Conference Travel Reimbursement

NELC graduate students are eligible to receive travel and lodging reimbursement in the amount of $500 if presenting at a conference and $300 if only attending a conference. Each student may not exceed the max of $500 for all cumulative conference trips per academic year (July 1-June 30) All required documents must be submitted within 30 days from the date you return from your trip. Students submitting materials after June 30 will not be reimbursed.

If you are planning to use your one time Doctoral Travel Grant available, from UCLA Graduate Programs, please refer to their policies and guidelines. The above and below information is for reimbursements through NELC. Some policies may overlap.

Eligibility

• NELC PhD student in good standing
• Normative Time-to-Degree
• 3.0 GPA
• Registered/enrolled 12 units

Allowable Expenses

Expenses may include:

• Airfare: In general, UCLA will pay for economy fares. Travel should be scheduled as far in advance as feasible and prudent in order to obtain the lowest possible fare.
• Transportation:
  • • Taxis, Rideshares, Trains, Subways, etc. are all okay. (Per policy, tips may not exceed 20%). For other less common transportation policies (e.g. mileage, car rental, parking fees, etc.), please consult with the department fund manager or review the travel policy.
• Lodging: (at a commercial venue; no stays at someone’s home)
  • • Room rates for domestic hotels (for travel within the Continental United States) should not exceed $275 per night, before taxes and other fees. If the traveler is unable to secure lodging at $275 per night or less, please consult with the department fund manager before booking any lodging.
    • For foreign lodging per diem rates, please refer to U.S. Department of State Foreign Per Diem Rate website, to check the current rates for each city, country.
• Meals: Per policy, tips may not exceed 20%.
  • • Domestic meals (for travel within the Continental United States) will be reimbursed on an actual basis, subject to the prevailing campus limit (currently $79) for each full day on travel status. Rates are subject to change and the most up to date rates can be found here. UCLA Travel Accounting requires receipts.  Flat rate (per diem) reimbursement is not possible.
    • Foreign meals (for travel outside of the Continental United States) will be reimbursed on an actual basis. For foreign meal per diem rates, please refer to U.S. Department of State Foreign Per Diem Rate website, to check the current rates for each city, country. UCLA Travel Accounting requires receipts. Flat rate (per diem) reimbursement is not possible.
• Conference/Workshop registration and fees: Registration/fee for conferences/workshops are reimbursed as travel and may include meals for participants. Conference registration fees cannot be reimbursed until after the trip/conference dates, which includes registration fees for virtual conference meetings as well.

Expenses may not include:

• When the entire length of a trip is less than 24 hours, airfare, meals and incidental expenses cannot be reimbursed unless the travel includes an “overnight stay” as supported by a lodging receipt. If you are attending a conference nearby or think your trip may be less than 24 hours, please consult with the department fund manager.
• Airfare issued by non-U.S. carrier.
• First and business class airfare.
• Unauthorized extra class rail or airfare or any other type of upgrade.
• Third party expenses (e.g., buying ticket and paying hotel/airfare and other expense on behalf of others).
• Online packages which combine airfare and hotel.
• Travel packages purchased from internet vendors. Travel “packages” offered by internet vendors typically do not include itemized expenses. Therefore, no business-related travel should be booked through such vendors unless the traveler has confirmed that each aspect of the package will be separately itemized (e.g., itemized hotel charges, airfare, car rental, etc.) to assure appropriate documentation for reimbursement. 3rd party reimbursements (example: your hotel/air fare was paid by another person on your behalf).
• Out-of-route costs (e.g., a connecting flight/deviation from direct route for a personal business) – reimbursable expenses shall not exceed the cost of hotels, meals, and other expenses that would have been incurred on a direct route to the UCLA business destination.
• Personal business expenses
• Memberships (as opposed to registration) in the organization running conferences attended
• Computer or other electronics or equipment (e.g., MP3 player, camera)
• Alcoholic beverages
• Groceries
• Transcription services
• Dissertation editing
• Tuition and/or fees for credit-bearing courses
• Recreation/social events
• Incidentals during trip
• Supplies, materials & other costs associated with the research or professional development activity (e.g., software, printing and reproduction, flash drive, etc.)
• Payment to participants or research study subjects
• Travel Insurance: All University travelers are covered worldwide, 24 hours a day, for a variety of accidents and incidents while on business travel status. Booking travel ahead of time with UC Travel automatically enrolls the traveler in the insurance program for travel outside of California; otherwise the traveler must register their trip on the UC Away website before an out-of-state trip occurs. Registration is not required for travel within California as coverage is automatic.

Reimbursement Process

1. All required documents must be submitted within 30 days from the date the traveler returns from travel.

2. Review the list of required documentation for each expense type.

3. Collate the receipts in the following order: Transportation receipts (Including airfare, rental car, mileage, taxi, shuttle, bus, etc.), Lodging receipts (Including number of occupants, daily charge, and payment method), Meal receipts (including the itemized receipts showing what was purchased – please tape these receipts to paper in order of date).

4. Conference registration confirmation (Including payment method, conference invitation letter, conference program, name and title of presentation/paper)

5. Receipts: Receipts must be itemized and must include the following information.

• Name/Location of the payee
• Itemization (the cost of each item separated). For example, daily room rate, daily tax rate, service fees, and total cost.
• Item description
• Transaction date
• Payment method (cash, credit card, check). Please avoid paying with cash or check when possible.
  
  • • For debit/credit card transactions, the receipt MUST show the last four digits of the card number and the cardholder’s name). If receipt does not indicate the payment method, please submit a receipt and a supplement credit card/bank statement. Credit card or bank statements must show the cardholder’s name, last 4 digits of the card number, expense details, date, and amount, (personal address information, full account numbers, and unrelated charges may be blacked out using a black marker).
      • • Please use your own credit card to pay for your expenses. UCLA cannot reimburse expenses paid on your behalf by another person.
    • For expenses paid by check, the University also requires a copy of both sides of the canceled check OR a copy of the front of the check and the bank statement, in addition to an itemized receipt.
    • For cash transactions, an itemized receipt must be submitted.

6. Submit your reimbursement packet (including all required documents and your completed Conference/Travel Reimbursement Request Form) via email to NELC Fund Manager or to the main office in Kaplan Hall 361. If you are bringing in physical documents to the office, please DO NOT staple your packet together!