Systems and Procedures
A Division of The Office of Budget and Finance
A Division of The Office of Budget and Finance
It is the policy of the University to utilize Consultants in a legitimate and economical way in order to obtain specialized expert and professional opinion or advice in the course of attempting to improve the quality of services and operations of the University, fulfilling its mission of teaching, research, and service. Such external opinion or advice is to be sought and procured only when an individual with the proper knowledge and skills cannot be located internally to provide this service as part of their normal job responsibility, or as a Collaborator.
The Consulting Justification form , along with the review of the other forms and documents listed below, is necessary for a department to initiate the procurement of a consultant.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PROCURE A CONSULTANT BEFORE READING AND UNDERSTANDING THE CONTENTS OF THE FORMS AND DOCUMENTS LISTED BELOW.
To procure a consultant, the following information must be reviewed:
Once the user has reviewed the policy and procedure, only the Determination of Independent Contractor/Employee Status and the Consulting Justification Form are needed to procure a consultant.
To view document exhibits, click on link below:
Consulting Justification Exhibit
No form may be used that substitutes for an approved official University form without prior review and approval by the steward of the form/central office, as facilitated by the Office of Systems and Procedures (designated representative of the Associate Vice President for Budget and Finance). See Policy FN17 - Required Use of Approved University Forms Appearing in the General University Reference Utility (GURU) for full details.
GURU PDF forms are designed for use with Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat Pro. Each browser (Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.) has a built-in PDF viewer making it the default PDF viewer without asking users. These built-in viewers do not necessarily support all features required for PDF forms. Similarly, many calculations are not supported by other stand-alone PDF readers (for example, Nuance). If you experience problems downloading or opening documents, right click on the link on the Forms Locator Screen, select 'Save Link As' (or similar language) and save the file. The document can then be opened in either Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat Pro from the saved location.
The latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader is available for free. Contact your IT support staff person for downloading assistance, if/as needed. An Adobe Creative Cloud (CC) account is also available to all Penn State students, faculty, and staff members, at no cost. Sign up for an Adobe Creative Cloud account at adobe.psu.edu. If Adobe Acrobat Pro better suits your needs, contact your IT support staff person for purchasing and installation assistance.
If you encounter any difficulties, contact the GURU support staff by submitting a Technical Support Form request or by calling the tech support line at 814-863-8592.
| Ultimate Distribution: | Retention Periods: | |
|---|---|---|
| Original | Purchasing Services | Refer to Financial Record Retention Schedule |
For the Applied Research Lab and Hershey Medical Center attach the approved Consulting Justification Form to the Purchase Order Requisition and submit for normal approval and processing through the respective purchasing departments.
For eBuy+ requisitions, attach the approved Consulting Justification Form and submit to Purchasing Services for normal approval and processing.
For questions, additional details, or to request changes to this form, contact Procurement Services.
(05-23-16)