Business Office | Columbia Law School

Business Office

Travel

Below you'll find travel policies for faculty and staff, and procedures for booking hotel rooms on behalf of guests visiting the Law School.

Air and Rail Travel

P-Card (Travel)

Please note that the P-Card for travel is to be used strictly for airline or rail tickets for non-employees and employees of the University. Our current travel agency is Valerie Wilson; a representative can be reached at 212-592-1325 or 212-592-1318.

Travel Requests

Step One: Contact the agency, Valerie Wilson, at 212-592-1318 or 212-582-1325 to book the reservation. The travel agent will then contact Jenny Perez for authorization, which will not be granted until the Travel Request Form has been submitted. 

Step Two: Complete the Travel Request Form and immediately forward it, along with the necessary back-up document(s) (e.g. conference flyer, invitation, etc), to Jenny Perez for approval.

Step Three: A confirmation detailing your travel arrangements, as well as an electronic ticket, will be sent to you from the travel agent.

Download the Travel Request Form

Travel and Business Expense Reimbursements

Columbia University reimburses faculty, staff, students, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate research assistants for necessary and reasonable travel and business expenses. A necessary and reasonable expense is one for which a clear business reason exists and for which the cost is not excessive.

To request reimbursement, submit a Travel and Business Expense Report.

Guidelines for Reimbursement:

  • Travel reimbursement requests must be submitted within 10 days after the return.
  • Business reimbursement requests should be submitted as the expenses occur.
  • The request must be approved (signed) by the employee's supervisor.

Reimbursement requests submitted more than 120 days after an expense was incurred are considered taxable income.

All Travel and Business Reimbursements must be accompanied by the following:

  • Detailed Business Reason (notate venue, date, names of attendees 10 and under, number of attendees 11 and above).  Attach, Seminar/Conference registration receipt, letter of invitation, or event posting. 
  • Original receipts, invoices, web confirmations, itemized restaurant receipts (if itemized receipt is not obtained, estimate alcohol expense and notate it on receipt), itemized hotel bills.
  • Detailed receipts must identify: Date of purchase, vendor name, itemized list and unit price of purchased items, total amount, show 0 balance due or state paid/paid in full.
  • Lost or missing receipts should be noted on the Missing Receipts Worksheet
  • Receipts should be fully taped on 8.5” x 11” paper in chronological order.

Download the ARC Travel and Business Expense Form

Hotels

The Purchasing Team at Columbia University has negotiated with several New York City hotels to secure low rates for incoming guests and groups. To review our list of preferred hotel vendors and rates, the Campus Travel website.  Click on Preferred NYC Hotels.

It is preferred that reservations are made through one of the following hotels:

  • The Lucerne Hotel
  • The Aloft Hotel
  • Hotel Belleclaire
  • Hotel Beacon 

For Individual Guests at Local Hotels

Step One:  Call the hotel to ensure availability and make a reservation. Please note: some hotels may not allow you to make reservations without a credit card. If this happens, follow Step Three. We have accounts set up with The Lucerne and On the Ave Hotel—when calling, announce that you are calling from Columbia University Law School. Your reservation is not confirmed until you follow the remaining steps.

Step Two:  Complete the Hotel Reservation form below by filling in the highlighted areas with your information, and forward to Chloe Horsham by email.  Please attach any conference agendas, invitations, or other supporting documentation containing the event details to properly establish a business purpose. Be sure to fill out requester contact information and department ARC account.

Step Three:  Upon approval, the Business Office will fax the payment authorization on your behalf. We recommend that you follow up with the hotel to confirm the receipt.

For Group Visits and Out-of-Town Hotels

Step One: Trip/event coordinator makes all hotel reservations independently.

Step Two: Trip/event coordinator advises hotel of payment by corporate credit card.

Step Three: The hotel will ask the coordinator that the Law School submit a Credit Card Authorization Form by fax; typically, this form is emailed to the coordinator.

Step Four: Trip/event coordinator provides Gabriele Werffeli at the Law School Business Office with the following information:

  • Credit Card Authorization Form
  • Name of Traveling Party/Event
  • Dates
  • Hotel/Venue Name
  • Reservation Number
  • Rate per night + tax
  • ARC Department
  • LAW Project (Grant or Event Name)
  • Business Purpose with proof of event (ie: official invitation, flyer, etc.)

Step Five: Immediately upon completion of the trip/event, the trip/event coordinator or the traveling party submits a billing statement and/or folio of the stay to Gabriele Werffeli.

*** As soon as the Business Office has received all the information listed under Step 4, we will send out the Credit Card Authorization and confirm the booking with a fax transmission receipt to the attention of the trip/event coordinator. We recommend trip/event coordinators follow up with the hotel to confirm the receipt of the Credit Card Authorization.

Download ARC Hotel Reservations Form

Note:
1. It is imperative that neither the trip/event coordinator nor traveling party ever share or submit their personal credit card details to the hotel - not at any stage during the reservation process nor at check-in. Providing the hotel with a personal credit card will result in the full charge on that card.
2. The corporate card is limited to room and tax charges only. Any attempt to charge incidentals to this card will revoke the authorization to charge this card at all. Incidental services (such as room service, mini bar, telephone, internet, etc) must not be charged to the room. Any attempt to charge incidentals to the corporate card will revoke the authorization to charge the card at all.

 

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