Policies & Procedures

Pre-Travel

All business-related travel or travel reimbursements supported by University funds require a pre-travel request to the business office. All requests should be submitted via the online Pre-Travel Request Form at least 3 weeks before the anticipated travel date.

Faculty/PI approval

Those seeking funding support for travel should continue to communicate the travel request to the involved faculty/PI before submitting the form. Students, visiting scholars, technical staff, or any individuals seeking funding support from a faculty or PI should contact the involved faculty/PI prior to submitting the official travel request form. Faculty/PIs funding someone else's travel will now receive an approval request via Docusign, eliminating the need for hard signatures and improving accessibility to provide approval. The faculty/ PI should not be notified the first time when routing via Docusign. 

The admin team will continue to route the request to the designated fund manager to ensure adequate funding is available on the provided project prior to booking.

Faculty ALAS form requirement

To ensure compliance with campus and SPS policy, all faculty business-related travel longer than 7 calendar days will require Dean's Office approval via the Academic Leave & Sabbatical Form (ALAS). Your designated admin will help start the process when qualifying travel is requested.

Travel Insurance

Obtaining travel insurance is only required when not booking through Concur. All travel booked through Concur will have travel insurance automatically applied to the trip.

Travel Insurance Information

Post-Travel

Individuals seeking funding support from a faculty or PI must continue to submit their detailed list of final expenses via the Post Travel Expense Form for faculty/PI approval. Once approved and/or signed, all travelers must submit the signed Post Travel Expense Form along with their receipts to their assigned admin after their trip. Admin staff still need itemized receipts for booked travel and eligible travel expenses. These items can continue to be emailed to their designated admin with a brief summary of all expenses for which you are seeking reimbursement. 

Helpful Links

Travel Expenses and Reimbursement Information

University of California San Diego Business Travel Policy Highlights (Nov 2024)

Travel Receipts: Reimbursement Requirements

If you have any questions or concerns about this information, please either reach out to your assigned admin or to the A&A Admin Email (astroadmin@ucsd.edu). 

Travel and procurement expenses are posted and processed through the Concur System. All travel and procurements must have an associated receipt. 

Purchasing can happen either through a Procurement card (Express Card) or for travel (T&E Card). Other changes are also possible through the UC San Diego Oracle system.

Please submit all reimbursements to your assigned Fiscal Assistant.

Pre-Award: 

The space used by the Astronomy & Astrophysics department is governed by the A&A Space Policy.

Space Requests

Space Requests for yourself or for a visitor should be submitted by a member or affiliate of the department through the Astronomy & Astrophysics Space Request Form. If possible, please give at least two week's notice of an upcoming need for space. If you need a space more urgently, do fill out the form but also email astroadmin@ucsd.edu directly to notify of the urgent need. You will get a response with a proposed space within 10 days. 

If you would like a change in the space allocated to you within the department, for any reason, please submit the request through the Astronomy & Astrophysics Space Transfer Request Form and a member of the department administration will respond to discuss the request.

All requests for room reservations should be submitted to the A&A Room Reservation Form.

Before submitting a form, please check the room calendars for your desired room below to ensure that the room you are requesting is available on the proposed time/date: 

• SERF 383
• SERF 329
• Tea Room
• Marlar Library

A&A faculty, research members, graduate and undergraduate students can be issued keys for both office and laboratory space. This key policy is in place to safeguard and secure the assets of A&A including computers, equipment, supplies, etc. Keys will be issued to authorized personnel who are responsible to conduct research activities within the assigned space. Personnel should not loan keys to others nor should keys be duplicated. Doors must be locked upon leaving the area to maintain security.

Please email Anais Davalos for a key request with your specified PI.

Key Policy

1. The key request must be completed by the employee and signed by both the employee and their supervisor. A $15.00 key deposit will be collected and keys issued for office and laboratory space.
   
   
2. Building keys will not be issued since the Omnilock system is in place on the outside doors. The lock code can be provided by the MSO with a four digit key code to access the building after hours.
   
   
3. A $15.00 fee will be charged for all lost or misplaced keys and a new key will be issued.
   
   
4. When an employee separates from Astronomy and Astrophysics, all assigned keys must be returned. If a person transfers to another position within the University and possesses assigned keys that are no longer needed in the performance of their duties, these keys must be returned to the business office within five days. The key deposit will be reimbursed to the employee when keys have been returned. If an employee departs CASS and fails to return their keys then their deposit will be forfeited.

Astronomy and Astrophysics Department Generative AI (GenAI) Policy Fall 2024

Following campus AI and Academic Integrity guidelines (see also Generative AI and Using ChatGPT), each instructor/advisor will set GenAI policies for their classes and include a policy in their course syllabi, and for their research group, and will discuss expectations for GenAI usage for classwork and research with students and all research group members. For undergraduate student honors theses, graduate student qualifying exam reports, and PhD theses submitted to the department, GenAI tools can at most be used for light editing and, if so, must be cited appropriately following the AAS guidelines.

In general, the responsibility for any work product, including writing and coding, rests with the student or research group member. Beyond properly citing the usage of these tools, students and department members who use GenAI should always critically assess and reflect on its contribution to their work (see helpful resources below).

Some external AI-related academic integrity resources:

• AAAI reproducibility checklist for academic papers (for AI, but also applies more generally).
• Guidelines of how to use AI with integrity for academic work by Lamar University

The Department logos for major programmatic activities should use the official campus A&A logo. 

Download here: digital media A&A logo