Over 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 task.
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.
No spreadsheets, no stress
For academic staff travellers at any institution, attending conferences and seminars can be a logistical challenge. Out-of-pocket payments, searching for receipts, and long waits for reimbursements are all too common—and stressful.
Within the University of Illinois System, submitting travel expenses only takes a few steps.
By using the Uber Travel tool, U of I administrators can easily invite eligible faculty members to join their institution’s business profile with Uber. Then, when a faculty member is ready to attend 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 straight into U of I’s integrated expense reporting system. At the end of the month, faculty assign the appropriate expense code to their rides and submit their reports. No spreadsheets, no searching for receipts, and no stress.
“Honestly, it’s one of the easiest programmes we’ve ever launched—and our faculty aren’t shy with feedback,” says Melissa Plotner, Senior Director of University Payables.
A flexible dashboard, designed to move
For U of I administrators like Plotner, the Uber for Business dashboard makes it easy to manage a programme that keeps thousands of faculty members on the move.
In the dashboard, higher education administrators can, among other actions:
- Set policies for spending/trip allowance, locations, vehicle types, and days/hours of use;
- Toggle rider access on or off, based on need or department;
- Automatically generate insights and reports showing spend per rider, location, and time period
“Once the programme is configured, it requires very little ongoing management,” says Plotner. “Faculty receive onboarding communications directly from Uber, and the programme really runs itself.”
And with centralised oversight and data reporting, the U of I System has full visibility into travel activity across all campuses, making it easier to assess programme performance. “I have data readily available to provide updates to senior leadership on spend and rider activity,” Plotner states.
Oh, the places we’ll go
Since partnering with Uber for Business: Higher Education, the University of Illinois System has expanded its use of the platform for its ground transport needs. Uber now supports Bowl Week travel for athletes and coaches, symposium travel for the Office of the President, and campus visits for prospective staff and postgraduate students.
Shaping the future of mobility
For leading institutions such as the University of Illinois System, academic and research travel are vital aspects of campus life. With an efficient business travel programme, advancing innovation becomes that much easier.
Uber for Business: Higher Education is proud to partner with the University of Illinois in its mission to keep its staff—and their ideas—on the move.
More information
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 programme tailored to your needs.