Sponsor a Guest

How to Sponsor a Guest

Download Guest PennKey Form

A sponsored guest is an individual who has an official business need for a PennKey, but is not a Penn faculty member, staff member, student or UPHS (University of Pennsylvania Health System) employee. Guests must be sponsored by a department. The process is usually initiated by a Business Administrator (BA) or the IT support staff of the School or Center.

To request a Guest PennKey, the BA or IT support staff should first check with their local PennKey Administrator (if they have one), so that the guest can be locally added by the PennKey Administrator. For those who do not have a PennKey Administrator, download the Guest PennKey Form (link above), then contact the PennKey support group. A PennKey support analyst will reach out to the requestor with further instructions on how to securely transfer the completed guest form. A PennKey Setup Code and instructions will be securely sent to the requestor to pass on to their guest so they can register their PennKey.

Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) employees and UPHS affiliates who want to sponsor a guest should use the PSOM-affiliated Guest PennKey page fulfilled by DART, the IT support group at PSOM.

CHOP affiliates wanting to sponsor a guest should consult the page for CHOP-affiliated Guest PennKey requests.

Guest affiliations

Each guest has an assigned affiliation based on their role while at Penn, such as Courtesy or Medical Resident. Although the generic affiliation of "Guest" is available, sponsors are encouraged to pick a more specific affiliation which closely matches the guest's role at the University.

Because some affiliations may allow access to some Penn electronic resources and not others, please check with your IT support group and/or the administrators of the resources you'd like your guest to access, in order to select the most appropriate affiliation.

Advisor: used for members of a Board of Advisors, which is the advisory body to the dean of a school or director of a major University unit.

CHOP: used for employees of Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania.

Courtesy: used for individuals affiliated with a specific University department.

Guest (Non-Persistent): used as a last resort, when no other categories seem to fit. This is used for people who have a short term association with Penn. Non-Persistent guests receive a PennKey which is not based on their name, but on a sequential number.

Guest (Persistent): used as a last resort, when no other categories seem to fit.

Monell: used for employees of Monell Chemical Senses Center. 

Service Provider/Consultant: used for those hired to provide services, such as contractors and outside consultants, etc.

Trustee: used for people who are on Penn's Board of Trustees, which is solely responsible for formal institutional governance and fiduciary responsibilities.

Visiting Student: used for students enrolled at other academic institutions, but studying at Penn.

Volunteer (Non-Persistent): used for people who donate their time and efforts to Penn without financial compensation. This is used for people who have a short-term association with Penn. Non-Persistent volunteers receive a PennKey which is not based on their name, but on a sequential number.

Wistar Staff: used for employees of the Wistar Institute.