Syracuse University announced a modification to its travel and entertainment policy and a discontinuation of its relationship with BTI Travel, the university’s official travel management company, on Tuesday.

As of Monday, SU faculty, staff and students can book air, hotel and car reservations through travel websites other than Concur, a 24/7 online booking portal, according to an SU News release. They also no longer need to provide supporting documents for lower fares.

All existing travel reservations remain active and valid for use, according to the release. In addition, this refinement of the travel and entertainment policy applies to all university travel, including sponsored research and grant-funded travel.

All other aspects of the policy will remain in effect until further notice, according to the release.

In December 2015 about 40 percent of SU faculty members had signed a petition opposing the travel and entertainment policy, which went into effect on Sept. 1, 2015 and required them to use Concur when booking their “university-funded, sponsored research or grant-funded travel.”

SU believed that through this policy it would have saved $2 million.

Michael Goode, an English professor and organizer of the petition, said the general view of the faculty members who signed the petition was that the projected savings would come from group bookings, such as athletics department team travel and bookings for administrative work-related travel — not necessarily from faculty traveling for research purposes.

After meeting with initiative team leaders and a review of December 2015 campus survey results, faculty and staff were notified of this policy change in a May 20 letter from Vice Chancellor and Provost Michele Wheatly, according to the release.

“The intended goal of this policy truly had the campus community’s best interest at heart,” Wheatly stated in the letter, according to the release. “But after assessing your feedback, I also understand that we need to be flexible and demonstrate our ability to adjust policies so that they work better for everyone.”

Wheatly said SU will continue to explore other options and policy refinements to ensure the most competitive rates for travelers and improve traveler satisfaction, according to the release. She will update the campus community on any further progress.

Published on May 24, 2016 at 12:38 pm

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann