Business School

Guidelines and procedures for staff seeking funding support from the Business School to attend conferences and seminars, within Australia or internationally

Purpose and summary

The purpose of this policy is to provide a consistent, transparent and equitable set of guidelines regarding the funding of travel arrangements for Business School staff attending conferences or seminars. This policy replaces all other travel related policies associated with the funding of staff attending conferences or seminars operating within the Business School prior to January 1, 2008. 

A strategic objective within the Business School’s Operational Priorities Plan is to enhance the School’s research capacity and capability. Attendance at academic and professional conferences as well as seminars is an intrinsic part of academic life and aligns with the objective of creating a strong, vibrant research culture. In addition, such events are ideal opportunities to raise the profile of the Business School in both the national and international arena and they provide an invaluable mechanism for networking, collaboration and even the recruitment of new staff.

Policy statement

This policy defines the guiding principles for the allocation of travel funds across the UWA Business School. The University requires that all travel and travel related expenditure incurred by the University must be in relation to official University business and must be undertaken as efficiently and economically as possible. As such, priority will be given to travel that is aligned with the strategic objectives of the Business School as previously stated. 

Travel guidelines

Each calendar year, academic staff are eligible to apply for travel funds from the Business School for two separate trips. However, if a staff member received funding for two trips in the previous year then they are only eligible to apply for one trip in the current year. In addition, only one international trip will be funded in any given calendar year.

Domestic travel

For domestic conferences, the School provides a standard contribution of $2,000 to cover accommodation, per diems, the cost of a typical domestic airfare ($600) and the conference registration fee ($500). In addition, if the airfare and/or conference fee exceeds the standard airfare or registration allowance, the School will fund any gap according to the following guidelines:

1. the difference between the actual cost of the airfare and the standard airfare allowance ($600), as long as the airfare represents the most efficient, economical and reasonable price possible; plus
2. the difference between the actual cost of the conference registration and the standard registration allowance ($500).

Transportation costs to and from the airport will be covered in full by the Business School. For domestic travel, taxi vouchers (or taxi cards – the new e-ticket facility) will be provided to cover such costs.

International travel

For international conferences, the School’s standard contribution is $4,000 to cover accommodation, per diems, the cost of a typical international airfare ($2,000) and the conference registration fee ($500). In addition, if the airfare and/or conference fee exceeds the standard airfare or registration allowance, the School will fund any gap according to the following guidelines:

1. the difference between the actual cost of the airfare and the standard airfare allowance ($2,000), as long as the airfare represents the most "efficient, economical and reasonable price possible"; plus
2. the difference between the actual cost of the conference registration and the standard registration allowance ($500).

For international travel, staff are required to pay for taxis first and apply for reimbursement upon return. No cash advances will be provided to cover taxi fares.

Per diems

For both domestic and international travel, per diem amounts are set in accordance with ATO guidelines and fixed for the calendar year. These guidelines specify a reasonable allowance that will NOT require written substantiation for tax purposes. It is recommended that, staff maintain a travel diary of all expenses with proper documentation.

Restrictions

An application for funding will only be considered if the following conditions are met:

1. All travel must be approved by the Travel Committee.
2. If the staff member has been on two Business School funded trips in the previous year, only one trip will be funded in the current year; however, only one international trip will be funded in a calendar year.
3. Although two staff members may be co-authors of a research paper, only one presenter of a given paper will be funded to attend a conference. If two staff members are co-authors of two different papers to be presented at a conference, then both may be funded. This may not be applied retrospectively.
4. The per diem paid will be equal to the number of nights accommodation at the conference plus an extra day only in the case where the scheduled return flight departs from the destination on or after 4pm.
5. No travel assistance will be granted to a staff member within 6 months of returning from a study leave if they have received a study leave grant. The exception to this is when this prevents attendance at an annual conference typically attended by the staff member.
6. Part-time staff must have a fractional appointment of at least 0.5 to be able to access travel funds which are pro-rated accordingly. This also applies to staff members, holding contracts of at least 0.5 who are part time PhD candidates. Such staff will also have access to the appropriate PhD funds for non travel items.
7. There is no provision for new staff members arriving during the calendar year to be automatically entitled to receive travel funding. Applications will be considered on a one-off basis by the Travel Committee. Similarly, non standard travel for purposes such as curriculum development and conference organization will be dealt with on a case by case basis by the Deputy Dean of Operations. Applications will be considered based on the benefit provided to the School.
   
8. In the case of back to back conferences, several interstate or overseas conferences can be attended while on a given trip. The Travel Committee will consider each case for funding based on merit and will generally support the additional conference registration fees along with other reasonable expenses directly associated with the second conference. Such cases will count as one trip. 

Criteria for the approval of funding

The approval of funding for conference travel will be subject to the following criteria:

1. A research paper must be presented at a refereed conference or attendance must be part of a major research initiative as approved by the Deputy Dean, Operations.
2. The Travel Committee needs to be informed of all Non-UWA sources of funds available for the trip (e.g. contributions to travel costs from other institutions). 
3. Economy-class airfares and reasonable accommodation expenses relating to travel will be paid and processed by Team Managers subject to University guidelines. Payments will be distributed via salary per diem claims or direct reimbursement will be given for receipted expenses.
4. Forward Booking, where possible by staff members should ensure they submit their application 10 working days prior to travel in order to allow adequate time for processing and to take advantage of early bird discounts. 
5. The Travel Committee must be informed of the publication status of the paper(s) presented at any conference funded by the Travel Committee in the past 12 months.