University Daily Kansan, March 6, 1985
Page 8.
CAMPUS AND AREA
KU staff can charge it with free credit cards
By TAD CLARKE Staff Reporter
The phrase has more meaning to KU employees now that Kansas has agreed with American Express Co. to offer the company's credit card to state employees free of charge.
American Express — don't leave home without it.
In November, the Kansas Department of Administration contracted with American Express to issue credit cards, free of the regular annual service charge of $35, to any state employee wanting one.
L. Martin Jones, associate director of business affairs, yesterday said that about 500 of the free credit cards had been issued to KU employees. The Express green card and is similar to the company's corporate credit card.
The idea behind the system is to have state employees avoid using their own money to pay for travel expenses, said Nick Roach, director of the division of purchases of the Department of Administration.
DEPARTMENT OF BOACH SAID THAT in the past, employees have had to pay hotel, meal and travel bills themselves because the state didn't issue travel expenses in advance.
With the credit cards, employees may charge their travel expenses and be reimbursed by the state before they have to pay the credit card bill.
Roach said, "It's a natural opportunity for an employee to not tie up his own cash."
nbut bw- The credit cards are available to all full-time classified and unclassified employees at the University, Jones said. About 3,500 to 4,000 KU employees are eligible for the cards.
Rouch said that about 7,000 employees in the state had the credit cards. He said he expected that about 10,000 would end up getting the cards
JONES AND ROACH said they had received their cards and said that although they had not used them yet, they planned to when the time came.
"I've used it several times for personal business," Jones said. "I probably will drop my other cards."
Unlike other credit cards, such as VISA and MasterCard, a person must pay at the end of each month for all American Express charges made. No interest charges are tacked onto American Express bills.
By using a credit card system to pay for state travel expenses, Roach said, he would have records of the cost of services being charged and where they were being charged. Roach said he would use the information to try to negotiate with some businesses for discounts.
"IF A CHAN such as Holiday is "doing a large amount of business with the state of Kansas, we will try to get a discount with them," he said.
to get a discount with them, he said. Roach said he was unsure how big those discounts could be.
these misuse "It could enhance our buying power by 10 percent or more," he said.
Roch said American Express had made agreements with other states that were similar to those made with Kansas. But he said no other state had received the cards free of the annual charge.
Roach said that when his department began looking for a company to supply the credit cards, the bid proposal made it clear that the state didn't want to pay for the service.
service. The state has a three-year contract with American Express and an option to renew it for two more years.
American Express and Diner's Club were the only companies that submitted bids. Both agreed to waive the annual service charge.
"we then had to look at other criteria," Roach said. "More places in Kansas and other states use American Express."
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The Senate meets at 7 p.m. in the Big Eight Room of the Kansas Union.
The Student Senate tonight may vote on a bill that would give the Black Student Union $4,500 to bring Louis Farrakhan, controversial Black Separatist leader, and two other speakers to campus later this month for a lecture series.
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The lecture series would be in conjunction with Alpha Week, sponsored by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Farrakhan would speak March 28, and Andrew Mayor and Emily Mayor and Emily City, Kansas City, Mo., city councilman, would speak March 18.
Before the bill to finance the speakers' visits goes to the full Senate for discussion, it must be approved by the University Events Committee. The committee, which must approve important campus events before they take place, is scheduled to meet at 3:30 p.m. today in the Governor's Room of the Kansas Union.
SENATOR'S ALSO plan to vote on the Finance Committee's recommended allocations to 20 revenue code student groups for fiscal year 1866. The committee's recommendations include a $1 increase in each student's activity, fee, from $24 to $25, for the fall and spring semesters of the 1985-86 school year.
Revenue code groups, such as Legal Services for Students and Robinson Gymnasium, are large organizations that offer free services to request money from the Senate every two years but receive funds annually.
The player, Roderick Timmons is on athletic scholarship.
THE BILL SAYS the recommended allocations by the Finance Committee will not be enough to meet the needs of some revenue code groups. The organization by the $3 increase be distributed among revenue code groups that show a need for more money.
Timmons was convicted last year of sexual battery, a misdemeanor, after an incident in Jayhawker Towers last March.
Another bill on tonight's agenda calls for a $3 increase in the student activity fee. Under this proposal, students would pay $27 for the activity fee in the fall and spring semesters next school year.
Another issue facing the Senate tonight is a petition requesting that a football player's scholarship be revoked and that he be removed from the team.
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