Travel

Any employee or student operating a motor vehicle on official business or a sponsored trip must be age 18 or older and complete an Authorization to Operate a Motor Vehicle form. A guest of state operating a university-owned vehicle or a vehicle rented from our state contract must also be authorized to drive and complete the form. This form acts as a release to permit UA Little Rock to check the driving record and is in compliance with the University of Arkansas System Vehicle Safety Program. Any driver found to have an unacceptable record will not be allowed to drive on university business.

Incidents that would deem a person as having an unacceptable driving record could include having excessive driving points (10+), a suspended or revoked driver’s license, a DWI offense, or a lack of liability insurance.

The authorization form should be submitted to the Office of Finance and Administration (SSC425 or vcfa@ualr.edu) with a legible copy of a driver’s license at least 10 calendar days prior to the travel date, to ensure enough time for the driving record check.

Once the driving record is received, a representative of the Office of Finance and Administration will inform the sponsor(s) or department head(s) of eligibility to drive on behalf of UA Little Rock.

Questions about Authorization to Operate a Motor Vehicle? Please contact Gloria King at 501-916-3202 or vcfa@ualr.edu

University policy states that employees traveling on behalf of UA Little Rock should and will have reimbursable expenses, and must have an approved Spend Authorization on file prior to travel. This authorization will also include any “estimated” expenses that will be incurred while traveling.

As long as employees are on a bona fide business trip, with no reimbursable expenses, they will be covered by AD&D insurance and a spend authorization is unnecessary. A business trip is defined as a bona fide trip when an employee is “on assignment or at the direction of the Policyholder to further the business of the Policyholder.” Other injuries incurred while on official university business (not death or dismemberment) may be covered under Workers’ Compensation (and/or the auto policy if traveling in a university-owned or rented vehicle).

Often students travel off-campus to represent the university or for an academic learning experience. It is important that proper procedures are followed to ensure that the employees and students are covered by travel accident insurance, as follows:

• Verify that any student or employee who plans to drive at any time during the trip (whether it is a personal car, a rental car, or a UA Little Rock fleet vehicle), has an Authorization to Operate a Motor Vehicle form on file, is authorized to drive and is at least 18 years old.
• Any traveler (student or employee) expecting to be reimbursed from the university for travel-related expenses must complete a Spend Authorization through Workday prior to the trip.
• Secure authorization for the trip by completing a Student Trip Authorization form. Once the appropriate signatures have been obtained, the form should be filed with the Office of Finance and Administration for final authorization.
• Student travel accident insurance must be purchased for all students traveling on official business or to a sponsored event, pursuant to the Student Travel policy.
• Student travel accident insurance is purchased when the Student Trip Authorization form is filed with the Office of Finance and Administration at the rate of .60 per student, per day for vehicle travel and .80 per student, per day for travel by airplane. The department or student organization will be back charged for the insurance expense following completion of the trip.
  Student travel accident insurance covers students from the beginning to the end of the trip, not only while traveling in a vehicle.

Questions about Student Travel Insurance? Please contact Gloria King at 501-916-3202 or vcfa@ualr.edu

The State of Arkansas has entered into mandatory car rental contracts with Enterprise Car Rental (including its subsidiary, National Car Rental) and Hertz Rental. An exception to the use of one of these companies would be if they were not available in the area of travel. Click the following link to view the UA Little Rock’s Rental Car Portal.

Various forms and pertinent information related to car rentals are located on the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration website.

Drivers who rent a vehicle (employees, students, and guests of state) must have an approved Spend Authorization on file and be authorized to drive according to the University of Arkansas System Vehicle Safety Program.

For assistance with login and password information for making reservations, please contact Procurement Services.

NOTE: This process is still being developed for Workday. Please contact Human Resources and Procurement for guidance.

Human Resources will cover the expenses for two (2) Guest of State (GOS) individuals invited to campus in connection with the recruitment process. Processing of travel expenses for GOS’s will be in accordance with UA Little Rock’s Travel Rules, Regulations, and Procedures and the State’s travel regulations. All departments must coordinate all travel-related expenses with the Department of Human Resources, as follows:

1. Departments should not charge any GOS expenses to the department’s FDM and the hiring authority should allow seven (7) to ten (10) days for the processing of all travel requests. The Department of Human Resources will cover interview costs per GOS up to the maximum allowable, as follows:
   Airfare: $800
   Hotel: $150
   Meals: $61 per day (does not include departmental meals)Departmental meals for GOS visits will be reimbursed by Human Resources for the GOS’s meals only. All costs above the established breakdown will be back charged to the hiring department by Human Resources.
2. Hiring authorities may research the best airfare costs via Internet websites; however, airfare reservations booked on these sites will require the department’s CTS payment at the time of the reservation booking. For convenience, departments may use the following travel agencies:
   The Travel Shop: 501-663-2203
   Poe Travel: 501-376-4171
   If the hiring department books the airfare reservation with a travel agency, the travel agency will send a reservation confirmation to the hiring department. The hiring department must print the e-mail (be sure the cost is included on the printout) and attach the provided itinerary to the Spend Authorization.
3. The hiring department must complete the Spend Authorization for the airfare, attach all supporting documentation, including the W-9, and submit the travel request to Human Resources before 2:00 p.m. If an airfare reservation is not processed by Procurement Services by the close of business on the day received, the cost of the airfare may increase due to next day processing. Travel requests submitted to Human Resources after 2:00 p.m. will not be accepted and the hiring department will need to reconfirm the cost and reservation with the travel agency before resubmitting the request to Human Resources.
4. Human Resources will make the hotel reservations for the GOS and provide the reservation information to the hiring department. The university has established accounts with various Little Rock hotels. Hiring departments may request a preferred hotel; however, reservations will be made based on pricing and availability.
5. The hiring department is responsible for communicating the travel arrangements with the GOS and to ensure that a W-9 is completed for each GOS and is submitted to Human Resources. No reimbursements can be processed for a GOS without a completed W-9.
6. An Expense Report for GOS reimbursements must be submitted to Human Resources with original receipts. Hiring departments should ensure GOS are informed that all requests for reimbursement should be submitted to the hiring department within 48 hours of their return home.
7. UA Little Rock employees who incur expenses for the GOS must complete a claim reimbursement form, attach all original receipts and submit the documentation to Human Resources. Employees paying for GOS meals are encouraged to pay on separate tickets; both detail and credit/debit receipts must be submitted. State regulations permit reimbursement for meal tips at 15% only.
8. Human Resources does not cover the following GOS expenses:
   1. Employee mileage to and from the Little Rock Airport;
   2. Rental cars for the GOS;
   3. Hotel rooms over the state-approved rates; or
   4. Special incidentals for the GOS.

These travel expenses may be incurred by the hiring department at the hiring department’s expense.