Conferences

Overview

When it comes to conferences, certain factors are used to indicate whether the transaction should be recorded as travel and to determine how the transaction should be processed.

Is the conference considered travel?

If attending the conference will result in expenses besides the conference registration fee (e.g., lodging, meals, etc.) then the conference is considered travel. If the conference registration fee is the only expense (e.g., webinar) then the conference registration is not considered travel.

It's possible that a conference attended by two people from your department would be considered travel for one person but not for the other. For example, if you carpool to a one-day conference (meals and lodging are not reimbursable), the conference is considered travel for the person who drove (mileage reimbursement) but not for the passenger.

Is the university hosting the conference?

If the university is hosting the conference, the procedure for processing conference expenses is different. See Hosting a Conference for details.