NAVIGATING THE MAZE FOR EDUCATION FUNDING-PART II TRAVEL FUNDING—THE ADDITIONAL STEPS NECESSARY TO APPLY FOR TRAVEL FUNDING

 

This is the second in a two part series designed to assist Nurses in the VAMHCS to receive funding for education/seminars required to maintain licensure as Registered Nurses.  The first part guided you solely through the steps for educational funding.    What if your educational course takes place outside the local travel area?  Yes, you guessed it there are additional documents/steps necessary to receive approval and reimbursement.

 

In addition to the SF-182 and Educational Support Program (ESP) Supervisory Justification Memorandum you must also obtain and submit the following requirements.

 

 First, a TRAVEL ESTIMATE must be obtained.  Travel Estimates can be obtained by contacting (send an e-mail) to Norman Widmeyer, Leon Whitmill, or Gabbi Pozzi.  In the e-mail include: Dates of the Course; Destination of Travel; Hotel Accommodations. (Include the price of the hotel but it may not be covered fully each night the government allots a certain amount per day).  They will send you back a travel estimate via outlook.  Print this estimate to submit with the necessary paperwork.  On the SF-182 item 22 say refer to travel estimate in place of the actual amounts. 

 

Secondly, you must submit a Memorandum explaining your request for Exception to Local Travel.  This must be submitted to Brian Hawkins, Associate Director of Finance. (Fax # 410-642-1874).  Also, include a copy of this with the completed travel and education paperwork that is submitted. (SF-182, ESP Memo, Course Description, Travel Estimate)  There is no specific Memo form for Exception to Local Travel.  The Memo should be set up

  

To:        Brian Hawkins 

               Associate Director Finance Associate Director Finance

From:   ________________, RN       

Date:     5/7/2008

Re:        Exception to Local Travel

The body of the Memo should state that you are: Requesting exception to local travel to attend ______________ conference on _______________ (dates) at __________________ (place of conference, city and state)

 

Now you need to state why you should be allowed to go—ex:  This conference will address critical elements of _______________ (safety, wellness, quality, documentation, new technologies). Leaders in the field of __________________ (safety, wellness…) will be sharing/presenting the latest information which is important for VAMHCS as well as me and the Veterans we care for.

 

Finally, relate it to your specific job role and how the knowledge you gain will benefit the VAMHCS---ex:  In my current role as _____________ I will utilize/share this information to improve __________________ (communication, safety, wellness….) both on a unit level and VAMHCS wide.  Or that you would like to develop new skills to enable you to advance within the VAMHCS and further its mission to be an employer of choice for RN’s

 

Thank you for your consideration in this matter,

 

___________________ (your full name) RN (sign this all well as typed name prior to submission)

 

Feel free to organize your memo how you wish to but cover the critical elements.

 

Submit/Fax this completed paperwork (a minimum of 30 days prior to travel) to Employee Education@410-642-1731.  You may want to follow up the fax with a confirmation of receipt call or e-mail to Robert Clark/ Cynthia Wolf at Perry Point. Ext—5722/5702.  (Call Cynthia @ 5702 first)

 

You will be notified of approval by e-mail from Employee Education.  Once your travel is approved you will need to re-contact the individual who prepared your travel estimate to finalize the travel details.  (You may want to reserve your room prior to receiving approval to ensure availability.)

 

Once travel is completed you must fax all receipts to the travel office (you do not need to maintain individual food receipts there is a set amount allotted per day.  If you exceed this it is on you.) WITHIN 5 DAYS.  The travel office will submit the paperwork to Fed Traveler and you will need to use this system to complete the travel reimbursement step.

 

If this is your first time traveling the travel office will walk you (in the form of directions in outlook) through the set up of your Fed Traveler account.  This will remain your working account whenever you travel so store the access code and pass words safely.  (If you need set up help contact Gabbi Pozzi, Norman Widmeyer, or Leon Whitmill).  Once you have an established account Fed Traveler also has customer service people for technical difficulties. 

 

For hours of travel you may earn compensatory time.  (Comp time is good for 1 year not the 3 month default time in the Vista system.  Keep track of this!!)  Authorized Absence (AA) is granted for the class hours.  AA is an administrative work day (8 hours/0730-1600) and is requested via vista just as you do for AL/SL.   AA requested should be placed prior to travel.