Authorized Approvers: This role ensures that travel requests and expenses comply with the UMBC travel policy. Their primary focus is on the legitimacy of the travel, adherence to policy guidelines (e.g., class of service, excessive cost), and the overall necessity of the trip. Authorized Approvers approve the traveler’s actions and ensure the trip aligns with departmental objectives and university rules.
Cost Object Approvers: This role is responsible for approving expenses against a specific chartstring. The approver is on the level of a Department ID for the chartstring. Their focus is on the financial aspect: ensuring that the funds are available, the expense is appropriate for the designated chartstring, and that the expenditure aligns with the budget for that specific project or department. Cost Object Approvers approve the financial allocation of the expense.
Risk Approvers: This role is conditional based on whether a travel segment involves travel to a foreign country with active conditions of Medium (Level 3), High (Level 4), and Extreme (Level 5) risks. The role is based out of the International Travel Committee.
Create Travel Request
Pre-approval/authorization to travel is required before starting the trip or prepaying any portion for the following travel types:
- Out-of-state
- In-state with overnight stay (includes Washington D.C.)
- International
Travel within Maryland or Washington, D.C., with no overnight stay, does not require an authorization request.
Travel requests must be completed and approved before any travel begins or expenses are prepaid to ensure coverage under Workers’ Compensation. Tickets will not be authorized, and reimbursements will not be processed without an approved request. The traveler may complete the request or designate someone to complete it on their behalf.
If travel is not approved prior to departure, a request must be submitted and approved retroactively before any reimbursement can be issued. The traveler may not submit an expense report until the request has been approved.