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Welcome to the Open Beta Test for the New Online Travel System

Thank you for your interest in the new travel approval and expense reporting system. Currently, the new system is only available for domestic travel. However, the goal is to add foreign travel at a future date.

We really appreciate any testing assistance and feedback you can offer. As an incentive, you may use the Beta Travel System for real SLAC trips. Just be sure to keep a paper copy of your Travel Authorization and Expense Report for your own records, since the database will be cleared at the end of the beta test.

In addition, please indicate in the "Purpose" area on your Travel Authorization Form whether the trip is a real one or a fictional trip created solely for testing.

Why did we need a complete redesign?

The primary goals for the new travel system are user friendliness, bug fixing, and maintainability. The old travel forms had certain design flaws that made it very difficult to fix bugs, add features, or make changes to accommodate new Department of Energy (DOE) regulations.

In addition, lack of e-mail validation meant it was easy for users to lose their authorization in the system by entering an invalid email address or even have the data wiped out completely.

With the redesign, we addressed some other fundamental problems of the old travel forms. The old forms relied on "magic" URLs for security. The new Travel System uses your Windows account to verify your permissions. Non-Windows users can still get Windows accounts, or they can have a Windows user fill out the form on their behalf. Since the new system uses real accounts instead of magic URLs, we are able to create a system that allows travelers to access their travel history.

You can view a Travel Authorization and the associated Expense Report if:
- you are the traveler; or
- you created the Travel Authorization; or
- you have been asked to approve the Travel Authorization; or
- you are on the "CC list" for the Travel Authorization; or
- you are a member of the Travel Office.

The new system has been enhanced with user-friendly features. People who use the system will have their own personalized start page. This page includes recent Travel Authorizations, Expense Reports, and any items that are waiting for approval. Furthermore, the new interface was designed with the principle that your data should be easily accessible. You will be able to go straight to any of your travel authorization or expense reports directly from the start page. When you are filling out or editing the travel authorization, you can easily navigate around the form and access the approval pages, the edit page, the print page, the expense report, or start page from any location within the travel authorization. Another nice new feature is the integration of the common travel locations into the Travel Authorization.

Of course, some things may seem more complicated in the new system. Change can present a challenge when we are used to a different system. In addition, some things in the new system actually are more complicated simply because DOE regulations have become more complicated.

The new travel system was designed from the ground up with flexibility and maintainability in mind. As with any new system, there will be new bugs. Please bear with us as we iron out the wrinkles. There is a feedback site dedicated to the new system. This Beta test is your opportunity to help us make the new system as easy to use as possible.

Getting Started

Jump right in! Go to the Beta Travel System Start Page and start filling out a new Travel Authorization. Please indicate in the "Purpose" section whether you are recording a real trip or just testing. Also, remember to keep hard copies of your documents for any real trips you enter into the system, as the system will be wiped clean at the end of the Beta test. We would like as many people as possible to fill out a new Travel Authorization, send it for approval, and then fill out an Expense Report.

The most important part of any Beta test is feedback! You will notice a feedback link at the bottom of every page in the system. Use the feedback site for bugs, feature requests, or any other comments you may have on the system. For questions about policy and regulations, please contact Alison Twombly (atwombly@slac.stanford.edu) in the Travel Reimbursement Office.