Guest Speakers (Honoraria)

< Return to Forms

Distinguished guest speakers may be invited to enrich a class by providing a lecture, workshop, or seminar. Both Boston University employees and non-employees are eligible to receive a small honorarium payment for this service contingent upon securing proper MET approvals and furnishing the required taxpayer documentation as explained below.

The MET Office of the Dean has introduced a new web-based system for submitting approval requests to pay guest speakers an honorarium.

Note for Summer Term honoraria requests please contact: sumadmin@bu.edu (do not use the App below).

Please use this App for any new requests:

MET Honoraria Request Guidelines

All guests must be included in the course syllabus which has been submitted for review and approval by the MET Office of the Dean prior to the start of each semester. 

The number of speakers is limited to 3 per course unless previously approved by the Dean’s office.

Honorarium payment amounts should follow these general guidelines:

  • 1 Hour Lecture:  $50
  • 2 Hour Lecture: $100
  • 3 Hour Lecture: $150

Additional compensation will be considered if supported in the written justification request (see below).

The Honorarium Electronic Request App will guide you through most requirements.

Please avoid indicating the service involves “teaching” as such duties are designated for the course instructor of record only.

Please see the following regarding items you are required to upload to the App. Do not submit your request until all required documents are uploaded:

  • Dean-approved syllabus.
  • Letter of invitation or marketing materials (event brochure/flyer/program).
  • At least one of the two items above must include both the full name of the honoraria recipient and the date when services were provided. Otherwise, Accounts Payable will not accept our payment request.
  • Memo to the MET Sr. Assoc. Dean for Academic Affairs on BU letterhead describing the engagement and qualifications of the speaker.
  • Written request justification.
  • If honoraria recipient is a Foreign National, Accounts Payable requires a separate memo on BU letterhead that states whether they were in the USA at the time services were provided.

Important: Please do not include any sensitive information (such as SSNs) in any field in the App, or in any documents uploaded. No tax-related documents such as W-9 or W-8 should be requested from the honoraria recipient until after the honoraria request has been fully approved and signed off by the MET Sr. Assoc. Dean. Unless otherwise arranged, such tax-related documents will be requested by the MET Financial Administrator Scott Perkins directly from the honoraria recipient using the email address provided in the App.

Details on payee requirements along with other general honoraria information are located at this University site:

https://www.bu.edu/paymentservices/files/2018/10/FAST-SHEET-Honorarium.pdf

The request application approval workflow will route each request to your Departmental Chair/Head for review and approval, followed by the MET Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, and then to MET-Finance for final review and processing of the payment.

If you have any questions, please reach out to: metacad@bu.edu