Travel Guide

Travel Guidelines & Process Summary

Key Guidelines:

Advisor Requirement: Advanced planning, communication, and approval with an advisor is mandatory for all student groups planning to travel.

Reservations: All Associated Students travel requiring air transportation, car rentals, and hotels are routed through the department’s travel service provider. All related communication needs are routed through this portal and will be coordinated through Holly (Associated Students is not currently able to use the campus Connexxus travel program).

Reimbursements: Travel cost reimbursements may be denied if original travel requests are not submitted at least two weeks in advance of requested travel date. Reimbursement requests must be made with the submittal of a completed AS Requisition with corresponding receipts.

Changes: Modifications to reservations cannot be made less than one week from travel date.

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Process steps:

1)    Travel Proposal: An organizer or advisor for the AS group/entity will create a travel proposal of the trip destination, length of time, reason for the trip, a list of participants, estimated cost (accommodations, travel, food, conference fees, etc.).

2)    Advisor Approval: Respective group advisors must approve travel proposals prior to any further steps.

3)    Budget Approval: Funding for proposed travel costs must be approved by group governance boards and indicated in meeting minutes (which must then be ratified by Senate). If funds are not available in a group’s current approved budget, additional travel funding needs must be presented to and approved by the AS Finance & Business committee for the allocation of the related funds.

4)    Travel/Conduct Training: Prior to any travel, all participants are required to complete travel/conduct training as provided by a group’s respective advisor.

5)    AS Travel Website Documentation: All participants are required to complete and submit mandatory AS travel documents. This includes but is not limited to the following:

a.     Emergency Contacts that includes First Name, Last Name, Perm #, and Emergency Contact Name and Phone #
b.     Waiver of Liability, Assumption of Risk & Indemnity Agreement 
c.     Code of Conduct Agreement. Travel/Conduct Training: prior to any travel, all participants are required to complete travel/conduct training as provided by a group’s respective advisor.
d.     Transportation and Accommodations Details
e.     UC Travel Insurance Registration (mandatory for off-campus travel)

6)    Traveler Approval: Once travel documents are completed, the trip organizer/advisor must approve individual travelers.

7)    AS Record Keeping Specialist Review: Completed and advisor-reviewed travel documents will be reviewed by the AS Record Keeping Specialist (temporarily, Kelsey). With this information, the Record Keeping Specialist will coordinate the following workflow:

a.    Communications with travelers and organizers to clarify travel details.
b.     Transportation and accommodations estimates, bookings, and confirmations through the approved AS travel agency.
c.     Forwarding of final billing costs to the respective student group and advisor.

8)    AS Requisition Completion: Prior to travel, an AS Requisition must be completed and submitted to AS Administration for related processing and final approvals. While this can be completed by either the student participants or their advisor, the advisor must be informed of the submission.

Under no circumstances are students to make their own transportation or accommodation reservations outside of this AS travel process. All such reservations must be processed by the AS Record Keeping Specialist and only after advisor/Executive Director and funding approvals have taken place.

All students will receive a unique link to trips they have been approved for.

Once approved, all student participants must fill out and submit the following forms…

BEFORE you fill out your travel forms you’ll need

• ALL information about the trip
• Copies of your health insurance card
• Your driver’s license and auto insurance card if you’re driving your own car

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Travel Insurance

All Associated Students employees and students travelling off campus must preregister through UCOP for travel insurance benefits.  You will not be covered for these benefits without registering. To register, please follow these steps.

1. Go to UCOP Travel Website. Click Here
2. Click on the “register your trip” link.
3. Select “University of California- Santa Barbara” and click Next.
4. Log-in to your UCSB Net ID
5. Start registering your trip.

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Travel Accommodations

Hotel and Flight Accommodations:  In order to travel, you will need to know the following information:

Transportation with University Vehicles:  Anyone operating a University vehicle must pass UCSB’s Defensive Driver Training program through the EH&S department.  For more information or to request training, contact Program Coordinator Rick Alvarado (805) 893-5407 (2 hr. session). Once completing the training, please upload your certificate of completion to your user profile.

Travel Planning Best Practices (from SB Travel Bureau)

• Plan in advance.  Airfares are subject to change until ticketed.  Last-minute travel can be very expensive.
• Confirm who is traveling and that they are committed to the trip.  Most airline tickets are non-refundable and if someone drops out after ticketing AS UCSB is still responsible for the ticket cost.
• Have traveler’s personal TSA information ready and available when travel is booked (Correct name as it appears on their driver’s license, date of birth for domestic travel and passport for international travel, frequent flyer numbers, TSA pre-check, etc.).
• Be sure of the schedule of events you are attending before you confirm travel arrangements.
• Leave extra time in the flight schedule in case of flight delays or cancellations.
• Stay up to date with weather or other events that may impact your travel plans.
• Have the contact information for your travel advisor and the after-hours Emergency Travel Center toll free number.
• Have the contact information and confirmation number(s) for hotel, car rental or other ground services that are part of your itinerary.   
• Check in 24 hours prior to departure time and download or print your boarding passes.
• Pack luggage in advance and carry-on those items that you may need for the first 24 hours of your trip in the event your luggage is lost.  Those items may include medications, change of clothing, personal hygiene.
• Download the Tripcase app onto your mobile device for flight schedule updates.  This is a free app.
• Airline tickets can be voided within 24 hours of issuance.  Check your itinerary when you receive the email confirmation.

• If a traveler cannot travel it is their responsibility to cancel the flights prior to departure time either through the travel agency or directly with the airline and hotel.  Failure to do so may result in the loss of the value of the airline ticket.  
• Hotel cancellation policies vary and it is important to advise the travel agency if you are unable to travel.