Study Abroad 
METHODS OF PAYMENT: The University pays for study travel expenses in one of four ways, listed below in order of preference:
DEPOSITS: One to two months before departure, we can pay a refundable deposit to your contacts overseas. If your travel agent or partner university would like a deposit, they should email or fax your coordinator an invoice by the first week of November (winter programs) or April (summer programs). We will make the payment by the end of the month. The invoice should be printed on official letterhead and contain the following:
If they're requesting payment via a bank wire transfer, the invoice should also include:
FINAL BALANCES: Balances are paid after the group has arrived overseas. Final invoices are due the first week of December (winter programs) or May (summer programs). Unlike the deposit invoice, the final invoice must be an original, sent either by post or as an email attachment. Faxed copies will not be paid. The final invoice should contain the same information outlined above.
For final balances, we prefer to pay them during the middle or at the end of the program. In the past, students have withdrawn at the last minute due to death or illness in the family. If their program has paid a large sum in non-refundable balances all of this money becomes non-refundable to the student. The longer that we can hold off with final payments, the more flexibility we can give students in times of crisis.
EARLY PAYMENTS: Some of your contacts requests earlier deposits and final payments. Our policy is to collect enough in student deposits to cover the cost of outgoing payments. If you look at the total amount of deposits that your students have paid ($300, $1500 or $2700), and subtract the cost of the plane ticket, the remainder may be available for early deposits. We do not encourage early deposits - but if they are necessary, this is how we will calculate how much we can pay.
When the time comes to finalize your cash advance, your program coordinator will contact you to set up a meeting. These meetings take about 45-60 minutes. At the meeting, you'll determine who is taking what money overseas, and for what purpose. Prior to the meeting, co-directors should decide between themselves how they intend to split program funds (i.e. who will be responsible for which areas of the budget.) If you're working with a resident director, you'll need to know which program items that person is paying for; these funds will be wired to our on-site account.
After the meeting with your program coordinator, you will be sent an email advising you that a web form needs your attention. Log in via the link provided and approve the cash advance by filling in your name as Traveler and selecting your supervisor (usually office coordinator or assistant to the chair) and the account administrator (Lisa Huber) from the drop down boxes. Until this web form has been approved, your cash advance request cannot be processed. Once the form is completed, the finds will then be deposited into your bank account several weeks before you depart (in the same way that your salary is direct-deposited). If you would like your cash advance to be deposited into a personal account overseas, you will have to handle the wire transfer yourself, as the University does not deposit funds into personal overseas accounts. If you incur any bank fees from this transaction, submit the bank statements or receipts with your reconciliation at the end of your program.
Come to the cash advance meeting prepared with a list of the meals for which you will request a per diem (i.e. those not already prepaid or included in your lodging cost or provided by a travel agency in a package deal). The list needs to include the dates and types (breakfast, etc.) of the meals. In addition, bring a copy of your program itinerary for your program coordinator.
It's also a good idea to re-read through the Budget FAQ to remind yourself exactly what is considered an allowable expense in each category.
REMEMBER: Upon return to the to the U.S., you'll have 30 days to "reconcile" the cash advance. Please do this in a timely manner - if it is not, the finance office will deduct the advance from your UD paycheck.
When you receive a cash advance, the University is entrusting you with its funds. It is your responsibility to account for how you spent those funds within University guidelines. This means that your cash advance monies are subject to the usual rules, regulations, and auditing procedures required by the University Treasurer's Office and the Internal Revenue Service.
The Golden Rule of cash advances, in short: Whenever you spend program money, get a receipt that shows the amount you spent. The only thing for which you don't need a receipt is your per diem.
The corollary to the Golden Rule is: keep up with your financial accounting! Each day, note on the back of each receipt what the expenditure was for and put it in the correct envelope. Keep track of your expenses on a spreadsheet or in whatever way works best for you. If you do this, the task of reconciling your cash advance should be much less daunting when you return.
If you are working with one of our resident directors to make payments for your program, please do not reimburse that person from your cash advance unless you receive authorization from Lisa Huber in IGS. Do not give the resident director a portion of your cash advance even though they may have paid an expense originally planned to be paid from your cash advance.
You are only responsible for the money that was cash advanced to you. Therefore, faculty directors should not pool cash advance monies. Cash advances are given to individuals, not programs. Procurement Services will not accept written agreements between co-directors as receipts.
In that same vein, do not attempt to mix receipts from your cash advance expenses with receipts from a resident director's expenses on behalf of your program. The resident directors are responsible for reconciling with IGS the expenditures made from the UD bank accounts they administer, and you are responsible for reconciling your cash advance. Money and receipts from these two sources MUST be kept separate.
If you pay a travel agency/hotel/school/organization from your cash advance for arrangements for excursions, remember to have them itemize the expenses on their invoice. Submit the itemized invoice along with the excursion spreadsheet.
Some other policies: University policy does not allow for reimbursement of alcoholic beverages or for any expenses of family members such as hotel occupancy, admissions to excursions (like museums, theatre tickets), airport shuttles, and meals.
