Rules, Regulations and Policies
Law School Student Travel and Reimbursement Policies
For a printable Adobe PDF copy of the Student Travel and Reimbursement Policies, please click here.
INTRODUCTION
Note: These policies apply to all competition teams, their coaches, and to students who are approved for Law School related programs.
These policies have been developed in order to permit the greatest number of Loyola students to participate in co-curricular activities without regard to their economic background. Loyola is committed to providing equal opportunity to all students. At the same time, we work within budgetary constraints - our resources are not unlimited. We ask that you read these policies carefully and cooperate with the spirit of their intent. They have been developed by the University and the Law School in order to provide as much support as possible while avoiding waste.
Adherence to these policies will help you get your reimbursement processed quickly. Please remember that you are being reimbursed from funds that you and your classmates contribute through the student activity charge. In recent years, costs have risen dramatically both because rising costs have affected hotel and airline charges, and because Loyola is entering (and winning!!) more competitions than ever. The Law School activity account (from which reimbursements are drawn) pays for a wide range of law school activities and has helped our students achieve prominence in many co-curricular activities, but the funds are not unlimited and we ask that you be responsible in your reimbursed spending so that we may be able to fund other worthwhile student programs. Please also note that expenses incurred for certain items like local travel and commercial copying are not reimbursed by the university. Adequate planning may help you avoid incurring out-of-pocket expenses like these.
Also, the sometimes enormous complications involved in group travel or with individual preferences require that you, the participant, help out. We do not have the staff to make arrangements for your travel, so we ask that each student and coach assist us by participating in making the arrangements.
Keep in mind the following suggestions:
- Don't assume that a questionable expense will be reimbursed. ASK before you discover that something will not be reimbursed.
- There is no room for extravagance in any Loyola budgets. Always remember that our tradition, for both students and faculty expenses, is to reimburse for comfortable - not luxurious - accommodations.
- Occasionally, a source of unnecessary expense is bad planning on the part of the student. There is a limit to which planning mistakes should be reimbursed. Please plan carefully.
Please contact Megan Canty at MCanty@luc.edu if you have questions.
TRAVEL POLICY IN BRIEF
Loyola will pay only for travel that has been given prior approval. Reasonable travel plans balance convenience to the traveler and the expense to the institution. Sometimes this requires travel by auto, train or bus. Sometimes air travel is permitted.
If your competition or program requires air travel (more than a 4 hour drive), bring the following information to the Business Director of the Moot Court Board:
- the dates of the competition or program and dates of travel,
- times of departure from Chicago and from competition or program location back to Chicago, and
- names of travelers (team members names, coach name - if accompanying team).
NOTE:
- If you get a non-refundable ticket and you change your plans, you will be responsible for the cost of the ticket. Plan carefully!!
- If, for some reason, you are unable to plan to take advantage of low cost tickets, you must pay the difference between the low cost ticket and the one you eventually receive.
- Keep your plane ticket stub [or boarding pass] because it is proof that you have used your ticket. The University will not reimburse you for other expenses if you don't include your plane ticket with the other expense receipts. If your ticket is prepaid, the University requires the stub as proof of travel.
If your competition or program is within a four hour drive, you should drive to the competition.
- The school will reimburse for mileage at the current rate (approximately $.34 per mile),
- but you will be responsible for fuel charges if you provide the car.
- If you rent, contact Enterprise at 850 N. State, (312) 951-6262 to make a reservation.
- Fuel will be reimbursed for rental cars, keep the receipts.
- Economy size is the recommended size for four passengers.
- Anything else requires Megan Canty's approval.
LOCAL TRAVEL
Travel in Chicago in connection with moot court or other student activities is not reimbursed. At competitions in other cities, if the competition venue is outside of walking distance and neither the competition nor the hotel provide local transportation to and from the venue, only reasonable transportation expenses will be reimbursed.
HOTELS / ACCOMMODATIONS
If the competition or program host provides a recommended list of hotels, determine which is the most cost effective value based on proximity to the competition or program, shuttle availability, cost of taxi if no shuttle, etc., then book the reservation and have the hotel fax the Pre-invoice (room and tax only) to Megan Canty at (312-915-7201). We will pre-pay for the accommodations.
Remember: two same gender team members per room.
No incidentals will be reimbursed.
All of the above expenses and reservations must be made as soon as possible to take advantage of advance booking discounts. As soon as you are aware of the location and dates, please consult with the Moot Court Board Business Director for the reservations.
PRINTING
In planning out your team schedule, allow for brief copying time. You must also allow two days for the Loyola Copying Center to make copies of your brief. Loyola will not pay to have your brief copied at a commercial copier which often charges several times more. Please be aware that big projects like moot court briefs cannot be copied in the law school. Law school copiers are not built for the volume of copies required in moot court competitions and there are other uses for the law school copiers which take greater priority.
The key is to plan well. Build in time to allow for computer and copier problems. Don't cut it close. Our Computing Center is open only during library hours. The Copying Center operates only during business hours. Loyola has plenty of resources to help you get your brief in on time. If out of pocket expenses are required to cover costs for brief preparation and copying, they will not be reimbursed.
If you have printing requirements, they must be taken to the University Print Center, 837 N. State Street. No reimbursement will be made for printing done off-campus. If you have mailing expenses, it should also be taken to the University Mailroom at the same State Street location as the Print Center. If you mail at the post office, bring a receipt for reimbursement.
FINAL NOTES
- Apart from the transportation and lodging expense, only out of town travel will be accompanied by a food expense allowance of $25 per diem per person. No funds will be provided for transportation to restaurants, room service, etc.
- Reimbursement will be allowed for transportation to and from the airport at the competition location.
- Whenever possible, please use your CTA pass for transportation to the airport in Chicago.
- No reimbursement will be made without an original receipt! Always keep all receipts, e.g., boarding passes, car rental agreements, fuel expenses, hotel receipts and food expenditures.
- Economy class is the mode of operation for all competitions and programs!
- Celebration is reserved for the banquet at the end of the school year. Therefore, if you want to celebrate on location at the competition, remember that it is to be paid out of your own pocket.
- The following forms should be submitted in order to make pre-travel arrangements:
- air fare reservation requirements
- car rental reservation
- hotel reservation arrangements
Bring your airfare reservation requirements, car rental reservation requirements and hotel reservation pre-invoices to the Moot Court Board Business Director in Room 1355.
In addition, if further reimbursement is required, you will need to submit the travel expense reimbursement form (attached) upon your return to the Moot Court Board Business Director in Room 1355. Remember to attach original receipts for all reimbursements.
- Remember that your expenses are paid from funds which pay for all sorts of student activities. This is a limited fund that has helped our students achieve prominence in many co-curricular activities. We ask that you be responsible in you reimbursed spending so that we may be able to fund other worthwhile student activities. Consider the following suggestions:
- Don't assume that a questionable expense will be reimbursed. ASK before you find out that something will not be reimbursed.
- There is no room for extravagance in any Loyola budgets.
- Occasionally, a source of unnecessary expense is bad planning on the part of the student or coach. There is a limit to which planning mistakes should be reimbursed. Please plan carefully.
Thank you for your help in keeping the competition program expenses in line with our budget!
For a printable Adobe PDF copy of the Student Travel and Reimbursement Policies, please click here.
Revised: 12/16/08
