Travel Registry's trip approval functionality helps to enforce trip safety compliance by routing trips to designated approvers. Trip approvers and approval chains are customizable, and can be as simple or complex as the trip necessitates.
This article discusses the following topics:
- Access and Permissions
- Approval Setup and Configuration
- Approver Perspective
- Administrative Approval View
- Approval History for a Trip
- Adding Approvers
Access and Permissions
Approval Workflow Configuration
The Workflows tab is accessed by navigating to Travel Admin>Workflows.
In order to access the Workflows tab one must be in the following permissions group:
- Travel Admin
Approver Permissions
To become an approver, a user does not need to be part of any specific permissions group. Instead, users can be designated as an approver by a travel admin during the "Then approve by" step of configuring a workflow. If an approval requires a committee or group vote, the approvers will need to be added to a custom permission group, but that group does not need any permissions assigned to it. Approvers will receive an email notification requesting their approval upon a workflow being activated.
Approval Setup and Configuration
Adding Approvers
Approvers are added to the system by navigating to Travel Admin>Workflows and designating user(s) as approver(s) on a new or pre-existing workflow during the "Then approve by" step of a workflow:
Creating Approval Workflows
Approvals processes are created using Travel Registry Workflows. Visit the Travel Registry: Workflow Configuration article to learn more.
Admins can select between a simple or sequential approval process. New approval steps are added by clicking the plus icon and choosing one of these types.
Simple Approval
A simple approval requires approval from only one individual, a single member from a designated group of individuals, or a committee. For example, one can say that any member of their "Departmental Approvers" staff group can approve this trip. To do this, they would choose a simple approval, choose “Group” and select “Departmental Approvers” group.
Multiple simple approvals can be configured by clicking the plus + icon in the bottom right of the modal. However, if multiple simple approvals are set up, all approvers will be sent the approval request at the same time. To create an approval chain, where approvals are sent to approvers in a sequence depending on the approver's decision before them, see the following section on sequential approvals.
Sequential Approval
If the approval process requires an approval chain, the "sequential" approval type comes in handy.
Like simple approvals, sequential approvals can be used to designate specific people who are permitted to approve trips for specific travelers, based on the traveler’s profile information. In addition to this, sequential approvals allow for an ordered, multi-step approval process.
For this example, let’s say that a trip meeting certain conditions needs to be approved by the traveler's departmental approver. It would look something like this:
This configuration says students in the Art department will need approval from an approver in the Art department, a Computer Science student will need approval from an approver in Computer Science, etc.
This can be set up with any custom parameters created in Travel Admin>Settings>Profile Mappings. Admins can also select any approver group for this. If a matching approver cannot be found, the approval will instead go to the alternate approver(s) set in Travel Admin>Settings>Other.
Now, let’s say that after being approved by their department leader, they need approval from a leader in their college. To allow for this, we can add a second step to our sequential approval. If we set this up, once the department leader signs off, the college approver will be notified via email and will need to approve.
In some cases, unrelated simple approvals, or sequential approvals may need to be requested irrespective of each other. To allow for this, admins can set up a second approval process (simple or sequential) that will run in parallel in with the first. The two approval groups will operate with AND logic. In this example below, when the trip is first saved, the Department Approver who matches the traveler’s department will be sent a notification AND the Travel Admin group will be notified.
As the approvals are configured on separate approval chains, the user's approval will have no bearing on the approval process for the department and college approvers. However, all three people must give approval before this trip is approved.
Approver Perspective
Approval Needed Notification and Approval Process
Approvers listed in an approval workflow process are notified that a trip requires their attention via email:
The email will contain the traveler’s name and basic trip details. Clicking the HERE link will take the approver to the Approval Request page where they can review and indicate their approval. The approver does not need to log in to Travel Registry to access Approval Request page.
The approver will be able to access and view the traveler’s full itinerary, their profile, the responses they submitted, any essential content submitted (including signature forms and uploads), and the status of any other approvals that were required. If this is an approval request for a group trip, the approver will also be able to see the roster of travelers.
To help the approver make a more informed decision, a link to country intelligence details appears on the itinerary screen of the trip approval interface. Approvers can click on the flag for each destination to link to this critical information. From the country intelligence screen, approvers can also opt to view more information about the DOS and CDC risk ratings. In addition, the itinerary screen displays the AlertTraveler, DOS, and CDC risk ratings for all trip destinations.
Approvers will also see the number of outstanding approval requests in the upper right hand corner of the approval screen, as well as an option to download a PDF version of the approval request.
On the Approval tab, the approver can
- approve or deny the trip
- leave a public note that the traveler, other approvers, and admins can see
- leave an internal note that the other approvers and admins can see
Notes can be submitted without submitting a decision about the trip.
The traveler will be notified of the decision and see the message left for them. If another approver is next in line in a sequential approval and the trip is approved, the that approver will receive the email requesting approval.
Approver Passcode Verification
Note: If “Approver Passcode Verification” is enabled in the Settings (see our article entitled Travel Registry: Settings for more information on Settings and "Approver Passcode Verification"), the approver will be directed to this verification modal to enter a verification code before being able to access the approval screen:
A separate email will be sent to the approver’s email address containing the verification code:
If Approver Passcode Verification is disabled, clicking the “HERE” link from the email takes the approver directly to the approval screen.
Administrative Approval View
The trip will show the approval decision(s) and as well as any notes. If the note is internal it will be indicated by the words Internal Only:
If an approver is unable to submit a decision using the email sent (they lost the email or are out of office, for example), the admin can submit a decision on behalf of the approver. Navigate to the Approval History tab of the trip and click the edit pencil to the right of the "Pending" status.
Clicking the edit pencil will open the "Approval on Behalf" modal where the admin will see the approver's name, have the ability to enter a note (public and private), as well as submit a decision. In the chance multiple people are able to approve as the approval request was sent to a group, the admin would be prompted to select the approver from a dropdown.
The approval log will also show who submitted the decision, as well as any notes (same as if the approver submitted a decision directly).
Trip Approval History
Every trip requiring approval has an Approval History tab available on the trip details page. This history shows the levels of approval for the trip as well as all approvers. Each approver with an available profile in the system will be clickable, shown by the hand icon available when hovering over an approver's name/email:
Clicking the approvers name will show that approver's profile, allowing you to compare the approver to the workflow criteria to ensure the correct approvers are receiving the approval requests.