Special Consultant

In the CSU, a "Special Consultant" is a professional, exempt, temporary employee who has extensive, demonstrated experience in a particular area or specialty in which services are required for a defined period of time. The faculty special consultant appointment is an assignment that draws upon the faculty member's particular knowledge, ability, or expertise. Appointments are generally made to complete a project with a defined scope of work and tangible outcomes. The work performed by a Special Consultant is considered non-bargaining unit work.

Examples: Install and calibrate laboratory equipment; re-write qualifying exams for a department; complete evaluation of university services; research and submit report on graduation rates for a college.

There is no accrual of benefits such as sick leave, vacation, health and dental benefits. The individual is covered by workers' compensation and unemployment insurance. Subject to social security and/or Medicare deductions. Background check required. Given the constraints imposed by Article 36 of the CBA, the funding sources for special consultants typically must be from non-general funds.

Note: The special consultant job category is the most ill-used work classification. If there are duties for part-time or full-time faculty to perform in summer, winter, or special session, generating an appointment or adding additional FTE to their time base is likely the more proper way to compensate the faculty member. During regular sessions, full-time faculty members forced into overload (greater than 1.0 FTE) will most often fit criteria for Category 2403. Part-time faculty should most often be appointed with additional time base in their regular appointment. Please scrutinize the requirements for special consultant appointments prior to using that job classification.

Process Information

Faculty special consultant projects require submission and approval of 1) a pre-approval form—before any work begins, and 2) a payment voucher—after milestones and/or total project completion. Special consultant appointments may be thought of as contractual relationships. Labor is not compensated for time spent on tasks. Departments are expected to withhold payment until project completion (all specified tasks adequately completed).

Vouchers are limited to monthly submissions of work completed for up to 2 hours on duty days and up to 10 hours on non-duty days within the payroll dates of the month. A full time faculty member who works 40 hours per week can work an additional 10 hours per week (2 hours per each duty day or 10 hours on a non-duty day in a week) in Additional Employment, for a total of 50 hours per week (40 hours in primary position + 10 hours in Additional Employment = 50 hours per week total). Payment is not made until vouchers are submitted. Vouchers are not submitted if work is not completed.

The Special Consultant is paid at an hourly rate, once per month in a Special Consultant-Hourly job code of 4662.

Special Consultant Pre-Approval Request

Detailed scope of work with timelines must be submitted for approval.

  • Work shall not begin without prior approval.
  • Approval may not be granted for work purported to have already been completed.
  • Timeline may not exceed one year.

Hourly rate is determined by one of these two methods:

  • For AY faculty, take the current annual compensation rate (based on 1.0 FTE) and divide by 170 days. Then divide by 8 hours.
  • For 12 month faculty, take the current annual compensation rate (based on 1.0 FTE) and divide by 260 days. Then divide by 8 hours.

The pay rate must meet and/or exceed the minimum hourly pay rate. The minimum hourly pay rate is $17.95.

To learn more about making this type of appointment in OnBase, please visit: Special Consultant Pre-Approval Guide.

Special Consultant Payment Request

The Project Lead, upon receiving a report and confirming work was completed by the faculty member, reviews the accomplishments. If they determine that a milestone or project completion is reached, the Project Lead will notify the Department Contact to initiate the Payment Request form. Submitting the Payment Request form to Faculty Services is affirmation that the Project Lead is fully satisfied with progress or that the assignment is complete. In cases where the Project Lead is not satisfied with progress, they should contact the AVP of Faculty Services.

The department contact will initiate payment based on the agreed upon deliverables on the Special Consultant Pre-Approval. The department contact will complete all sections of the Special Consultant Payment form. The position number must link to a special consultant classification in job code 4662. If the department doesn't have a position number, please submit a Position Management Action Form to have one created.

To avoid errors, check that:

  • A detailed description of the scope of work is provided, which includes the project or event name.
  • Department Name and Department ID match the information for position number in PeopleSoft.
  • The Special Consultant position number should have an effective date that is on or before the appointment effective date.
  • Dates worked are, at most, 10 hours on faculty non-duty days or 2 hours on faculty duty-days. See faculty academic calendar for these dates.
  • Faculty cannot receive multiple appointments on the same date of work.
  • The approval routing of the pre-approval and payment forms should match.
  • If approvers are updated (i.e. out on vacation), department should update the approver but include a note in the Comments section.
  • Approvers should review all information for accuracy before approving.

Submit the Special Consultant Payment Form to Faculty Services. The status of the form will reflect "Addtl Employment Review" when being reviewed by Faculty Servicers. If it is approved, Faculty Services will route to the Payroll/Personnel (PPTS) team for processing. Once PPTS processes the payment, the status will change to "PPTS Completed" and it can take approximately 2 weeks or more for the State Controller's Office to issue the pay warrant.

To learn more about making this type of appointment in OnBase, please visit: Special Consultant Pre-Approval Guide.

Read about Special Consultants as it pertains to onboarding.