IDCP Travel Fund

To be considered for travel support, you must be enrolled in the Columbia MBA or EMBA program and have completed at least one semester of courses at the Business School at the time of travel. Students may work individually or in teams. Teams may include non-Columbia MBA students, but those students will not be eligible for financial support. In addition, travel outside of the United States must take place during the Business School's intersession periods (including winter and spring break), as shown on the School's academic calendar.

It is recommended that student teams find a Columbia Business School faculty advisor for their project.

Pangea management team members are ineligible for travel support unless approval from the managing director of the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change is given prior to project teams and clients being notified of staffing decisions.

• The IDCP Travel Fund does not cover travel expenses incurred as part of a summer internship. Please see if you are eligible for the Summer Fellowship Program.
• The IDCP Travel Fund does not cover travel that occurs after the student has graduated, even if the project commenced while the team member was a student.
• It a team member does not travel, that funding cannot be "reallocated" to other team members. Please refer to the reimbursement grid above.
• Three Cairns Fellows are not eligible to apply for the travel fund.

Travel Requirements

Students should not ask faculty or Academic Affairs to miss/record classes, or move exams or request exam makeups to accommodate extra-curricular activities, including travel for projects. Projects are subject to the School's Honor Code and the School's Academic Policies.

Columbia University's International Travel Planning Policy requires all student team members to review CU Global Travel requirements. Travelers must follow the instructions on the Columbia-Related International Travel Planning page and must register their travel information through the University’s global travel portal, MyTrips.

Please note that risk categorizations may change quickly. The Dean’s Office retains the right to prevent student travel to any location deemed unsafe, and is able to do so up until the day of travel. In these cases, students will be reimbursed for non-refundable travel expenses (air ticket, hotel, visa) incurred.

Student travelers are responsible for obtaining a visa. If travel is prevented because of failure to obtain a visa, travel expenses will not be reimbursed by CBS or the Tamer Institute. If there is uncertainty over obtaining a visa, students might wish to purchase a partially refundable or changeable ticket. Change fees for ticket prices can only be added to your reimbursement form if it is caused by security, safety, or personal health issues, and requires approval from the Tamer Institute. However, these fees will not change the maximum reimbursement amount for that country. Any student who is concerned about budgetary issues should carefully consider the region of travel when applying for projects.

Selection is based on the quality and relevance of project analysis and tasks to the MBA skillset, and available funding given the number of students requesting support. In addition, preference will be given to projects initiated or organized by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), public, and nonprofit organizations.

MBA project team leaders seeking support for their team should contact the Tamer Institute as early as possible, and before making travel arrangements for the project. Prior to travel, students (including teams staffed on Pangea Advisors projects) must demonstrate progress and provide the following information:

1. Project description: one page that contains an organization and/or client description, contact details for the project supervisor, project scope, analysis and deliverables.
2. Team member resumes.
3. Finalized Statement of Work or detailed letter of engagement from the client and/or organizing institution: email correspondence with the client showing agreement on a "Statement of Work." This should contain project scope, work streams/workplan, deliverables, timeline with key dates and milestones and any other relevant details.
4. Intended dates of travel and list of who will be traveling (see "Documentation" below).
5. Spreadsheet indicating the total budget for the trip for all team members who plan to travel. Categories may include: air travel, ground travel, accommodation, food, and other sources of funding provided by the client and/or other supporting organizations.

Student team leaders will be notified about the status of their application prior to traveling if the project has been selected for support with the IDCP Travel Fund.

Once you have received approval from your advisor and the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change, please be sure to complete the following before booking travel:

1. Check the reimbursement grid and contact the Tamer Institute if you have questions on the amount reimbursable.
2. Review Columbia University International Travel Planning Policy, and follow the steps outlined on the Planning Columbia-Related International Travel site. Steps required to receive approval for travel are determined by Travel Risk Ratings produced by International SOS (ISOS). 
   - All students traveling for Columbia travel are covered under the student health insurance policy. 
   - All travelers must be vaccinated and boosted if eligible — those who have received exemptions are not permitted to travel with Columbia at this time.
3. Register your trip with International SOS using “MyTrips.” If you are new to using MyTrips you will need to register as a new user. Follow directions on the MyTrips page to register your trip.
4. Complete and sign the Risk Waiver and Release Participant form that Columbia Global Travel will send to you after reviewing your itinerary.
5. If specified due to ISOS risk assessment, wait for Dean's Office approval before booking travel.

After completion of travel, and in order to receive funds from the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change, the following is required by June 1 (no reimbursements for projects in the prior academic year will be processed after this deadline). Please read this section carefully before you travel, as incorrect paperwork significantly delays processing of payments. Team leaders should ensure that all team members who travel submit their expenses at the same time.

1. Check to see that your banking information in SSOL is up to date and that your account is set up to receive direct deposit.
2. Create a single Google drive or Dropbox folder with all files described below for your team. Missing information from one person's expense paperwork will delay payments for the whole team.
3. Fill out the post-travel checklist listing every member of your team requesting reimbursement and a short project description.
4. For each team member, provide a single (aggregated) PDF file showing airfare expenses in chronological order. ALL of the following items are required: 
   - Payment receipts 
   - Copy of the airline travel itinerary (e.g., email booking confirmation), including price paid and boarding passes 
   - Credit card statement showing the student's name and relevant charges 
   
   Expenses without receipts will not be reimbursed. 
   
   Expenses in a foreign currency that were not paid by credit card should be converted into USD using the currency rate on the relevant date(s) from www.oanda.com/currency-converter/en/. 
   
   Only the person who actually paid for the airline ticket can be reimbursed. If you pay for yourself and another team member, only you can be reimbursed for both tickets. Please indicate charges clearly on your credit/debit card statement and itinerary. This is acceptable, as long as your cumulative expenses are less than the allowable maximum for the number of team members you paid for. 
   
   All flights and cities shown on the itinerary should be directly related to the project. Stopovers and flights to locations not related to the project (e.g., your home city, US cities other than New York) should not increase the cost of your ticket. If you travel to other locations, or depart from or arrive at locations not related to the project, you must deduct the cost of that flight AND provide comparable return ticket cost information to show that your ticket price did not increase compared to a return flight departing from/arriving in New York. If a team member traveled on a flight without stopovers to unrelated locations and their ticket cost is lower than a comparable ticket you provide, the lower ticket price will be used as a basis for reimbursement. 
   
5. Project summary (1-page) with description of the organization, outline of project scope and objectives, and the outcome and experience for both the client as well as the student(s). Here is an example project summary. Also complete a Project Survey if this was requested for your team. 
6. Any project photos for School publications and donor reporting. Photos should be of the team, client, or project location and illustrate the subject matter of the project.
7. An electronic copy of the final report, presentation, or other deliverables provided to the client. Students should contact the Tamer Institute for Social Enterprise and Climate Change if deliverables contain sensitive or confidential information to discuss what information should be submitted.