Facts About Sabbaticals And Travel
A summary of information is provided below. If you have additional questions, please contact the Dean’s Office or the Travel Office for information.
Travel is not paid for based on the approval of sabbatical leave. A Request and Approval for Travel (RAT) needs to be submitted. Oftentimes, the circumstances are a bit complicated when personal and professional travel are combined. For international travel, both the Dean's and the Provost's approval is required. When someone is traveling on University business, proper authorization for international travel needs to be secured in advance including what expenses the faculty member is asking be reimbursed by the campus, and how these are being justified by the unit. If faculty or staff are traveling internationally on official business, a copy of the RAT needs to be forwarded in advance to the Risk Manager. By the way the insurance coverages are written, this type of travel may not be covered by most of our policies. The traveler should know this before they travel to determine if they would like to purchase special coverage for the international travel.
When it is determined that a faculty member is traveling in some official capacity (including sabbatical leave), then a RAT must still be processed, even if the University is not going to cover any of the expenses. This is the manner by which we formally acknowledge that they are traveling on University business, even if they are paying all or part of the costs themselves. The RAT also ensures that the Worker's Comp issue is addressed; once a RAT is approved, the faculty member will be covered by Worker's Comp.
Faculty travel requests can be denied, if they are submitted to the Dean after-the-fact, or if it is determined that the travel is inappropriate; or if it can't be funded. The Dean has the authority to withhold approval depending on the details of the particular situations (cost, reason for travel, timing of the request). It is standard protocol that faculty members cannot travel on University business until a RAT has been approved by the Dean (or the Provost, for international travel), and that no travel claims will be approved if they are submitted after-the-fact in the future. It is important for faculty to be aware that not traveling with an approved RAT is problematic, because unless the campus has officially acknowledged that they are traveling, then they may not be covered by Worker's Comp.
Travel may be funded from a grant (how the money is shifted over, etc., is another matter); however, a RAT would still be required.