Graduate Student Research Travel - Approver Instructions

All exceptions for university-affiliated travel must be approved by the traveler’s 1) department chair or director of graduate studies; and 2) appropriate senior administrator (school dean or associate dean). By approving the request, the dean or dean’s designee has determined that the articulated benefits to the University outweigh the risks associated with the travel. The exception must also be acknowledged by the provost.

View information for graduate student applicants.

Once an application is submitted, it will follow the workflow outlined below:

First Level of Approval: Chair or Director of Graduate Studies
Second Level of Approval: Senior administrator defined by School/College
Third Level of Approval: Provost

Multiple contacts have been identified at each level to ensure process efficiency – only one approval is required at each level. Please contact Julie_Montaigne@unc.edu to make changes to the list for your program.

Approvers will receive an email notification through the Rapid Admin Service Request (RASR) system when an application is ready for review and approval. Instructions for submitting an approval are below:

Select “The Graduate School” under the Group Selection tab and access the application materials through the “Approver Inbox” on the left side of the screen.
Click any part of the application information row to access the application.
Select the “Routing” tab in the upper menu.
Click the “Record Approval” button. You have the option to “Approve”, “Return”, or “Cancel Approval” (if appropriate).
- Select “Approve” to continue the workflow.
- Select “Return” to deny the application and return it to the applicant. You must include a reason with this decision.
- Select “Cancel Approval” to return the application to the previous step in the workflow. You must include a reason with this decision.

Once all approvals have been granted, the applicant will receive an email notification. Decisions are final and cannot be appealed.