Business travel and expense reporting will now be easier on Notre Dame faculty and staff as well as the environment, thanks to Procurement Services’ new program, travelND. The goal of the program is to “improve the traveler experience with a time-saving, streamlined process by consolidating booking and reservations, expense reporting, approvals and account management,” said Nancy Fulcher, a member of the Procurement Services team that developed travelND.
Early adopters are already finding huge benefits. “travelND’s efficient systems have streamlined my travel planning and expense reporting,” said Sarah Greene, Associate Program Director for the Alliance for Catholic Education. “In addition, my department has already saved a great deal of paper as travelND eliminated the need to print and copy expense reports. We in ACE are eager to continue supporting Notre Dame’s sustainability efforts, which encourage us to be excellent stewards of our financial resources and of the Earth.”
Online expense-reporting will save approximately 400,000 sheets of paper per year, the equivalent of 5 tons of wood or 10,000 pounds of carbon emissions. “Improved sustainability performance was one of the goals in developing travelND,” said Paul VanDieren, another member of the development team. “The online booking system enables users to search not only for air travel but for rail travel as well, a much less carbon intensive option, especially for trips under 300 miles. Furthermore, users have the option to sort flights not only by duration and cost, but by total carbon emissions as well.”
travelND users have the option to either book flights through the online system or through Anthony Travel; for either method, there are no booking fees. The new Chase Visa travel card delivers transaction records directly to the travelND system in order to simplify the preparation of expense reports. The program is currently being implemented on a department-by-department basis along with training classes for travelers, expense report users and support staff. It is expected to be available to all of campus around March 1st. For more information, visit travel.nd.edu, email travel@nd.edu, or call 631-4289.