Reporting, Travel, and Expense Reports

Reporting, Travel, and Expense Reports

Where do I find admin documents on the COP?

HIGHLIGHTS

Why is the Highlights Form Important? Publicize Fellow activities that support public diplomacy initiatives and enhance English teaching capacity overseas Market the English Language Programs and recruit prospective candidates Secure program funding by showcasing the impact of the English Language Programs in countries around the world Share highlights with the English Language Programs community, including: Georgetown program staff U.S. Department of State personnel Prospective applicants Program alumni TESOL professionals

Who uses the Highlights Form? U.S. Department of State Measure the impact and reach of Fellow activities and programs Examine which U.S. Department of State initiated programs or products were included Share Fellow highlights and success stories with U.S. Department of State affiliates Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs website and social media channels Georgetown Share Fellow highlights and success stories with the English Language Programs community via: Program website Community of Practice Social media channels TESOL conference presentations Webinars Newsletter/email updates

Frequency of Submission New highlights are posted/shared at least twice a week via the English Language Programs website and social media channels To showcase a robust representation of our Fellows and regions, Fellows should submit as many highlights as possible It is recommended to submit at least 3 highlights per semester, a total of six over the course of a fellowship

Pointers to Consider Too long is better than too short (be sure to cover who, what, where, when, why) Unusual or unique is good Include valuable quotations from you, from participants Make the impact clear Both ELT and cultural exchange topics welcome Photos very useful vs. not so useful Please include as separate email attachments, not in zipfile or embedded in a Word document/pdf

Very Useful Action shots Clear faces Bright colors Illustration of impact Focus on culture and program participants Outdoors/local views good when part of highlight story We only publish highlights that include photos

Not So Useful Dark Backs of heads Non-interactive, posed Unrelated to the highlight Blurry, small photos

Examples of Unique Highlights Gender equality and human rights: Rwandan Women Feel the Girl Effect, Leanne Cameron Cultural exchange via music: Fellow Introduces Students to All That Jazz, Nathan Doan (Tajikistan) A fun secondary project with students: You ve Got Mail: Fellow Organizes Postcard Project, Clark Erwin- Billones (Belarus) Access Program Tackles Diversity and Cultural Understanding, Trinidad Hernandez (Sri Lanka) Students Explore Environmental Sustainability, Ellen Comis (Ecuador)

REPORTING AND TRAVEL

Program Evaluation Fellow reports 3 reports required throughout Fellowship Read by PAS/RELO, GU, and forwarded to ECA Used to gauge the successes and challenges of your Fellowship In-country meetings and Skype conversations Can occur during a mid-year event for those regions that have them Mid-year events will be discussed in the policies and procedures presentation

Fellow Reports Preliminary Contains important emergency contact information Due 30 days after arriving in country Mid-year and Final Mid-year report is due at 5 month mark Final report is due within 30 days of your Fellow agreement end date Tied to final payment (5% of stipend) If terminated, a final report is not required and there no final payment will be issued. Any additional payments will be outlined in a termination letter. Must be submitted to PAS, RELO, and Georgetown (XXparticipants@georgetown.edu) GU will send report reminders via the COP

International Travel Travel is and must be booked by GU and GU s travel agent Tickets not issued until: Cleared HVF and signed agreement Received first payment or agreed to depart without, and Visa Requires Fellow and embassy approval in order to issue Dummy round-trip tickets for visas

International Travel Fly America Act One-way tickets Program provides outbound travel to Fellowship assignment, and return travel at end of Fellowship assignment Travel is not booked more than 30-60 days in advance due to the variable nature of living and working abroad Fees for personal requests Cost comparisons and when they are required Dependent and accompanying person travel Once embassy has approved Fellow ticket, GU will put Fellow in touch with agent to arrange and pay for dependent/accompanying person travel Fellows are not required to use GU s travel agent to book dependent travel Baggage fees/shipping allowance

EXPENSE REPORTS

What You Will Use Them For: Request a reimbursement Up to $800 Post Arrival Orientation (PAO) allowance Program Activities Allowance (PAA) Reconcile an advance Program Activities Allowance Miscellaneous expenses incurred during fellowship (must be approved beforehand)

Program Activities Allowance (PAA) The amount of PAA each Fellow is entitled to is listed on the first page of their Fellowship Agreement Allowances are given to help support your fellowship activities All PAA purchases must be donated at the end of the fellowship PAA funds are not given upfront, they can be accessed via a request for an advance or a request for a reimbursement with RELO/PAS approval PAA can only be spent on allowable items. Please see the Fellow Handbook for a list (EL Fellow Handbook Reporting Requirements, section R) PAA is not considered income - it will not be included on your 1099 miscellaneous tax form

What Makes Up An Expense Report: Expense Log Receipt Form Attach one receipt to each Receipt Form Attach multiple receipts of the same expense to one Receipt Form Must include a separate Receipt Form for Meal Expenses Copy of project plan, budget, and written approval from RELO/PAS (Needed for PAA only) Exchange rate back-up (only if purchases were made with a foreign currency) Credit card statement Receipt from currency exchange store Online currency exchange print-out (Oanda.com, etc.)

Post-Arrival Orientation Allowance Fellows are entitled to up to $800 for Post- Arrival Orientation expenses including: Hotel (for entire length of the orientation) Ground transportation Food If Post-Arrival Orientation takes place in your host city, you cannot claim hotel or meal expenses (if housing has already been provided) Must be sent to GU within 60 days of the Post- Arrival Orientation

Meal Expenses Can choose to claim meal expenses allowance OR submit receipts Entitled to claim 75% on travel days and 100% for full work days RELO and/or PAS have approved of these amounts If claiming meal expenses, it must be indicated on the expense log and on a separate receipt form Important that the city and amount of days being claimed are stated Must show back-up for travel such as hotel receipt or transportation receipt even if those expenses are not being claimed Back-up provided must support the days and city claimed for meal expenses Meal allowance rates will be posted on the Community of Practice (COP)

Allowable/Non-Allowable Allowable Expenses o Office supplies, photocopies o Workshops/conferences o Internet o Equipment DVD player, copy machine, camera, etc. o Books o Travel Fellow and colleagues Non-Allowable Expenses o Expenses for other Fellows, dependents, State Department/US Embassy employees o Gifts for host institutions, speakers, etc. o Alcohol o Anything included in a Settling-in Allowance (e.g. visa related documents) o Travel for Fellow to US National TESOL Conference o Memberships for yourself software, online journals, etc. o Local transportation in host city o Flowers

Budgets and Approvals for PAA Use Prior to spending PAA, Fellows must prepare a project plan, budget, and have both approved by their PAS/RELO or main point of contact at U.S. Embassy What if I purchased something before getting approval? No formal template for a project plan and budget. Written approval should be in the form of an email sent to the Fellow and then forwarded to Georgetown University (XXparticipants@georgetown.edu). The project plan, budget, and written approval must be sent via email to receive an advance. A copy of the budget and approval must also be sent with the expense report to reconcile the advance or request a reimbursement, even if it has been previously emailed. Please Note: Even if un-allowable purchases are approved by RELO/PAS, the purchase may not be reimbursable. Please copy GU onto emails for approvals so that we can chime in if something unallowable was included in the budget

Fellow X, Yes, this would be fine. Approved. Joe From: Fellow X Sent: Friday, June 14, 2014 10:37 PM To: Smith, Joe (RELO) Subject: Jakarta Conference Joe, I am considering putting a proposal in for the Jakarta TESOL conference (July 12-14), but before I do I wanted to get authorization to use my Program Allowance funds for this trip. I estimate that it will cost the following: --Round-trip airfare, Medan to Jakarta ($300); This is the price I'm seeing in my research, but perhaps there's a way to get it cheaper? --Hotel, 3 nights ($60 night for the 7/11-7/14) in Jakarta($180) --Registration ($26) --Meal Expenses ($150) Total Estimated Budget =$656.00 If you think this is a good idea then please let me know. Best, Fellow X

Requesting and Receiving an Advance How to request an advance: Send an email to XXXparticipants@georgetown.edu. Email must include actual amount requesting, a clear budget, written approval. Email must say: I am requesting an advance of $XX.XX Pros: Do not have to spend your own money Will have money to cover large expenses for traveling, electronics, etc. Cons: Must spend money, collect, and submit receipts within 90 days of the advance Can not receive an additional advance until previous advance has been reconciled If an advance is outstanding after your agreement end date, your final payment will not be issued until advance has been reconciled

What If I spent less then the advance? Reallocate to another expense If reallocated, new expense must have approval from RELO/PAS If reallocated, an additional advance can be issued Finance will reconcile any future reimbursement requests from previous advances I spent more then the advance? Send expense report with all receipts - GU will reconcile and reimburse you for the overage You can not request advance for additional money spent over the advance

Requesting a Reimbursement Send expense report and original receipts to GU or a scanned pdf to your Program Coordinator Must include all items required for an expense report Scanned pdf must be one document and in sequential order GU will notify/ confirm the Fellow when the expense report arrives and if there are any questions/comments Reimbursement may be delayed if you hold on to receipts and send them all at one time

Receipts If mailing, you must send in original receipts Mail receipts through the US Embassy or using courier service PAA can be used for mailing expense reports with PAS/RELO approval If mailing, make photocopies - in case originals are lost in the mail If photocopies are not made and your originals have been lost, you will not be reimbursed Please allow between 4 6 weeks, depending on your location, for your expense reports to arrive in D.C. Save receipt and take a picture of postage when sending (this will be necessary if your expense report gets lost) If you are sending in scans - keep original receipts up through 30 days after agreement end date for audit purposes

Receipts Receipts must be itemized Gas versus mileage Personal car mileage Rented/ borrowed car - gas Deduct personal or unallowable expenses If your receipt is written in your host country s local language, please have the vendor write the total in Arabic Numerals (1,2,3,4,5 ) Boarding passes must be included in expense reports When boarding passes are not available or lost, it must be reported to GU via email or on the receipt form

Documenting Expenses When A Receipt Is Not Available Use provided receipt book Create your own receipt or log and have the vendor sign it Taxi Log: Date: Starting Location: Destination: Cost: Initials: Disclaimer: It is up to Georgetown s discretion whether or not to accept a hand-made receipt. All hand-made receipts must include the vendor s signature and details of the purchase. All hand-made receipts that are for expenses where receipts can normally be obtained or are over $25.00 may be questioned.

Grant for Colleague Name of person receiving the grant Purpose of grant Budget Conference registration Transportation Hotel Food Fellow s signature and date when the funds were given to the grantee Grantee s signature and date when funds have been given to them from the Fellow

What Not To Do Do not send loose receipts Do not estimate amounts Do not send a bill for one month and request a reimbursement for multiple months based on that one bill Do not include multiple receipts on one receipt form - only exception is if they are for the same expense, i.e. taxis, photocopies, etc. If done, each full receipt must be visible Do not include expenses for spouses, other Fellows, State Department employees, etc. Be sure to deduct any expenses from a receipt you do not want us to process or are not allowable (for example alcohol, laundry, flowers, etc.)

Donating What You Purchased Items you purchased with your PAA must be donated. This includes items such as laptops, printers, etc. It does not include photocopies, office supplies, etc. You must fill out a Receipt of Donated Materials Form for all electronic items purchased. This includes: Printers Laptops USB cords Mouse for computer This form does not need to be sent upon purchase or when you send the expense report. It can be sent once the item is donated, and emailed to XXXparticipants@georgetown.edu. The form can be located on the COP

Questions?