Traveling Labs: Coming to a Location Near You (October 2024)
Join us during our series of Traveling Labs as we cover a variety of topics on East and West campuses. Register now! 

Topic	Date	Time and Location
Travel policy	October 30, 2024	East Campus: 9am-11am SBUH Lobby Conference Room 1 West Campus: 2pm-4pm VP Admin Conference Room, Suite 221-40
Concur tips and tricks	November 18, 2024 (West Campus)  November 19, 2024 (East Campus)	West Campus: 9am-11am VP Admin Conference Room, Suite 221-40 East Campus: 9am-11am SBUH Lobby Conference Room 1 & 2
State travel cards	January 23, 2025	East Campus: 9am-11am SBUH Lobby Conference Room 1 & 2 West Campus: 2pm-4pm VP Admin Conference Room, Suite 221-40
Concur online booking for airfare, Amtrak, hotel and car rentals	February 19, 2025 (West Campus) February 20, 2025 (East Campus)	West Campus: 1pm-3pm VP Admin Conference Room, Suite 221-40 East Campus: 9am-11am SBUH Lobby Conference Room 1 & 2
State P-card	March 25, 2025	East Campus: 9am-11am SBUH Lobby Conference Room 1 & 2 West Campus: 2pm-4pm VP Admin Conference Room, Suite 221-40
Concur for SBF	April 24, 2025	West Campus: 9am-11am VP Admin Conference Room, Suite 221-40 East Campus: 2pm-4pm SBUH Lobby Conference Room 1 & 2
Supervisor and account approver Concur trainings	May 19, 2025	East Campus: 9am-11am SBUH Lobby Conference Room 1 & 2 West Campus: 2pm-4pm VP Admin Conference Room, Suite 221-40
Concur for Research Foundation Funds	June 24, 2025	West Campus: 9am-11am VP Admin Conference Room, Suite 221-40 East Campus: 2pm-4pm SBUH Lobby Conference Room 1 & 2

The EU Commission has confirmed that the new Entry/Exit System (EES) will commence operations on November 10, 2024. EES will remove physical passport stamping for short stay visa and visa exempt travelers into the 29 European countries that are participating in the system.  Read more (here)

The UK has just announced that it is expanding its digital travel system to include travelers from various nations who were previously exempt from visa requirements. From November 27, 2024, citizens from countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and other non-European visa exempt countries will need to apply for an ETA before entering the UK. This requirement will gradually extend to all visitors who do not require a visa for short stays, including visitors from Europe.  Apply for an electronic travel authorization (here)

Starting in mid-2025, travel authorizations will be required to enter most European countries.  Click here for the most up-to-date information (including specifics on the exact launch date, accessing the online application, etc.) from the EU's official website. 

Changes to the Concur Home Page (September 2024)
The Concur platform now features a new, refreshed home page. The same functionality will exist, however users will notice a more modern design that simplifies navigation across the platform and provides an enhanced user experience. Users can activate the new homepage through a banner, and may still revert back to the legacy homepage through the same banner. In late October, the new homepage will become the default, however, users can still access the legacy homepage until January 2025 at which time the homepage will be retired. Watch a video with a sneak peek. Please contact our team with any questions.

Paperless Initiative Announcement (May 2024)
Effective May 31st, we’re going paperless! The Office of Grants Management and the Procurement, Travel & Card Programs Office will no longer be accepting paper requisitions for RF funded non-travel employee reimbursements (this does not apply to non-employees). Please submit your expense reports for out of pocket non-travel reimbursements through Concur using the RF Non-Travel Policy.

Concur for SBF is Now Live & Registration for Training is Available (April 2024)

The following is a list of key dates associated with Stony Brook Foundation’s transition to the Concur:

Live zoom training sessions for International Travel Requests and Travel Expense reimbursements.
You only need to attend one session.
Thursday, April 11, 2024 – 1:00pm
Thursday, April 18, 2024 – 1:00pm
Thursday, April 25, 2024 – 1:00pm

Live zoom training sessions for JPM Chase Credit Card Expense Reporting. You only need to attend one session.
Wednesday, April 10, 2024 – 1:00pm
Wednesday, April 17, 2024 – 1:00pm
Wednesday, May 1, 2024 – 1:00pm

Click here to register for one of the above training sessions.
Read the full annoucement here.

Stony Brook Foundation (SBF) Joins Concur (April 2024)

Beginning April 1, 2024, Concur will be ready for SBF International travel requests and travel expense reimbursement requests.
Beginning April 5, 2024, Concur will be ready for SBF JPM Chase credit card expense reporting.

More information to follow.

https://t.e2ma.net/webview/po4evr/1f7b802c50a99c58f809496f4b99baad

Updated University Travel Policy (October 2023):

An updated Travel Policy is now in effect for all faculty and staff. This policy outlines the requirements for our community planning to travel as part of their role and/or responsibilities, supports streamlined pre-departure reviews, and provides enhanced resources that will help you stay protected while traveling. View the announcement.

 

Concur Update: Adding of Verify Tool (September, 2023):

In our continued efforts to improve efficiencies in the expense reimbursement and reconciliation process, Stony Brook University’s Procurement Department will be utilizing Concur’s AI auditing tool, called Verify. Beginning September 25, 2023 users will see one added workflow step when submitting an expense report and will be notified if there are items that need to be corrected. Please contact the Travel & Card Program’s Team with any questions by email.


New Visual Theme for Concur Now Live (June, 2023):

Concur has adopted a new visual theme on the Concur mobile app and web. This will provide you the benefit of a refreshed, modern look and feel, improved consistency across solutions, and a more inclusive and accessible design for everyone. No change in functionality is expected, only a change in the look and feel of Concur. In the meantime, two preview videos are linked below. Please contact our team with any questions.

Preview Videos
- SAP Fiori with Horizon on the web
- SAP Fiori with Horizon on the Concur mobile app

SBU Travel Management Company, Direct Travel Mandate (December, 2022):

Stony Brook University Finance & Administration employees, including DoIT, will be mandated to use the Concur/DT online booking tool or arrange travel through DT’s agent-assisted phone services.  Those using sponsored research awards administered through the Research Foundation to book their travel are also strongly encouraged to use these services provided by DT.

For more information click here.

 

REAL ID Act

The REAL ID Act establishes minimum security standards for license issuance and production and prohibits certain federal agencies from accepting for certain purposes driver’s licenses and identification cards from states not meeting the Act’s minimum standards. The purposes covered by the Act are: accessing certain federal facilities, entering nuclear power plants, and boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft. 

On December 5, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced its intent to extend the REAL ID full enforcement date by 24 months, from May 3, 2023 to May 7, 2025.
For more information click here.

 

RF Credit Card Replaces Procurement Services (November, 2022):

For more information click here.

 

Direct Travel/Concur Online Travel Booking Tool Coming Soon (November, 2022):

Starting in December, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook Hospital and LISVH employees interested in booking travel on their own will be able to do so through Direct Travel’s online booking tool in Concur. Travelers can book airfare, train, hotel and rental car reservations, or delegate travel arrangements to other members of their staff. The system also allows for guest bookings (i.e. students, candidates, guest speakers). Training will take place on December 1st at 1pm via the Zoom link below.

https://stonybrook.zoom.us/j/93551503601?pwd=eTdXSDcvNjJvWEFzc2V2eTZMVG16QT09

 

New Travel Management Company (September, 2022):

Effective September 15, 2022 Direct Travel will assume the booking and managing of travel reservations for Stony Brook University, Stony Brook Hospital and the LISVH. For more information click here.

 

New Credit Card Programs (August, 2022): 

The Procurement Office is excited to announce three new credit card programs that will provide employees with a convenient way to alleviate out of pocket travel expenses. Visit our website to apply for the RF Credit Card Program (P-Card and Travel Card in one), the State Travel Card Program, and/or the State Non-Employee Travel (NET) Card Program! Please direct any questions to the Travel and Card Program department atsbu_travel_expense@stonybrook.edu.

 

Federally Sponsored Awards (August, 2022) : 

Travelers using Research Foundation funds are strongly urged to purchase refundable air and rail tickets to ensure a refund is possible should it be necessary to cancel travel plans for any reason including COVID. Unused non-refundable tickets cannot be charged as an expense to federally sponsored research awards and in most cases any other award, even if the reason is due to Covid. Non-federal sponsors may allow these charges but award specific approval from the corresponding awarding agency is required before OGM will route to Travel AP for payment.

 

Trip Cancellations Due to COVID Event (August, 2022):

If a trip is canceled and nonrefundable airline tickets were purchased, every effort should be made to obtain a credit for the canceled travel with the respective carrier. If the airline carrier agrees to a credit, that credit should be used on a future business travel event (credit terms vary by carrier). Travelers are strongly encouraged to cancel and/or request credits for all other travel reservations (conference registrations, lodging, car service, car rentals, etc.); please refer to the vendor’s cancellation policies. If not refunded, with proper justification and documentation, these costs may be considered for reimbursement when charging a State, RF Non-Sponsored Award (IDC), and some Non-Federally Sponsored Award.

 

State-Issued Credit Cards (July, 2022) :

SUNY Central and Stony Brook University are transitioning to a new contract for state-issued credit cards with JP Morgan Chase, beginning in September 2022. Existing P-Card, Travel and NET cardholders should expect to receive program information and new cards in September

 

Paperless! P-Card Certifications (June, 2022):

Beginning with the June 7 - July 6, 2022 statement, cardholders will use the Concur system to submit their certification packets.

 

The Concur REQUEST module has replaced eFTR for international travel (April, 2022)

 

Concur is fully implemented at Stony Brook University (February, 2022):

Effective February 1st, 2022 all Employee Travel expenses should be submitted to the Travel Office through an Expense Report in Concur. Non-employees (Students and Guests) will continue to use the paper voucher process.