1. Travel Procedures Irwin Gaines Computing Division 31-Aug-2006

2. Good news and bad news Travel policy must facilitate travelers making the trips they need, and avoid frustrating administrative staff (caught in the middle between travelers and lab administration) Things are getting better Still problems due to inconsistent and undocumented procedures –To us it seems like there is a reluctance to write procedures down –Some trips work fine, others have problems Problems do not appear to be the fault of DOE, but rather due to FNAL shooting themselves in the foot Examples: foreign travel, and conferences

3. Foreign Travel Division task force 3 years ago made a set of recommendations: –Process definition and documentation: there needs to be a clearly written procedure governing foreign travel, specifying all stages of the pre and post trip process –Communication: Up to date information should be available online to allow both traveler and administrative staff to view the status of any pending travel request –Make clear to traveler what their responsibilities are –Relax reapproval requirement for itinerary changes of less than 3 days –Work with 2nd floor to understand what information on FTMS form is most critical –Ensure trips to sensitive countries are processed at high priority

4. Foreign travel Prioritization of trips is better Process flow is clearer (greater understanding that tickets can be purchased as soon as division approves trip) Still no clear written procedures laying out all elements of process Occasional over zealousness can significantly slow approval process down

5. Conferences Good that it is recognized that there are many trips that do not fall under the conference order at all (N/A on travel form) But there is no lab standard policy for deciding when this applies And multiple instances of conference data bases makes extra work for admin staff Serious impact on attendance at scientific conferences

6. Recommendations Process Documentation Process Uniformity Collegial, not adversarial Take advantages of opportunities offered by DOE (they actually are on our side!)