In May 2017, a University of Alaska Travel and Expense Program assessment was conducted by Huron Consultants. They completed interviews with key stakeholders, representing staff and faculty from across the three main campus units, to assess the current travel program and identify optimization and enhancement opportunities. �

Key findings and observations:

• The current university travel system is no longer sustainable from a technological perspective, and must be replaced. Upgrades and enhancements are no longer supported by Banner (Ellician), and must be replaced to avoid the risks of trying to maintain it without the ability to upgrade.
• Travel policies, processes and procedures need to be streamlined to create the best overall experience for travelers, department/unit administrators and the institution.
• The system does not meet all of the needs of University of Alaska business travelers. It provides expense reimbursement but no support for travel planning or tools for the traveler’s convenience.

Over 150 key stakeholders engaged in the needs assessment, analysis and selection of Concur Travel & Expense System (Concur), or implementation processes.

The new Concur travel program serves a variety of needs. The convenience of streamlined booking, recording expenses, and reimbursement, as well as mobile apps to support them, were incentives for choosing Concur over other options. It also integrates well with third-party travel vendors.

For specific background details on the travel streamlining recommendations and the integrated travel solution discovery process, see the Project Implementation Groups guiding documents located at http://www.alaska.edu/travel/ua-travel-project/.

How is Concur being rolled out?

The university is scheduled to roll out the system incrementally rather than all-at-once. After the university completes the steps to make the system production-ready, a very small set of pilot users representing all campuses and statewide will have initial access to the production system.

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