Professional Development Travel Committee

Professional development travel funds are given for library faculty and staff to travel to professional conferences, workshops, symposia, and research. The funds are allocated by the Professional Development Travel Committee and reimbursement is managed by the Libraries’ Business Services department. Each traveler is allowed two funded trips per fiscal year (July 1- June 30). Virtual conferences with a registration of $100 or less do not count toward the two allowed trips.

The University of Florida operates on a reimbursement system unless your travel is specifically designated as official university business.

The George A. Smathers Libraries uses the official University of Florida travel policies as determined by UF’s Finance and Accounting.

Requesting Travel

Step 1: Submit a Travel Request in UFGO

Professional Development Travel funding is requested by entering in a Travel Request in UFGO. Please use the PDTC Travel Request Guide which provides step-by-step instructions on how to enter the Travel Request for PDTC funding and then submit for approval.

The Research Funding Request form is used to request funds for research travel for the purpose of producing scholarship either to present or publish. Please review the PDF version of the form before filling out the official request through DocuSign .

**If you are traveling with Official Business funding, please contact Misty Colson to work on getting the funding approved.

Step 2: Watch for an Approval Email

Once you have submitted your UFGO Travel Request, it will go to your supervisors, Associate Dean, and the Professional Development Travel Committee for approval. You will then receive an email confirming the approval of your request and informing you of the amount of your allocated travel funds. If you do not receive this email within a week, please contact the PDTC.

Step 3: Book Travel in UFGO

UFGO has a travel module that provides users with airfare, car rental, lodging, and train booking options. You should book all travel through the UFGO portal unless you are booking a hotel at the conference rate. First-time users will need to complete the required UGO100 training module and add UFGO library delegates (Tamara Johnson and Greg Krueger) to their profile.

**If you book travel outside the UFGO portal, you must submit a Booking Tool Exception Form prior to submitting your travel request. You will also need to take screenshots at the time of booking to document the price difference. These should be attached to your expense report.

Step 4: Reimbursement

Expenses accrued while traveling are reimbursed up to the amount specified in your funding allocation from the Professional Development Travel Committee. After your travel is completed, all receipts must be added in UFGO.

Please review the University’s Travel website to determine what receipts are required for reimbursement as well as per diem and mileage amounts.

Once the Libraries’ UFGO travel delegate has processed your receipts, you will receive an email prompting you to review and verify your travel. Log into UFGO, verify that everything is correct, and click on the Submit button.

Additional Information

Unfunded Travel

All work-related travel of 50 miles or more requires a Travel Request. No-cost or complimentary travel should be entered directly in UFGO by the traveler at least three days prior to travel. A Travel Funding Request Form is not required.

International Travel

All employees traveling internationally (including Canada and Mexico) are required to register through UF’s International Center prior to travel. If you are traveling on university business using federal grant funds you must comply with the “Fly America Act” for airfare purchase.

When preparing the Travel Expense Report, amounts will be entered in U.S. dollars. If receipts are in a foreign language and currency, each item should be identified and the rate of exchange for conversion to U.S. dollars (USD) should be noted. The applicable USD exchange rates are those rates which are in effect the day the transaction occurs, for example the day a hotel bill is paid.

PDTC Committee Vision

The Professional Development Travel Committee supports the Libraries’ vision to ignite curiosity, drive innovation, and promote intellectual exchange within our diverse global learning community by providing and facilitating a professional development process that makes travel processing easier for library employees, delivering timely reimbursements, and providing a record that is easily accessible for information and documentation.

Chair:

• Hofer, Jennifer

Members (Fiscal Year 2024-2025)

• Daly, Megan
• Digby, Cynthia
• Jewett, Vanessa
• McLeran, Sherri
• Margjoni, Raimonda
• Marion, Laura
• Ray, Stacey

All questions should be directed to the Professional Development Travel Committee’s email: travel@uflib.ufl.edu.

The Professional Development Travel Committee reports to Patrick Reakes, Senior Associate Dean, Scholarly Resources & Services.

Important links

Committee page last updated: 09/13/24