Travel and Business Expense Policy Change

Effective July 1, 2019, the following will be added to the Lawrence University Travel and Business Expense Policy. 

LU recognizes that use of a per diem may be preferable in exceptional circumstances. The use of a per diem could be both an exception to the requirement of receipts and, potentially, to the daily maximum meal allowance. When authorized, per diem rates can be provided to cover lodging, meals and incidental expenses, or meals and incidental expenses only. 

In these circumstances, the per diem use must be authorized in writing and in advance by the Provost or a cabinet member and by the Controller.  When proposing a per diem for travel expenses, the requestor must include an attachment provided by Financial Services that outlines the following:

• a justification for the use of a per diem;
• the basis for determining the proposed per diem rate that will not exceed the federal per diem rate for the location of travel
• the specific days to be worked away from home;
• the location of where the services will be performed;
• the business purpose of the travel, and,
• if applicable, a sponsoring agency’s authorization to use a per diem.