Athletics Business Office: Team Travel ~ Lodging

Policy Number: 120-4

Last Updated: 1/27/2020

Policy Title: Team Travel – Lodging

Administrative Contact & Phone: Athletic Business Office: 568-3829 or 568-2367

JMU Contact & Phone: A/P Supervisor of Travel: 568-8019

Director of Procurement: 568-3141

Websites: JMU Financial Procedures Manual

POLICY: Athletics provides lodging for sport program team travel as pre-approved through the annual budget process. Athletics requires any lodging which is over per diem rates be approved in advance using Athletics “Prior Approval” form.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this policy is to provide guidelines on necessary documentation and how to process those documents to ensure lodging is secured for team travel. This applies to JMU team travel as well as other University teams that are traveling to Harrisonburg for competition and tournaments.

DOCUMENTS:

Chrome River
Travel roster which includes ALL travelers - i.e. Student-Athletes, Coaches, Trainers, Managers, Administrators, Media Personnel and other members of the Travel Party; this includes non-JMU personnel as well (i.e. donors)
Travel Intinerary (SharePoint)
Per Diems via GSA.gov
Prior approval form– (SharePoint/ABO/Admin Assistants)

PROCEDURES:

Refer to the JMU website listed in the heading at the beginning of this policy for important information.

Per Diem Rates
If lodging is over per diem rates: Prior approval is required in advance and proper documentation justifying the lodging exception up to 150% of the guidelines for both in-state and out-of-state travel.

Documentation needed:

1. Prior approval form: (SharePoint/ABO/Admin Assistants)

The Department of Accounts (Richmond) requires original receipts / invoices. A faxed copy or electronic (emailed) document is not acceptable. If the original document has been lost and the department has received a fax/electronic invoice that must be used for payment, they must stamp it (or write on it) “vendor’s original invoice was lost” or “unavailable” and explain (memo) why we must pay from that document.

Specific Procedures:

Team travel lodging:

a. Itemized original invoices must detail rate, taxes, method of payment, and reflect a zero balance.

b. If lodging is over per diem limits, attach prior approval form and when applicable, comparison quotes.

c. If lodging invoice(s) do not contain the name of the individual paying, place the following typed statement on the face of the Chrome River: “Team travel lodging expenses paid by (insert name of traveler)”. The invoice still needs to show the breakdown of the rates and taxes, and method of payment. SPCC/Direct billing is the university’s recommended method of payment to hotels for team travel. If a team is unable to pay using an SPCC, use of a personal credit card may be allowable.

d. Make sure the travel roster names match up with the names on the lodging invoice, investigate any discrepancies.

i. If lodging invoice doesn't reflect the correct occupants: verify with coach, strike through the incorrect name, and list correction.

ii. If lodging invoice doesn't list the room occupants – and the necessary number of rooms can't be determined from the official travel roster, a rooming list may be necessary.

Tournament lodging - You must have a fully-executed Game Contract, BEFORE reserving lodging for teams coming to compete at JMU.
Hotel Contract - All hotel contracts must be approved and signed by JMU Procurement. Sport programs should email or send contracts directly to the Procurement. See section 400-1 Contracts Overview in this manual for more information.