Getting on payroll
Getting on payroll is the first step in your receiving a Penn Card, a PennKey, and a Penn email account. All of these are required in order for you to use other teaching resources at Penn, including Canvas, the instructional platform.
If your home department is not LPS, please contact your home department’s Business Office to have them put you on payroll. If your home department is LPS, please contact Barbara Baldwin Mears at (215) 898-0888 or barbb@sas.upenn.edu.
The documents that you will need to take to the business office are generally a copy of the HR application form, a copy of your appointment letter, an Employee Information Form, Form I-9, Form W-4, and an application for direct deposit (if you wish). These forms can be found through the Office of the Comptroller.
Documents to be submitted to LPS
At LPS, we maintain electronic files for each course we offer. For this reason, we ask each instructor to send us via email their course syllabus with their course description included, as well as an up-to-date copy of their CV. These materials should be emailed to Joseph Hallman at your earliest convenience. In the upcoming academic year, if there are any changes to your CV or syllabus, please notify LPS.
Penn ID, email and PennCard
- Obtaining Your PennKey:
All LPS instructors are required to obtain a PennKey. A PennKey is used to authenticate, or verify, an individual's identity and to access many of Penn's networked computer systems and services. Authorized users need a PennKey and password to access resources like Courses InTouch, Canvas, certain library resources, and public campus computers. A PennKey is also required to obtain a Penn email account. Because much of what you do at Penn will require a PennKey password, you should select and register your PennKey as soon as possible after being put on payroll. Read more information about PennKeys. - Establishing your email account:
We require our instructors to have a Penn email address to communicate with Penn students, faculty, and staff. In addition, LPS and other Penn offices will use your Penn email address to send you important information. To establish an email account, you first must have a PennKey and PennKey password. If your home department is in the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS), you can create your email account through SAS Computing. If your home department is outside SAS, please contact your home department for instructions to create your email account. - Submitting information for the On-Line Directory:
We require our instructors to list their Penn contact information in the Penn On-Line Directory so that others can contact you as soon as you arrive on campus. Please make updates on the website under My Personal Data. You will need a PennKey to access the directory. - Obtaining your PennCard:
All LPS instructors are required to obtain a PennCard, the official University of Pennsylvania identification for students, faculty, and staff. The PennCard provides access to University facilities and services, including the library. To obtain a PennCard, bring a valid form of photo ID (driver's license, passport, etc.) to the PennCard Center, located on the 2nd floor of the Penn Bookstore, 3601 Walnut Street. Only instructors currently on payroll may receive a PennCard, which should be carried at all times. Read more information about obtaining a PennCard.
How to establish a Canvas site for your course
The simplest and quickest way to have a Canvas site set up for your course is to use the online request form. Instructors, or those acting on behalf of instructors, may use this form. After you submit your request, your course(s) will typically be available within one to two days. Students enrolled in your course will be given access to the Canvas site automatically, usually within 24 hours of the site's creation, as long as they have a Penn email address.
Policies on photocopying
LPS instructors should contact their home or affiliated department to have copies of syllabi, student assignments, and exams made for their courses. Most departments limit the amount of photocopying each instructor can do within the department. Please note that some departments have eliminated photocopying or restricted it severely in light of budget constraints. If you have course readings and other substantial documents to copy, you should arrange with Campus Copy Center or Wharton Reprographics to make a bulk pack available for your students to purchase, or you should work with Electronic Reserve in Van Pelt Library to have the readings scanned for your students to access through Canvas. LPS will not photocopy course materials for instructors, nor will we reimburse instructors for photocopying at a copy center.
Campus Copy Center
3907 Walnut Street
Phone: (215) 386-6410
Fax: (215) 386-6268
Wharton Reprographics
400 Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall, 3620 Locust Walk
Phone: (215) 898-9945
Electronic reserve in Van Pelt
Office hours
LPS instructors are required to schedule office hours for students who may require assistance outside the classroom. Office hours are particularly important for students in courses requiring quantitative analysis, synthesis, intensive writing, research, or project development. Most instructors poll their classes on the first day to determine the most convenient day/time for the majority of people, as well as offering office hours by appointment.
Instructors should check with their home department to see whether there is any available space to use for office hours. Another way to find an available space is to request space from the Registrar’s office after the first full week of classes each semester by visiting the Classroom Technology Services website and filling out the Academic Event request form
Ordering books
There are three bookstores on or near campus used by Penn faculty to order course books.
- Penn Bookstore: The official bookstore of the University of Pennsylvania, run by Barnes and Noble.
Phone: (215) 898-7595
coursebk@pobox.upenn.edu - AbeBooks.com: Another independent academic bookstore serving the university community.
