Princeton University Library | Travel Guidelines for Library Staff

Travel Guidelines for Library Staff

Library Staff members may have the need or desire to travel in order to help fulfill the mission of the Library and carry out its basic work; to learn or develop their professional skills; or to explore new areas of interest that will have benefit to the individual and to the Library. All travel by library staff will be defined by the traveler's AUL as either business, professional development, or discretionary travel - the definition of which are described below - or a combination thereof. *

For the following categories of travel deemed essential, the Library will provide financial support under the general travel policies and regulations of the University, which can be found here.

Business Travel

For the following categories of travel deemed business travel, the Library will provide full financial support under the general travel policies and regulations of the University, which can be found here. Examples of this type of travel include; membership in organizations, consortia, and users' groups, such as RLG, the Northeast Research Libraries consortium, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, the Ex-Libris Users' Group and so forth;

Travel for special training or updates that members of the professional staff are asked by their supervisors to undertake.
Travel undertaken for the acquisition of books and other library materials.
Travel to key curatorial and subject specialist organizations (one fully-supported representative apiece) such as the Association for African Studies, Association for Population/Family Planning Libraries and Information Centers, and so forth.
Recruiting and moving expenses.
Any travel that the AUL deems necessary to conduct the business of the library.

* Trips may be designated for a variable rate of funding with some of the trip being business travel and some being of discretionary travel, or professional development or any of these in combination, according to the guidelines. For example, a trip to ALA annual may include two days of designated business travel and additional days requested by the traveler to participate in committee assignments or programs of interest that the AUL might consider discretionary. The resulting reimbursement rates will differ for the various segments of the trip. In such an instance, the traveler would be granted business travel level funding for the registration, air, accommodations and meals as appropriate for two days; additional funding at professional development rates for the days needed to perform committee assignments, and discretionary travel rates for the days needed to attend the program.

Professional Development Travel

Related to one's professional responsibilities and growth, members of the professional library staff are encouraged to participate in professional associations and other activities from which the individual and the library will benefit. The library will provide partial financial support for such participation, under the general travel policies and regulations of the University. Members of the professional staff are also expected to contribute to their own professional growth and development. Librarians building a portfolio to support promotion to the Librarian rank or for continuing appointment will be considered for additional support. ** Examples of this type of travel include:

Attendance at meetings or organizations where the traveler is presenting a paper;
Attendance at meetings where the traveler is serving on a committee;
Attendance at training programs which the traveler was not asked to attend by his or her manager; or
All other types of travel are not considered business or discretionary

**Junior librarian travel awards will be available to those who are not currently professionally active and who have less than five years career experience. These trips will be fully funded to encourage and assist those in the lower salary ranges to become professionally active. No more than one of these trips will be awarded to the same individual in a given fiscal year.

Discretionary travel

The purpose of discretionary travel is to provide opportunities for professional library staff, who report through the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, to make trips outside the categories defined as business or professional development travel. The Princeton University Library recognizes that these opportunities are important for the development of individuals and for their contribution to the library. Discretionary travel includes but is not limited to attendance at conferences where one is not an active member of the association, elective skill development and enquiry into new directions. To be considered for funds, discretionary travel must have some relationship to the requestor's professional responsibilities and must be beneficial to the Library. Discretionary travel funds provide a nominal level of financial support for these activities with the expectation that the individual will also contribute toward their expenses

Travel funds will not be used to subsidize membership dues for professional organizations for individual professional library staff members. The travel committee does not approve research leaves.

The complete Travel Committee page, which contains all policies and guidelines, is found here.

Step-by-Step Procedure for all travel

Discuss trip with supervisor
All travel requests, business, professional development and discretionary, are submitted via the web Travel Request Form. Once submitted, the form is routed via email to employee's supervisor and then to the AUL. The employee will receive email updates on the status of his/her travel request as it is approved by the different department levels.
The AUL determines under which category the trip falls. If he or she determines the travel is not business, the request is forwarded to the Travel Committee for funding level as professional development or discretionary travel.
Upon approval by the AUL or Travel Committee, make your travel arrangements. (Your departmental secretary and the Financial Services Office can assist with this if needed)
Take Trip - Keep all receipts and travel documentation required for reimbursement.
Within 10 days of return, complete a business expense report form attaching all original receipts. All receipts must show proof of payment.
Submit signed voucher to your AUL for approval
Forward approved voucher to the Financial Services office for processing

Any questions should be submitted to the Financial and Office Services Office.

Revised 9/9/09