Workshop expenses
- submitting receipts
- photocopying
- supplies and AV
- entertainment
- guest speakers
- speaker honoraria
- required documents for speakers
- travel arrangements
- accommodations
Please follow closely the procedures that have been developed for each category to ensure that the annual award will be sufficient for the entire academic year.
Submitting receipts
Requests for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses such as food supplies and entertainment expenses must include ORIGINAL RECEIPTS (no photocopies). If using a credit card for payment, please include both the itemized receipt and the signed credit card receipt showing payment. The University will not reimburse you otherwise.
Please use the following procedure:
Please fill out the Expense Reimbursement Form that is available at our office and on-line. Receipts must be taped (not stapled) to one side of one or more 8.5″ x 11″ sheets of paper. The receipts must not overlap or obscure one another. You must provide the following information:
- your name (or that of whomever is being reimbursed),
- home mailing address (not campus or business),
- workshop name, and
- amount to be reimbursed
- restaurant receipts must include the names of those attending.
IMPORTANT: for all expenses (food, travel, accommodations, etc.) for which an individual needs to be reimbursed, a home address is always required. The University will only issue and mail a check to an individual’s home address, NO EXCEPTIONS. Submitting any other address (e.g., a university address for a visiting scholar) will result in a delay in the processing of that expense because they will have to be contacted for their home address.
If you are sharing an expense with another workshop, please include the necessary information for both workshops. If another department is sharing the expense, please inform us of the amount and the contact person. If you wish to contribute workshop funds toward a conference expense, please contact the Council office in advance.
Please keep workshop expenses and personal expenses separate. If this is not possible, you must note that you are requesting a partial reimbursement indicating clearly which are workshop expenses and which are personal expenses. Smaller receipts should be saved and submitted when totaling $20 or more to the office.
Workshop receipts must be submitted directly to the Council office in Judd 443/444. If the office is closed, they may be placed in the file pocket on the office door. Please do not send via faculty exchange.
Photocopying
You may choose to use on-campus photocopy facilities to photocopy materials (posters, papers, etc.) for workshop discussion. CAS has arrangements with three copy centers on campus: the Social Sciences duplicating center (SS 101); the Humanities copy center (Walker oo3); and the Physical Sciences Department of Graphic Arts (Crerar 008). You can ask the supervisor of that facility to have your charges sent directly to our office for payment from your workshop funds. In making arrangements for photocopying:
- identify the materials,
- note CAS and the workshop and for which they are intended, and
- your name (only those coordinators who are listed as authorized users for their workshop).
Since we cannot pay for photocopy charges unless we know which workshop generated them, please be sure to write the name of your workshop on each photocopy charge form. In addition, you may choose to use other photocopying facilities. You will have to pay for your copies and then submit the receipt to us for reimbursement. Total copy charges may not exceed $100/year.
Prices for photocopying: effective October 1, 2011 will be .o7 cents, Pastels will be .08 cents, and Astrobites and Card Stock .09 cents. All other services: Spiral binding with covers and 3 hole Binders are $3.00 per binding. For more information on printing, please contact the Auxiliary Services Center, SS 103, at 773-702-8797 or email dscolema@uchicago.edu.
Supplies & Audio-Visual
If any office supplies are needed, they can be purchased for the workshop with receipts submitted to the CAS office, but any supplies become the property of that workshop. If you need to order a large amount of supplies (e.g., envelopes) for a conference are or other event, you can request them directly through the Council office, and we will place an order for you. Postage is purchased directly from the Bursars Office using a 62 form.
If you have audio-visual needs, please check your department’s equipment, or you may rent through the following sources:
Networking Services & Information Technologies
Stuart 04, Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
(773) 834-4499
avs@listhost.uchicago.edu
In addition, there are classrooms on campus for multi-media. The majority of these are located in Cobb Hall with additional rooms to be made available in Stuart and Rosenwald. If you are interested in locating a meeting place for your workshop, please contact LaTanya Jones, of the Registrar’s Office at 702-5302 or via e-mail at registrarrooms@listhost.uchicago.edu The Registrar’s office is located in Adm. 103.
Entertainment
This portion of your budget is intended to provide refreshments after workshop meetings and occasional dinners with guest speakers.
Restaurant Expenses:
Total restaurant expenses should be kept to a reasonable amount keeping in mind the limited budget for the year. Reimbursements will be limited to $30.00 per person including the meal, beverage, tax, and tip. Please note: reimbursement requests for restaurant expenditure must state the following:
- name of the restaurant patronized,
- the names of those persons for whom meal cost reimbursement is being requested, if the number of attendees is less than 10, then the names of all who attended need to be included; if the number is more than 10 then you only need to state that more than 10 people attended, and
- the purpose of the meal
Requests for reimbursements must also have the restaurant ticket along with the original receipt. Graduate students must be present at all meals being funded by the workshop; therefore, it is helpful to note which individuals are graduate students when listing attendees. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Refreshment Expenses:
Refreshments provided at workshop events must also state:
- the names of those persons for whom meal cost reimbursement is being requested,
if the number of attendees is less than 10, then the names of all who attended need to be included;
if the number is more than 10 then you only need to state that more than 10 people attended, and - the purpose of the meal
Guest speakers
When making arrangements for inviting guest speakers to your workshop, a formal letter of invitation should be sent to the speaker that includes exactly which costs will be covered by the workshop and which will not. In this letter, please inquire about the citizenship and visa status of the speaker as this will determine whether or not an honorarium payment can be made; there are certain types of visas for which the University can not pay an honorarium. The maximum honorarium allowed is $200.
All the necessary forms for both U.S. and International guests are available at the CAS office or on our website. When submitting requests for honoraria payments or travel expenses, please make sure that you have indicated the name of your workshop.
To avoid embarrassing delays in reimbursing speakers, please make sure that each speaker signs all honorarium and tax forms at the time of his/her visit, and that the forms and accompanying documentation are brought to this office as soon as possible.
Honoraria for guest speakers
Workshops may pay honoraria for presentations made by speakers visiting from outside of the University. Council policy prohibits payment of honoraria to speakers who are otherwise affiliated with the University, e.g., faculty, staff, students, research assistants (full or part-time). Please consult with the office if you are planning on co-sponsoring a speaker with another workshop/department or if you intend to use workshop funds to support a conference.
In order to receive payment, speakers must fill out and return to the CAS office a “Speaker’s Fee Statement” and appropriate tax forms (see below). Student coordinators may pick up these forms at the CAS office or download them from our website and have the speaker fill them out at the time of the meeting. After the workshop, student coordinators should return these forms to the CAS office so that they may be processed. Usually within 2-3 weeks, a check will be sent by the comptroller directly to the speaker’s home address.
*Workshops may contribute a maximum of $200 honorarium per speaker. The Council does not give books or other gifts in lieu of an honorarium.
Documents for visiting guest speakers
Honoraria for Visiting U.S. Speakers and Resident Aliens
“Speaker’s Fee Statement”: This form states the date, name of speaker, paper given, workshop name (s) and the agreed upon honorarium amount. This form must include the speaker’s signature, home address, and SS number.
IRS Form W-9, “Request for Taxpayer Identification Number”
Copy of Green Card (front and back) if a Resident Alien.
Honoraria for International Guest Speakers
Speakers who are not U.S. residents must have an appropriate INS classification in order to receive an honorarium payment. The speaker must have a visa permitting him/her to earn U.S. dollars. Your visitor will not be paid an honorarium if traveling without an authorization for employment. If they do not have the appropriate classification, only travel expenses will be reimbursed.
When inviting a foreign visitor to your workshop, it is important to ask what visa status they hold. There are a number of different classifications that allow an international visitor to earn income in the U.S., each requiring forms to be filled out with information you must obtain from your visitor, and sometimes a signature.
In addition, all speakers must have either a Social Security number or ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number). If your visitor does not already have a Social Security number and is otherwise ineligible to apply for one, the IRS has implemented a new procedure for assigning ITINs. The process to receive an ITIN may take as long as four to six weeks. You should inform your speakers beforehand of this requirement. It is much easier to use a social security number if they already have one.
All visiting international speakers must complete and submit the following documents (and may need to provide additional ones, depending on their status ? please ask us about this in advance):
“Speaker Fee Statement”: This form states the date, name of speaker, paper given, workshop name (s) and the agreed upon honorarium amount. This form must include the speaker’s signature, home address, telephone number, email address, and SS number.
IRS Form W8BEN-1, “Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding”: This form is required of visiting speakers receiving an honorarium who are not U.S. citizens.
IRS Form 8233, “Exemption from Withholding of Income Tax”: Speakers who are not residents of the U.S. may wish to claim exemption from taxes. Speakers who do not complete Form 8233 will have taxes withheld from their honorarium at the rate of 30%. An honorarium of $200 would therefore be $140. Additionally, to qualify for tax exemption, the U.S. must have a tax treaty with the speaker’s country of residence.
IRS Form UPP 192, “Alien Determination of Residency”: This form is required of visiting speakers if they wish to claim exemption from taxes.
photocopy of their passport, I-94, and/ or other appropriate visa documents**
** When you know what type of visa the visitor has, contact the Council office for information on any additional forms that might be needed.
Please visit http://travel.net.uchicago.edu to find out additional information including a link to “Required Documentation for Payments to Foreign Individuals.”
Travel arrangements for guest speakers
When a workshop agrees to pay for a speaker?s travel, travel can be arranged in various ways:
I. A traveler, coordinator, or faculty member can make the travel arrangements pay by credit card and be reimbursed by the Council. This procedure requires the use of a “Travel Expense Voucher” which is used for all travel related expensis (airfare, mileage, tolls, taxis, meals). Please note that the maximum travel reimbursement for a domestic traveler is $500 and $750 for an international traveler. This amount does not include hotel accommodations. There is also a $30 per diem food allowance for travelers.
The “Travel Expense Voucher” can either be picked up from the CAS office or filled out online at the AdmiNet website. No matter which format you use, the form must be signed by the traveler and returned to the CAS office accompanied with original receipts. Please remind your guests to keep all of their receipts. In most instances this form will be sent back by the speaker to the coordinator upon completion of their travel in order to enclose their receipts for costs incurred in return travel. If a coordinator, student, or faculty member incurs travel costs that are to be reimbursed the “Travel Expense Voucher” must be signed by both the traveler and the person who is being reimbursed.
PLEASE NOTE: The original receipts are needed even in the case of “ticketless travel” (e-tickets). The traveler MUST request a receipt at the time of reservation or airport check-in, and submit it with the travel voucher. Make sure that the receipt shows that the amount was actually paid and not just that a reservation was made. Otherwise, you should refer him/her to the lost receipts policy procedures (see below).
II. If travel is by auto, we will need to know the point of departure and return with the mileage traveled. Automobile mileage is reimbursed at 55.5 cents per mile (this amount is subject to change during the year/also, please do not submit fractions of a penny for reimbursement, but instead round the number so that a check can be written), up to the cost of airline coach fare to the same destination. A copy of a comparable airfare must be submitted with their travel expense voucher. Travelers will not be reimbursed more than the lowest airfare available. Please get a comparable airfare as soon as possible as flight cost vary dramatically in a few weeks time.
Lost Receipts Policy
If a traveler losses their receipts then the must follow the University Travel Policy regarding lost receipts:
“Original or credit card receipts must be submitted for all travel related expenses of $75 or more. If a traveler incurring travel expenses loses a required receipt they should seek a duplicate. When an acceptable duplicate cannot be obtained the traveler must submit a signed statement claiming that the receipt was lost, that expenses were incurred in connection with University business and are accurately reflected on the Travel Expense Voucher, and that reimbursement of the expenses has not nor will be paid from any other source. Without this statement the expense will not be reimbursed.”
Accommodations
The following is a list of local accommodations for speakers in Chicago by area. Before making a reservation you should call to confirm the rates as they are subject to change during the year. In addition, be sure to ask what the cancellation policy of the hotel is to avoid paying for an unused room. When reserving rooms, please confirm with the hotel if they are able to bill the Council directly as hotel policies change frequently. If a direct bill is possible please be sure the name of the workshop is specified on the invoice. As a rule, the Council prefers to pay for only two nights’ accommodations, however, additional nights can be covered when the entire bill, including taxes, is kept under $400; extended stays or expenses such as phone calls, movies, internet services, etc. will not be covered. If your guests wish to stay downtown please keep in mind the possibly higher cost in addition to transportation to and from Hyde Park. In most instances, your guests would pay the bill and be reimbursed after their receipts are submitted. Please note this is not a complete list of accommodations available, CAS welcomes any further suggestions of possible accommodations. The rates listed do not include tax and are subject to change during the academic year. Also please be advised that the Ramada Inn is the only accommodation in Hyde Park that offers wheelchair access at this time: List of local accommodations.
The University of Chicago has arrangements with the hotels listed in the downtown section and the Ramada Inn Lakeshore to provide discounted rates for individual speakers. To use these rates simply mention that you are with the University of Chicago and give them the contract number listed. The Council can also assist you with making reservations at hotels. Before making reservations on any of the following suggestions, you may also wish to visit The University of Chicago’s TravelNet site for discounted rates and participating hotels: http://travelnet.uchicago.edu/.
