Administrative Resources for Faculty
- Faculty Computer Support
- Trouble and Maintenace Reports
- Business Cards
- Liberal Arts Faculty Resources
- Family Friendly Policies
- University Policies
- Notaries
Reimbursements
The Office of Accounting requires reimbursements to be completely processed within 60 days of the event. Because of the time required for document processing, both within the department and in Accounting, requests for reimbursement submitted more than 30 days after the event will not be approved by the Dean's Office.
In order to receive a reimbursement you must:
- Supply original detailed receipts to Michelle Robertson
- Explain why you are requesting reimbursement via email or hardcopy accompanying receipts (What was the event or purchase?)
- Have a source of funds, either an account specifically for your expenses or departmental approval to be reimbursed from the departmental account
State Sales Tax
University of Texas employees are exempt from Texas sales tax if a purchase is made for University purposes. Faculty and staff are highly encouraged to utilize this status as sales tax may not be reimbursable for some purposes. If you plan on making purchases that are taxable, please pick up a copy of the Tax Exemption Certificate from Michelle Robertson or download the form and complete the information. Please present the certificate to the vendor for University related expenses (including entertainment) to claim the exemption. No reimbursements will be given for any Texas State sales tax for approved purchases on department funding. You may have the department make your purchase for you to ensure exemption.
Preapproved entertainment costs may be reimbursed by the department or by endowment holders' own accounts. These are considered "Official Occasions"; an "official occasion" is defined as a reception, luncheon, dinner, or similar event that is sponsored and funded by UT (e.g., conferences, meetings, planning retreats, staff meetings). These functions are normally associated with special programs or conferences, University guests, faculty and staff recruitment, or business meetings that span a meal time. To prevent a personal tax liability, you will need to document each occasion with receipts for expenses.
- For reimbursement you must complete an Official Occasion Expense Form.
- Entertainment expenses are limited to $65/person for an event/meeting (including tax and gratuity).
- Tips/gratuity should be limited to no more than 20%.
- Faculty and staff must submit itemized receipts for reimbursement. They must also submit a receipt showing proof of payment (if this does not already appear on the itemized receipt). If an itemized receipt or proof of payment is not available, the payee must sign a memo explaining why such is not available and the document creator should include it with the voucher paperwork. This should be mentioned in the document notes.
- Reimbursements must be processed within 60 days of the official occasion.
- Procards cannot be used at restaurants.
We strongly encourage faculty to go through Michelle Robertson for all office supply needs. The University has a standing contract with Office Max and is unable to reimburse purchases made with other vendors. Please use the online Office Max catalog for product numbers when making requests so we can be sure to get exactly what you need.
Computers, monitors, and printers cannot be purchased by anyone besides Michelle Robertson. All purchases must be cleared before purchase. Typical turn around time is 1-5 days. Computers purchased on UT funds are UT property and must be tagged for inventory by inventory staff, even if purchased with research grant funds.
Faculty can find a list of disallowed purchases and vendors in the Procard Policies and Guidelines. Limited computer and computer-related purchases may be possible with a Procard, but these must be cleared prioir to purchase to ensure University policy compliance.
Travel
Beginning May 20, 2013, all business-related air travel must be arranged through Anthony Travel or Corporate Travel Planners (two of our current university travel contractors).
- The required use of the contracted travel agencies is directed to faculty/staff/student business travel reservations.
- Study abroad and group travel reservations are not included in this requirement.
- Exceptions to this policy: 1. Travel costs are borne by an entity external to the university. 2. Emergency situations (flood, hurricane, etc). 3. The university travel agencies are unable to provide an airline fare within $100 of lower available fare from an alternate provider. Must be an exact comparison. (Comparison must be submitted to dept admin prior to travel.) 4. Group or conference airfare or discounts not available through the university agencies. 5. Travel Management Services will provide further information about requesting exception.Please contact them directly at tms@austin.utexas.edu.
- Use of Personal Credit Card. As long as you are using one of the two designated contractors (Anthony Travel or Corporate Travel Planners), you may book travel using a personal form of credit and seek reimbursement, except when booking travel via State of Texas contract airfares or University corporate discount airfares with American, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines or United.
Beginning May 20, 2013, all business-related car rentals must be arranged through any of five contracted companies: Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz or National.
Travelers and travel arrangers will have the options of booking rentals through one of our travel agencies, and for a fee through a new online booking tool. No reservation fee will be assessed when booking directly with your chosen rental car company.
Use of one of the required rental car vendors is required for all UT Austin business travel, with the following exception: None of the vendors noted above are able to provide the vehicle type necessary at the location and date required.
Request for Travel Authorization
Prior approval for all business travel is required for absences from the campus (or other designated headquarters) for periods of half a day or more during the normal working period, whether or not there is a cost to the University.
A Request for Travel Authorization (RTA) must be filed with the department at least two weeks prior to your travel. Faculty who will be missing a class must specify a professor who will be handling their class while they are away. TAs are not authorized to cover your class. To complete an RTA, see Michelle Robertson.
For travel during the first and last week of classes and finals periods, prior approval from the Chair is required. Chairs must review travel dates, missed classes, name of faculty member who will oversee missed classes, final exam dates and how exams will be administered, a plan for on-time grade submission, and a method of contact for student queries. The RTA document notes must confirm the Chair’s approval.
For further information, consult the Travel Policies in the Handbook of Business Procedures.
Faculty Travel Grant: $1,200 is available annually.
Now available through online application! See the graduate school's website for travel grants for details. The purpose of the travel grant is to support presentation of the applicant’s original research or creative effort. Attending a meeting or chairing a session does not qualify nor does accepting an invitation to present a seminar or giving a colloquium at another university. The RTA form must be completed before applying. Before beginning the application, be sure to gather 1) your abstract (not exceeding one page in length) of the paper or presentation to be given and 2) either a copy of the meeting program showing your name, paper or presentation topic, and date or a letter from the meeting organizer accepting your paper or presentation and confirming your part in the program. Applications must be completed and submitted with your RTA form no later than two weeks before your scheduled trip.
Request for Travel Reimbursement
Please note that travel reimbursement requests must be submitted no later than 30 days after your last approved travel date. You must have an approved RTA prior to travel in order to receive any reimbursements.
A list of items for which receipts are required is available here.
University employees are EXEMPT from Texas State hotel occupancy taxes when traveling for University business. The University cannot reimburse any Texas State occupancy taxes unless the hotel refuses to honor the exemption certificate (see above).
Meals are normally paid by meal allowance (per diem), currently $36 on state funds and $41 on local funds. No meal receipts are required to receive meal allowance. Please see the Dean's Office memo for a specific break down.
The University of Texas cannot reimburse a split bill (such as hotel) that does not have the UT payee's name; we cannot accept private invoices for split bills--it is up to individual travelers to reconcile any private agreement.
Please include a copy of your itinerary, or let us know your flight departure and arrival times so we can make adjustments according to this policy. Unless told otherwise, default times will be based on your airfare receipt.
Upon return to Austin, original receipts must be submitted to Michelle Robertson for reimbursement. You may note the expenses to be reimbursed via email or with hard copy receipts. Expenses that can be reimbursed include, but are not limited to:
- Airfare (Original receipt clearly showing that payment was made)
- Lodging (original hotel bills are required showing itemized room rate and taxes, and showing a zero balance)
- Meals (at current per diem)
- Registration fees
- Parking fees
- Cab/Bus/Train fares (receipts are not required (but recommended) if travel within the city, receipts are required for travel between cities)
- UT Business telephone calls and UT business internet service (reimbursed via the hotel bill)
- Hotel occupancy taxes (reimbursed via the hotel bill)
- Gasoline for personal car (if not claiming mileage reimbursement)
Events
Please notify the department(s) well in advance of guest lecturer travel so staff will be able to process the appropriate paperwork in order to arrange airfare and hotel, and pay travel expenses or honorarium.
Library
It is generally recommended that you make copies of all materials for your course available free of charge in the library, esp. the PCL. Simply fill out the form electronically or print out a physical version and deliver it with your materials to the library.
Often faculty will need Teaching Assistants or, in a pinch, work-study students to check out or renew items in the library on their behalf. Students must be authorized prior to pick-up. The Proxy Authorization form is available online.
Faculty Web Profile
Please log in with your UT EID to www.utexas.edu/cola/_db/ to update your departmental webpage profile.
House Bill 2504
Undergraduate course syllabi and instructor-of-record CVs must be uploaded to the Access Syllabi and CVs System beginning the first day of classes and no later seven days after the first day of classes every semester. Policies and procedures are on the Provost's website at: www.utexas.edu/provost/planning/accountability/hb_2504. For questions, please contact Valerie Goldstein at 232-6302 or valerie.goldstein@austin.utexas.edu.
Other
Scott Shepherd, Nick Metzler, and Justin McAdams
help@soc.utexas.edu
(512) 471-3232
Trouble and Maintenance Reports
(512) 232-3980
Business cards are available via UT Document Solutions. Please contact Michelle Robertson for an account number to complete your purchase.
Liberal Arts Faculty Resources
The Liberal Arts Faculty Resource page highlights the resources available through the college. The Liberal Arts website has a wealth of useful, up to date information on a range of human resources and training topics, including promotion and tenure, faculty annual reports, and research. Commonly used forms are also available for your convenience.
The University has numerous policies, services and resources to support our faculty and their families. Please consult the University's Family Matters webpage to find more information about childcare, hiring dual career couples, extension of the tenure-track probationary period, Family and Medical Leave, modified instructional duties (MID), sick leave, the Employee Assistance Program, the Employee Discount Program, off-camus housing, and many other family friendly initiatives.
The Provost's Policy Forms page contains a comprehensive list of university policies by topic, as well as links to relevant forms. This is the best resource for all policy related questions or concerns, including handling scholastic dishonesty, scheduling final exams, searching a student's personal papers or belongings, sexual harassment, and observance of religious holy days.
Many University of Texas at Austin departments have staff members who are certified notaries public. At each department's discretion, free notary services are offered to university faculty, students, and staff. Before visiting a department to request notary services, contact the notary public to be sure he or she can assist you with your request. For a list of notaries public on the UT Austin campus, click here.
