In the spring of 2017, the university will begin implementing Concur, a one-stop, web-based, leading-edge travel solution that enables users to address all travel-related tasks, from booking reservations to filing for reimbursements.

Cornell selected Concur as the best low-cost solution to fully meet the needs of its travelers, travel arrangers, management, and financial groups. It is designed to make planning and management easier and improve the traveler’s experience, while supporting university policy, and to streamline the travel process, which has been identified as one of the university’s top-five areas ripe for streamlining and burden reduction.

Concur already has a proven track record in higher-education travel, and is being used by several of Cornell’s peer higher-education institutions such as Harvard, MIT and Princeton.

Some other advantages to Concur include:

• A university-liability travel card that enables faculty and staff members to book any allowable travel expense for a trip in advance, and Cornell pays the bill. Advances will still be available options, but will become less necessary.
• A “rule-based workflow” that guides travelers through the travel process in line with university policy.
• The option of booking online or through a travel agent.
• Mobile applications that enable users to book reservations, view itineraries and manage expenses on the go. One application allows users to capture images of paper receipts and attach them to expense reports.
• The ability to connect an employee’s Concur account to any Concur travel partner to book directly through that travel vendor’s website.
• A robust reporting system will enable management to view travel data for analysis, negotiation with travel suppliers, and university decision making.

Concur’s travel reimbursement function is expected to replace Cornell’s current travel reimbursement system. As part of the university’s streamlining efforts, a team of faculty and staff members will evaluate Concur’s modules to validate whether they meet Cornell’s expectations for overall savings and functionality. Cornell will implement only the modules that meet expectations and provide process improvements.

Concur will be released to select pilot groups in the spring of 2017, and then be incrementally rolled out over subsequent months. Testing and pilot groups have already been assembled, and additional opportunities to become involved in the project and to see the system in action are forthcoming.

In the meantime, Cornell faculty and staff members can connect with the Concur project team, provide feedback, and get more information here on the project website at https://blogs.cornell.edu/travel/ or join the Concur Yammer group. Updates on the project can be delivered to your inbox by subscribing to the Concur Travel electronic mailing list by sending an email to concurtravel-l-request@cornell.edu with this word in the subject line: join, or send an email to owner-concurtravel-l@cornell.edu.