[phas-faculty_staff_others] Concur and Foreign Travel

Carlos Bertulani Carlos.Bertulani at tamuc.edu
Fri Mar 8 09:51:01 CST 2019


Hi Jeremy,

Thank you for your concern. I appreciate that you propose to talk.

Unfortunately, I am extremely busy and I do not have time to talk about this topic because we all know that when you leave the administration, whatever you decide now will be changed again by another incoming administrator. Time is the most precious thing in everyone's life.
 
Carlos

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeremy Gamez <Jeremy.Gamez at tamuc.edu>
Date: Thursday, March 7, 2019 at 11:42 PM
To: Carlos Bertulani <Carlos.Bertulani at tamuc.edu>
Cc: Stephen Starnes <Stephen.Starnes at tamuc.edu>
Subject: Re: FW: [phas-faculty_staff_others] Concur and Foreign Travel

    Hello, Dr. Bertulani.
    
    
    Thank you for your feedback. One additional follow up: how often does your or your colleagues' international travel occur?  
    
    
    If you would like to discuss further, I would be more than happy to find a time that works for both of us. -Jer
    
    Jeremy G. Gamez | Business Technical Analyst
    Office of the Provost & V.P. of Academic Affairs
    
    sent by Google Pixel
    
    
    
    On Mar 7, 2019 11:10 PM, Carlos Bertulani <Carlos.Bertulani at tamuc.edu> wrote:
    
    
    
    FYI.
     
    Carlos 
    
    -----Original Message-----
    From: <phas-faculty_staff_others-bounces at tamuc.edu> on behalf of Carlos Bertulani <Carlos.Bertulani at tamuc.edu>
    Date: Thursday, March 7, 2019 at 11:05 PM
    To: Bao-An Li <Bao-An.Li at tamuc.edu>, Kurtis  Williams <Kurtis.Williams at tamuc.edu>, "phas-faculty_staff_others at tamuc.edu" <phas-faculty_staff_others at tamuc.edu>
    Cc: John Humphreys <John.Humphreys at tamuc.edu>, Brent Donham <Brent.Donham at tamuc.edu>
    Subject: Re: [phas-faculty_staff_others] Concur and Foreign Travel
    
        The president at the time (Keck) sent me an email with copy to the Dean and the Provost about the new 15 days policy after months of deliberations (please read the two emails attached below and pay attention to the dates).
    
        
        I am not sure if I understand what is going on now.
        
        Carlos 
        
        
        -----Original Message-----
        From: <employees-bounces at tamuc.edu> on behalf of Faculty/Staff
        Reply-To: "reply_to_employees_list at tamu-commerce.edu"
        Date: Monday, October 16, 2017 at 11:43 AM
        To: "'employees at tamuc.edu'"
        Subject: [Faculty & Staff] Foreign Travel Changes
        
        If you will be traveling internationally, you are required to submit a
        foreign travel request. This request must be received by the Office of the President prior to your travel. The required documents can be found here:
        
    http://www.tamuc.edu/facultyStaffServices/travelOffice/foreignTravel.as <http://www.tamuc.edu/facultyStaffServices/travelOffice/foreignTravel.as>
        px
        <http://www.tamuc.edu/facultyStaffServices/travelOffice/foreignTravel.a
        spx>
        After receiving email confirmation (and an electronic copy of your
        fully executed Request for Foreign Travel form and all other documentation), you have been approved and may begin to book  international travel.  Please note that any airfare booked before a foreign travel request has been approved will not be ticketed,
     possibly resulting in rate changes and the loss of a held seat.
        President Keck has approved some changes to this process, which have been listed below:
        ·        
        Foreign travel requests (with all documentation completed) must be
        received by the Office of the President at least
        15 days prior to travel. If traveling to a high risk country, requests
        (with all documentation completed) must be received by the Office of
        the President at least
        30 days prior to travel. The Department of Campus Operations & Safety (Derek Preas) has the most up-to-date information on high risk countries. Check with your department for any internal deadlines. Requests not submitted by this deadline may be rejected.
        
        ·        
        The Foreign Travel Checklist must be included in all foreign travel requests.
        ·        
        Required trainings must have been completed less than one year prior to
        the trip return date.
        ·        
        The same rules/documents apply to Canada and Mexico.
        ·        
        Foreign travel must be booked through the Concur eTravel system or
        directly with a Corporate Travel Planner (CTP) agent, who can also assist with large group travel. Any travel  booked through other means will not be reimbursed.
        o
        If booking through Concur is not possible (for example, your conference
        hotel is not found in Concur), please document this in your Concur authorization request and include a brief  explanation.
        o
        All airfare should be booked through Concur.
        
        If you will be traveling internationally or on a regular basis, it is recommended that you attend a Concur training session. You can register for a session through Training & Development:
        http://appsprod.tamuc.edu/td/coursecalendar.aspx
        To contact a CTP agent to assist you in booking travel, please call
        877-727-5188. Please note that there is a nominal fee to your department for using this service.
        Any requests submitted by the traveler to their department head on Tuesday, October 17, 2017 or after will operate under the rules above.
        Amanda C. Brown
        │
        Assistant to the Chief of Staff
        Office of the President
        Amanda.Brown at tamuc.edu
        P.O. Box 3011 │ Commerce, TX 75429
        McDowell Administration Building (BA) 295 Phone 903.886.5009 │ Fax
        903.886.5010 www.tamuc.edu <http://www.tamuc.edu> <http://www.tamuc.edu/>
        Texas A&M University-Commerce
        
        
        -----Original Message-----
        From: Ray Keck <Ray.Keck at tamuc.edu>
        Date: Friday, June 2, 2017 at 11:01 AM
        To: Carlos Bertulani <Carlos.Bertulani at tamuc.edu>
        Cc: John Humphreys <John.Humphreys at tamuc.edu>
        Subject: RE: Request 
        
            Dear Carlos,
            
            Yesterday's discussion suffered from a lot of misinformation.  After the meeting, we looked into where the System and their rules are at present.  As it happens, we no longer need to send the Chancellor these documents, so the 45-day window is not necessary.  
     Our forms were devised and printed some time ago, when expectations and requirements were quite different.  
    
            
            We do need some advance planning, however, to ensure that trainings are finished and all documentation is in place.  Your dean will soon get a new set of guidelines that will greatly simplify these matters. 
    
            
            I apologize for this situation which, had we understood it, could have been altered some time ago.   Ray
            
            Ray M. Keck III, PhD
            President
            Texas A&M University-Commerce
            P.O. Box 3011
            Commerce, TX 75429
            
            903-886-5011
            Ray.keck at tamuc.edu
            
            
        -----Original Message-----
        From: <phas-faculty_staff_others-bounces at tamuc.edu> on behalf of Bao-An Li <Bao-An.Li at tamuc.edu>
        Date: Thursday, March 7, 2019 at 3:24 PM
        To: Kurtis  Williams <Kurtis.Williams at tamuc.edu>, "phas-faculty_staff_others at tamuc.edu" <phas-faculty_staff_others at tamuc.edu>
        Cc: Brent Donham <Brent.Donham at tamuc.edu>
        Subject: Re: [phas-faculty_staff_others] Concur and Foreign Travel
        
            It took us tons of emails even involving the former president to get the administration to simplify/shorten the approval process over the last few years. It seems that we were just
             wasting time....
            ________________________________________
            From: phas-faculty_staff_others-bounces at tamuc.edu [phas-faculty_staff_others-bounces at tamuc.edu] on behalf of Kurtis Williams [Kurtis.Williams at tamuc.edu]
            Sent: Thursday, March 07, 2019 3:15 PM
            To: phas-faculty_staff_others at tamuc.edu
            Subject: [phas-faculty_staff_others] Concur and Foreign Travel
            
            
            Y’all aren’t going to like the response I received to the question about 30-day vs 15-day foreign travel approval through Concur, so I‘m just forwarding the message to you.  We can discuss this and how to proceed at the faculty meeting on Monday.
            
            
            BTW, when Stephen says “they do not fully understand” he is referring to the Technology folks, not the faculty.  I misread that the first few times.
            
            
            Cheers,
            Kurtis
            
            Dr. Kurtis A. Williams
            Associate Professor
            Department of Physics & Astronomy
            Texas A&M University-Commerce
            kurtis.williams at tamuc.edu
            (903) 886-5516 
            
            
            Begin forwarded message:
            
            From: Stephen Starnes
            
            Hi Kurtis,
            
            I spoke with Jeremy Gamez yesterday regarding the travel issue. I have copied Jeremy on this e-mail. He indicated that he is more than happy to come to the Physics department to talk with the faculty about the issue - particularly if it is an issue
     that mainly
             impacts just a few faculty.
            
            It is my understanding that they do not fully understand how the 15 day policy came about and may question why 15 day approval is needed. It is also my understanding that for travel to safe areas, the 30 day approval before travel will be the standard
     policy
             (note: this is not 30 day submission of a request before travel but instead 30-day approval before the travel so in reality the travel request would have to be made about 6 weeks in advance of travel).
            
            
            Jeremy did note that with the travel request routing using Concur, a faculty member will always know at which stage in the approval process the travel request is, so the faculty member would be able to contact the individual whose desk the request is
     at in
             order to try and expedite the process.
            
            I will let Jeremy correct any mistakes that I made. Please do have the Physics department meet with Jeremy if there are concerns.
            
            Stephen
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
            
        
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