Citadel Study Abroad Programs

 

Procedure #: 800.070 Date: 2 April 2003

 

Written By: Ralph P. Earhart

 

1.0 Introduction

This document establishes the procedures to be followed in requesting accounts, budgets,

obtaining expedited payments and advances, and making final reports for The Citadel

Study Abroad Programs.

The Citadel sponsors Study Abroad courses as part of the Summer School

curriculum. Students enrolled in the programs pay a per-credit-hour fee, which is called a

"Course Fee," as well as pay for the travel and miscellaneous expenses for themselves and the

accompanying faculty member.

The organizing faculty member’s salary and fringe benefits are paid from the Summer

School account. All other expenses associated with the trip are charged to a specific trip account

which receives income from a "program fee" developed by the coordinating faculty member.

These definitions are critical for understanding this document:

Course Fee: fee to register for the class. It will be deposited into the Travel Abroad account and then later moved to Summer School where it will cover the faculty member’s salary and fringe benefits.

Program Fee: fee developed by the trip coordinator to cover all the costs associated with travel and instruction abroad. The program fee does not include the organizer’s salary and fringe benefits.

Specific Trip Account: account established to cover the costs of the trip and into which all income is initially deposited.

When discussing the cost of the program with the students, the total fee (both course and

program) needs to be communicated to the students. They will not care what the pieces are; they

need to deal with the total.

2.0 General Definition of Responsibility

The faculty member organizing the Study Abroad course for each country is responsible

for completing and submitting to the Budget Office a tentative budget no later than 1 April.

The Budget Office is responsible for establishing this budget in the computer system.

The budget is designed to calculate the total costs for the trip. These costs include all the student travel costs plus their educational and miscellaneous costs, as well as similar costs for the faculty member. A separate column deals with the Course Fee. Miscellaneous costs include special side trips, cultural events, trips to museums, etc.

The faculty member is responsible for monitoring this budget in the Financial Reporting

System. Faculty members can make budget revisions at any time.

The faculty member organizing the course is responsible for monitoring the number of

participants enrolling in the course and coordinating with the Dean of Undergraduate Studies

about whether the course will "make" or not.

The faculty member is responsible for coordinating the purchase of travel insurance

through the college’s Director of International Studies. All students traveling as part of a Citadel

Study Abroad Program are required to carry this insurance.

The faculty member teaching the course is responsible for generating a payment from the

Study Abroad account to pay the individual student’s account for the cost of the course that has

been charged to his/her student account.

The faculty member teaching the course is responsible for submitting requisitions for

expenses in a timely manner. All costs for these courses must run through The Citadel's system;

this includes all student travel expenses. Most items require 10 days to process through The

Citadel's system. Exceptions are made for substantially discounted fares or rates or items

requiring foreign currency conversion. The need for an exception to the 10 days should be

brought to the Accounting Manager's attention so those steps can be taken to expedite the

payment.

The faculty member teaching the course will close out the specific trip account prior to

mid-September. This close-out process will determine if refunds of the program fees should be

made.

If refunds are required, they should be processed prior to the end of September. All

transactions for the account should be completed prior to 30 September. Faculty are

encouraged to close out the account shortly after their return and not wait until September.

The Course Fee will be determined every three years. It will be based on the average number of participating students in the past and the average salary and fringe benefits of the organizing faculty member. The Course Fee will, therefore, be different for the different programs since the faculty have different salaries and the average number of course participants are different. The Course Fee will be prepared by the Director of Financial Services and approved by the Vice President for Finance and Business Affairs.

The course fee will be established annually for one-time trips. The fee will be developed based on the estimated participants. Deviation from the estimated participants may require the program to be cancelled.

If the number of participants in the program reaches twice the number used in determining the Course Fee, an additional faculty member may be assigned and charged to the Summer School account. If the number of participants is not double that amount and another faculty member is needed to go to enhance the program, then a request must be submitted in writing to the Dean of Undergraduate Studies. If approved, that additional faculty member’s salary and fringe benefits will be included in the "program fee," and that person will be paid from the specific trip account, not the Summer School account.

3.0 Key Documents

A. Foreign Study Budget Request - (Exhibit 1)

The faculty member teaching the Study Abroad Program develops this form. The

completed form should be forwarded to the Budget Office. The Budget Office will establish a budget for the course in the Financial Reporting System.

Based on the budget established on this document, the faculty member should be

able to determine the estimated costs that each student must pay.

B. Internal Payment Request Form - (obtained from the Financial Services web page- forms: http://www.citadel.edu/fins/forms.

This is the form used to:

Initiate refunds at the end of the trip. A form needs to be completed for each student receiving a refund. Special handling instructions should indicate to call the faculty member who was in charge of the trip so that he/she can distribute the checks to the students and explain the refund to them.

4.0 Processing

A. Get budget approved by Budget Officer using Exhibit 1. This will give you

authority to spend up to the amount approved. The Budget Office will put the budget in your account.

French (even numbered years) 221212

French (odd numbered years) 221213

Spanish (even numbered years) 221222

Spanish (odd numbered years) 221223

German (even numbered years) 221232

German (odd numbered years) 221233

B. Complete a Travel Authorization Form. This has all the information that is

needed to have the foreign travel authorized. This needs to be approved before any payment documents are prepared. We need to know that you are authorized to go.

C. For travel costs to be paid by The Citadel, arrangements must be made through

the College’s selected travel agent or through the Director of Procurement Services.

In the past, trip organizers have found it useful to let the students make their own

air travel arrangements so that they can take advantage of family frequent flyer miles, and the students do not have to come to Charleston to begin the trip. In that case, only the trip organizer would have to use the College’s travel agent.

D. Deposits by students need to be taken to the Treasurer and deposited. OR you

may require each student to make his/her own deposits and have the student furnish you a copy of the cash receipt.

Both the Program Fee and International Course Fee will be paid by the student

and deposited into the appropriate Study Abroad account as Study Abroad revenue—object code 0190.

E. The faculty member needs to initiate an Internal Payment Request with a student

listing of all students taking the course to pay the per-credit-hour charges charged to each student’s individual student account. The check and the course listing need to be taken to the Treasurer’s Office.

NOTE: The entry will reduce the Study Abroad fee in the Study Abroad account.

The resultant fee remaining in the Foreign Study account will be the program fee.

F. Coordinate the purchase of travel insurance through the Director of International

Studies. The insurance is mandatory and its current cost is $7 a week (summer of 1999).

G. Faculty member expense payments must be made separately, except in the case of

the registrations with the foreign vendor. That should be included in the Internal Payment Request (IPR) along with the request related to students, but it should be charged to an employee travel object code 43XX.

1. A purchase requisition for an advance for the faculty member needs to be

completed to cover lodging, meals, and other expenses for which the faculty member will pay. The vendor will be the faculty member. Use the foreign travel object codes. This will be an advance and the faculty member will have to "settle up" using a Travel Reimbursement Form upon return. Travel advances are for only 80% of the travel, so make sure that you have adequate funds requested in the advance.

H. Any money that you will carry that is to be given to the cadets can be issued to

you charging account 3121. You will have to get the cadet’s signature for any money that you give him/her. Upon return, you will give the signed sheet to the Treasurer with any unused money. Cadets are familiar with this practice.

I. Contact the Accounting Manager to wire funds or have funds exchanged. The

Accounting Manager will work with the bank to have a wire transfer sent. Regular expenditure documentation will be required in order for this to be initiated. The arrangements can be made for exchanging funds; however, the faculty member will have to go to the bank to pick them up. The bank will charge a fee, which will be charged to the appropriate Summer Abroad account.

J. A check can be made out to a faculty member for the cadet travel expenses, as

well as his per diem expenses. A Purchase Order does this and it must be properly classified so that the cadet travel is charged to object 3121 and the faculty expenses will post to the employee travel object code (43XX).

For example, if there is to be excursion money that the faculty member will carry

with him and pay on behalf of the cadets, the portion of the excursion for the cadets will be charged to 3121; the portion for the faculty member will be charged to 4315.

Travel checks can be arranged for the same purpose. A purchase requisition

should be prepared for the total required, with the faculty member listed as the payee. After the trip is finished, the payee will be required to support all costs that were spent for this purpose. It is critical that all receipts be saved. If funds are provided to students for spending money, a log of those transactions needs to be kept, including the "initials" of the student each time he/she receives money.

K. Upon return, you need to turn in all expense documents, settle your travel

advance, and see if any funds remain. Those funds should be reissued to the students. The easiest thing to do is to look at the cash balance on Screen 18 (account 1100). That shows cash, just like in your checkbook. Once all checks have cleared, that is what ought to be distributed. You should do an IPR for each student.

L. Your departmental secretary has been through this many times and is a valuable

asset to you and can save you much frustration.

M. When you initially establish your budget, you will be given access to the

following accounting screens, which are very important:

Screen 18 displays how much cash you have. Account 1100 shows this. You should always be able to balance this account, just like you would balance your checkbook.

Screen 19 displays the various income and expenses that have been charged and encumbered to the account.

Screen 23 displays the transactions that have posted to the account in the current month and the prior month.

5.0 Reporting

The status of the account is reflected in the accounting records of the college. The faculty

member should have access to the appropriate screens displaying his/her account and should also

receive the month-end hard copy reports from the accounting system. It is relatively easy to

determine any surplus from the trip by reviewing the status of Screen 18, object code 1100 (cash

available).

Checklist

For

Citadel Study Abroad Programs
  1. Read procedure.
  2. Determine cost of airfare. (Discuss this issue with the AAA Travel Agency.) If you are exempted from using AAA, you will need to contact the Procurement Officer who will get quotes. You are not authorized to contract with any travel agency except AAA. You need to determine whether students will be responsible for arranging and paying for their own travel. This airfare category may only need to include your costs if the students will be responsible for their own arrangements. We recommend you have each participant arrange his/her own airfare, so they can leave from different parts of the country.
  3. Develop an expense budget. (Remember to include your costs but not your salary and fringes and not the per-credit-hour charge—i.e., not the Course Fee.)
  4. Based on expense budget, determine the program cost per cadet for trip.
  5. Coordinate travel insurance.
  6. Complete budget request forms and take them to the Budget Office.
  7. Process Travel Authorization Form.
  8. Forward a Purchase Requisition for air transportation to Procurement. (See B above.)
  9. Deposit student payments with the Treasurer's Office. Or direct students to take money themselves to the Treasurer. Provide them the account number to which to make the deposit.
  10. Inform the Dean of Undergraduate Studies of the number of registrants to ensure the course will "make."
  11. Prepare Internal Payment Request (IPR) to pay the Course Fee charged to all students when they register. (You included these funds when you developed the cost of the program.)
  12. Submit your travel advance on a Purchase Requisition.
  13. Order money that you will distribute to students using a Purchase Requisition. (Use object code 3121.) Students need to sign for any money you give them.
  14. Upon return, settle up your travel advance and any other funds that you received (such as funds provided to students).
  15. Refund any cash remaining in the account to the students.

 

CITADEL STUDY ABROAD BUDGET

Course

Fiscal Year

You will collect all fees and they will be deposited to your summer account. The Course Fee will be moved by the Treasurer to Summer School. You need to provide a list of the participants to the Summer School Office so these can be billed and paid prior to the trip beginning.

Expenses charged to Travel Abroad Account

Instructor and Assistant: Instructor Assistant Total

Airfare _______ ______(Object code 4312)

Meals _______ ______(Object code 4310)

Lodging _______ ______(Object code 4311)

Other Transp. _______ ______(Object code 4314)

Misc. Expenses _______ ______(Object code 4315)

Assistant Salary (71/2%) _______ ______(Object code 1160)

Assistant Fringes _______ ______(Object code 2000)

Total Instructor Expenses _________ _______ ______

Note: Instructor’s salary and fringes to be charged to Summer School ______

Travel expenses per cadet

Special fees such as foreign tuition per cadet _________

Insurance _________

Misc. for each cadet _________

Other items ________

Total estimated expenses for each cadet _________

Number of Cadets ____

Total Travel expenses for cadets _________(Object code 3121)

 

Total Estimated Expenses : Study Abroad Account Summer School

Instructor and Assistant Costs ___________

Instructor Salary and fringes __________

Cadet Travel ___________

Total: ___________ __________

Calculation of Cadet Fee to Pay

Program Fee: Total Summer Abroad Charges $_______ divided by ___# of cadets = $_______ Summer School Fee (Course fee) $_______

Total to be charged to each cadet $_______

Program Revenue must AT LEAST match total estimated expenses above charged to Travel Abroad Account.

Program Revenue required: _________(Budget Object Code 0190)

Enclosure 1

 

Accounts Used

 

France - Even years 221212 Odd years 221213

Spain - Even years 221222 Odd years 221223

Germany - Even years 221232 Odd years 221233

 

 

Course Fee

The Course Fee is developed by the Vice President for Finance and Business Affairs. It is based on the average number a participants in each program and the anticipated salary and fringe benefit costs of the specific language faculty member. It is developed every three years to provide for stable planning purposes.

 

Course Fees

Summer of 1999-Summer of 2001

Estimated Faculty

Language Attendees Salary and Fringes Course Fee

French 10 $2,942 $294

German 10 $3,620 $362

Spanish 15 $3,338 $339