BRT Travel Policy Meeting

BRT Author

01/18/2018 Added

398 Plays

Description

The Budget Reduction Taskforce hopes to receive traveler feedback on the new policy and Concur travel management tool by February 2, 2018 with implementation planned for July 1, 2018. Feedback may be emailed to travel@nebraska.edu. This event recorded January 16, 2018 at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/feedback-sought-on-new-systemwide-travel-policy/

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[00:00:04.651]Thank you all very much for being here this afternoon.
[00:00:06.703]We appreciate you taking the time to come out
[00:00:08.548]and meet with us.
[00:00:10.169]We are a couple of the representatives
[00:00:12.135]of the Travel BRT.
[00:00:16.239]We have been a group now for a little over a year.
[00:00:18.621]President Bounds commissioned the BRTs
[00:00:20.460]in January of 2017.
[00:00:22.865]We have been meeting quite regularly since then.
[00:00:28.833]My name is Laura Gonnerman.
[00:00:30.301]I am an associate general counsel
[00:00:31.900]with Central Administration.
[00:00:34.307]With me today, also, is Michael Christen from UNK
[00:00:38.140]and Jim Vogel from UNL.
[00:00:40.533]To give you guys a little bit of background
[00:00:41.979]on our group, we are made up of representatives
[00:00:44.794]from each of the campuses.
[00:00:46.757]We have representation from UNK, UNL,
[00:00:49.515]UNO and UNMC,
[00:00:52.369]and also Central Administration.
[00:00:55.621]David Lechner was our chair until very recently.
[00:00:58.690]I have taken over as chair.
[00:01:00.131]Michael is the vice chair of this group.
[00:01:03.392]We have been meeting since January of 2017
[00:01:06.255]to try to find some cost savings
[00:01:08.812]that will interfere with your daily work
[00:01:12.249]as little as possible, while still saving
[00:01:15.207]the university the money that we need to save
[00:01:17.807]with all the budget cuts that have been going on.
[00:01:21.664]In order to realize some cost savings,
[00:01:23.789]the group determined that we needed
[00:01:25.389]to address how we do our travel.
[00:01:28.943]One of the proposals put forward was to have
[00:01:32.693]a new system for not only booking our travel,
[00:01:36.053]but also being reimbursed our expenses.
[00:01:39.085]We tested out quite a few different products,
[00:01:41.722]and settled on Concur.
[00:01:43.997]We already have Concur, I believe, for booking travel.
[00:01:47.483]This will now be an integrated system through SAP,
[00:01:50.609]a single portal.
[00:01:51.774]We'll talk about that a little bit later,
[00:01:53.100]but a single portal for booking travel
[00:01:54.940]and also reimbursements.
[00:01:56.926]In order to realize the new technology
[00:01:59.248]that we needed for these cost savings,
[00:02:01.749]we looked at the travel policies
[00:02:03.156]across all four campuses and Central Administration,
[00:02:05.730]and determined that we needed to have
[00:02:07.851]one policy for our new integrated travel.
[00:02:12.134]We are here today to talk to you a little bit
[00:02:14.173]more about the travel policy, what you might see
[00:02:17.882]that will change, what will stay the same.
[00:02:20.732]Then we do have some opportunities for feedback.
[00:02:24.915]We value your feedback and we want your feedback.
[00:02:27.495]If you have
[00:02:29.385]questions or comments or concerns on this policy,
[00:02:31.782]we ask you to email.
[00:02:33.583]We have an email set up.
[00:02:35.291]I'll post that at the very end.
[00:02:37.351]travel@nebraska.edu
[00:02:40.400]is how you can reach us.
[00:02:41.703]Then we will also have some questions
[00:02:43.448]and answers this afternoon.
[00:02:48.758]With that, I will turn this over
[00:02:50.684]to Jim Vogel, who's gonna talk a little bit more
[00:02:53.185]about Concur
[00:02:55.777]that will kind of guide the policy.
[00:03:07.647]What is Concur?
[00:03:09.741]Concur is the world
[00:03:12.999]leading provider of integrated travel
[00:03:16.301]and expense management.
[00:03:18.775]It is being used by higher ed
[00:03:21.852]throughout the industry, and it's for
[00:03:25.156]employee travel reimbursement.
[00:03:28.325]Currently, we are using
[00:03:31.265]the Concur booking tool to book our airfare
[00:03:34.604]through Travel and Transport.
[00:03:36.325]This is just another module of the Concur system.
[00:03:41.338]The expense tool will help the university
[00:03:45.167]create a one-stop shop for travelers.
[00:03:49.273]You'll be able to do your, create your
[00:03:51.200]travel request.
[00:03:52.749]You can do your travel approval
[00:03:54.534]through workflow and routing.
[00:03:57.230]You can have your, the booking tool
[00:04:00.285]for air, hotel, car rentals.
[00:04:03.908]Then you'll be able to, it'll be a
[00:04:06.343]receipt depository for all your receipts
[00:04:09.742]for your reimbursement.
[00:04:12.968]It truly is a one place for all your travel.
[00:04:18.104]It allows the standardization and efficiencies
[00:04:21.543]for the travelers
[00:04:23.294]and for the traveler staff
[00:04:27.044]across the whole campuses.
[00:04:29.527]What we're doing at UNO, we'll be doing
[00:04:31.835]the same thing at UNK, at UNL.
[00:04:35.914]Have one policy for all four campuses,
[00:04:39.106]instead of having a different policy
[00:04:40.909]for various campuses.
[00:04:46.497]The travel policy is being developed
[00:04:49.198]with these capabilities in mind,
[00:04:51.201]meaning that we're hoping that the workflow
[00:04:53.490]inside the travel will help you to
[00:04:58.062]do your travel more efficiently.
[00:05:03.529]Concur will even supply us with help.
[00:05:08.450]They'll have tutorials, we'll have travel guides.
[00:05:11.614]That if you're an infrequent traveler,
[00:05:14.562]this will help push you through the system
[00:05:17.291]and answer your questions.
[00:05:27.519]The ease of the system is one of the advantages
[00:05:31.205]and benefits to the travelers.
[00:05:33.796]We're hoping that this will make it easier.
[00:05:38.095]It's a
[00:05:40.708]web-based tool, meaning that you
[00:05:43.591]can use the web, you can use your smartphone,
[00:05:46.405]you can use a tablet to access the travel
[00:05:49.666]as you're out there traveling.
[00:05:52.673]Now, we are gonna have a little,
[00:05:54.767]short video from Concur on how the system works.
[00:06:07.029]Hi, everyone, I'm Barry Padgett.
[00:06:08.626]I'm the chief product officer at Concur.
[00:06:10.717]Today, we're gonna take a journey together
[00:06:12.376]so I can show you just how simple
[00:06:14.187]the travel and expense process can be with Concur.
[00:06:16.694]We're gonna take a trip from Seattle
[00:06:17.843]to San Francisco.
[00:06:19.090]I need to meet with a customer.
[00:06:20.545]Our lunch meeting is confirmed,
[00:06:22.210]and I've added Concur as an attendee
[00:06:23.940]for this meeting.
[00:06:24.888]More on that later.
[00:06:26.138]Now I need to book my flight.
[00:06:27.828]I'm gonna arrive the evening of May 5th,
[00:06:29.790]the day before, to prepare for my customer meeting.
[00:06:32.457]I'm actually gonna use my voice to search
[00:06:33.910]for the flights and tell Concur what I wanna do.
[00:06:36.256]Flights from Seattle to San Francisco
[00:06:38.149]departing May 5th, and returning May 6th.
[00:06:41.998]It's now coming back with flight options.
[00:06:45.219]There's the one I want.
[00:06:46.652]Got it.
[00:06:47.902]Now I wanna book a hotel near our meeting site.
[00:06:50.432]Because my Concur profile is linked to my
[00:06:52.730]favorite hotels, I get lower rates,
[00:06:55.360]plus whatever else my company's negotiated.
[00:06:58.219]I go ahead and reserve my room directly
[00:06:59.911]on the hotel website.
[00:07:01.339]Again, I get not just my company's special rate,
[00:07:03.991]but in this case, free wireless and free breakfast.
[00:07:06.868]Thanks to the power of a connected ecosystem,
[00:07:09.304]I now have a single itinerary that includes
[00:07:11.230]the flight and the hotel.
[00:07:18.185]Now that I've booked my flight and hotel,
[00:07:19.889]we'll fast forward in time.
[00:07:21.339]The day of my business trip is here,
[00:07:22.678]and it's time for me to head off to the airport.
[00:07:26.046]I'm gonna take an Uber to the airport.
[00:07:27.827]Set pickup location.
[00:07:29.774]Excellent, my car will be here in two minutes.
[00:07:34.545]Now, Concur is connected to Uber.
[00:07:36.594]What that means is when this ride is over,
[00:07:38.116]the receipt will automatically flow
[00:07:39.782]into my expense report.
[00:07:41.157]No paper, no transaction.
[00:07:43.398]Now that's effortless, and it showcases
[00:07:45.634]the power of the Concur ecosystem.
[00:07:49.840]Now I'm off to check in for my flight.
[00:07:52.418]Let's fast forward in time.
[00:07:57.141]It's the next day, and I'm having my
[00:07:58.793]business lunch with my customers.
[00:08:00.779]I've just wrapped up my business meal.
[00:08:02.813]When the bill comes, and because American Express
[00:08:05.077]is connected with Concur, I get an immediate alert
[00:08:07.522]letting me know how much has been charged
[00:08:09.190]and where.
[00:08:10.398]Now, because my company requires receipts
[00:08:12.158]for these type of transactions,
[00:08:13.762]I can just take a photo of it.
[00:08:18.835]Now, since I booked this meeting with Outlook
[00:08:20.369]and I forwarded it to Concur, as you saw earlier,
[00:08:22.602]I added Concur as an attendee to the meeting.
[00:08:25.085]Now, my expenses, when it automatically flows
[00:08:27.246]into Concur, will include matched attendees,
[00:08:30.058]the credit card transaction and the paper receipt
[00:08:32.370]you just saw me take a photo of.
[00:08:34.131]The expense report really is writing itself.
[00:08:41.082]Before I head off to the airport, I'm gonna grab
[00:08:42.367]a quick drink at Starbucks.
[00:08:43.840]To pay for my coffee, all I do is open
[00:08:45.610]the Starbucks app, hit pay, and because Starbucks
[00:08:48.545]is part of the Concur connected ecosystem,
[00:08:50.667]that receipt's gonna show up automatically
[00:08:52.213]in my expense report.
[00:08:59.916]Now that I'm back home in Seattle
[00:09:01.317]in my office, here's the best part of the story,
[00:09:03.919]the thing that truly makes this a perfect trip.
[00:09:06.894]Because that expense report wrote itself
[00:09:08.711]throughout our journey, now I don't have to write it.
[00:09:11.992]All those expenses that automatically
[00:09:13.959]were integrated into Concur throughout our trip
[00:09:16.360]are all sitting right here.
[00:09:17.797]From that airfare to the itemized hotel bill,
[00:09:21.046]the Uber ride, our Starbucks drink,
[00:09:23.383]even that lunch with the automatically integrated attendees.
[00:09:26.244]It's all here, filled out for me.
[00:09:27.997]For me, the traveler, it's been effortless.
[00:09:30.809]For my company, it's just as simple.
[00:09:33.307]For example, it's easy to get useful data.
[00:09:35.940]The CFO has visibility into which hotels
[00:09:38.452]are getting most of our business.
[00:09:39.943]That opens the door for procurement
[00:09:41.835]to negotiate better rates.
[00:09:43.428]Finance can quickly determine how key metrics
[00:09:45.685]are trending, and take appropriate action.
[00:09:48.070]Thanks for taking the trip with me.
[00:09:49.855]I hope you found the travel and expense process
[00:09:52.055]painless, seamless and, best of all, simple.
[00:10:04.331]That's a little bit on the Concur
[00:10:05.905]side of things.
[00:10:11.195]Like Jim stated, we have developed the policy
[00:10:14.104]with the Concur capabilities in mind.
[00:10:16.762]That has all been recently distributed
[00:10:18.398]to the campuses, with many of those changes
[00:10:21.091]being highlighted.
[00:10:22.731]Today we're gonna go over a little bit
[00:10:25.625]with the main changes that we highlighted
[00:10:29.048]through the communication to the university.
[00:10:31.545]One of those, with the main one being that
[00:10:33.261]this is now a university-wide policy.
[00:10:36.147]All four campuses, as well as Central,
[00:10:37.944]will now follow the same policy.
[00:10:40.099]This creates efficiencies, as well as standardization
[00:10:42.505]across the campuses.
[00:10:44.330]One of the issues we've had in the past
[00:10:45.745]is a UNO employee may be treated differently
[00:10:48.088]than a UNL employee.
[00:10:49.779]This will help standardize that across the board.
[00:10:53.028]Employees are all treated the same.
[00:10:55.465]But also on the back end, with the
[00:10:56.749]accounts payable side and the reimbursement,
[00:10:59.219]this will help standardize that process, as well.
[00:11:04.190]Another piece is that all travel will now
[00:11:06.155]be processed through the Concur booking
[00:11:07.877]and expense tool.
[00:11:09.964]Again, this is working to streamline
[00:11:13.044]the reimbursements, as well as the booking pieces,
[00:11:15.113]for all employees.
[00:11:17.415]It's the same rules, the same approvals
[00:11:19.129]among campuses.
[00:11:20.826]The questions are gonna be the same
[00:11:22.831]for most employees across all of them.
[00:11:25.478]Another piece, as well.
[00:11:27.297]This is not only for expense reasons
[00:11:29.549]to use the Concur system, but it's also
[00:11:31.319]for safety reasons.
[00:11:33.319]With the Concur tool, we have purchased
[00:11:35.229]a risk management add-on
[00:11:39.068]that allows us to track all of our employees
[00:11:41.208]when they are traveling.
[00:11:42.947]This allows us to really reach out
[00:11:44.954]to those employees in times of need,
[00:11:46.748]whether it be safety, natural disasters,
[00:11:49.413]political unrest in countries both
[00:11:52.498]abroad and domestic issues here in the United States.
[00:11:59.682]Another piece is that all pre-trips
[00:12:02.176]will now be required prior to travel,
[00:12:05.570]any expenses being taken on by the university.
[00:12:10.285]In this past, this may not have been implemented
[00:12:13.578]as much, but is now going to be a requirement.
[00:12:16.321]One of the biggest pieces, it allows
[00:12:18.025]for better management of budgets.
[00:12:20.432]From a department chair director
[00:12:22.925]or even a vice chancellor level,
[00:12:25.183]with the new approval piece, you will not only
[00:12:28.400]have approval from your supervisor,
[00:12:30.696]but the individuals who are in charge
[00:12:32.287]of the funding sources that will
[00:12:35.377]fund that trip will also be required
[00:12:37.782]to approve that trip, as well.
[00:12:40.171]This is both on the budget side,
[00:12:42.790]as well as the actual expense side,
[00:12:44.445]when it comes into the system.
[00:12:49.251]Another piece is that all expenses
[00:12:52.115]must be submitted no more than 60 days
[00:12:54.083]after the last day of travel.
[00:12:55.860]Now, this is something that we have highlighted.
[00:12:58.359]It's not necessarily a change,
[00:13:00.900]but in the past, exemptions have been allowed.
[00:13:04.727]But that is changing because of the ease
[00:13:06.715]of being able to monitor these receipt uploads.
[00:13:11.180]Now a much easier system to do that upload.
[00:13:15.152]This is actually a state of Nebraska law
[00:13:17.838]for the 60-day reimbursement.
[00:13:20.127]It is just the university really changing
[00:13:21.862]its policy of how we are allowed,
[00:13:23.651]or how we are able to monitor that rule.
[00:13:29.806]Another piece is that all air, hotel
[00:13:31.991]and car rentals will be booked and processed
[00:13:33.682]through Concur and Travel and Transport.
[00:13:37.580]This is one of those things that,
[00:13:39.744]at a department level, it may seem
[00:13:42.607]like it may be costing a little more
[00:13:44.193]on certain trips, certain flights
[00:13:46.287]or certain hotels.
[00:13:47.598]But like the Concur video touched on
[00:13:50.347]a little bit, is that
[00:13:53.833]you will now see our capabilities of being able
[00:13:55.981]to negotiate contracts or rates with hotels,
[00:14:00.196]as well as try to utilize our Travel and Transport
[00:14:03.947]rebates and things like that a little more efficiently.
[00:14:08.715]Another piece of that is the ability
[00:14:10.443]to automatically upload receipts.
[00:14:13.242]As you saw in the video, there's certain hotels,
[00:14:15.469]certain airlines, the car rental pieces,
[00:14:18.123]that we can automatically upload receipts
[00:14:19.878]to your expense report.
[00:14:21.455]There's no keeping track of the receipts anymore,
[00:14:24.723]or even have to take pictures with some of these,
[00:14:26.413]as they're booked through Concur.
[00:14:28.975]Another piece of that that we're working
[00:14:30.917]to implement is that all of these will be paid for
[00:14:33.230]directly by the university, so there'll be no need
[00:14:36.292]for you to be personally liable for those expenses
[00:14:39.427]while you're on travel, and then wait
[00:14:40.834]for the expense reimbursement.
[00:14:43.742]Now, I do
[00:14:45.203]wanna reiterate that there are certain instances
[00:14:48.800]where things like this, for the booking,
[00:14:50.692]will not work out.
[00:14:52.259]We understand that there's certain destinations,
[00:14:54.112]when you travel to foreign countries
[00:14:56.464]or even some rural areas in the United States,
[00:14:59.703]that these services for Travel and Transport
[00:15:01.650]won't be available.
[00:15:03.409]That is understandable.
[00:15:05.306]We are working with the policy, as well as Concur,
[00:15:07.879]to make sure that those issues or exemptions
[00:15:10.845]can still work out within the system.
[00:15:14.829]Another piece is that airfare will be paid
[00:15:16.563]by the university.
[00:15:18.456]It'll also be limited to the coach rate
[00:15:20.530]or main cabin rate, as you may call it.
[00:15:24.040]With this,
[00:15:26.587]employees will be personally responsible for upgrades.
[00:15:30.039]This is one area that the employees
[00:15:31.505]of the university do do a fairly good job
[00:15:34.200]at keeping at the lowest fare, or close to it.
[00:15:37.583]We commend you on that.
[00:15:39.501]But it's more of making sure we have
[00:15:41.074]equal treatment across all employees,
[00:15:43.347]no matter who the employee is
[00:15:45.591]and no matter what department you're a part of.
[00:15:47.667]Each employee will be treated the same way
[00:15:49.828]with these upgrades.
[00:15:55.710]Another piece, as well, is that the lodging rates
[00:15:59.302]are looking to be capped at the conference rate,
[00:16:01.626]when applicable, or up to the per diem rate
[00:16:04.108]plus an additional 50%.
[00:16:06.532]An example of this, these numbers
[00:16:08.579]are all examples, but if you're going
[00:16:10.800]to Columbus, Ohio, and the per diem rate is $100,
[00:16:14.228]the university would reimburse you, or allow you
[00:16:16.606]to book a hotel with a rate of up to $150.
[00:16:21.433]Now, we also wanna emphasize that we are not
[00:16:23.301]restricting conference rates at all.
[00:16:25.925]Conference rates have their own way of booking,
[00:16:28.003]their own price.
[00:16:29.637]That is still being allowed.
[00:16:31.452]Again, we're working with Concur so that
[00:16:33.333]there's a different way to enter those
[00:16:34.886]types of rates, so you're not limited on that.
[00:16:38.029]We understand the proximity to your colleagues,
[00:16:40.128]to other researchers, to vendors when
[00:16:42.146]you're at those conferences, and we don't
[00:16:43.669]wanna limit that to anyone.
[00:16:49.130]Another piece here is that we are allowing
[00:16:50.887]up to three meals a day, with the total cost
[00:16:53.318]of meals not exceeding the per diem rate
[00:16:56.028]for your destination city.
[00:16:59.493]With this, this is actually following
[00:17:02.094]some of the state laws with this allowing no snacks.
[00:17:05.717]This is the university's way of making sure
[00:17:07.707]to implement that rule, as well as capping
[00:17:10.869]our meals at the per diem rate.
[00:17:12.859]We will still pay actual expenses,
[00:17:15.585]but once you reach the per diem rate,
[00:17:17.943]we will not reimburse you beyond that point.
[00:17:22.901]The other piece, as well, with that
[00:17:24.576]meal allowance is that we will still reduce
[00:17:27.431]meal allowances and the amounts you are allowed
[00:17:29.115]each day, based on meals that are provided
[00:17:32.935]by your conference registration, hotel
[00:17:35.937]and lodging, and other instances like that.
[00:17:42.332]Another piece we like to emphasize
[00:17:44.002]is we know we've highlighted the changes
[00:17:45.714]throughout the policy, but I think one
[00:17:47.652]of the biggest things you'll see
[00:17:48.933]is there's a lotta similarities to what you had before,
[00:17:52.113]what all the campuses had before.
[00:17:55.009]It came down to minor tweaks and things like that
[00:17:57.783]that allowed us to make it work
[00:18:00.144]as a full university system, and allow
[00:18:02.581]the Concur piece to be implemented and built
[00:18:05.513]to fit us as a university as a whole.
[00:18:09.706]I encourage you to look at this as more
[00:18:11.568]the similarities with some of the minor changes
[00:18:13.357]that we've made to make that system work.
[00:18:17.070]But we also like to emphasize that those changes
[00:18:19.411]that we do have, we consider those somewhat minor
[00:18:22.315]compared to the ease that some of this
[00:18:24.334]Concur piece is gonna allow us to do,
[00:18:26.753]not only from the traveler's side,
[00:18:28.844]but also from the back end with accounts payable
[00:18:30.852]and the finance, the budget aspect.
[00:18:33.754]This Concur piece really does implement
[00:18:35.639]the full picture for employees
[00:18:38.600]throughout the university.
[00:18:41.215]When we look at this implementation,
[00:18:42.763]we do look at it somewhat from that bigger picture.
[00:18:46.916]The University of Colorado has used Concur
[00:18:49.848]for a few years.
[00:18:51.199]We have a video here just kind of explaining
[00:18:52.897]their results and success with it, as well.
[00:19:09.456]My name is Sandy Hicks, and I'm am the
[00:19:11.774]associate vice president and chief procurement officer
[00:19:14.503]at the University of Colorado.
[00:19:18.262]CU is somewhere that I wanna be because
[00:19:20.264]every day is unique.
[00:19:21.970]We get to support really cool research,
[00:19:24.123]like sending satellites up with NASA
[00:19:26.944]or helping to cure cancer.
[00:19:31.886]The University of Colorado budget, system wide,
[00:19:34.719]is $3 1/2 billion, so out of that,
[00:19:37.844]the procurement service center's responsible
[00:19:39.846]for just over a billion dollars of that.
[00:19:42.551]We are the second largest expense after payroll.
[00:19:46.729]Then after that, our actual travel spend
[00:19:50.226]is 35 million a year.
[00:19:52.095]We implemented Concur Expense back in 2010.
[00:19:55.806]Then after that, we brought a committee together
[00:19:59.534]that looked at Concur Travel.
[00:20:01.765]They had two questions for us:
[00:20:03.866]When can we get it and why didn't we
[00:20:05.244]implement it with Concur expense?
[00:20:08.201]Our users are demanding online booking.
[00:20:11.775]They're demanding the mobile apps,
[00:20:14.192]streamlined processes, and they want things fast.
[00:20:18.823]We constantly measure employee satisfaction.
[00:20:22.062]In our last survey, 84% of our users
[00:20:25.313]found that the changes we made were very helpful
[00:20:27.742]to getting their job done.
[00:20:30.306]One of our innovations with Concur
[00:20:32.343]has been our Infrequent Traveler program.
[00:20:35.683]Out of our annual survey, we were analyzing
[00:20:38.712]the data, and some people were really happy
[00:20:41.417]with the systems, and other people were struggling.
[00:20:44.527]We designed a program that, when you book a trip,
[00:20:48.112]we're able to, through Concur, look up and see
[00:20:51.670]that you have not traveled in the last year.
[00:20:54.038]Then an email fires off to you that says,
[00:20:57.057]"We see you just booked a trip,
[00:20:58.588]"and we know you haven't traveled in a while."
[00:21:00.911]We've gotten really good feedback on this
[00:21:03.791]really just-in-time training program
[00:21:06.535]that shows up when you need it.
[00:21:09.040]I think that's really important
[00:21:11.194]to, once again, give people time back
[00:21:13.953]in their day to do what they're here to focus on,
[00:21:16.122]which is not travel and expense
[00:21:17.961]or procurement card reconciliation.
[00:21:39.080]As we've talked about, we are here today
[00:21:41.144]to get your feedback.
[00:21:43.312]With that in mind, we want you to keep
[00:21:45.382]some of these dates in your mind, as well.
[00:21:48.208]We would like to have your feedback
[00:21:50.613]on the policy back as soon as you're able to.
[00:21:53.693]Hopefully, by February 2nd.
[00:21:55.600]We need this as we're working with Concur
[00:21:57.400]right now to actually implement this
[00:21:58.943]with the technical side.
[00:22:00.956]The policy is really driving,
[00:22:04.071]you can't separate the two, so we really need
[00:22:06.646]to know the policy in order to finalize
[00:22:08.695]some of our Concur implementation.
[00:22:11.702]Please give us your feedback.
[00:22:15.032]We really want this to be the best policy possible
[00:22:17.180]for all of our travelers and for
[00:22:19.419]the office people who manage the travel, as well.
[00:22:24.647]Our plan right now is July 1st of 2018,
[00:22:28.059]we will be live with Concur.
[00:22:30.392]The new policy will then be enforced,
[00:22:32.264]or in place at that time.
[00:22:35.908]We will allow for some training sessions
[00:22:38.726]as we get closer to that July 1st deadline.
[00:22:41.710]Train our travelers, we'll train the back office
[00:22:43.907]on how to be assistants,
[00:22:46.770]but really, you guys saw,
[00:22:49.544]it's a very streamlined process.
[00:22:51.637]We do think that it's going to be a positive experience,
[00:22:55.479]especially if you travel quite a bit,
[00:22:58.197]that you'll see a lot of very positive changes from this.
[00:23:03.334]As of today, we have our draft policy out
[00:23:05.816]for you guys to review.
[00:23:08.056]We are working with Concur implementation.
[00:23:10.968]That process will take anywhere from four
[00:23:12.834]to six months.
[00:23:14.404]We're leaning more toward four
[00:23:16.485]to have this up and running for you guys.
[00:23:21.843]Provide feedback as soon as you're able to.
[00:23:24.343]We are taking that into account,
[00:23:26.019]and this policy is still shifting
[00:23:29.168]as we go through and figure out what our
[00:23:31.084]technological capabilities are
[00:23:33.257]and also what you guys need.
[00:23:37.356]The greatest method for you to submit feedback,
[00:23:40.059]besides questions today, is this email address
[00:23:42.701]I mentioned at the beginning,
[00:23:44.108]travel@nebraska.edu.
[00:23:47.268]We have been receiving emails already.
[00:23:49.464]We have read them, we are looking into all of them.
[00:23:52.697]Thank you if you've already sent one.
[00:23:54.175]We appreciate it.
[00:23:57.827]We just want to reiterate again for you
[00:24:00.038]where we are as a university right now.
[00:24:01.766]I'm sure you all received President Bound's email
[00:24:03.738]this morning about the new legislative session.
[00:24:07.557]This is a serious time for the university.
[00:24:11.133]It's a great opportunity for us right now
[00:24:13.402]to make some really great changes
[00:24:15.309]to streamline our jobs, to be a better university
[00:24:18.516]to serve our state,
[00:24:20.457]and to make it a great place to work
[00:24:21.886]and a great place to be a student.
[00:24:23.754]That's really our focus, and it has been since
[00:24:25.636]we started this process a year ago now.
[00:24:31.904]I did wanna take a brief moment to thank
[00:24:34.530]the BRT team.
[00:24:36.149]I know there's quite a few people here today.
[00:24:38.358]Can I embarrass you all and have you stand up?
[00:24:42.491]If you worked on the policy or on the BRT,
[00:24:44.669]thank you very much.
[00:24:46.719]These people have worked very hard for over
[00:24:48.262]a year now.
[00:24:49.758]I think that they've done a great job.
[00:24:52.963]With that, I would like to open it up now
[00:24:54.904]to questions and answers.
[00:24:56.487]I will tell you we have a microphone.
[00:24:58.532]Jim Vogel has the microphone back there.
[00:25:00.774]If you could use that, but also,
[00:25:02.456]we are streaming this and recording it.
[00:25:05.558]That microphone will not pick up
[00:25:07.000]on the live stream, so
[00:25:09.799]we will be repeating your question
[00:25:12.761]for the sake of the online people.
[00:25:15.744]Hi, can I start?
[00:25:17.295]Sure thing, go ahead.
[00:25:18.593]My name is Kirk Geisinger.
[00:25:19.733]I run the Buros Center here on campus.
[00:25:22.731]It's nice to meet you finally, Laura.
[00:25:24.282]Nice to meet you, as well.
[00:25:26.137]I have three really fast comments or questions.
[00:25:29.525]One is this does presume that everyone
[00:25:31.601]has a smartphone, and I do have some employees
[00:25:34.424]who do not, so that's an issue I'd like to hear
[00:25:37.497]what you're thinking about.
[00:25:39.500]Second,
[00:25:42.617]and we all understand that there are reasons
[00:25:45.097]that this is all happening, and we appreciate it, I think,
[00:25:48.091]but one of the new changes
[00:25:50.943]is the 25 cents per mile.
[00:25:53.379]Now, for someone like myself, in the 11 1/2 years
[00:25:56.254]I've been at the university, I've traveled
[00:25:58.217]about 2 million miles, to give you a sense.
[00:26:00.637]I do a lot of traveling.
[00:26:02.836]If I'm gonna drive to Omaha, I am not gonna go
[00:26:05.763]to the campus first and pick up a state car,
[00:26:08.437]and then drive to Omaha.
[00:26:09.601]I'm just gonna subsidize the university
[00:26:11.292]driving my own car.
[00:26:12.980]Now, the question I have there is the savings.
[00:26:15.067]Has it been looked at whether any
[00:26:17.471]university employee should have state cars
[00:26:19.538]or state car allowances 'cause I assume
[00:26:21.346]there are some who do.
[00:26:23.365]That would be a savings of money,
[00:26:25.857]as well, that I would encourage you to take
[00:26:27.608]a look at, given that you've emphasized
[00:26:29.944]the need for equity and keeping all employees
[00:26:32.758]under the same system.
[00:26:35.336]Third, I've had some trouble.
[00:26:37.655]I've used Concur and I like it,
[00:26:39.591]but I've had trouble with hotels.
[00:26:42.038]In specific, almost all the travel I do,
[00:26:44.660]I have to stay at state rates because
[00:26:46.452]I'm under contracts that require that.
[00:26:49.138]I can go into a hotel and get the state rate
[00:26:52.157]on their own website, but I can't get it through Concur.
[00:26:56.492]It just doesn't make sense not to take
[00:26:58.680]the cheaper rate.
[00:27:00.885]That's a question I have for you, I guess.
[00:27:03.977]Sure.
[00:27:05.114]Do you wanna respond to?
[00:27:08.008]I'll turn it over to Michael.
[00:27:11.663]I'll start with the third one, I guess,
[00:27:12.822]concerning Concur.
[00:27:14.498]We are working right now with Travel and Transport
[00:27:16.573]to make sure that those rates,
[00:27:18.279]concerning the state rate, as well as any
[00:27:21.837]reduced rates that we may get as a university,
[00:27:23.535]are within that system.
[00:27:24.919]Right now, I will admit they are not.
[00:27:27.623]That is something that we are working on right now
[00:27:29.905]to try to get that implemented before July 1st
[00:27:32.250]so that you are saving money by doing
[00:27:34.475]the state rate, by going through Concur.
[00:27:36.525]That is the first piece there.
[00:27:38.684]As far as travelers
[00:27:41.045]without smartphones, this capability allows you
[00:27:44.023]to also bring those receipts back and scan 'em
[00:27:46.404]like you would normally and upload them.
[00:27:48.924]They don't have to be taken on a smartphone,
[00:27:51.404]but it's just an easier method for those
[00:27:53.436]who do have that phone.
[00:27:55.643]As far as the mileage rate goes,
[00:27:57.943]and the university having state allowances
[00:27:59.759]for state vehicles or things like that,
[00:28:02.711]that 25 cents per mile came off of an analysis
[00:28:06.236]from us based on what it costs the university
[00:28:09.182]per mile to rent a vehicle.
[00:28:11.592]We understand that there's those instances
[00:28:14.172]where people, such as you, are traveling
[00:28:15.508]very often, and maybe a rental isn't
[00:28:18.663]as efficient for you to go and get it each time.
[00:28:21.442]But we still see that that 25 cents
[00:28:23.830]per mile is a rate that covers the gas,
[00:28:26.551]covers the maintenance on a vehicle,
[00:28:28.668]and is still an efficient rate for the employee
[00:28:30.916]to have and the university to pay.
[00:28:32.793]It's kind of a
[00:28:34.464]win-win situation for both in those cases.
[00:28:37.077]Well, have you looked at getting rid
[00:28:38.160]of state cars for other state employees, though?
[00:28:40.733]Where there's a specific employee who has
[00:28:42.653]a state car, and so they're not inconvenienced
[00:28:45.202]by the 25 cent per mile rate because
[00:28:47.805]all their expenses are being covered.
[00:28:49.638]Okay.
[00:28:50.583]The question was is if we're looking
[00:28:52.479]at other state vehicles that are assigned
[00:28:54.611]to employees, and whether we're evaluating
[00:28:57.188]those individuals and whether they should
[00:28:58.772]still have that state vehicle.
[00:29:01.012]I will say that that is, I would probably
[00:29:02.666]have to defer that question
[00:29:03.852]to the Transportation BRT that's working
[00:29:06.872]with facilities and motor pools specifically.
[00:29:10.175]That question is not directly towards
[00:29:12.247]the travel side of things for us.
[00:29:14.464]We would direct that to them.
[00:29:16.211]I don't know where they're at with that
[00:29:18.157]piece of the BRT side.
[00:29:23.652]Hi, so my name is Shireen Adenwalla
[00:29:25.420]I'm in physics.
[00:29:27.807]Most of the travel we do is based on
[00:29:29.758]our research grants that come from federal government,
[00:29:31.882]so nothing we do affects the bottom line
[00:29:34.518]for the university.
[00:29:37.195]I would like to comment on two things.
[00:29:38.814]One is, first off, if the Concur site works,
[00:29:41.846]as far as the expense report is concerned, that's nice.
[00:29:44.001]I have a few worries about that.
[00:29:46.946]The second thing is Travel and Transport
[00:29:48.999]has been our travel provider now for over two years.
[00:29:53.192]I still find that I have to go find something
[00:29:56.623]on Expedia or Travelocity,
[00:29:58.732]then tell Travel and Transport
[00:30:00.872]so that they can match it.
[00:30:01.880]If I go directly to Travel and Transport,
[00:30:03.842]it's almost a sure thing (audience applauds).
[00:30:12.418]Other people have that experience?
[00:30:13.736](audience laughs)
[00:30:15.324]Then the other thing I would like to comment upon,
[00:30:18.326]most of the people in our department who travel
[00:30:22.195]go to do what are called (mumbles) experiments,
[00:30:24.483]which are brutal.
[00:30:25.488]They're basically 24/seven.
[00:30:27.952]We cannot heel to this three meal a day thing.
[00:30:31.600]You cannot have breakfast, lunch and dinner.
[00:30:33.580]You grab what you can.
[00:30:35.585]This has to be modified.
[00:30:38.037]It is not fair to us, it is not fair
[00:30:39.717]to our students.
[00:30:40.982]We go there on a very tight schedule
[00:30:43.504]to get as much data as we can.
[00:30:45.126]We cannot tell you how precious that
[00:30:47.294](speaks too low to hear) is.
[00:30:50.957]If you are artificially forcing people.
[00:30:54.165]We don't go there to spend money, by the way.
[00:30:56.065]I should tell you that.
[00:30:58.190]This is a very artificial constraint,
[00:30:59.884]and that has to be modified.
[00:31:01.487]This means that if I'm trying to stay up
[00:31:03.200]till four o'clock in the morning, I am not allowed
[00:31:04.934]to go somewhere and get a cup of lousy coffee
[00:31:07.488]from the dispenser, right?
[00:31:09.892]That's what it means?
[00:31:11.459]This needs to be rethought.
[00:31:13.292]There is no need for that policy.
[00:31:15.626]Those are my questions.
[00:31:17.698]Thank you for those comments.
[00:31:19.354]I will make a general statement
[00:31:20.699]on Travel and Transport because we do
[00:31:23.164]have quite a few questions and comments
[00:31:25.209]that have come in from them.
[00:31:27.221]Travel and Transport is our
[00:31:28.949]sole travel booking provider.
[00:31:32.263]That was put out for an RFP a couple
[00:31:33.764]of years ago, and we are under contract with them.
[00:31:37.201]They came in not only with the best rates
[00:31:39.269]for us as a university, but they are one
[00:31:41.692]of the leading travel companies in the world.
[00:31:45.459]They have quite a huge presence, both in
[00:31:47.539]the United States,
[00:31:49.860]maybe not quite as strong of a presence overseas,
[00:31:52.177]but they have anywhere from four to seven
[00:31:56.785]dedicated employees whose sole job is to help
[00:31:59.215]the university find the best rates.
[00:32:02.761]If you get stranded in an airport in a snowstorm,
[00:32:05.159]they have a 24-hour emergency number that you can call.
[00:32:09.280]You could be 50 people deep in line
[00:32:11.027]trying to get your plane ticket redone
[00:32:13.572]or find a hotel.
[00:32:15.328]You can call Travel and Transport's emergency line,
[00:32:17.479]and you will get a person who can help you
[00:32:20.664]find a hotel, find new airfare.
[00:32:23.103]There are always going to be one-off stories
[00:32:25.111]of finding a better rate somewhere else.
[00:32:27.507]This was not a one-off story.
[00:32:29.698]I'm sorry, that was not a one-off story.
[00:32:32.663]I appreciate that.
[00:32:34.277]We have taken
[00:32:36.073]the capabilities of Travel and Transport,
[00:32:38.530]we have meshed that with the Concur capabilities.
[00:32:41.652]We have looked at these numbers across
[00:32:43.023]the entire university system.
[00:32:45.570]The data backs up that this is the best way
[00:32:48.467]for us to save money.
[00:32:50.186]This is the best way for the university,
[00:32:51.876]moving forward, to have all of our resources
[00:32:54.720]combined to have it be the best for everyone.
[00:32:58.828]The reason it's the best for everyone
[00:33:00.094]is because we are so stingy with our
[00:33:02.084]federal research now is that we do research
[00:33:04.304]that is necessary for Travel and Transport
[00:33:06.372]to get us the ticket.
[00:33:07.783]I appreciate that.
[00:33:08.923]We are trying to be just as stingy
[00:33:10.269]with our Nebraska dollars.
[00:33:11.959]Agency.
[00:33:14.258]What about these meal receipts?
[00:33:19.231]The meal receipts have always been required.
[00:33:21.564]That's a Nebraska law.
[00:33:22.912]That's not what I'm asking.
[00:33:23.884]The three meals.
[00:33:26.090]Do you wanna talk about the three meals?
[00:33:29.866]The three meal policy.
[00:33:31.312]The Nebraska state law, with no snacks
[00:33:34.042]being allowed, is coming to us from
[00:33:35.890]the state of Nebraska,
[00:33:37.381]as far as the receipts, as far as when
[00:33:39.517]they are throughout the day or how many
[00:33:41.294]are allowed.
[00:33:42.281]I understand the research piece.
[00:33:43.811]That is definitely something that we
[00:33:45.107]need feedback on for the meals.
[00:33:46.937]We appreciate that feedback on the meals piece.
[00:33:49.337]It's definitely something that we need
[00:33:50.970]to work on including within the policy.
[00:33:54.109]Because we understand that you don't
[00:33:56.217]work on an eight-to-five basis
[00:33:57.875]like a regular employee or other employees might.
[00:34:01.914]That's definitely something that we appreciate
[00:34:04.080]the feedback with that.
[00:34:05.343]We know right now the policy may not
[00:34:07.194]accommodate that.
[00:34:08.505]So what can be done?
[00:34:10.430]From our side, as a BRT team, with the policy,
[00:34:13.038]is we need to work to make sure that
[00:34:14.661]it fits that need as a researcher.
[00:34:16.892]We don't wanna limit that research.
[00:34:19.189]What's that?
[00:34:20.027]Are you prepared to do that?
[00:34:22.225]We will do as much as we can,
[00:34:23.668]as a policy team, to make sure that works.
[00:34:29.902]I'm Sarah Purcell, Nebraska Extension.
[00:34:33.465]This is in regards to the policy that says
[00:34:36.731]pre-trip requests will be required
[00:34:38.649]prior to all travel bookings on expenses,
[00:34:42.222]or expenses.
[00:34:44.254]Currently, in Nebraska, as far as Nebraska Extension,
[00:34:48.075]we have a blanket travel authorization
[00:34:50.415]for Extension professionals for all of Nebraska,
[00:34:53.125]plus a one county perimeter in adjoining states.
[00:34:56.520]Will that blanket travel authorization still continue?
[00:35:00.529]The question is regarding the blanket
[00:35:02.492]travel authorization.
[00:35:04.191]I will turn that over to you.
[00:35:08.428]I would say the biggest piece for the blanket travel.
[00:35:10.446]Right now, we have it implemented into the policy.
[00:35:13.411]It's within state lines,
[00:35:16.091]as well as a hundred-mile radius around
[00:35:18.034]your permanent location as an employee,
[00:35:21.552]as well as requiring to be the same business
[00:35:25.976]purpose for that blanket travel.
[00:35:28.168]Right now, it is in the policy.
[00:35:30.197]We're working with Concur
[00:35:31.849]to see that we can implement that.
[00:35:35.895]Again, it comes down to their capabilities
[00:35:37.783]and whether we can keep that piece
[00:35:40.522]in our system and within the policy.
[00:35:44.788]Second question.
[00:35:46.065]Can you estimate how many staff positions
[00:35:48.836]the use of Concur is eliminating?
[00:35:54.030]The question is the number of staff positions
[00:35:56.091]that this is eliminating.
[00:35:57.410]We have data across the campuses.
[00:36:01.421]There's not really any specific person
[00:36:04.278]or number that we have right now.
[00:36:05.899]This is something that we're still looking into.
[00:36:09.731]We're still early in the process to see how
[00:36:11.497]Concur is going to work within our system,
[00:36:13.997]but we have done quite a bit of research on
[00:36:17.097]staffing and positions.
[00:36:18.675]That is something that we'll have to come back
[00:36:21.586]to you with.
[00:36:22.908]The third is just a comment.
[00:36:25.095]Missouri Extension, it has done just what
[00:36:28.412]Nebraska has done, as far as reduced mileage
[00:36:31.903]from 54.5 cents IRS mileage,
[00:36:35.410]down to 37 cents,
[00:36:38.687]in accordance with their calculations.
[00:36:41.732]Can you give us more details on how you
[00:36:43.899]came to the figure 25 cents because
[00:36:46.174]I have three or four different statements
[00:36:49.102]from university personnel,
[00:36:51.872]university administrators, that each one
[00:36:54.016]cited a different method of how the 25 cents
[00:36:56.520]was calculated.
[00:36:58.238]Sure.
[00:36:59.208]The question is how mileage was calculated.
[00:37:02.856]Jim, I don't know if you wanna talk about that
[00:37:04.569]at all, or if you want Michael to?
[00:37:09.439]With the mileage calculation for the 25 cents,
[00:37:12.108]that was based off of, on our Enterprise contract
[00:37:15.439]what we can get a rental car for
[00:37:17.994]and what that equates to for a traveler.
[00:37:20.387]Now, that was based on average,
[00:37:22.208]for the average trip that an employee would take.
[00:37:25.731]There are instances where, maybe under
[00:37:28.022]45 miles or so, it's gonna be cheaper
[00:37:30.468]for an employee to use their personal vehicle.
[00:37:33.329]But outside of that range, using our Enterprise rate,
[00:37:37.354]the 25 cents per mile is what it equated to
[00:37:40.515]to be equivalent and to try to encourage
[00:37:42.607]the use of that contract with Enterprise
[00:37:44.376]for those trips, as well.
[00:37:46.922]So it deals totally with Enterprise?
[00:37:49.289]It's based off of the contract rate
[00:37:50.667]with Enterprise, and the equivalent
[00:37:52.853]that it would be for us, as a university,
[00:37:54.254]to pay the employee personally.
[00:37:56.223]As you know, there's not very many
[00:37:57.889]Enterprise locations throughout the state of Nebraska.
[00:38:01.370]Nebraska Extension touches 93 counties
[00:38:03.797]in the great state of Nebraska.
[00:38:06.797]That is one thing, that we have
[00:38:08.436]the Enterprise that covers national.
[00:38:09.971]We realize that there's some areas in the
[00:38:11.529]rural aspects with Extension that may not
[00:38:14.747]have those capabilities or those services available.
[00:38:18.666]But for budget
[00:38:20.745]reduction reasonings, as well as that expense piece,
[00:38:23.434]that 25 cents is where we came to
[00:38:27.964]an equalization there for the university,
[00:38:29.232]as well as the employee.
[00:38:33.817]Hi, my name is Tim Gay.
[00:38:35.218]I'm from the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
[00:38:37.524]I was wondering if members
[00:38:40.070]of the BRT team
[00:38:42.499]that are current members of the faculty
[00:38:45.125]of the University of Nebraska could stand up, please?
[00:38:51.443]Nobody.
[00:38:52.801]That's an issue, perhaps, of faculty governance.
[00:38:58.644]I would view
[00:39:02.059]the goal of this group would be to serve
[00:39:06.653]primarily the faculty.
[00:39:08.052]The students don't do a lot of traveling.
[00:39:09.910]But the people you should be serving
[00:39:13.611]are not
[00:39:16.732]other administrators, but faculty members.
[00:39:20.980]It strikes me as odd that there are no
[00:39:23.367]faculty members in this BRT.
[00:39:25.646]Sure.
[00:39:26.666]Second question.
[00:39:28.407]How much is your contract,
[00:39:31.620]is the university's contract with Concur
[00:39:35.599]costing us in the first year?
[00:39:38.749]The first point is the faculty representation
[00:39:41.451]on the policy drafting.
[00:39:44.214]That is why we are here today.
[00:39:45.906]We do respect your input, we do want your input.
[00:39:48.297]We're soliciting feedback, and we are listening
[00:39:50.352]to you guys and taking this into account.
[00:39:52.702]We didn't want--
[00:39:54.063]Presenting us with a fait accompli.
[00:39:57.075]Of course, you're gonna listen to our feedback,
[00:39:59.161]but that's not at all the same thing
[00:40:01.709]as having faculty in from the get-go.
[00:40:05.702]We have looked over the data,
[00:40:08.129]and we have people that manage the travel.
[00:40:11.002]We have subject matter experts from your campus,
[00:40:13.605]from all the campuses, who do travel
[00:40:16.266]large scale on a daily basis that work
[00:40:19.064]with faculty every day and help you guys
[00:40:21.976]with your travel.
[00:40:23.636]We didn't wanna bring forward a blank sheet
[00:40:25.459]of paper and say, "Here, help us write this."
[00:40:27.472]We wanted to present, based on the data,
[00:40:29.915]based on what the technology can do,
[00:40:32.673]and where we need to go as a university
[00:40:34.726]with these budget constraints, and then
[00:40:36.747]get your feedback and your comments now.
[00:40:39.596]It's not that we wanted to exclude any group
[00:40:41.713]of person from the process, but we're trying
[00:40:44.360]to manage our resources the best way possible,
[00:40:48.244]while acknowledging that there are going
[00:40:49.877]to be things that we need to look at
[00:40:51.449]from this point moving forward.
[00:40:52.978]This is not a final policy.
[00:40:54.898]This is a draft policy that we
[00:40:56.656]are soliciting feedback.
[00:40:58.355]We do appreciate it.
[00:40:59.721]We do want your involvement.
[00:41:00.997]That's why we are here today.
[00:41:03.058]My second question is how much
[00:41:04.687]is this contract with Concur costing the university?
[00:41:08.876]This is a public contract.
[00:41:10.218]It was put forward to the Board of Regents.
[00:41:12.843]I don't wanna misspeak on numbers,
[00:41:14.088]so I'm not gonna say the exact number,
[00:41:15.445]but you are welcome to find that number out.
[00:41:18.857]We have been very open with it.
[00:41:21.407]It's on the BRT website, it's on the
[00:41:23.132]Board of Regents.
[00:41:24.278]It's a public contract that you can search.
[00:41:26.006]We won't hold you responsible if you
[00:41:27.095]misspoke the number.
[00:41:28.122]Give me a ballpark figure, if you could.
[00:41:30.564]I think it's around the ballpark
[00:41:31.849]of about 400,000. 400,000.
[00:41:34.398]That's a five-year contract.
[00:41:37.363]I don't wanna misspeak, but I believe that's right.
[00:41:39.235]That's fine.
[00:41:40.413]My third and final question is how much
[00:41:43.003]did the safety package that Concur
[00:41:46.210]was willing to sell us cost?
[00:41:48.285]I don't know that number, sir.
[00:41:50.370]Not offhand. Less than 400,000.
[00:41:52.374]Yes, it's part of the package.
[00:41:53.960]Yes, that's correct.
[00:42:04.125]Thank you very much.
[00:42:05.105]My name's Matthew Loar.
[00:42:06.059]I teach in Classics and Religious Studies.
[00:42:09.000]I have a couple of questions, sort of echoing one
[00:42:11.949]that was mentioned earlier, which is the
[00:42:14.106]three meal a day policy.
[00:42:16.243]I do a lot of international travel.
[00:42:18.516]In Italy, breakfast isn't a thing.
[00:42:21.710](women laugh)
[00:42:23.970]I can chose whether I want a coffee reimbursed
[00:42:27.288]or a croissant or something.
[00:42:31.458]This seems like, perhaps, it might be wise
[00:42:34.111]to have a domestic travel policy
[00:42:37.340]and a foreign travel policy.
[00:42:42.240]One of my questions is
[00:42:44.577]whether we can use programs like Airbnb.
[00:42:48.127]I oftentimes get cheaper rates
[00:42:50.079]than the hotels by booking Airbnb,
[00:42:52.628]which allows me to have a kitchen,
[00:42:54.606]which allows me to have groceries.
[00:42:56.637]Would that still be a possibility?
[00:42:59.356]The first was more a comment on
[00:43:02.226]international travel may not follow
[00:43:04.222]the exact procedure, so possibly
[00:43:07.026]a separate policy for both domestic
[00:43:08.927]and foreign travel.
[00:43:10.672]That's something that we've talked about
[00:43:12.073]and we may look into.
[00:43:14.927]Thank you for that.
[00:43:17.272]Your second question on Airbnb.
[00:43:19.535]Concur, you saw in the video, Concur has quite
[00:43:22.001]a large network of resources they can tap into.
[00:43:26.289]I'm not sure that Airbnb
[00:43:28.720]is currently on there, but I know Concur
[00:43:30.882]adds companies all the time.
[00:43:32.809]If, as of today, you cannot book Airbnb,
[00:43:36.178]I would assume that at some point in the future,
[00:43:38.068]you will be able to.
[00:43:39.782]The reason that we really want people
[00:43:41.361]to stay within Concur is not only
[00:43:43.932]are we leveraging our resources,
[00:43:45.285]but the safety feature is available to us.
[00:43:48.070]We will know where you are staying
[00:43:49.375]on any given night if there's a terrorist attack
[00:43:51.961]or an earthquake.
[00:43:54.746]That really is an important feature to us
[00:43:56.952]when we looked at this, not just the cost savings,
[00:43:59.351]but that we want to be able to keep
[00:44:01.514]our travelers safe and to know where they are
[00:44:05.305]in order if there is a disaster.
[00:44:08.445]Sure.
[00:44:09.342]I would just add, though, that for any
[00:44:10.884]international traveler, you can also
[00:44:12.054]register with the State Department,
[00:44:14.595]who will give you alerts.
[00:44:17.038]My other question is whether it would be possible
[00:44:19.236]at this stage to add some faculty members
[00:44:21.550]to this BRT because it is concerning.
[00:44:26.025]We talk about this with computer programmers
[00:44:28.415]designing stuff that we need
[00:44:30.667]for Latin and Greek.
[00:44:32.449]The sorts of things that they think we need
[00:44:34.633]are very different from what I need.
[00:44:36.882]They may design an interface that makes sense
[00:44:38.537]to them, which is totally useless to me.
[00:44:43.224]I assume you're gonna get a ton of feedback
[00:44:45.541]from your email and then today.
[00:44:47.852]It seems like you might get a little bit
[00:44:49.568]more faculty buy-in if we have a seat
[00:44:52.135]at the table.
[00:44:53.393]Sure.
[00:44:54.226]That comment was bringing in faculty member
[00:44:56.665]at this stage moving forward.
[00:44:58.827]We have discussed that.
[00:45:00.279]I think that that's likely something
[00:45:02.092]that could happen.
[00:45:04.790]Bring in some people who
[00:45:06.803]are more on the faculty side to help us
[00:45:08.587]going forward.
[00:45:09.922]Like I said earlier, we didn't wanna bring you
[00:45:11.724]a blank piece of paper or a blank slate.
[00:45:14.445]We wanted something to start with to move forward.
[00:45:18.457]We do value your feedback and we do want it.
[00:45:20.874]That's a great suggestion.
[00:45:21.868]I'll volunteer myself.
[00:45:22.821]Thank you very much for volunteering.
[00:45:26.819]Hi, Dexter Ott with the university police.
[00:45:29.657]A couple softball questions compared
[00:45:30.827]to some I've heard today.
[00:45:32.976]The first one is (coughing) training opportunities
[00:45:35.525]available before it goes live in July.
[00:45:37.549]Are those just gonna be in person?
[00:45:38.835]Are there online ones planned, too?
[00:45:40.891]I'll put my second question out there, too.
[00:45:43.055]Other one is you just mentioned there's gonna
[00:45:45.051]be a pre-approval required for trips.
[00:45:47.430]Is that similar to the SAP system
[00:45:49.233]we're currently using, or it still stays
[00:45:51.123]in SAP, it sounds like?
[00:45:52.375]It's not gonna be a Concur (speaks too low to hear)?
[00:45:54.686]SAP owns Concur, so, yeah.
[00:45:57.961]It will likely look fairly similar
[00:45:59.096]to what you're doing now.
[00:46:00.843]The question was how SAP,
[00:46:03.157]if we'll still be using SAP or if it
[00:46:04.638]will look similar when we go to Concur.
[00:46:07.227]I think, yes, that's the idea.
[00:46:09.828]Do you wanna address the first question?
[00:46:12.498]Yes.
[00:46:14.030]Can you repeat your first question again for me?
[00:46:15.704]Oh, sure.
[00:46:16.961]The first question was if the training opportunities
[00:46:18.871]are going to be in person only,
[00:46:20.372]or if they're gonna be online,
[00:46:21.698]webinar ones for that, too?
[00:46:23.024]Perfect.
[00:46:24.088]The question was whether training
[00:46:26.227]will be in person or online only.
[00:46:28.757]There will be a combo of all of those.
[00:46:31.459]The personnel on your campus, they handle travel,
[00:46:33.329]will come individually.
[00:46:34.819]Similar trainings like this to present to you
[00:46:37.935]the tutorials that Concur has provided to us.
[00:46:40.586]But there'll also be those backup ones
[00:46:42.260]that you can take on your own time
[00:46:45.157]if ya have issues along the way.
[00:46:48.677]My name is John Kesham with Nebraska Extension.
[00:46:51.023]I'm also interested in just how flexible
[00:46:54.329]Concur will be in choosing individual flights.
[00:46:56.576]I just had this conversation this morning
[00:46:58.125]with another faculty member
[00:47:00.369]about the pros and cons of a direct flight
[00:47:04.308]versus a layover, especially in the wintertime,
[00:47:08.254]and proximity to an airport.
[00:47:12.265]Driving to Omaha, driving to Kansas City,
[00:47:14.175]ya get a better rate, leaving you car,
[00:47:17.301]all these kind of things.
[00:47:18.310]How much wiggle room or negotiation is there
[00:47:21.144]in choosing a Southwest flight
[00:47:22.946]over an American flight or United,
[00:47:24.858]which has certain reputation issues,
[00:47:27.980]and things like that?
[00:47:29.428]How much wiggle room is there within Concur?
[00:47:31.618]Sure. Do you wanna?
[00:47:32.853]Yeah, I can answer that.
[00:47:35.973]I would say, the question
[00:47:37.934]was how much wiggle room is there
[00:47:40.338]based on the specific flights,
[00:47:42.598]whether it be the time of travel,
[00:47:43.888]location, direct flights.
[00:47:46.187]We appreciate any employees that put the time in
[00:47:48.222]to make sure to find the most economical rate,
[00:47:50.610]whether that's your time, based on
[00:47:53.015]it not being a direct flight,
[00:47:55.120]or whether it's the location to where
[00:47:57.252]you're actually headed.
[00:47:58.703]We appreciate that.
[00:48:00.187]Within the Concur system,
[00:48:02.303]when we state the lowest fare, it's at the time
[00:48:05.063]that works for you, as an employee,
[00:48:07.643]but also there is certain features that we can
[00:48:10.931]maybe just flag a certain cost that's a certain
[00:48:13.400]percentage above the lowest rate,
[00:48:16.969]but possibly do a hard block if it gets
[00:48:19.888]above a certain point.
[00:48:21.538]But those flags just require an explanation
[00:48:23.428]of, okay, why did you choose this
[00:48:25.273]over the cheapest one that was first on the list?
[00:48:28.762]There are some of those capabilities within
[00:48:30.348]the system that we're still working on,
[00:48:32.664]what those allowances will be,
[00:48:35.018]but we do have those capabilities,
[00:48:36.277]so you're not stuck with one flight.
[00:48:38.867]You have the choice, you have the opportunity
[00:48:40.407]to choose between those and what works for you.
[00:48:44.215]Kevin Hanrahan, Glenn Korff School of Music.
[00:48:47.591]I have two questions.
[00:48:48.545]I also do a lot of international traveling.
[00:48:50.904]It's predominantly, most of the traveling that I do.
[00:48:54.720]My question revolves around the receipts.
[00:48:58.230]We were told by our business people
[00:49:00.451]that we had to have hard copies of the receipts.
[00:49:03.448]Yet in the video you showed us,
[00:49:04.753]they're taking pictures of it.
[00:49:07.867]How much of the taking picture are we gonna
[00:49:10.211]be able to do, and how much is it gonna
[00:49:12.352]have to be hard receipts?
[00:49:14.325]One, and then two, the other aspect of these receipts
[00:49:16.695]is they have to be translated into English.
[00:49:19.620]Sometimes when you go to a restaurant
[00:49:21.856]in a mall in Japan, you get a hand-written
[00:49:24.749]scribbled receipt.
[00:49:27.441]Are these also going to be allowed,
[00:49:29.499]and how are we gonna handle the translation process?
[00:49:32.079]That's the first bit.
[00:49:33.223]I'll let ya go there.
[00:49:35.416]Receipt requirements, especially for
[00:49:36.919]international travel, and translations.
[00:49:39.951]I believe that with the new Concur system,
[00:49:42.724]even international travel, you'll be able
[00:49:45.013]to take a picture.
[00:49:47.275]This is more of an audit concern
[00:49:49.542]that we need to be able to point
[00:49:50.987]to what you spent your money on,
[00:49:53.836]when and where, that we can validate
[00:49:55.867]that it was a legitimate travel expense.
[00:49:58.307]That's really what it comes down to.
[00:50:02.339]I don't wanna misspeak, but I don't think
[00:50:03.491]that you'll need, if it's in the Concur system,
[00:50:06.324]I think that you'll be fine with just the picture.
[00:50:08.661]We have a copy of it, we can print it off,
[00:50:10.367]we can replicate it, we have it.
[00:50:12.770]That should be sufficient to meet
[00:50:14.217]the receipt requirement.
[00:50:15.805]As far as translating it, it's gonna be similar
[00:50:18.331]to what you've always done.
[00:50:20.488]The best that you're able to do.
[00:50:22.368]If it is a scribbled in Japanese receipt
[00:50:24.980]from a mall, what you would do today
[00:50:27.504]is what you will do with the Concur system.
[00:50:30.211]That's the best that you're able to do
[00:50:32.221]to show that it's a legitimate travel expense.
[00:50:35.234]Thank you.
[00:50:36.310]The second question has to deal with
[00:50:39.549]when you go to conferences, even in this country,
[00:50:43.095]but particularly with international conferences,
[00:50:44.848]oftentimes they have a travel agent
[00:50:47.566]that they want you to use that,
[00:50:49.668]if you're gonna stay at the venue hotels,
[00:50:52.138]you have to book through their travel agent.
[00:50:54.855]How is that gonna work, since everything
[00:50:56.530]has to go through Travel and Transport and Concur?
[00:51:00.080]The question is if you're booking with a
[00:51:03.115]conference that requires you to use
[00:51:04.422]their travel agent.
[00:51:08.708]We're trying to accommodate the conferences
[00:51:11.050]how we're able to.
[00:51:12.707]The policy allows for if Travel and Transport's not
[00:51:16.593]available or for the conference rate.
[00:51:19.016]We are going to try our best to accommodate
[00:51:21.290]those conference rates.
[00:51:22.325]You'll still be allowed to book
[00:51:24.092]the conference rate.
[00:51:26.592]I don't know if you wanna?
[00:51:29.974]There is a way, still within the system,
[00:51:31.839]to be able to book those conference rates
[00:51:33.276]as you need to.
[00:51:34.805]There's procedures you can follow to be reimbursed
[00:51:37.178]for those, even if you don't specifically
[00:51:39.308]go through the Concur booking piece
[00:51:41.512]for that portion of it.
[00:51:45.037]Just make sure they're very clear
[00:51:46.252]'cause I've run into issues, particularly
[00:51:47.713]with airfare, where
[00:51:50.760]the term university-administered funds,
[00:51:53.413]I didn't use university-administered funds,
[00:51:55.437]but I was told I was not gonna be reimbursed
[00:51:57.492]'cause I didn't use Travel and Transport, so just make sure.
[00:52:00.719]The policies (mumbles) change,
[00:52:02.497]at least on this campus, every month.
[00:52:05.378]It would be good if we could have
[00:52:07.004]that kind of security in the new system.
[00:52:09.912]Our policy should not be changing every month
[00:52:12.456]going forward.
[00:52:16.171]We are setting up a travel office that
[00:52:17.929]is going to help us, on all four campuses,
[00:52:21.281]deal with some of these, I call them one-off,
[00:52:24.351]but really they seem (laughs) to be more the rule
[00:52:25.956]than the exception, but to address
[00:52:28.586]some of these concerns as they come up
[00:52:30.593]and to find a way moving forward that's best
[00:52:33.001]for you, the traveler, for the office.
[00:52:37.662]Using this new system and using the new policy,
[00:52:39.986]and to make that streamlined as best as possible.
[00:52:44.858]Stas Nikolova.
[00:52:45.785]I'm in the Finance Department.
[00:52:47.061]I have two questions for you.
[00:52:48.572]One of them has to do with conference hotels,
[00:52:51.352]and it's sort of similar to the question
[00:52:52.911]you already got, but a lot of our conferences
[00:52:55.973]book a special portal, registration goes through
[00:52:58.052]special portals.
[00:53:00.001]You have to register, then use that registration number
[00:53:02.945]to go to the special website
[00:53:05.679]for the conference hotel.
[00:53:06.892]There's no other way to book the conference hotel.
[00:53:10.612]It has to be done outside of the Concur system
[00:53:13.105]you guys (speaks too low to hear).
[00:53:14.662]How do you
[00:53:16.277]foresee accommodating something like this?
[00:53:18.709]The second question is
[00:53:21.374]when I fly, very often, actually, always,
[00:53:24.823]I use a credit card with that airline company.
[00:53:27.733]The main reason I do it is because I get
[00:53:29.966]checked luggage for free.
[00:53:33.821]This goes through the university and is purchased
[00:53:35.817]through the university, the prices is almost the same,
[00:53:38.568](speaks too low to hear) dollars usually, but there'll be an
[00:53:40.737]extra charge of at least $50 or whatever it is,
[00:53:44.323]round trip, for checked-in luggage.
[00:53:47.302]I'd rather not spend my research budget
[00:53:50.023]in this way.
[00:53:51.347]Is there gonna be an accommodation where
[00:53:53.163]it's not booked or not paid by
[00:53:56.148]the university, where I can use a personal
[00:53:58.388]credit card to do this?
[00:53:59.860]That would save the university the
[00:54:01.841]checked-in luggage.
[00:54:04.319]To your first point on conference hotels
[00:54:06.355]and requiring a special portal or website,
[00:54:09.483]I think the plan is to have that
[00:54:11.593]still be the same.
[00:54:13.752]You have to book your conference how
[00:54:14.889]your conference requires you to book it.
[00:54:16.448]We understand that.
[00:54:17.936]There will be mechanisms for you to do that,
[00:54:20.484]even with the new system.
[00:54:22.476]That is something that we've spent
[00:54:24.532]a lot of time talking about and figuring out
[00:54:26.550]how best to do that.
[00:54:28.545]As far as the credit card for--
[00:54:30.108]That would be an exemption to this policy.
[00:54:34.136]It's within the policy.
[00:54:35.645]You're still within the policy, you're just
[00:54:38.400]doing it outside of Concur if you have
[00:54:40.363]to do it that way.
[00:54:42.762]There should be a way, and we're working
[00:54:44.184]with the technical people, that we can still
[00:54:47.058]bring that conference registration within Concur
[00:54:50.645]to show it.
[00:54:52.066]That's something that we're still working on
[00:54:53.601]trying to do.
[00:54:54.586]No, you would not book it through Concur,
[00:54:56.263]but you may still be able to see it on your portal.
[00:54:59.342]That's really a technical piece that
[00:55:00.879]we're working out.
[00:55:03.372]The credit card piece.
[00:55:07.920]The next question was whether they could
[00:55:09.533]still use a personal credit card because
[00:55:11.452]ya got a free checked-in bag.
[00:55:14.009]That is one of those
[00:55:16.303]issues, as well, that we appreciate you
[00:55:18.257]looking after university funds or research funds,
[00:55:20.347]what it may be, to save money.
[00:55:23.089]That is greatly appreciated by all.
[00:55:26.110]But that is probably one thing we'll have
[00:55:27.549]to look into with the Travel and Transport side
[00:55:30.782]because there are opportunities to use
[00:55:32.262]a university credit card or your personal credit card.
[00:55:35.576]The university travel office, when that
[00:55:38.059]is implemented, as we work on that,
[00:55:40.512]that may be one of those issues where they
[00:55:41.892]look in and say they chose this because
[00:55:44.267]they got a free checked-in bag, and it'll save
[00:55:46.281]the university money.
[00:55:48.803]We appreciate your feedback on that piece
[00:55:51.016]as we try to implement those things within the policy,
[00:55:53.368]so thank you.
[00:55:58.492](mumbles) With the Nebraska Forest Service.
[00:56:02.237]My situation's a bit different here.
[00:56:05.047]We don't fly very often, but we operate
[00:56:08.564]semi tractor-trailers and we move
[00:56:12.143]probably a couple hundred trips a year,
[00:56:15.112]up to 750 miles.
[00:56:17.940]Over 750 miles, it's actually cheaper for me
[00:56:20.638]to contract it in using a contract
[00:56:24.305]carrier.
[00:56:25.858]But for pre-trip authorization
[00:56:28.337]for every single trip, the BTA
[00:56:31.596]works okay for a hundred miles
[00:56:33.722]from the borders, but from my
[00:56:35.620]hundred miles to 750 miles, I have concerns here,
[00:56:39.830]especially when I read that over 550 miles,
[00:56:43.634]you must fly.
[00:56:45.229](audience laughs)
[00:56:48.013]I'm not sure how to check (speaks too low to hear).
[00:56:49.568]Sure. (laughs)
[00:56:51.625]Should fit in the
[00:56:53.044]overhead luggage, right?
[00:56:56.620]The second question has to do
[00:56:57.899]with room and board.
[00:56:59.291]My drivers, when they're on the road,
[00:57:02.026]if we don't know exactly where we're gonna
[00:57:03.814]stop for the night, so it's a little hard
[00:57:05.657]for us to pre-select overnight stops.
[00:57:08.656]If ya have a truck breakdown and ya can't
[00:57:09.994]make it to the stop, if the trip goes long.
[00:57:17.345]I'm just concerned.
[00:57:18.606]We had one year working on the policy,
[00:57:22.271]two weeks to comment on it, four weeks to,
[00:57:24.768]or four months to implement.
[00:57:27.167]Is this gonna be possible?
[00:57:31.616]Thank you for your feedback
[00:57:32.891]on the trucks and on also having to do
[00:57:36.287]some last-minute booking.
[00:57:38.921]The last-minute booking should be possible
[00:57:40.636]within Concur.
[00:57:42.514]Your pre-trip authorization may lay out
[00:57:46.244]cities you think you'll be in, but it will
[00:57:48.362]still be budgeted.
[00:57:49.302]I think that's still doable.
[00:57:51.998]You think you're gonna get to a certain city,
[00:57:53.751]but you go further, or you can't quite get there,
[00:57:57.344]you should still be able to pull up Concur
[00:57:59.071]and book through,
[00:58:01.572]change your reservation.
[00:58:03.633]I think you can call Travel and Transport
[00:58:05.280]for help with that, as well.
[00:58:08.306]There are ways to do that.
[00:58:09.439]As far as the trucks,
[00:58:12.232]or the semis that go quite a distance,
[00:58:16.126]that's something that's a little bit different
[00:58:18.373]that we'll have to look at
[00:58:20.529]and follow up on that, so thank you.
[00:58:25.323]Hi, I'm Peter Dowben.
[00:58:26.555]I'm also from Physics.
[00:58:28.968]I do a lot of research at national facilities.
[00:58:34.384]A lot of this is done internationally.
[00:58:37.596]Let me begin by saying that the travel policies that
[00:58:42.034]the university has instituted are already
[00:58:44.587]damaging my research programs.
[00:58:46.952]They're costing me time, they're costing me money.
[00:58:50.251]Now you want me to adopt Concur, which,
[00:58:53.188]I can tell you right from the start, I loathe.
[00:58:56.318](audience laughs) It doesn't find
[00:58:58.189]the cheapest flights.
[00:58:59.454]It doesn't know how to talk to public transportation.
[00:59:02.563]All the hotels I use, which are cheaper than
[00:59:05.162]the ones it recommends, are not available on Concur.
[00:59:09.366]It doesn't allow me to use frequent flyer miles
[00:59:12.152]to book my travel.
[00:59:15.068]While the Travel and Transport people
[00:59:16.960]are awfully nice, I've noticed that they don't
[00:59:19.224]speak foreign languages and they don't know
[00:59:21.130]how to book public transportation.
[00:59:24.819]All you're doing is adding to my time.
[00:59:28.145]You're making my life miserable,
[00:59:30.173]and already I'm paying hundreds of dollars
[00:59:32.946]for every trip I make out of pocket.
[00:59:35.588]You're going to make this worse.
[00:59:37.558]I don't see the upside because
[00:59:40.105]what you're doing is you're affecting
[00:59:42.809]travel that's paid for by grants.
[00:59:45.464]These are not state dollars.
[00:59:47.008]There's no savings to the university,
[00:59:49.786]and you're costing my grants money
[00:59:52.371]that I need to save in order to have more trips
[00:59:55.184]to the national facilities to do more research.
[00:59:58.445]But above all, you don't value my time.
[01:00:01.655]You hate me, (audience laughs)
[01:00:03.607]even though you don't know me.
[01:00:06.354]I'm miserable, and this is going
[01:00:08.026]to make me more miserable.
[01:00:09.479]I fail to see the upside of any
[01:00:12.643]of these policy implements or any reason
[01:00:16.158]why, in doing this to me, you're going
[01:00:18.909]to save the university a dime.
[01:00:21.992]Thank you.
[01:00:23.383]Thank you. (audience applauds)
[01:00:27.740]Thank you for that feedback.
[01:00:29.563]We really do think that if we all
[01:00:33.218]buckle up and give this a try, that you
[01:00:35.221]will see some conveniences right off the bat
[01:00:38.317]with how simple Concur is, how easy it is
[01:00:40.867]to track your time, your budget.
[01:00:44.055]That being said, we do ask that you guys
[01:00:47.336]give this the,
[01:00:50.172]cliche here, but the college effort
[01:00:52.378]on really investing into this
[01:00:55.494]for the contract period.
[01:00:56.984]We are facing a budget crisis.
[01:00:58.319]We don't have many options.
[01:01:00.327]We're all feeling the pinch in
[01:01:02.556]a number of different ways every day.
[01:01:06.490]I do appreciate that feedback from you.
[01:01:09.901]I would love some specific input, if you have that.
[01:01:12.720]You can send it to that email address,
[01:01:14.077]and I will take a look at that.
[01:01:16.530]We are trying to make this easier for you
[01:01:18.642]while saving the university money.
[01:01:21.843]We're doing the best we can with the
[01:01:23.097]limited resources that we have.
[01:01:25.107]If you can give me some specifics,
[01:01:26.638]I would appreciate that.
[01:01:28.214]I will take a look and see if we can
[01:01:29.398]do something about that.
[01:01:30.996]I have given Concur the college try.
[01:01:33.756]It simply doesn't work.
[01:01:36.369]For international travel, you're talking about
[01:01:39.127]cheap hotels near the (mumbles)
[01:01:42.108]or public transportation
[01:01:45.466]rather than a taxi,
[01:01:47.523]I'm sorry, it's not there.
[01:01:49.605]It doesn't work.
[01:01:50.637]You're not gonna fix it in four months.
[01:01:53.580]This is hopeless.
[01:01:55.352]Telling me, "Give it the college try,"
[01:01:58.121]yes, you're succeeding in changing my attitude.
[01:02:01.622]You're making me even more depressed
[01:02:03.672]than I am now, and that's impressive.
[01:02:07.965]I will count that as a victory, sir. (laughs)
[01:02:11.755]I'm Tricia Liedle with the Nebraska Water Center.
[01:02:14.325]I have three questions.
[01:02:16.528]With Concur, currently to do international travel,
[01:02:21.490]you have to call them.
[01:02:23.248]Many times, you cannot book your hotel.
[01:02:26.456]They can't get ahold of anybody,
[01:02:27.858]the hotel doesn't call you back.
[01:02:30.017]Many times, we resolve
[01:02:32.867]to use hotels.com.
[01:02:35.470]Is that still going to be available
[01:02:37.806]to us to use when we're having difficulties
[01:02:40.984]finding hotels in India and Thailand
[01:02:44.372]and those places?
[01:02:46.945]The question is if there's trouble
[01:02:48.624]finding a hotel, can we use an outside source,
[01:02:50.612]like hotels.com.
[01:02:52.916]The way that this system is set up
[01:02:54.336]and for us to see our savings,
[01:02:56.192]we need as much compliance as possible,
[01:02:58.135]100% of travel booked through the Concur tool
[01:03:01.547]when that is fully up and running in July.
[01:03:04.600]We are setting up a travel office that
[01:03:06.320]will be a university resource for you
[01:03:09.351]outside of Travel and Transport that can
[01:03:11.551]maybe offer some more guidance, help you find
[01:03:13.949]what you need to find.
[01:03:16.075]Then,
[01:03:17.610]potentially, if there's absolutely no other way,
[01:03:19.539]there may be ways, but we really need
[01:03:22.564]everyone booking through the Concur tool.
[01:03:25.731]That's the best way that we'll be able
[01:03:27.042]to know where you are, to reimburse you
[01:03:29.943]and to really see our savings.
[01:03:31.893]Is hotels.com going to be canceled
[01:03:35.272](mumbles) the university contract has because
[01:03:37.431]some people like that, especially when we have
[01:03:39.580]students traveling, because it's paid by
[01:03:42.244]the university, and the student doesn't have
[01:03:44.527]to carry that expense on their credit cards.
[01:03:47.524]That's something we're looking at with the
[01:03:49.308]technical implementation of Concur.
[01:03:51.186]Concur does contract with quite a few parties.
[01:03:53.981]If we can make that work, we will.
[01:03:56.424]Our goal is to change as little as possible
[01:03:58.741]for you, the end user, and what you see
[01:04:00.651]and how you book your travel.
[01:04:02.566]Second question, in-state travel.
[01:04:05.322]Do we have to use Concur to book lodging,
[01:04:07.306]or are we allowed to use the direct bill contracts
[01:04:10.438]that are already set up with hotels
[01:04:13.194]in different cities?
[01:04:16.278]That I'm not.
[01:04:19.554]The question was if we have to use Concur
[01:04:21.580]for in-state travel when we have hotels
[01:04:24.044]that we already have direct bill relationships with.
[01:04:27.500]That would be something that we'd look
[01:04:28.846]to try, on the technical side, to implement those
[01:04:32.135]direct bill contracts and rates within
[01:04:33.965]the Concur system to make sure we can ensure
[01:04:36.728]and have those rates continue.
[01:04:40.269]The last question I have
[01:04:41.811]is on car rental.
[01:04:44.903]I'm confused because you say car, hotel
[01:04:47.374]and air through Concur, but yet
[01:04:50.911]am I reading the draft correctly that
[01:04:54.066]we are required to use the university
[01:04:57.126]transportation to book a vehicle
[01:04:59.816]within certain miles before being allowed
[01:05:02.873]to use outside car rental agencies?
[01:05:08.046]The question is whether the university transportation
[01:05:11.689]is required before
[01:05:14.681]you choose a rental.
[01:05:15.574]Is that correct?
[01:05:16.668]Yes, but I don't know what
[01:05:18.282]the mileage rate is.
[01:05:20.571]There's not a specific mileage of you need
[01:05:22.748]to use the university rate, or university vehicle
[01:05:25.182]at this point.
[01:05:26.196]If it goes beyond that, you need to use Enterprise.
[01:05:28.448]That's nowhere in the policy.
[01:05:29.870]What our piece with the car rental is just
[01:05:32.914]the ease of using that on the Concur system,
[01:05:35.071]and not having to go to a separate
[01:05:36.954]Enterprise website or things like that.
[01:05:39.370]So are we required, though, to use,
[01:05:41.978]to try to book it through UNL transportation first?
[01:05:45.744]And if there's not a vehicle available,
[01:05:47.378]then we can book outside and then get reimbursed?
[01:05:50.534]That is something I will have to check into
[01:05:52.370]to see
[01:05:54.444]what the stance is, from the transportation side.
[01:05:57.014]Yeah, that is definitely something we will
[01:05:58.944]communicate with the other BRT to see
[01:06:00.417]where they're at on that process, too.
[01:06:02.706]Thank you.
[01:06:05.227]Hi, my name's Dave Long.
[01:06:06.435]I'm the director of Global Safety and Security.
[01:06:11.434]Question about the security piece
[01:06:13.776]that we're purchasing through Concur.
[01:06:16.798]Right now, I have the ability to go into
[01:06:18.454]Travel and Transport and pull itinerary tracking
[01:06:22.166]for any of our business travelers.
[01:06:25.185]Being able to see their
[01:06:27.598]hotel stays and their.
[01:06:30.349]You guys might not know I was able to do that.
[01:06:35.914]I guess, from a curiosity standpoint,
[01:06:37.461]what does the
[01:06:39.734]Concur mechanism, what is the security mechanism
[01:06:42.297]offer us that we already don't have
[01:06:44.829]the capacity to do?
[01:06:47.561]I do see it as borderline redundant,
[01:06:50.904]particularly in light of
[01:06:53.588]the crisis, the budget crisis that we're in.
[01:06:58.866]Do you wanna?
[01:07:01.530]The question was the risk management side
[01:07:04.771]for the travel with the Concur piece.
[01:07:07.783]One of the capabilities that that Concur piece
[01:07:09.803]does have is if there are natural disasters,
[01:07:12.982]we are able to reach out to employees,
[01:07:15.765]and also allow them to send back,
[01:07:18.912]we call them I am safe texts or emails,
[01:07:22.823]calls like that.
[01:07:24.542]That is one of the capabilities that we
[01:07:26.075]will be adding with that Concur risk management piece.
[01:07:29.605]You will still have the capabilities to see
[01:07:31.379]where the travelers are at, to ensure
[01:07:33.555]their safety, get those reports as you would
[01:07:35.387]in the past.
[01:07:36.635]But this is just an addition for us,
[01:07:38.534]for the safety reason of being able to reach out
[01:07:40.533]the the employees more efficiently.
[01:07:43.816]Do we need to cut it?
[01:07:45.134]My name is Brenda Ensor.
[01:07:46.401]I'm from the College of Arts and Sciences
[01:07:48.074]as a staff member.
[01:07:50.936]I book travel in for our
[01:07:53.628]academic program reviews,
[01:07:55.504]where we bring people into campus.
[01:07:58.415]How does this affect when you?
[01:08:02.248]Everything you've said so far is about the employee.
[01:08:05.563]Also, when I book that, (speaks too low to hear)
[01:08:09.160]team members, they're wanting what is convenient
[01:08:12.401]for them, not
[01:08:14.822]what's the cost savings for us.
[01:08:16.926]How does this affect?
[01:08:19.812]The question is if we bring people in
[01:08:21.748]to the university, so guests, visitors,
[01:08:24.633]maybe job applicants.
[01:08:26.380]The policy right now is drafted to apply
[01:08:29.090]to everyone who uses,
[01:08:32.984]it will apply to everyone.
[01:08:36.834]We are still working out
[01:08:39.956]specifically how that's going to work,
[01:08:41.634]but
[01:08:43.377]we do ask that anyone that comes to the university,
[01:08:46.611]works with the university, that they're using
[01:08:48.114]our travel policy
[01:08:51.307]and all of its features.
[01:08:55.699]That's something that we'll have to still consider
[01:08:58.092]and look at, but the policy is designed
[01:09:00.966]to be for everyone.
[01:09:04.845]LeAnn Messing, English.
[01:09:06.061]I'm a staff person.
[01:09:07.338]I have a question about graduate student travel.
[01:09:09.811]We have quite a few graduate students traveling,
[01:09:11.825]and they have limited funding.
[01:09:14.666]Going through Concur.
[01:09:16.998]Let's just say they have three or $400 to apply
[01:09:18.666]towards a trip where they're presenting
[01:09:20.180]a professional paper.
[01:09:22.506]How does this system work, in terms of, okay,
[01:09:25.071]I don't have enough money to cover
[01:09:26.355]this entire ticket, which is over $500.
[01:09:29.440]How does this system accommodate for that?
[01:09:32.505]My second question is we touched before
[01:09:34.565]a little bit on the Airbnb.
[01:09:36.360]A lot of our students do use that.
[01:09:39.948]They'll book it under one person's name,
[01:09:41.986]and then they'll claim reimbursement
[01:09:43.589]for their share of it because they
[01:09:45.245]have been awarded X number of dollars for funding.
[01:09:50.145]Does Concur allow split funding?
[01:09:53.157]Does it allow
[01:09:55.163]personal credit card?
[01:09:56.695](mumbles) University cost center?
[01:09:58.852]Could you explain how that works?
[01:10:00.788]The first part of your question
[01:10:02.502]is graduate students, is that correct, and how?
[01:10:04.266]Correct.
[01:10:05.357]This policy is for faculty and staff.
[01:10:09.245]It only touches on students if they're traveling
[01:10:10.999]with a faculty member.
[01:10:13.334]Student travel is not changing, as of right now.
[01:10:16.226]How they're doing it now is how they
[01:10:17.725]will continue to do it going forward.
[01:10:19.920]These are GTAs with a FTE of .49.
[01:10:23.818]They're teaching in our department, but they
[01:10:25.445]are also attending, presenting papers
[01:10:28.648]at professional conference, MLA, AWB,
[01:10:31.344](speaks too low to hear).
[01:10:35.145]How does it work, then, for them?
[01:10:37.332]As a staff person, I need to know how
[01:10:39.440]to advise them on how to do this.
[01:10:41.373]Yep.
[01:10:42.517]It may depend on if they're traveling
[01:10:44.851]for work versus traveling for,
[01:10:49.014]to attain a degree.
[01:10:51.055]That's something that we.
[01:10:52.936]It's work. It's work.
[01:10:55.269]It's a conference, just like
[01:10:57.178]a faculty member would attend because
[01:10:59.218]sometimes they're attending the same conference
[01:11:01.449]that a faculty member is.
[01:11:05.795]I need to find out how that's a gonna work.
[01:11:07.760]Right now, they fill out a pre-trip travel authorization.
[01:11:10.497]Most of them buy their tickets through
[01:11:12.572]Travelocity, Expedia, because they only
[01:11:14.731]have so much money to spend, as in they
[01:11:16.932]share a lot of the rooms.
[01:11:19.473]It's a little more complicated than faculty members.
[01:11:21.834]Sometimes faculty members do share rooms.
[01:11:24.497]There's a lot of tweaking there that,
[01:11:26.666]I'm not quite sure how to approach that.
[01:11:29.093]Yep.
[01:11:30.598]The way that the policy is designed,
[01:11:32.646]if they're traveling as employees,
[01:11:33.993]they will be subject to the policy.
[01:11:36.865]This specific example may be something
[01:11:38.549]that's better covered in training
[01:11:40.316]so that we can actually go through
[01:11:41.898]how you would book it.
[01:11:43.826]Once we have all the technology set up,
[01:11:46.364]we can work with you to go through on how
[01:11:47.818]you will book that travel.
[01:11:49.149]And split it out. And split that out
[01:11:51.586]and address that.
[01:11:55.267]Hi, (mumbles) chemical engineering.
[01:11:58.868]Thank you for your time today.
[01:12:00.220]I just had a quick question on whether
[01:12:02.231]or not just sticking to, like giving a per diem rate
[01:12:06.463]for a traveler was ever considered,
[01:12:08.583]especially with some of these issues
[01:12:10.159]with the three meals or whatever
[01:12:12.598]and just for the simplification?
[01:12:14.666]I have one other question.
[01:12:15.602]The first question is on per diems.
[01:12:19.183]It's more of a state issue.
[01:12:20.890]The state of Nebraska does not allow per diems.
[01:12:23.057]Therefore, we will not do per diems until that,
[01:12:26.213]if and when that happens.
[01:12:28.036]It is something that was discussed a great deal.
[01:12:29.875]It would be a very convenient change for us to make.
[01:12:33.643]Maybe someday we'll be able to do that.
[01:12:37.047]One other question.
[01:12:41.660]With using Travel and Transport now,
[01:12:45.929]they're the only way we can book, it sounds like.
[01:12:50.969]First, regarding their fees for service.
[01:12:53.750]Are those still in place?
[01:12:56.082]Like, they use a $22 fee for the phone,
[01:12:58.615]$5 online.
[01:13:00.966]Secondly, if they do reduce their,
[01:13:05.146]people have found one through Expedia
[01:13:06.684]or whatever else and you tell Travel and Transport,
[01:13:09.194]they can reduce their rate or something,
[01:13:12.380]how would that work with Concur
[01:13:13.805]when something is changed after the fact?
[01:13:15.945]The biggest advantage to Concur is it
[01:13:17.810]will all be online.
[01:13:19.247]That automatically takes that $22 down
[01:13:21.639]to the $5.
[01:13:23.669]You will see some savings right away
[01:13:25.124]by doing everything online.
[01:13:27.751]I don't think at this point Travel and Transport
[01:13:29.508]has discussed changing those fees
[01:13:32.604]because that was an RFP, and we agreed to those rates.
[01:13:35.798]As it stands right now, I think those rates
[01:13:37.436]will stay the same, but you will see some difference
[01:13:39.437]by doing everything online.
[01:13:44.329]We are well past our time.
[01:13:46.986]I appreciate all of your time.
[01:13:48.698]Thank you, everyone, for coming out today.
[01:13:50.429]Again, we do appreciate your feedback,
[01:13:52.395]your questions, suggestions.
[01:13:55.166]Please do reach out to us on that Nebraska,
[01:13:57.693]the travel@nebraska.
[01:13:59.021]Thank you.

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BRT Travel Policy Meeting

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