February was our busiest travel month ever – 988 new travel cases were opened! This is up from February 2023 by 260 cases!! The Travel Team closed 857 cases in the month of February. We are excited to announce that we have filled our Travel Specialist vacancy and look forward to Liza Tutnauer starting April 1, 2024. There is currently one staff vacancy: Vacancies: Assistant Manager, Academic Team: (1) Please review the following updates and reminders: Travel Training As a…

Happy New Year!!! The year started *BIG* with 247 more travel cases opened compared to January 2023. There are currently two staff vacancies: Vacancies: Travel Specialists (1) Assistant Manager, Academic Team: (1) Please review the following updates and reminders: Travel Training As a reminder Travel Policy training needs to be completed each fiscal year. Over 320 individuals have completed all modules to-date. The training calendar for in-person Travel Booking training is available on the website through May 2024. Travel Resources…

With November closed, and the semester and calendar year wrapping up, fall 2023 has been a record-breaking travel season with over 860 more travel cases opened from this time last year! The Reimbursement Processing Support department will be closed for Winter Break from Monday, December 25th – January 1st, 2024. There are currently two staff vacancies: Vacancies: Travel Specialists (1) Assistant Manager, Academic Team: (1) Please review the following updates and reminders: Travel Training As a reminder Travel Policy training…

As October closes, fall 2023 has been a record-breaking travel season with 647 more travel cases opened compared to this time last year! The RPSU Travel Specialists and Coordinators continue to whittle away at the remaining FY2023 travel cases. There are less than 10 FY23 cases left as of November 1st. Please help the Reimbursement Processing Support (RPS) staff continues welcome our newest Travel Specialist, Lawson Nelson! New Hires: Travel Specialists: Lawson Nelson Vacancies: Travel Specialists (1) Assistant Manager, Academic…

As September 2023 closes, the fall semester is well underway and we are seeing record travel case submissions – September had (898) new travel cases opened, the busiest month yet! The RPSU Travel Specialists and Coordinators worked hard over the summer to close the fiscal year strong, and we are happy to report only (55) travel cases remaining from FY2023! The Reimbursement Processing Support (RPS) unit has seen several staffing changes since our last update, and we are happy to…

December 2022 Travel Optimization Update As the fall semester draws to a close, the number of new travel support cases opened by the university community has slowed. This month marks the first where the RPSU caseload has decreased and cases closed outpaced the cases opened. We are looking ahead to the start of 2023 which will bring more work on metrics including some trending information. We expect the new Justification for Exception to Policy Request form to be integrated into…

October 2022 Travel Optimization Update As anticipated, September saw an increase in travel requests as activity picked up—for both booking and reimbursement services. It was our busiest month yet with 827 new service requests! The following are key updates and reminders for the month: Cases requiring a rework delay the processing of ALL cases. Please review the Top 3 Contributors to Reimbursement Rework article to help prevent: Incomplete information and documentation Inaccurate accounting information Policy violations Travel training continues. October’s training schedule is available online. A…

August, 2022 Travel Optimization Update The summer has been busy with work to improve travel processes. The first change you may notice is that we are now the Reimbursement Processing Support Unit (RPS). As travel booking becomes more wide-spread, this new name reflects our tightened focus. We have added information about our travel optimization efforts. Some of the highlights to our work are noted below. The full status is available in the latest Travel Optimization Recommendations Update Details report. Receipts…

Good afternoon! As a result of the Travel Optimization Taskforce’s work, as well as approval from the University Advisory Board, a few changes to the travel reimbursement process will take place effective July 1, 2022: M&IE Reimbursements Reimbursements will be made at 100% of the maximum allowable reimbursement rate as defined by the State of Arizona (less any meals that were provided). Receipts are no longer required and should not be submitted. This change applies to employees and students. Development…

June 28, 2022 Dear Lumberjacks, I am pleased to share the results of our Travel Optimization Taskforce’s work. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all who served as part of this group for the investment of their time and energy to develop this comprehensive report, which includes many thoughtful considerations for how we can improve and optimize our travel processes and policies. I encourage all of you to download and read the full report and review the slides presented to the University Advisory Board.…