Business Related Entertainment Guidelines

Business‐related entertainment must be directly related to the mission/purpose of the university and can be used for non‐travel and travel events.

• External guests (most often “Business Entertainment”)
  • Donors, prospective employees, community leaders
  • Athletic recruits, prospective students
  • Programmatic discussions with outside schools or community organizations
• Employees
  • Organized staff meeting
  • Professional development
  • Team building
• Employees and invited guests
  
  • Retirement party
  • Holiday party

TYPES OF EVENTS

On campus non‐travel events:

Applies to business‐related entertainment events that could be defined as either internal (i.e. includes UNCW employees and/or students) or external (i.e. includes participants outside UNCW).

On campus business‐related entertainment events serving food require catering by ARAMARK unless the food cost is under $250 or the event organizer has received a waiver in writing directly from ARAMARK.

On campus business‐related entertainment events including alcohol are subject to UNCW policy 5.303 Alcohol Policy and must be catered by ARAMARK.

Off campus non‐travel events:

Applies to employees and student groups participating in off campus activities for all university business‐related entertainment events that

• Are not in travel status (i.e. less than 35 miles from UNCW (duty station)),
• Have one employee acting as the host and incurring the entertainment expense for the entire group, and
• Occur any time of day (i.e. before, during, or after business hours).

If an employee or employee group is participating in an off campus business‐related entertainment event which includes travel expenses (such as mileage, parking, or other ground transportation) in addition to the entertainment expense, a pre‐approval must be submitted and approved in Chrome River Travel for the host prior to the event for both the travel and entertainment expenses. After the event, the host must submit an expense report with the required support documentation within 30 days of the event.

If an employee or employee group is participating in an off campus business‐related entertainment event with no travel expenses and only the entertainment expense, the host must submit the reimbursement request with the required support documentation in Chrome River Direct Pay within 30 days of the event. No travel pre‐approval or travel expense report will be required for any participants.

Venues subject to North Carolina ABC laws are the most appropriate off campus venues if alcohol will be served at a business‐related entertainment event. Business‐related entertainment events including alcohol in private homes is discouraged to protect the university and the participants.

ACCOUNT CODES FOR BUSINESS‐RELATED ENTERTAINMENT

• 953962 ‐ Business Entertainment (used when external guests are included)
• 953969 ‐ Entertainment Other (used with internal guests only)
• 953820 ‐ Adv/Alumni Fundraiser Entertainment (Advancement use only)
• 953979 ‐ Business Entertainment – Ath Teams (Athletics use only)
• 921810 ‐ Contracted Food Svc (used when ARAMARK is catering an on campus event)
• 932290 ‐ Assorted Food Products (used for on campus events when food cost is under $250)

REMINDERS

• General funds 1xxxxx cannot be used for entertainment expenses.
• A departmental Pcard cannot be used for entertainment expenses, with the exception of Advancement.
• PO’s should be used whenever possible to secure a venue for entertainment. Comments should be added to the pre‐approval/expense report or Direct Pay request in Chrome River with the PO# and vice versa with the Chrome River information added as a comment on the PO.
• If a UNCW employee or student is traveling in their own vehicle to participate in an off‐ campus business‐related event, they are personally responsible for motor vehicle accidents, moving violations, tickets and/or fines incurred while they are en route to or from the event.

4.30.2024