Dear Faculty Colleagues:

As some of you may know, there are many pathways at NYU when it comes to buying things, hiring people, engaging service providers, seeking reimbursement and so on.  In order to get you what you need as quickly and efficiently as possible – and to avoid costly missteps which can bog down requests – I’d like to provide you with the following FAQ that might help guide you and inform your planning.  We are here to help you – please just ask anytime you have questions – we welcome that!   

Contact:  Shirley Lin  sl5244@nyu.edu

There is a full NYU purchasing overview at this link  if you really want to dig into it but I have laid out the main points below:

​​https://www.nyu.edu/employees/resources-and-services/financelink/buying-paying.html

iBuy for supplies and equipment purchases:

This is NYU’s procurement and payment system – there are hundreds of approved vendors in iBuy – they offer NYU excellent pricing and service and fast delivery – iBuy is always the preferred way to go.  

If you need an item – a piece of equipment – quickly, before you look elsewhere, please connect with me or Rob to see if it is available via iBuy.

If what you need cannot be found via iBuy we will help you explore other options.

We strongly recommend that you NOT just take it upon yourself to order something without checking with us first.

iBuy for service providers:

There may be times when you want to hire someone to assist you or provide a professional service (ind. contractor) – these kinds of services are also processed via iBuy.

For the above we are required by NYS law to provide the outside Independent Contractor with a simple contract BEFORE the work is agreed upon and executed.   I can help guide you through this process – just ask.

Note – you cannot hire someone to provide a service and pay them via an honorarium – this will be flagged and create problems for the dept.

Paying NYU people for things:

In general we should never be offering NYU colleagues on the faculty or staff payments for services or help  – if you believe you need to pay a full-time faculty or staff member – or an adjunct faculty member for something please speak with the Chair before you commit to anything!   It may not be possible.

Hiring Students:

You must follow the normal pathway for hiring a student – you need to have a budget in place for it, which also covers note only the current rate of pay, but also a substantial amount of fringe benefits (which adds 30% or more to the cost)  – again, I can guide you if this is a direction you wish to go in.

It is never acceptable to invite a student to start working before they have been formally hired and “just get them paid later…”  Please do not do this!