When registering for a conference or purchasing membership to an organization, please send the GGEB coordinator an emailed request at least a week before the deadline with the following:

• A link to the registration page/membership page
• Your username and password
• The registration deadline
• Written confirmation from your mentor that they will be paying, how much they'll be paying (ie the cost of membership/registration), and the account they'll be paying from
  • If they are paying with a grant (R01), I will need a completed A21. This can be found on the Forms page of the GGEB website.  
• The answers to any questions you may be asked to answer during the registration process prior to payment. 

Once I have this information, I will complete the required paperwork and send it to Marissa.  Marissa will review, send it to the business office for approval, and then complete the registration on your behalf.  Because so many people are involved, last minute requests may not be processed in time.  

Only with prior approval, which is rare,  can students purchase out-of-pocket.

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Student travel is booked by the GGEB coordinator unless using BGS travel funds (see below), and follow a similar process to conference registration requests.  All flights must be requested/booked by 1pm, and earlier on Fridays, as the business office only has a short amount of time to approve and pay for the the ticket before World Travel releases it. 

Flights
When booking a flight, first:

Log into Concur and in your Concur profile, add me as a Travel Assistant/Arranger (Travel Settings -> Assistants/Arrangers).  

Then, when you have selected flight, please: 

• A screenshot of your itinerary, including departure and return dates, airline, and price.
• Written confirmation from your mentor that they will pay for the flight and the account to charge
  • If using a grant (R01), a completed A21 from the GGEB Forms page is required
• The cheapest, most convenient flight (ie direct, shorter, etc) should always be given priority when considering your options
• First class travel is not allowed
• Traveling to a conference destination earlier than the start date is permitted, but you must provide a comparison flight departing the day before the conference begins.  
• University-supported travel for personal reasons is not permitted. 

Trains

When booking travel via train, please send the following:

• Name as it appears on your ID
• Birthday
• Phone number
• A screenshot of your itinerary
• Your advisor's approval and the account from which the ticket will be purchased
  • If using a grant, you'll need an A21 form

Please note that Penn allows travel via coach only; this means no ACELA.

BGS Travel Funds 

BGS provides students with the opportunity to apply for a yearly $1000 award to support travel to conferences at which the student is presenting.  Students should apply for these funds as soon as possible. 

If using travel funds, students can book their own travel by calling World Travel @ 888-641-9112 and speaking to an agent.  Please make sure that the agent is aware that you are using BGS travel funds AND that the approver is Jill Baxter. This ensures that the flight is sent to BGS for approval instead of the DBEI business office.  If it is sent to the DBEI business office, it will be rejected. 

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All reimbursements can be submitted through Concur.

All reimbursements require the following

•  Proof of attendance (name badge/a picture of the program with your name on it/a photo of you presenting at the conference)
• Statement of Business Connection 
  • Note that only you have to sign; no other signatures are required.
• An A21 if your advisor is paying via a grant (R01) or:
• A Concur Expense Justification Form if they are using a Retention/SOM-D/other non-grant fund
• Your approved BGS Travel Funds application, if applicable
• Receipts for all public transportation/ride shares 
• Hotel folio/receipt with itemized room cost/tax per night
• Receipts for any meals you are not claiming on your per diem

Before you do anything, you must make the coordinator an expense delegate.  You can do this in your Concur profile under "Expense Settings".   Be sure they you check the "can prepare reports" option; this enables the coordinator to review and make edits to the reimbursement. 

1. Under Report Details, select "Report Header" and fill out as much information as you can

• All reports should be titled following this format "City, Conference Name, Month and Year" (ie "Baltimore, ENAR Conf, March 2024"
• You will likely not have the budget code. When the report is complete, please let the coordinator know and they will review and enter that information.

2. Upload all receipts and completed documentation to the Manage Receipts -> Manage Attachments section. 

3. Select add expense for each non-meal expense (unless you are not claiming per diem for your food).  Fill out the information and upload the receipt for that expense.  

• For Taxis/Ride Shares, please enter your pickup and drop-off locations in the business justification (ie Airport to Conference Hotel)

4. For hotels, each night and each night's tax need to be added as a separate line item.  

• After you enter the hotel information and total cost under the Details tab, you will then select the itemization tab and select the appropriate options. 

5. If claiming per diem (recommended), when all non-food related expenses have been entered, select Travel Allowance below the report's title. 

• Enter your itinerary
• On the next page, the report should automatically calculate your per diem and add it to the report.  For any meals provided by the conference, you would de-select that meal from that day's per diem. 

6. Once the above steps have been completed, reach out to the coordinator. They will review and let you know if any changes need to be made or if the report is ready to be submitted. 

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There are two services available to you for printing posters needed for presentations at conferences, workshops, meetings, etc.  Prior to requesting theses services, you should receive in writing, via email, approval from your mentor for payment for these services and the account to which these expenses should be charged.  Please do not pay for these services on your own and request reimbursement.  You should forward the email from your mentor regarding payment approval to the following person based on your role:

• Biostat MS or PhD Student:  Eli Elliott
• BIostat Postdoc: Marissa Fox
• Biostat Research Staff:  Admin Coordinator who works with your mentor
• MS or PhD Student outside of Biostat Education Programs (AMCS, GCB, SEAS): Admin Coordinator who works with your mentor

We will facilitate payment for these services.  

Poster printing with Biomedical Library:

Instructions:

https://guides.library.upenn.edu/c.php?g=551540&p=3786773

Online Submission Form:

https://upenn.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3aNUhJJDWoo0Ueh

Additionally, you will need to complete a pre-approval of poster printing charges form:

https://upenn.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3sXA6hTGWSyHznL

If your mentor is within the DBEI, CCEB, or GGEB, please list the following information on the pre-approval form:

Business administrator’s name: Merceda Reale

Business administrator’s email address: apaycceb@lists.upenn.edu

Business administrator’s phone number:  215-573-1334

**Please also forward the email with your mentor’s approval to apaycceb@lists.upenn.edu.**

OR

Poster printing with Slidemakers:

Please see the attached instructions for sizing your poster.  Email your request to Dave Hampel (posters@slidemakers.net), copying one of us (based on the roles mentioned above) with the following information when sending your presentation:

• Poster size: 
• Material: 
• Requested Delivery date: 
• Name/Org: 
• Delivery address:
• Phone number:

We will also need the email with your mentor’s approval to process the payment.

**Please note that for Slidemakers we need to issue a purchase order, which takes a few days to route through various people.  Please do not use this service if you need your poster within 5 days.**

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The primary cart in Path@Penn is the what allows a student to self-register for courses.  BGS students generally do not have a primary cart and will only have an alternatives cart, unless they have a secondary curriculum (dual degree/certificate).

This should not create any issues when requesting a permit as the primary cart is only needed for registration and is not needed to request a permit.  Students can request a permitwhile adding a course to their alternatives cart. The link to request a permit is just below the cart selection:

Once the link is selected, students can then add their reason for requesting the permit:

Again, all of this can be done using only the Alternatives cart.

One important thing to keep in mind is that adding a course to a cart is separate from requesting a permit and students can add a course to their cart without requesting a permit.  If a student is reporting they have requested a permit, but you are not seeing it, they may have just added it to their cart and not requested the permit.

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