Toward Internal Consulting Policy.

Lessons learned by the author as a result of his in-house consulting experience during the last three years are related. The paper proposes a tentative set of internal consulting policies based on eight general issues he encountered. Because the area of internal consulting policy does not appear (o be one that is well established in most institutions, the "policies" are presented as action items for faculty groups who are attempting to formulate institutional guidelines for consulting. In discussing the issues that are the basis of proposed policies, an effort is made to provide an example or illustration of problems encountered. No attempt is made to generalize such guidelines across all types and conditions of consulting effort; these suggestions are one view of a sector in the consulting market. The eight general issues considered are: (1) the legitimacy of internal consulting, (2) institutional objectives and image, (3) value added to the institution, (4) use of institutional resources, (5) registration of consulting activities, (6) information kept current for the institution, (7) the development of organizational interfaces, and (8) the ownership of results. These eight points are seen, not as an ultimate answer, but as a starting point for developing faculty-oriented internal consulting policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]