It has come to my attention that our travel policy was revised recently to
allow full reimbursement from a local/grant account
to an employee traveling to a seminar or conference. Since we are a
state-assisted institution, we must follow state guidelines on allowable
lodging reimbursement rates, which have certain limits depending on the
location.

As an example, under our new policy a researcher traveling under a federal
grant to a
conference/seminar in Seattle (assuming the travel is related to the
research and allowable in the grant budget) could claim $115 per night hotel
reimbursement (assuming that was the special conference rate); however, someone
else from our university being reimbursed from state-appropriated funds would
be able to claim only the maximum allowable lodging rate for Seattle, which is
$79 per night.

My concern is this new policy creates inconsistencies between federally-funded
grant accounts and our state's rules for reimbursing travel costs, and could
lead to disallowed costs for reimbursement in excess of what the state allows.
I would greatly appreciate any additional comments/opinions on this.

Barry Tate, Director   xxxxxx@SHSU.EDU
Contract and Grant Administration
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX   (409) 294-1091