Candidate Interview Expenses & Reimbursement

To secure an interview, you may need to assist with a candidate's travel expenses. Learn more about managing expenses and reimbursement.

The faculty search fund may be used for overnight lodging, meals, transportation and advertisements.

On this page:

Overnight Lodging

The Provost’s Budget Office (PBO) will pay for a maximum of two nights for a faculty candidate visiting campus for an interview related to a faculty search.

Direct Bill Hotels

Towson University is currently contracted with the Sheraton Baltimore North and Hampton Inn/Home 2 Suites to house overnight guests with direct bill privileges. A form is required if the candidate is staying overnight. An account number IS required to book a direct bill reservation. Please also make the candidate aware that they will be required to supply a credit card to the hotel for incidental charges upon their arrival.

If the reservation is not for a faculty search, you will use use your department's budget code for the billing account. Towson University faculty are not permitted to charge meals to the candidate hotel room. They must pay for the meal and be reimbursed through Stratus.

Once the hotel-specific Overnight Lodging Form is completed, please email this form to . Be sure to include the confirmation number you receive from the hotel on the form prior to forwarding it to PBO. The PBO will send out a confirmation email to the candidate with important information regarding their upcoming reservation, transportation to and from the airport and reimbursement information.

Additional Hotel Options

The only hotels that we are contracted with for direct bill are the Sheraton and Hampton Inn/Home 2 Suites. If these hotels are sold out, the candidate will need to make their own reservation with one of our local hotels. We recommend contacting:

Please be advised that if using either one of these hotels, the candidate will need to pay for the hotel stay in its entirety and be reimbursed by the university along with their other expenses on the Candidate Reimbursement form submitted to them by the department.

Meal Ticket Request

Meal tickets are available through the PBO for on campus dining. You are allowed three meal tickets, per candidate, per search. To request meal tickets:

  1. Complete the form, Faculty Search – Request for Meal Tickets (PDF).
  2. Submit via email to the Provost's Budget Office, pbo@towson.edu.

Wendy will contact you via email when your tickets are ready to be picked up. If additional meal tickets are needed (faculty/staff/department guests, etc), you can complete Aramark’s meal ticket request form. For questions regarding Aramark's meal ticket request form, please contact Kelsey Wallace, wallace-kelsey1@aramark.com. Please be advised that additional meal tickets will be charged to your department’s budget code.

Candidate Reimbursement Form

Once the candidate has returned home from their visit to TU, the department will send the candidate a Candidate Reimbursement form via DocuSign.

  • “Initiator” is the person completing the form.
  • “Candidate” is the person who interviewed for the position.
  • “Dept Chair/Search Chair” is the person who will be signing for the department (not for the funding, just signing off that the candidate came to campus for the interview).
  • To complete the form:
    • click “Begin Signing”
    • complete ALL blocks highlighted in red
    • click “Finish”

This automatically moves the form to the candidate. The candidate will complete the form, including a W-9 which is attached to the “Reimbursement Form.” Attach all receipts, and include a map showing miles to/from, if requesting mileage reimbursement.

Please note that upgrades for travel and rental cars are not allowable reimbursement expenses. Receipts for all meals are required (itemized and credit card receipt are required).

Candidates Completing a W9

Candidates completing a W9 that do not have a U.S. address should complete the W9 by inputting “MD” for the state and “00000” for the zip code. They should enter their entire address in the “Street Address” field. Also, if the candidate does not have a social security number, the candidate should input “000-00-0000.” The “State,” “Zip Code” and “Social Security Number” fields are required fields and must be completed.

Form Submission

Once the candidate has signed the reimbursement form, the form will then be routed to chair/search chair for approval and to PBO/AP for processing. It takes approximately 3-4 weeks for the candidate to receive payment.

The candidate will receive detailed instructions in their confirmation email regarding the reimbursement process.

Additional Qualifying Reimbursement Requests

If the faculty is dining with the candidate at the hotel, the faculty should pay for the entire meal (including the candidate), obtain the credit card and itemized receipt from the hotel and be reimbursed through TU’s Stratus system. Parking can be included as well. Please see instructions on how faculty can be reimbursed for any faculty meal with a candidate below. Please note: Faculty expenses cannot be charged to the candidate’s hotel room.

Employee (non-travel) reimbursements are in the expense module in Stratus. You will use account 1012-16810-604014. Please be sure to attach all necessary receipts. Please also include the search number and names of the attendees for all meals and enter the candidate’s name under “Comments.”

Total charges exceeding the eligible per diem reimbursement amounts (below) should be charged to the responsible department's non-personnel/operating budget and NOT to 1012-16810-604014. Amounts exceeding the per diem reimbursement amounts will be denied and reimbursement requests will need to be resubmitted.

Per Diem Faculty Reimbursement Rates

Per diem faculty reimbursement rates cover 3 people maximum: the candidate and up to two faculty members (no exceptions):

  • breakfast — $15 per person ($45 maximum, over per diem amount can be charged to department funds)
  • lunch — $20 per person ($60 maximum, over per diem amount can be charged to department funds)                                   
  • dinner — $35 per person ($105 maximum, over per diem amount can be charged to department funds)