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News
in Brief President's Open HouseFaculty, staff, students and the public are welcome to attend the President's Open House, scheduled for 3 to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, in Old Main on the University Park campus. President Graham B. Spanier, Provost Rodney Erickson, Vice President for Administration Jan Jacobs and other key staff members will be on hand in 201 and 205 Old Main. Light refreshments will be served. Visitors can view the frescoes and visit the Old Main Tower. Lion Ambassadors will serve as tour guides. For a preview, visit the president's office virtually by going to http://www.psu.edu/ur/President/ on the Web. Travel services goes high-techBeginning Oct. 15, faculty and staff will be able book their own business or leisure travel reservations -- including air, rail, hotel and car reservations -- at the Travel Services Web site, http://guru.psu.edu/travel. Travel Services On-Line, powered by TRX Technology's ResAssist self-booking tool, will allow travelers to book all aspects of travel reservations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Travel Services On-Line is an added optional service, giving travelers more flexibility in booking their travel reservations. Also beginning Oct. 15, faculty and staff who have the Penn State Purchasing Card will be able to use the card when making University-funded travel arrangements with Centre for Travel, Omega World Travel and Travel Services. The Purchasing Card will be the required form of payment when using Travel Services On-Line for business travel. The Direct Billing Authorization Form (DBAF) will not be required when using the Purchasing Card. However, anyone purchasing business travel without access to a Purchasing Card will continue to purchase his or her travel through one of the above travel agencies and submit the DBAF for payment. Faculty and staff also will be able to charge their University-funded car rentals to the Purchasing Card. The Purchasing Card will be permitted for payment of one night's deposit only, where required for conference hotels. The remainder of the hotel expense will continue to be charged to the traveler's personal credit card and reimbursed after the completion of the trip. Travel Services will be conducting user training for anyone wishing to use Travel Services On-Line at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 9, and Thursday, Oct. 11, in 112 Kern Building on the University Park campus. Contact Travel Services at iys4@psu.edu to register for one of the training sessions or for information on group training at any campus. For information, review University Travel Policy TR-14 for policies relative to self-booking. Visit the Travel Services Web site at http://guru.psu.edu/travel for details about the online system. Value Added Tax program beginsValue Added Tax or VAT is a national sales tax on goods and services which is levied by many countries around the world. In 1987, the European Union began offering refunds of VAT to foreign companies which travel to participating countries for business purposes. Now various countries are refunding VAT to foreign companies as a business and investment incentive. VAT rates in the participating countries currently range from 6.5 percent to 25 percent. Some countries do not refund the full amount levied. Depending on the country, VAT may be refunded on hotels, restaurants, car rentals, parking, gasoline, diesel fuel, transportation within country, business entertainment, telecommunications, conferences, trade shows, training courses and professional fees. Certain taxes are not refundable, such as on alcohol and laundry services. The University uses a third party to process the necessary documentation on behalf of the University to recover VAT. Net recovered VAT is returned to the University by the third party. Based on other higher-educational clients and Penn State's foreign travel expenditures, the recovery company estimates that the VAT savings for Penn State could amount to $100,000 annually. Penn State travelers to participating European countries should submit their receipts in order for the University to collect a refund on these taxes. Information, including a list of participating countries, a procedure outlining how the VAT program works and a form for submitting receipts, is available at http://guru.psu.edu/travel/vat. ReminderThe closing date for receipt of Evan Pugh professorship nominating materials is Monday, Oct. 22. All nominations must be submitted in accordance with Policy HR87 and established guidelines and should be sent to the dean of the academic college in which the nominee is appointed.Current nomination guidelines may be obtained by calling (814) 863-9580, by e-mail to vxi2@psu.edu, or by stopping in 304 Old Main, University Park. CarpoolBarb is seeking to carpool with someone from McAlevys Fort to University Park who works from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call (814) 865-7702 or (814) 667-3195. |