and supporting our students. Professional development opportunities can range from webinars, local workshops, on-campus training sessions, and regional or national conferences.
The travel process is included in this topic because it is the University Policy which guides the reimbursement of expenses for professional development. According to the University Travel Policy all travel, regardless of type, must be approved prior to traveling. For the Division of Student Affairs, that includes all forms of professional development. We use a form in CampusGroups called Professional Development & Travel Pre-Authorization where you can submit the information needed about your professional development or travel. You may be asked to login with your CWRU network ID and password. This request is then sent to your director and your direct supervisor if different. Once they approve, the request is sent to the respective AVP/VP of Student Affairs for their approval. Once their approval is given, the staff member will be notified. The following guide will assist you in the pre-approval process and subsequent reimbursement from the Division of Student Affairs (DOSA) Professional Development Fund if funding is approved.
How the Division of Student Affairs Reimburses Your Request
At CWRU employees are reimbursed for their expenses from their homebase OPR. The home department reimburses the employee when they submit an Expense Report. In DOSA, we have a second "reimbursement process" to transfer funds from the Professional Development Fund to the employee's home OPR. The Professional Development Fund is managed by DOSA - Operations and Finance.
Process Overview
- Decide what type of professional development experience you would like to pursue.
- Put together estimated expenditures and total them up.
- Complete the Professional Development & Travel Pre-Authorization Form on CampusGroups and submit for approval from your Director and Direct Supervisor. Once approved it will be sent to the respective AVP/VP of Student Affairs for approval
- Once approved you will receive an email noting such and you can proceed with your arrangements.
- Upon your pre-approved purchase or return from travel to a workshop or conference, create an expense report in Peoplesoft Financials to document all your expenses and obtain reimbursement of expenses from your home SpeedType. Make sure to include all your expenses from day one including your registration, flight, hotel, meals, etc. If you have been reimbursed for some expenses prior to completing the post-travel expense report, just mark them as "non-reimbursed."
- Submit this report for approval.
- Send PDF copy of the approved report to Student Affairs Finance if you are being reimbursed for your travel by the Student Affairs' Professional Development Fund
- A journal entry will appear on your SpeedType account as a "450099" line item with a negative amount (income) the following month.
Professional Development & Travel Pre-Authorization Step-by-Step
The form can be filled out by any staff member in the Division of Student Affairs; every employee is eligible to travel. However, only "Professional Development" from the "Business Travel" question will be eligible for reimbursement from the Professional Development Fund.
To begin, log in to CampusGroups using single sign-on and/or your network id.
Access the Professional Development & Travel Pre-Authorization Form or locate it by doing a search in CampusGroups.
You will be prompted to read the professional development and begin the form.
- Fiscal Year of Professional Development/Travel - choose the FY you will be traveling in
- Name - Your name
- Email Address - Your network ID email (abc123@case.edu)
- EMPLID - Your employee ID
- Department - Your department's name
- Homebase SpeedType being charged - Your OPRXXXXXX
- Department Contact & Phone in Absence (only if traveling) - Name and Phone Number of Backup
There are different kinds of professional development and business travel that you can go on as an employee of the Division of Student Affairs. It is important to note the difference between "Reimbursable" Travel which leads to a transfer of funds journal back to the home base SpeedType and "Non-Reimbursable" Travel which means that your home base OPR will pay for your travel expenses. Here is an overview of each of these travel requests:
- Professional Development-Non-Travel (reimbursed) - Professional Development costs, that after being charged to the home SpeedType and proper documentation of expenses is received, are reimbursed by the Division of Student Affairs professional development fund.
- Professional Development-Travel (reimbursed) - Travel costs, that after being charged to the home SpeedType and proper documentation of expenses is received, are reimbursed by the Division of Student Affairs professional development fund.
- Recruiting (non-reimbursed) - Any trips/expenses used to recruit talent to CWRU, usually for Athletics. Charged to the home SpeedType and not reimbursed by DOSA. Should be part of the department's budget.
- Student Organization/Engagement (non-reimbursed) - Any trips/expenses used fulfill a program based in the department. Charged to the home SpeedType and not reimbursed by DOSA. Should be part of the department's budget.
- Continuing Education/Certification (non-reimbursed) - Any trips/expenses used fulfill a continuing education or certification requirement. Charged to the home SpeedType and not reimbursed by DOSA. Should be part of the department's budget if the department reimburses this expense.
- Other - Anything that does not fit in the previous categories. This usually is not reimbursable.
Once you choose the type of travel, you are required to put in the name of the Conference/Event as well as the reason why you are going. Other required fields regarding the Conference/Event are the dates to which it will occur and the location.
Upload your conference documentation and calculate travel expenses.
Please note that you are responsible for calculating the "Total Estimated Cost of Travel" as this field does not automatically calculate.
Once your estimated expenditures have been calculated, put in the network ID email (acb123@case.edu) of your director and supervisor (if applicable) into the respective fields. Once their approval is granted, the request will go to the respective AVP/VP, who will review and if appropriate, will approve the travel and indicate the amount that has been approved to come out of the Professional Development Fund.
By clicking the Travel Policy checkbox you are agreeing that you will comply with the University and DOSA Travel Policy as well as provide the necessary documentation to DOSA-Finance to complete the reimbursement journal to your home base speed type, if applicable.
Once your form has been submitted there will be a notification at the top of the screen that says "Your submission has been received." If approved, you will receive an email stating that you have been approved for travel with an amount given that is determined by your AVP/VP.
Post-Travel Process Step-By-Step
After you return from your trip, you must submit your post-travel expense report form in PeopleSoft.
View a step-by-step guide to submitting an Expense Report
The documentation you provide should include any prepaid expenses (conference registration, flight costs, etc) as well as anything that was paid out-of-pocket to show the total cost of the trip. Prepaid expenses will be classified as non-reimbursable (since they were already paid) and all other expenses will be classified as reimbursable (out-of-pocket, for example). As always, please use your correct Event Codes to identify which travel is reimbursable via the Professional Development Fund.
Once the expense eport is submitted for approval, it will go through an approval chain where each manager will review the transactions and if something does not comply with the University Travel Policy or a manager decides that there is a questionable line item they will deny the form which will send it back to the traveler.
After the Expense Report completed, approved, and the OPR as well as the traveler have been reimbursed (meaning CWRU paid you back for out-of-pocket expenses), use the Post-Travel Documentation Form to submit your the Expense Report to Student Affairs Operations. This form will be emailed to you with a clickable button which will take you to the form.
The Post-Travel documentation form will ask for the following information:
- The date you returned
- Uploaded copy of your approved Expense Report
- Uploaded copy of all receipts (documentation is needed for reimbursement journal)
Once you submit all of your itemized expenses via the Post-Travel Documentation form, the Finance Department will process your reimbursement journal back to your home SpeedType.
Use the following links to learn more about working with Expense Reports:
- How to Create an Expense Report
- How to View an Expense Report
- How to Modify an Expense Report
- How to Delete an Expense Report
- How to Approve an Expense Report
- Foreign Exchange Expense Report