SMU DEDMAN SCHOOL OF LAW BOA OFF-CAMPUS COMPETITION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

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1 SMU DEDMAN SCHOOL OF LAW BOA OFF-CAMPUS COMPETITION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES BOA CONTACTS: Vice Chair of Off-Campus and Finance: Natasha Combs, Off-Campus Director: Will Tran, Off-Campus Director: Brittany Litaker, Off Campus Director: Scott Courtney, Directors The Off-Campus Directors will register for the competitions, make all travel arrangements, and take care of all administrative matters related to the competition. If you have any questions, please contact the Off-Campus Director in charge of your team. COMPETITION/PRACTICE SUPPLIES: There are easels and flipcharts available in the BOA office for team use. There are also legal notepads, sticky notes, and dry erase markers available. Students may come by the office to request these supplies any time that I am in there. If they want to set up a time to come pick up supplies, they can me to arrange that and I will get the supplies out of the cabinet and make them available. There are two trial boxes available for teams to take to competition. Please only take one box per team, as we have some teams traveling on the same weekend as others. SUPPLIES BUDGET: Each team has a budget for supplies, such as blowup exhibits, binders, folders, etc. For mock trial teams, the budget is $300 per team, unless a higher amount is authorized by the BOA Vice Chair of Off-Campus and Finance. For moot court teams, the budget is $150 per team. For negotiations and client counseling, the budget is $100. If for some reason this budget restriction causes a problem for the team, you are welcome to discuss the issue with the BOA Vice Chair of Off-Campus and Finance. ROOM RESERVATIONS: If you want to reserve rooms on campus for practice, you can ask one of the students on your team to do it for you. To reserve a room, go to schedule.smu.edu and follow the directions provided. Be sure to allow enough time for the reservation to be approved this normally takes a couple days. PARKING PASSES: If you need a parking pass to park in the Law Garage during practices, let me know your practice schedule and we will get one for you. It is not possible to get you a parking pass that covers the entire semester, so please provide exact dates. We will get parking passes for all coaches who are traveling to cover the dates that you will be at competition. Page 1 of 5

2 TRAVEL LOGISTICS: Booking Our goal is to have all travel arrangements for a team established a month before the competition. Please inform the Director in charge of your competition of any specifics that you would like for him/her to keep in mind while booking travel arrangements for you and your team. Tell him/her if there is a certain date or time you would prefer the team to travel to or from the competition. We cannot guarantee dates or times, as that depends on flight availability and the competition schedule, but we will take your preference into consideration when booking the flights. If you personally want to travel to the competition location early or stay later, you may book your own travel arrangements. If this is the case, you need to notify your Director as soon as possible because he/she will begin booking travel arrangements for the teams immediately. The University will reimburse you up to the amount that is spent on the rest of the team s flights. If your flight costs more than the flights booked for the rest of the team, the University will not cover the difference. Hotel Directors are instructed to book the competition hotel, if possible, as long as the price is within budget. There are, however, some exceptions to this. If the competition hotel is unreasonably priced, far from where the competition rounds will take place, or if nothing is being held at the hotel, then Directors may look at other hotel options. Rental Car If the airport is located a long distance away from the hotel, the Director may either book a shuttle or a rental car for you. A rental car may also be booked for the team if the competition location and the hotel are a long distance away from each other. If it is possible to take a taxi or walk to and from the hotel and competition location, then no rental car will be booked. Refrain from borrowing the vehicles of friends and/or relatives to avoid liability issues. The rental car will be covered under the University s insurance policy. Shuttle On the day your team leaves for the competition, all competitors must park at the law school, unless other arrangements are pre-approved by the BOA Vice Chair of Off-Campus and Finance. Only under extenuating circumstances may a student not ride the shuttle with the rest of the team. If (under pre-approved circumstances) you do park at the airport, you must park at the least expensive long-term parking lot). All coaches should try to park at the school as well, in an effort to help us stay within budget. Directors will book a shuttle or taxi to take you to the airport. If instead you would like to call your own taxi on that day, please let your Director know that you will take care of that arrangement. COACHES TRAVELING: The University will plan and pay for one coach per team to travel to the competition with the students. ALTERNATES: Alternates may travel with the team provided that they have practiced with the team. If the alternate could step in and take the place of a competing team member if necessary, then the alternate may travel. Page 2 of 5

3 GUESTS: The incremental cost of guests, significant others, or spouses traveling with students or coaches are the responsibility of the student or coach and will not be covered by the University. Such travelers must be declared and the cost divided accordingly. CHANGES: Please inform the BOA of any major changes (i.e. team member or coach changes, airfare, hotel reservations) as soon as possible so that we can deal with those changes accordingly and so that we know what to expect when reimbursement requests are submitted. REIMBURSEMENTS: Off-campus competition expenses are only reimbursed if they comply with the BOA Policies provided to each team member and coach at the beginning of the semester. The SMU Tax Exempt Certificate, which is located on the BOA website, has to be used on all local purchases. The University does not reimburse state sales taxes. All reimbursement forms must be turned in no later than 2 weeks after the competition. Failure to comply with this date can result in no reimbursement. All checks will be mailed within 4-6 weeks of being processed. Failure to comply with the instructions below will result in your reimbursement being returned to you for corrections and will delay the turnaround time. The Reimbursement Form is available on the BOA website: Per Diems Each person traveling will have a per diem a set amount of money per day that will be reimbursed by the University. Each team s per diem is based on the FY Domestic Per Diem Rates. These expenses include food, drinks, etc. Your director will inform you of this amount. PLEASE PAY FOR YOUR OWN FOOD AND DRINKS! Combining all meals onto one ticket (i.e. the coach pays for all meals purchased at lunch) makes reimbursement extremely difficult because we have to cross-reference the reimbursements from all team members. This takes a lot of time and will significantly delay reimbursement. If however, one person does end up paying for more than their own meal, write each person s name next to the meal and/or drinks they ordered. Disallowed Costs: Alcohol consumed outside of a meal o The University will cover 2 alcoholic drinks per day, up to $15 total. Gratuity over 20% Long distance calls (unless a verifiable emergency) Gifts to other teams Hotel items retained by coach or team member (e.g., irons, hair dryers, etc.) Laundry services Flight insurance In-room or in-flight internet services In-room movies Insurance on car rentals (always waive coverage, the University blanket policy covers all liability) Page 3 of 5

4 Expenses related to a significant other and/or family member accompanying travelers, including additional costs incurred for extra rooms Second coach only one coach may travel at the University s expense (unless otherwise preapproved) Food/snacks while traveling but still in the DFW Metroplex (e.g., food purchased at DFW, Love Field, or on the way to the airport) Any flight/lodging purchased by students/coaches that is not pre-approved by the BOA Vice Chair of Off-Campus & Finance. How To Get Reimbursed: STEP 1: Collect all receipts from your competition/event. You must have (1) the original, itemized receipt (individual items listed separately; e.g., entrée, drink, tax, total) AND (2) proof of payment (a copy of your check or a credit card receipt). STEP 2: TAPE down each receipt (DO NOT STAPLE!) to a separate piece of 8½ x 11 paper in chronological order. The receipts must not overlap. Use multiple sheets if necessary. If you are requesting reimbursement for the purchase of food for people attending a large event or meeting, such as an AES, a list of all attendee s must be provided (a sign-in sheet will suffice). STEP 3: Complete the BOA Reimbursement Request Form. Provide personal information about those receiving checks (name, ID number, full address and phone number) Add up incurred expenses on the second page incomplete forms will be sent back to the person requesting reimbursement, which will delay the reimbursement process. STEP 4: Paperclip your receipt pages to the reimbursement form and turn the packet into the Off-Campus and Finance Vice Chair s hanging folder outside the BOA Office (Storey Hall, Room 24B). Include the following information on the reimbursement form: Provide personal information about those receiving checks (name, ID number, full address and phone number) Add up incurred expenses on the second page incomplete forms will be sent back to the person requesting reimbursement, which will delay the reimbursement process. Four to six weeks is normal process time if there are no delays. Turn in (1) original, itemized receipt AND (2) proof of payment. Proof of payment means a copy of your check or a credit card receipt. Failure to comply with this may prevent reimbursement for that specific purchase. If the request is for the purchase of food for people attending a large event, such as an AES, a list of all attendee s must be provided (a sign-in sheet will suffice). TAPE down your receipts (DO NOT STAPLE THEM) to a separate piece of paper in chronological order Page 4 of 5

5 Provide business purpose and team event information o Examples: Business lunch for members of the moot court team to discuss: Supplies for competition Paperclip (do not staple) all documents together Make a copy of all receipts for yourself and either: o Put the form and original receipts in the Finance hanging folder outside the BOA office (Storey Hall, Room 24B); or o Send the form and original receipts to: SMU Dedman School of Law Board of Advocates Vice Chair of Off-Campus & Finance P.O. Box Dallas, TX Page 5 of 5