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CCAS Per Diem Policy

As part of our efforts to minimize administrative burden for travel related paperwork, there exists a CCAS policy for per diem requests for non-grant related international travel.

Under the current GW Travel Policy, the university does not use per diem except in exceptional cases (i.e., travel to countries lacking stable currencies where credit card usage is not favored, extended stays, or other special circumstances) for which approval by an appropriate vice president or designee has been received prior to travel. Per diem requests on all sponsored project travel must be submitted to Kadriene Dixon, CCAS Finance & Administrative Director, prior to travel. Please cc the responsible post-award SRA so they can confirm that there are sufficient funds available and that the per diem is allowable.

Consistent with GW policy and complementary to the OVPR policy for grant-related international travel, CCAS will consider per diem requests for non-grant related international travel. Those requests may be submitted to Kadriene Dixon, CCAS Finance Director, prior to travel.

The following should be kept in mind when submitting a per diem request.

  • All per diem requests must be submitted prior to travel. It is imperative that the approval is in place before commencing the trip.
  • Per diem requests will be considered for international travel in exceptional cases, such as travel to locations where receipts are difficult to obtain, or extended travel of 14 days or longer for which collecting / submitting receipts becomes labor intensive.
  • Per diem requests are for meals and incidentals expenses (M&IE) only. Actual detailed receipts are required for all lodging and transportation expenses.
  • Per diem requests should not exceed the M&IE rate determined by the US State Department.
  • The approved amount will depend on the availability of funds. The College will not increase the amount budgeted to travel to support a per diem payment.
  • Per diem amounts for the first and last day of the trip are reimbursed at 75% of the M&IE rate applicable to the business destination city. The location where lodging is obtained for the first and last night determine the rate for the departure and return days, respectively.
  • For travel lasting more than 30 days, a travel allowance of up to 50% of M&IE rate may be reimbursed.
  • When meals are included elsewhere, e.g. in a conference registration fee or as part of lodging expenses, the per diem should be reduced by the appropriate amount in the expense report.
  • When submitting the expense report, the traveler should provide the overall business purpose (who, what, where, when, why) for the travel and the details of the requested amount for each day in the CCAS Expense Tracking Form. The documented approval must be attached to the traveler's expense report in the GW iBuy+ Expense Reporting system at the time of submission.

When submitting the per diem request, the following information must be included:

  • Traveler: name and department.
  • Travel Plan: Inclusive dates of travel and travel destination(s).
  • Estimated cost of the per diem, with a justification for the pe diem request.
  • Source of funding for the travel.