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Procurement

Vassar College

Vassar College Travel

Many College employees travel for College business.  The purpose of this page is to assist employees as they plan for and are traveling in performance of their duties on behalf of the College.  

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Travel Policies

Prior to traveling, please review the College’s policies for Travel and Entertainment.

Faculty traveling should also review the Faculty Travel Policy.

Students who are traveling in connection with a Vassar Sponsored trip should work with their sponsoring office on the appropriate steps and resources.

Planning Travel

Below are resources available to you to assist as you plan and while traveling:

Employees have the option to plan their own business travel or to be aided by Vassar’s travel service provider as shown below. Employees should only organize their own trip and make direct reservations for travel if they are experienced travelers, as changes to reservations and tickets are both costly and usually not reimbursed by the College.

Hooker Avenue Travel
3 Neptune Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
hookeravetravel@att.net
Phone: (845) 454-1600

Employees who are not frequent and experienced travelers are encouraged to use the travel agency to obtain the best pricing and most convenient itineraries. Use of the travel agency will also provide the employee with access to the travel agent hotline for any assistance needed during the trip or should special problems occur.

Ground transportation

Car Rental

The College receives discounted rates from several car rental agencies and wherever possible employees should take advantage of these discounted contracts.  Please call Procurement for account IDs.

Rental Car Insurance

Employees should decline the offer of rental agency provided loss damage coverage (LDW) and/or personal accident (PAI) or additional liability insurance (ALI) when renting a car. When renting add "Vassar College" as well as the employee’s signature on the rental forms. If a rented vehicle is involved in an accident, the employee must notify (a) the car rental agency and (b) insurance office (845) 437-5467) as soon as possible. 

Driving your personal car

Driving your personal vehicle is allowed in some situations.  Please review the sections on Use of Personal Automobiles in the Travel Policy to understand what’s acceptable use, and the insurance implications of using your own vehicle.

Car Service

Another option, is using a car service of your choice. A couple options are listed here. Prior to booking car service please consult the Travel Policy

Lodging

The College does not have any discounts with hotel operators.  Please book with an appropriate mid-market business hotel chain while on College business such as Hilton, Marriott, Wyndham, and Doubletree. 

Submitting Expense Reports

Per the Travel and Entertainment Policy, legitimate business expenses should be processed in Workday promptly after paying for the expenses. 

Workday Expense Report Job Aid for assistance.  

International Travel

International travel carries with it its own unique risks.  In order to better enable the College to support international travels (all travelers outside of the study abroad framework, which is already supported by the Office of International Programs) who are traveling on a college sponsored trip, should register their trip.

Register Your Trip

The benefits of the tool include:

  • Information about your destination to help you prepare for your trip.
  • Access to the Alert Traveler app which can provide you updates about the area you are in and a simple process to check in or request help in the event of an emergency.
  • Access to travel insurance benefits like medical coverage and emergency evacuation while abroad.

When traveling internationally with students, all employees and students participating in the trip must be registered to access such benefits. If you are the group leader, please notify detouhey@vassar.edu.  You will be set up as such and then can register travelers as a group by selecting ‘group travel’ at the start of the trip registry process.  This will allow itinerary and traveler information to be uploaded for the entire group. If you are traveling with students, please be aware of potential travel restrictions; refer to the Vassar College Policy on Student Travel for more details. 

Travelers pursuing international travel are strongly encouraged to review the U.S. State Department Travel Advisory and the Centers for Disease Control Travel Health Notice for their destination country and to follow the State Department’s Traveler’s Checklist. Those who are U.S. citizens or nationals are strongly encouraged to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).

Travel Insurance

International College-sponsored trip participants will be covered by the College maintained  International Travel Insurance for those who register their trip as described above.  GeoBlue, our international travel insurance provider, covers employees and students when traveling outside of the United States for college sponsored trips.  Benefits include pre-trip planning, medical coverage, and emergency evacuation.

For more information about the GeoBlue international insurance policy, please review the links below.          

GeoBlue for Employees

GeoBlue for Students

United States - The College maintains basic travel insurance for official business travel within the United States through AIG which provides emergency evacuation.  For further details please call the 24 Hour Travel Assist number at (877) 244-6871 and email is assistance@aig.com.  

Key Contacts

Vendor/credit card/travel policy questions: 

Procurement at procurement@vassar.edu or (845) 437-5845.

Insurance or travel registry: 

Deanna Touhey detouhey@vassar.edu or (845) 437-5467.