Travel Using USG Funds

When an organization is traveling using their USG budget they must submit and abide by the USG Travel Policy Form. This policy will ensure that the students are representing the college and USG in the correct manner. In addition, it gives USG the proper information about who is on the trip.

Travel in New York State

If your organization is planning to travel to a conference within New York State you must:

  • Create an Event on www.bengalconnect.com at least one month in advance.
  • You will need to complete a USG Travel Policy Form which must be filled out by every member of the organization who is going to the conference. The form can be picked up in the USG Business Office or you can find it under Business Forms in the Treasurer's section of this website.

Travel Out-of-State

If your organization wants to attend a conference outside of New York State you must follow all of the steps for in-state travel with this added requirement:

  • Your organization’s advisor MUST also attend the out of state conference with your organization. The USG Business Office must receive a letter from your advisor confirming that they will be traveling with the students and attending the conference. The letter is submitted to the USG Business Office along with the USG Travel Policy Form.

Travel Abroad

Since the USG insurance policy covers only the continental United States, USG funds cannot be used for travel outside of the United States under any circumstances.

Many organizations, particularly academic clubs and groups associated with an educational discipline, plan to attend educational conferences. Organizations that have conference and/or travel lines in their budgets can use them to pay for:
    •    Conference Registrations
    •    Hotel Accommodations
    •    Car/Bus Rentals
    •    Mileage Reimbursements
    •    Per Diem Reimbursements (a daily allowance for travel expenses)

In order to register for a conference each organization member attending must fill out the conference registration form. This form is provided by the conference, usually on their website. It will ask for contact information and will also show the registration fees and the payment methods. Do not have members submit this registration form online because we need the forms to process a check for your group’s registration. Once the organization’s treasurer has received each member’s registration form then they can start the Requisition/Purchase Order process.

USG does NOT pay for airline tickets.

Car Rentals

USG has a corporate account with Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Enterprise accepts our purchase orders and also gives our groups corporate rates when renting vehicles. In order to rent a car or van an organization must fill out a requisition form along with an Enterprise Rental form and submit a copy of the driver’s license and student ID to the USG Business Office.

Once the purchase order is approved the Business Office will reserve the car or van for your organization. All the organization has to do is pick up the purchase order along with the confirmation number.

DO NOT call Enterprise and try to reserve a car or van on your own. In order to receive the corporate rate and use your organization’s budget to pay for the rental all reservations must go through the USG Business Office.

Bus Rentals

To obtain quotes on hiring a bus, please contact the USG Business Office to obtain a list of approved vendors.

Organization members may be reimbursed for gas and tolls if attending a conference or authorized organization filed trip. In order to receive this reimbursement, your organization treasurer must make sure that there are enough funds in your budget to cover these expenditures. Then, prior to the trip, your organization treasurer must fill out a Reimbursement Form (available on the USG Treasurer's Bengal Connect page under documents) and submit it to the USG Business Office. The form must be approved by the USG Treasurer prior to your trip. You will receive a copy of the approved form in your organization mailbox.

In order for members to receive their reimbursement for gas and tolls they must keep all their receipts for gas and tolls from the trip. The organization treasurer collects all of the receipts and fills out a RF/USG Purchase Requisition Form (available on the USG Treasurer's Bengal Connect page under forms) attaching the receipts and approved reimbursement form. The treasurer will then continue to follow the rest of the USG Fiscal Procedures for a check to be processed for reimbursement.

When making hotel reservations for a conference, many times the conference host will have made special arrangements with a hotel for a bargain rate. Make sure to reference this information when making the reservation.

Please note: many hotels do not accept purchase orders for payment. Before making any reservations ask if they accept purchase orders. You may need to speak with the Front Desk Manager or the Accounting Department to find out this information. If they will accept a purchase order then after you make your reservation you will need to fax them a copy of your purchase order. In most cases you may still need to provide a credit card number to hold the room, just make sure they do not bill your card at check in.

If the hotel does not accept purchase orders then you will need to have the hotel provide you with an original invoice to process a check for payment. The invoice needs to list:

  • How many rooms are reserved
  • The rate for each room
  • Any taxes that may apply. (USG is only tax exempt in New York State.)
  • Total cost
  • Pay To: Who the check should be made out to
  • Bill To: The United Students Government/Research Foundation, 1300 Elmwood Ave. Buffalo NY, 14222