Improvements made to international travel approval

Over the last several months, the Office of Risk Management and Insurance has worked closely with Travel Services in making sure that the information needed by Risk Management and Insurance for international travel is collected through the Kuali TEM process.yellow suitcase

This means that with the recent Kuali TEM campus wide implementation, Risk Management and Insurance has updated its systems so that users and travelers no longer need to enter the same information twice. This will lead to:

  • Greater efficiency
  • Less duplicative efforts in international travel approval work flow

All student status travelers will still need to obtain approval from the Office of International Programs – Education Abroad prior to departure.

What’s new?

  • As of July 20, all new international travel saved and submitted in Kuali TEM will no longer require separate registration in the Risk Management and Insurance international travel website.
  • Instead, travel authorizations  saved and submitted in Kuali TEM to international destinations will receive an Risk Management and Insurance approval via email within 24 hours.
  • This approval email must be attached to the travel authorization record by either the traveler or the travel authorization initiator as proof of Risk Management approval.
  • Users will no longer need to enter information into Risk Management international registration; all information will be captured in Kuali TEM’s travel authorization document.

TRAVEL ADVISORY WAIVERS:

  • For trips subject to a U.S. State Department travel advisory, travel authorization needs to be saved and submitted. Within 24 hours, Risk Management and Insurance will notify the traveler and travel authorization initiator that the destination requires a travel advisory waiver.
  • This waiver is now available electronically via a new Risk Management international travel TEM portal, where you can complete and sign waivers and view previously approved trips.
  • A CSU EID is required to login to the new Risk Management and Insurance international travel TEM portal to access the travel advisory waiver. Once the travel advisory waiver is electronically completed by the traveler, the system will automatically generate an approval email. This approval email should be attached to the travel authorization document to show proof that travel to the destination subject to a travel advisory has been approved.

Please do not ad hoc Risk Management and Insurance through Kuali for approval of travel authorizations. Ad hoc requests will be denied, and may result in a delay of approval. It may also result in the department or traveler not being eligible for travel expense reimbursement.

From July 20- August 1, the old Risk Management international travel registration database will be available for read only access to allow travelers and admins to access prior travel registration. No new trip registrations will be allowed on the old system.

For technical questions contact:
Rick Wells at (970) 491-1818, or Richard.Wells@colostate.edu
Andy Borchert at (970) 491-2705 at Andy.Borchert@colostate.edu

For other questions about this process contact:
Sally Alexander at (970) 491-7724, or sally.alexander@colostate.edu
Susan Cavender at (970) 491-1432, or susan.cavender@colostate.edu

Frequently asked questions

What if I have already completed registration with Risk Management and Insurance using its old system?

For all travel authorizations initiated in Kuali TEM after July 20, there is no need to register with Risk Management and Insurance, or to use that approval system. However, if your pre-trip travel document was initiated using the old system, download Risk Management approval using the old system and attach to your pre-trip travel documentation. All travel approvals that begin with the paper system, need to end with the paper system.

NOTE*: For travel authorizations submitted from July 1 through July 20, with a completed Risk Management and Insurance registration, download the approval from the old registration system to attach to your travel authorization. Please remember that Risk Management’s old registration system will only be accessible for this purpose from July 20th through August 1st. No new travel registrations will be accepted beginning July 20. It is the travelers and the travel arranger’s responsibility to make sure that copies of Risk Management and Insurance authorizations from the old system are retained.

What if the traveler has completed a paper pre-trip travel authorization and completed registration with Risk Management using the old system?

All travel approvals begun with the paper process must be completed using the paper process.

Please remember that Risk Management’s old registration system will only be accessible for this purpose from July 20 through August 1. No new travel registrations will be accepted beginning July 20. It is the travelers and the travel arranger’s responsibility to make sure that copies of Risk Management authorizations from the old system are retained.

Do I still have access to trips that I have registered using the old registration system?

You will have access to trips registered using the old Risk Management registration ONLY from July 20-August 1.

I was taught that the traveler needs Risk Management approval BEFORE the airfares and hotel accommodations were booked. How can I ensure that now that I have to submit a travel authorization before Risk Management approves?

Risk Management approval is based on the initiation and save and submission of a travel authorization in Kuali TEM. The approval is an automated process, and for 90 percent of international destinations the approval occurs within 24 hours. It is the responsibility of the traveler or travel initiator to attach the Risk Management approval email to the travel authorization. Failure to do so is non-compliant with university policy and may result in no reimbursement of the traveler’s expenses.

For destinations subject to a U.S. State Department travel advisory, Risk Management still requires travelers to complete and sign the travel advisory waiver. The process has now been streamlined so that upon completion of the travel advisory waiver, Risk Management approval is automatically generated.

What happens if the Risk Management approval email is not attached to the travel authorization document?

This process has not changed. As with the old system, the travel desk will reject the reimbursement request when expenses are submitted.

What if a traveler is a student?

All travelers with student status are required to obtain approval from the Office of International Programs – Education Abroad, prior to travel.

Why does it take 24 hours for Risk Management’s system to approve the international travel?

Thesystem is programmed to view information out of CSU’s data warehouse. These views are only populated nightly out of Kuali TEM.