How the University of Illinois streamlines faculty travel with Uber

More than 35,000 faculty members. Three campuses in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, and Springfield.

For the University of Illinois System, managing faculty business travel is no small feat.

At U of I, coordinating faculty travel was once a time-consuming challenge involving processing expense reports, juggling reimbursements, and enforcing administrative travel policies, all while maintaining accurate records across the entire university system.

Enter Uber.

Today, with the support of the Uber platform, the University of Illinois System’s faculty travel process is streamlined from start to finish, saving valuable time for everyone involved. Let’s take a closer look.

For faculty travelers at any institution, attending conferences and seminars can be a logistical challenge. Out-of-pocket payments, receipt hunts, and lengthy waits for reimbursements are all too common—and stressful.

Within the University of Illinois System, travel expense reporting takes just a few steps.

Using Uber’s Travel tool, U of I administrators can easily invite eligible faculty to join their institution’s business profile with Uber. Then, when a faculty member is ready to head to a conference, seminar, or other professional event, they simply switch to the university’s business profile in the Uber app and request their ride.

Trip costs are automatically billed to the university, and all transaction details flow right into U of I’s integrated expense reporting system. At month’s end, faculty assign the appropriate expense code to their rides and submit their reports. No spreadsheets, no receipt hunts, and no stress.

“Honestly, it’s one of the easiest programs we’ve ever launched—and our faculty aren’t shy with feedback.” says Melissa Plotner, Senior Director of University Payables.

For U of I administrators like Plotner, the Uber for Business dashboard makes it simple to manage a program that keeps thousands of faculty members on the move.

In the dashboard, higher education administrators can, among other actions:

“Once the program is configured, it requires very little ongoing management,” says Plotner. “Faculty get onboarding communications directly from Uber, and the program really runs itself.”

And with centralized oversight and data reporting, the U of I System has full visibility into travel activity across all campuses, making it easier to assess program performance. “I have data readily available to provide updates to senior leadership on spend and rider activity,” Plotner states.

Since partnering with Uber for Business: Higher Education, the University of Illinois System has expanded its use of the platform for its ground transportation needs. Uber now supports Bowl Week travel for athletes and coaches, symposium travel for the Office of the President, and campus visits for prospective faculty and graduate students.

For leading institutions like the University of Illinois System, academic and research travel are vital aspects of campus life. With an efficient business travel program, advancing innovation becomes that much easier.

Uber for Business: Higher Education is proud to partner with the University of Illinois on its mission to keep its faculty—and their ideas—on the move.

Interested in offering rides or meal delivery to your faculty, students, or staff with Uber? Uber for Business: Higher Education can help you create a program tailored to your needs.