The AIAA Region IV 2008 Student Conference Organizing Committee would like to have every student member in Region IV attend the conference; however, the fiscal reality is that there are limited funds. Therefore, we must outline who will be eligible for travel reimbursement. Travel costs will be reimbursed for attendees that are AIAA Student Members (AIAA Student Member number required) outside the Houston area. All presenters will be eligible for travel reimbursement. The number of non-presenting students from a given AIAA Student Branch that are eligible for travel cost reimbursement depends upon the mode of travel (see below). Students should coordinate attendance and travel with their faculty advisor. This same policy applies to students from unaffiliated universities (those without a formal AIAA Student Branch).

Commercial Air: The number of AIAA student members from each Student Branch who travel to Houston by commercial airlines and are eligible for reimbursement cannot exceed two times the number of presenters (technical or team design) from that Branch. Each technical paper presenter counts as one and each team design presentation counts as two, regardless of the number of people actually making the presentation. For these students, plus one faculty advisor per AIAA Student Branch, who are registered for the AIAA Region IV Student Conference and who are traveling from distances greater than 400 miles outside of the Houston area, the Student Conference Organizing Committee will reimburse the actual cost of airline tickets up to a maximum amount of $100 (roughly equal to half the price of a Southwest Airlines fourteen-day advanced purchase, nonrefundable airfare with all fees and taxes included). Unfortunately, we cannot purchase tickets for the attendees; however, a Committee member will be available at the conference to write a reimbursement check upon confirmation of registration and presentation of a copy of the attendee's airline itinerary or receipt itemizing the cost of the tickets. We need to retain the copy for auditing purposes, so please bring a copy that we can keep.

If delegates coming from >400 miles away choose to drive instead of fly, reimbursements will be given at the driving rate listed below up to a maximum reimbursement of $100 per person.

Driving: For those attendees coming from distances less than 400 miles away your reimbursement is based on round trip driving mileage. The driving reimbursement will be $0.10/mile/person per vehicle for the driver and $0.05/mile/person for each passenger (i.e. if you have two attendees in your car reimbursement is $0.15/mile, three people is $0.2/mile) The mileage used for reimbursement calculations is computed as one round trip by the most direct, logical route between Houston and the respective university.

If attendees coming from less than 400 miles away choose to fly instead of drive, transportation costs will be the responsibility of the attendee and will not be reimbursed.

Rental Cars: At this time, the conference is unable to reimburse any costs associated with havng to rent a car for the conference. Arrangements for transportation from Houston Hobby Airport (HOU) to the conference hotel and back for delegates arriving/departing by air are being investigated. Further details will be posted here at a later date.

Any questions about the above policy should be directed to the Conference Chair