School of Mathematics and Statistics Te Kura Mātai Tatauranga

Appendix A - Student Research and Conference Travel

Before considering travelling, please read the attached policies surrounding your particular travel. Moreover, ask your supervisor what the budget should be and work out all your costs before then applying for travel.

Once the money for your travel has been approved you need to start organising things - please don't leave it to the last minute. Your supervisor must email the School Office approval and also outline what they are prepare to support eg: flights, accommodation, bus, train, meals, conference fees etc

Find out if the money is coming from the School or if you need to set up a Research Trust Grant (RTG). Your supervisor will help you set up the RTG.

The offer to finance your conference/research travel is based on the understanding that you will claim any reimbursements before the RTG closes. Or, if the School is paying, before the end of year budget closes (check with SMS Admin Team). If you claim it after the closing date, the money will no longer be available.

Important Contacts

Morgan.holschier@vuw.ac.nz – Post Graduate Administrator

Georgia.dix@vuw.ac.nz – ECS School Manager

Ginny.whatarau@vuw.ac.nz – SMS School Manager

sms-office@vuw.ac.nz – Shared mailing list for the SMS Admin Team

Entry Visa

Find out if you need an entry visa for the country you are travelling. CTM (see Flights below) can help you with this. Some countries (e.g. the USA) require transit visas. For some nationalities, we have reports that visas are taking a lot longer than usual. Please do this ASAP.

If you need a letter from the University to go with your visa application, please email the SMS Office. We will need the conference name, a city it is at, dates you will be in that country, and the name of the paper you are presenting at the conference.

Email Morgan or the SMS Admin Team if payment for the visa can be made by credit card as they can do this. It is important that you get a receipt. The SMS Admin Team will need this for the credit card payment or to arrange your reimbursement.

For some countries you may need a transit visa, please try and avoid having a transfer where you need to obtain a visa.

Flights

You need to book your international flights through CTM no exception. Please email CTM with details via the email below:
vuw@travelctm.com

CTM will also arrange any domestic connecting flights. Depending on the School you are under tell them that Georgia Dix (from the School of Engineering and Computer Science (georgia.dix@vuw.ac.nz)) or Ginny Whatarau (from the School of Mathematics and Statistics (ginny.whatarau@vuw.ac.nz)) will authorise the travel and give the account details. They will email Georgia/Ginny, so you don't need to cc her.

Any private travel you must pay any difference that is not busines related

Travel Insurance

CTM automatically arrange international travel insurance. Please do not cancel the international insurance if you are an international student and have your own. Because it is easier and faster for the University to reimburse your expenses and then arrange payment through its insurance provider if something goes wrong and insurance is acted upon.

When you receive your tickets, please read the information supplied with the tickets as it will outline insurance details, emergency contacts and the official New Zealand travel safety warnings website.

For domestic travel, please email the SMS Admin Team to arrange. Please look up your preferred flights – date and times and send that information to the SMS Admin Team. Domestic flights arranged this way are not covered by travel insurance.

Please do not pay for or book your international travel (including Australian travel) through another provider or on-line.

Conference Registration

The SMS Admin Team can help you with this. They prefer to have you online in their room while they make the credit card payment. Please email them to make time, tell them how much it is and to give the person your Research Account Code, your full-name and what the conference is called. They might need to arrange to extend their limit if needed. Please don't leave this to the last day of registration.

Emergency Credit Card

You will need a credit card for international travel, especially for emergencies, so please arrange to get one from your bank. If you explain why you are travelling, the Bank will arrange a temporary credit card. If the bank needs a University staff member to verify that you are travelling overseas, please contact the SMS admin team.

Accommodation

It can be booked through the conference registration, on-line or through CTM. Online bookings can be completed through the SMS Admin Team. Please be modest with your accommodation budget and look at reducing costs per night on accommodation. However, we acknowledge that for some places (e.g. London) costs might be high, and if you need to exceed the limit, you need to obtain permission from your supervisor and School Manager. If you are going to use Airbnb, please first talk to the SMS Admin Team. Per diems are NOT paid.

Food

The University does not pay for alcohol, laundry, in-house videos or anything from the mini-bar. Please be modest with your food expenses and look at spending around $50 per day for all three meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner. If a meal is being supplied at the conference, the amount per day will be less. It means, even if you have $50 left in your budget, you should not have an expensive dinner. Per diems are NOT paid.

Receipts

Please keep your receipts and bring them to SMS Admin Team to arrange for your reimbursement. Your credit card receipt is not a receipt. The University requires an itemised official receipt and in New Zealand this needs to include the GST number. If you are going to a country that does not do receipts (e.g. Turkey), take your personal receipt book and have the vendor fill it out.

We do not give cash in advance.

Reimbursements

The University requires proof of the exchange rate. It can either be your credit card statement or a printout from any NZ bank. If not provided, the SMS Admin Team will use the exchange rate on the day they do the reimbursement form.

If you have an employment contract with the University, we use the staff reimbursement form (you will need to sign it). If you do not have a current contract, you will need to provide your bank account details on a pre-printed form or have them verified at the bank.

Found below are a few helpful documents detailing travel insurance, epidenics/pandemics cover as well as a travel checklist. It is recommended to fill this checklist prior to confirming your travel so you have a solid understanding of a budget and what is required both from yourself and the Univeristy.