Section C: Business and Support Services

 

Section CD.8

Business and Support Services
Travel Procedures

Procedure

Travel Procedures

The purpose of the procedure is to ensure travel expenditures are reasonable, customary, and necessary to conduct official college business. The College provides options for employees who incur business related travel expenses in the performance of their official duties which may include a travel stipend, the use of a fleet vehicle, or reimbursement for economical and practical travel expenses associated with line of duty (service area) or professional development (conferences) travel.

Employees traveling under contracts and grants (federal, state, local, or private) shall be reimbursed for travel expenses and allowances on the same basis as other College employees, except in those instances where the terms of the contract or grant specify travel guidelines and reimbursement rates which are more restrictive than the College reimbursement rates.

All Travel Authorizations (TAs) for out-of-state travel will be routed to the appropriate Vice President for review and approval. If approved, the Vice President will forward the TA through Oracle to the District President for final approval.

Service Area

As defined by the Texas Legislature the official service area for Navarro College includes: Ellis, Navarro. Freestone, Limestone, and Leon counties. College locations include the cities of Corsicana, Waxahachie, Mexia, and Midlothian. The service area may differ for government sponsored awards, contracts, and agreements.

Line of duty travel expenses may be paid with a monthly stipend processed through payroll or reimbursed through a claim processed through the purchasing department and accounts payable departments.

Travel Stipends

Travel stipends may be issued to employees who frequently travel within the service area. The employee should make the request for an appropriate amount to the respective Vice President. A travel stipend may be issued at the discretion of the District President, if warranted. Those receiving a travel stipend will not be reimbursed for travel expenses under these procedures other than those not covered by the stipend.

Reimbursement for Travel

Prior to travel, a Travel Authorization (TA) is required only when travel is conducted for official college business and the employee is requesting college-funded travel, including but not limited to mileage, airfare,  meals, lodging, registration fees, stipends, or use of college travel services.

A Travel Authorization is not required in the following circumstances:

  • Travel conducted for personal business

  • Attendance at District events (including commencement, convocation, professional development day, Navarro College Day, or Operation Bulldogs Serve) when no travel reimbursement or stipend is requested.

When a Travel Authorization is not required, the employee must notify their immediate supervisor in advance of the travel through routine departmental communication. No travel-related expenses will be reimbursed by the College for travel conducted under these circumstances.

  1. Professional travel is per occurrence. A travel authorization (TA) should be completed for each trip separately.

  2. An expense report must be completed within 10 business days, but no later than thirty (30 days after returning from the travel. Travel expenses received after 30 days of returning from the travel will not be reimbursed by the college. Any exceptions require written approval from both the Vice President of the employee and the Vice President of Finance. If the exception is approved, the college will follw the IRS Revenue Ruling 2003-106 which states that a travel claim received later than sixty days after incurring the expenses the reimbursed amount will be added to the taxable wages section of the W-2.

Reimbursement

Rates for reimbursement are as follows:

Mileage

Employees who receive a travel stipend will not be reimbursed mileage within the college’s service area, and those employees should not check out fleet vehicles to travel within Navarro’s service area.  All other employees requesting mileage reimbursement should first request a fleet vehicle from the Transportation Department and use these vehicles if available.  The Vice President over the employee’s department may approve the employee to use his/her personal vehicle when necessary.

An adjunct faculty member who commutes to an instruction site that is more than 60 miles one-way from his or her place of residence will be paid a flat rate of $250 per semester for travel in addition to their regular teaching agreement.

All team travel must be budgeted, and coaches will make their own travel arrangements. College buses are issued on a first-come first-serve basis; therefore, requests for vehicles must be made in advance of the trip. If all buses have already been scheduled, budgeted Athletic funds may be used to charter private buses.

Navarro College provides College-owned and insured vehicles for use for College-related activities. The College has buses, sport utility vehicles, and other passenger vehicles available for use. Please refer to Section CI.1, Business and Support Services, Transportation Management for procedures on using fleet vehicles. Use of 15-passenger vans is not permissible.

The rate that will be reimbursed is determined annually by Navarro College’s Leadership Team. The mileage reimbursement rate is inclusive of all expenses associated with the employee’s use of his or her vehicle.

Calculation of mileage may be based on actual odometer readings or by utilizing an online web mapping service, however a copy of the online web mapping service is required on the expense report. The miles are counted from the point of departure (which could be from location or from the employee’s home so long as it benefits the College) to the destination and then back to the point of return. 

The number of reimbursable miles may not exceed the number of miles of the most cost-effective route between two duty points. In determining the most cost-effective route, the College may consider the route that provides the shortest distance, the quickest drive time, or the safest road conditions. Reasonable mileage for incidental travel such as travel between lodging and meeting location, or restaurants is allowable.

Whenever an employee travels out of state in a personal vehicle no meals or lodging will be reimbursed while in route. Mileage will be reimbursed at the price of an airline (coach) ticket or at the prescribed mileage rate, whichever is less.

Travel expenses incurred between an employee's home and work location are a commuting expense and will not be reimbursed   Any approved exceptions to this will be taxable to the employee.

Use of Collegiate Travel Planners (CTP)

Employees attending a conference should stay at the official conference hotel when available. Lodging must be booked at the conference rate or through CTP, whichever option results in the lower total cost.

All other travel arrangements, including airfare, rental vechiles, and related services, must be booked through CTP in accordance with College travel procedures. This includes:

  • Airfare

  • Car rentals

  • Hotel lodging

  • Rail transportation

  • Charter bus services

Vacation rental properties (e.g., Airbnb or Vrbo) are not permitted.

If traveling within Texas outside of CTP arrangements, a tax-exempt certificate must be obtained from the Purchasing Department prior to travel and presented to the hotel to ensure exemption from Texas State sales tax.

Uber

Navarro College maintains an Uber Business account, which must be coordinated and set up through the Procurement Officer prior to travel. Expenses charged to a personal Uber account will not be reimbursed.

Meals

An employee may be reimbursed for his or her General Services Administration rated meal expense up to the maximum meal reimbursement for that location. The maximum reimbursement rate is listed on U.S. General Services Administration website and the employee should use the destination to find the correct rate. These rates are updated annually and may change each governmental fiscal year beginning in October.

Meal allowance must be properly documented by the employee with the time, place, length of stay, and business purposes. Times of first and last days of travel determine the meal allowance for those days.

Reimbursement rates will be determined by the rates of the county in which the employee's final destination of travel occurs. Example: An employee leaves Navarro County and travels to Dallas County - the rate of reimbursement will be the Dallas County rate. Documentation should be attached when creating the travel authorization to show the purpose of the travel and where the travel will occur. Purchasing may require additional documentation. Example:  A copy of the agenda for a conference, meeting, etc. 

If the trip includes meals that are already paid for (such as through a registration fee for a conference) those meals are not eligible for reimbursement, therefore, the employee must deduct those meals from the per diem request.

Under no circumstance will reimbursement be made for alcoholic beverages.

It is unallowable for Federal funds (grants) to pay for gratuities.

The maximum allowed for gratuity is 20%.

An employee may be reimbursed for non-overnight meal expenses. The function must be located outside of the service area.   Receipts are required to claim non-overnight meal reimbursement. The maximum should not be claimed unless the actual expenditures equal or exceed the maximum allowable rate. These reimbursable amounts are income and are subject to IRS rules regarding taxable fringe benefits. These payments will be reported as wages on the employee’s W-2 tax form.

An employee may not be reimbursed for a meal expense incurred within the employee’s designated location unless it is mandatory and connected with training, a seminar, or a conference (Texas Government Code Sections 660.113, and 660.009). Therefore, the College does not reimburse meals when traveling within the service area.

Using a procurement card to cover the cost of an employee's meal is prohibited, unless directly dining with students or teams utilizing a procurement card for the meal. For student and team meals, refer to procedure DG.1.

Business meals for the purpose of recruiting and other student-related activities may be purchased with a procurement card and must follow the documentation requirements for business meetings outlined in the Business and Support Services, Purchasing and Acquisitions, CE.5 Procurement Card Process page. Names of College participants and their department must be included on the travel authorization. The purpose of the meeting or activity must be business related and stated on the travel authorization. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a business meal must be documented to substantiate the bona fide business purpose of the meal or activity. Student event meal documentation requirements are the same; names of students and chaperones should be included on the travel authorizations.

When necessary, employees may be granted an exception and allowed to purchase meals on a procurement card while attending a conference which requires the employee to be gone for at least five days. The employee will need to seek written pre-authorization, in memo format, from the Vice President of Finance before the trip. The approval must then be attached to the travel authorization. The employee will visit the purchasing department before the trip to obtain a procurement card and receive instructions on using the card.

Most conference registration fees are paid in advance to the conference rather than being paid by the individual. However, if the fee is paid by the individual, they cannot be reimbursed until the travel is complete. The conference registration fee should be included in the travel authorization. Documentation for registration fees includes proof of payment and the conference brochure and/or registration forms that identify the applicable costs. Social or recreational activities associated with a business conference are not reimbursed. If an employee believes a social activity is applicable and should be reimbursed, the employee should write a justification, and submit it with the travel authorization.

Approved: 2015
Updated: 2020, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026
Reviewed: