The UW System Board of Regents recently approved contracts regarding travel management services for the UW System. Beginning July 1, 2020, our travel management services will be handled by three separate providers, based on the unique services required. Our existing contract with Fox World Travel will expire on June 30, 2020. This change will provide specialized service to the various travel planners and travel arrangers and will result in significant savings for UW System.
UW System will move from a single service provider to three vendors based upon the type of service required:
- Employee Services will use Travel Incorporated based out of Duluth, GA
- University Group Block Services(10 or more on same flight and/or hotel) will use Fox World Travel based out of Oshkosh, WI
- Athletic Services will use Short’s Travel Management based out of Waterloo, IA. UW-Madison is exempt because of its pre-existing contract with a travel management agency for similar services.
What Will Change
- New travel rate calculator (lodging maximums and meal per diems)
- Rollout of Concur app and Travel Incorporated app to book and view reservations on mobile devices
- Most employees will be working with a new travel agency and travel agent team
- UW System will administer the TravelWise website
What Remains the Same
- Concur will be used for any online travel reservations (but will be fulfilled and invoiced by a different travel agency)
- Corporate card policy and vendor
- Ability to use an agent for service
- 24/7 agency coverage is available, with a dedicated UW team during core business hours
Next Steps
- The UW System Travel Management Services Office and Project Management Office will jointly form an implementation plan with input from travel stakeholder groups to ensure a successful transition
- Each of the vendor implementations will carry out the transition plan as guided by contract and core team
We will be reaching out to travel planners, employees, and faculty in the coming months to make them aware of the upcoming changes and training opportunities to use the new travel planning systems. Please contact me with any questions.
Elizabeth Dressel
Director of Travel Management Services
UW System Administration
edressel@uwsa.edu
(608) 263-0873