To be good stewards of university resources, the following updated travel guidelines as of July 1, 2026 apply to all university-funded travel.
University-funded travel should have a clear and demonstrable connection to institutional priorities, operational needs, student success, research, compliance obligations, revenue generation or external engagement. When considering travel requests, divisions should evaluate whether the anticipated benefits justify the associated costs and whether the objectives can be achieved through lower-cost alternatives, including virtual participation.
Until further notice, only essential or mission-critical travel will be permitted when employees are requesting reimbursements and using institutional funds.
Travel that is permitted but requires approval from a vice president or dean includes:
- Presenting a paper or serving as a chair/discussant at an academic conference.
- Academic conference participation is defined by the UFA collective bargaining agreement.
- Development/fundraising visits.
- Athletics travel (e.g., competition and recruiting).
- Travel related to student recruitment.
- Grant-funded travel.
- Partnership development travel that does not require an overnight stay.
- Travel related to student classes or that uses student funds.
- Decisions related to the appropriate staffing needed for student travel will be made by the appropriate college or division and must be approved by the Chief Strategy Officer.
All travel that falls under this section must be approved by the appropriate vice president or dean before the travel is scheduled. Each division should have a request for professional travel form that must be completed and approved to receive reimbursement.
The fact that travel is permitted does not automatically justify it. Divisions and colleges should exercise sound judgment and carefully consider the necessity, value and cost of each trip.
Travel that might be permitted but requires additional approval outside of the usual vice president or dean approval channels include:
- Official university business (e.g., attendance at in-person-only legislative hearings; receipt of national award/recognition for NIU).
- National higher education association conferences (e.g., APLU, HACU, ACE).
- Overnight travel related to partnership development.
- Travel related to a compliance mandate for training when no virtual option is available.
- Travel related to professional development required to maintain licensure.
- Travel related to revenue-generating initiatives (e.g., consulting).
- Travel related to participation on boards for professional associations (e.g., APLU).
All requests for travel in this section must be submitted to Chief Strategy Officer Matt Streb (mstreb@niu.edu) for approval. No travel should be scheduled before receiving approval. Requests to travel must be provided at least one month in advance of the travel date, although exceptions to this deadline will be made for unanticipated travel (e.g., a time-sensitive partnership meeting). Requests for travel should include a justification for why the travel is essential or mission critical.
If travel requests are approved, the following should take place:
- Individuals permitted to travel are expected to provide their supervisors with a written or verbal report on the outcome of the trips.
- No more than two (2) individuals from the university will be permitted to attend the same event or trip, unless it is an academic conference or specifically justified and pre-approved by the chief strategy officer.
- When two or more people are driving to their destination, all employees should travel together.
- When travel is approved, all efforts should be made to lessen the cost of travel (e.g., choosing the lowest-cost means of travel fares and rates; least-expensive location when multiple sites are offered).
- Conference hotels might not always be the least expensive option. In situations where lodging costs exceed the General Services Administration (GSA) allowable limit, evidence might still need to be provided to show that, although the hotel was over the GSA rate, it was lower than the conference lodging rate.
Travel is not permitted in the following cases:
- Attendance at conferences or meetings where the employee is not presenting an academic paper, serving in a leadership role, recruiting or otherwise advancing a clear institutional objective.
- Nonacademic paper presentations.
- Professional association memberships or events that primarily benefit the individual’s career development rather than the university.
- Travel that could be conducted effectively through virtual participation.
- Repeated attendance at the same annual conference without a demonstrated return on investment.
- Travel that is primarily networking, professional development, exploratory or informational in nature without a defined institutional outcome.
- Travel for ceremonies, celebrations or recognition events where participation is discretionary and not tied to official university representation.
- Travel that supports activities outside an employee’s assigned duties or departmental priorities.
- Travel undertaken primarily to maintain professional credentials when those credentials are not required for the employee’s position.
Any exceptions to these travel guidelines must be approved by the chief strategy officer.