Interview Candidate Travel
Making travel arrangements for interview candidates can be challenging. The following tips and suggestions should help to make this process faster, easier, and save your department money. As with employee travel, Procurement cards cannot be used for hotel costs, airline tickets, or other travel costs.
Air transportation for candidates should be arranged by and paid for by the candidate. This is much less time consuming for the departments, and it eliminates the university's risk of paying for tickets that may not be used. The ticket-holder receives credit for unused tickets, NOT the organization that pays for them. The university's only recourse would be to request reimbursement from the candidate. Airfares must be the lowest fare available (i.e. non-refundable coach tickets.)
Lodging for candidates must be within the State limit for La Crosse (currently $70 per night.) UW-L policy is to have candidates pay for their lodging rather than having it direct billed to the university. (An exception can be made when the candidate otherwise could not attend the interview.) Hotel bills often include personal charges such as phone calls, movies, etc. that cannot be paid with university funds, therefore it is best to reimburse the candidate for their lodging costs rather than direct billing the university. The Cleary Center also offers lodging accommodations at the State rate, and these room charges can be direct billed to your account.
Campus policy is to prioritize candidate travel expense reimbursements. To help ensure prompt reimbursement, please communicate the State travel limits to the candidates for meals, lodging, etc. The candidate's Travel Expense Report must include: their signature (either original, or faxed) the department chair's and / or dean's signature, their Social Security number, position number of the job they interviewed for, and the original expense receipts. If these guidelines are followed, the candidate should receive a reimbursement check within 10 days of the Travel Expense Report being received by Business Services.
Required Documentation for Reimbursement of Expenses for Candidate Travel (PDF)