CMS College Kottayam (Autonomous) is on a serious mission to create a better world through research, publications, and consultancy activities. The faculty members of the college have been rendering consultancy services to Industry, Corporate Business Units, NGOs, Media, and various other sectors in both remunerative and non-remunerative manner. They will thus have the privilege of consulting with both public and private entities, whether national or international. It is our belief that such activities would eventually contribute to the professional development and stature of the faculty member and that of the college as well. Eventually, these may also lead to innovations and protection of Intellectual Property (IP). The benefit from such collaboration may get enhanced through the professional expertise of the collaborators, and the establishment of long-lasting professional contacts, associations, and relationships. 

Consultancy activity within CMS College Kottayam is often associated with other contractual relationships, including research, and service contracts. It is therefore the policy of CMS College to encourage staff to engage in consultancy wherever appropriate and in a manner that is consistent with their contractual responsibilities. This document draws policy guidelines with regard to the consultancy activities of faculty members.

2. Consultancy- Meaning and Scope

CMS College Kottayam (Autonomous) adopts the UGC definition of consultancy as: 

“The provision of expert advice and work crucially depends on a high degree of intellectual input which is for commercial or non-commercial purpose and without the creation of new knowledge. Consultancy may be carried out either by academic staff or by members of staff who are not on academic contracts such as senior university staff or administrative/ support staff hired for a short duration.”

The college uses a broad definition of what constitutes consultancy. Its essential features are: 

2.1.1 Consultancy is work of a professional nature, undertaken by college staff in their field of expertise, for clients outside the institution, for which some financial return is provided; 

2.1.2 Unlike research, it does not have as a prime purpose of generation of new knowledge; 

2.1.3 Consultancy will produce some form of contracted output which may be partly or wholly owned by the client;

2.1.4 It tends to be governed by short-term contracts, making minimal use of college resources, and involves extra work for existing staff rather than the employment of new staff.

2.2 Excluded from the above definitions: 

This policy does not apply to those activities, paid or unpaid, which are in furtherance of scholarship or general dissemination of knowledge, such as: 

2.2.1 Authorship of, or royalties from, the publication of books 

2.2.2 External examiner duties 

2.2.3 Lecture tours and conference presentations or attendance 

2.2.4 Editorship of academic journals or the publication of academic articles

2.2.5 Professional arts performances

2.2.6 Any other research activities mentioned under the research and publication policy for which monetary incentives are applicable

2.2.7 Core teaching or teaching-related activities within the institution.

3. Eligibility

The policy permits eligible faculty members to offer their services on a consultancy basis for up to a maximum of 30 days in total through permitted routes in any 12-month period. Nominally 30 days may be interpreted as “30 working days or parts thereof” and does not include consulting done as part of core Faculty activity. However, it is recognised that working within the college environment sometimes may involve weekends or unusual patterns of work. Thus the interpretation of the 30-day rule shall lay with the management whose decision is final.

4. Conflict of Interest

Faculty undertaking Consultancy activity must ensure that:

• The consultancy work does not create a conflict of interest with the Faculty member’s regular work schedule in the college
• The work is marginal rather than core to the research programme of the Faculty

5. Income-Sharing Policy

• The income that the consultancy assignment brings in shall be divided among the faculty member and the College in the ratio of 60:40; or 80:20 depending on the contract between the College and the faculty member.
• This division shall be done after the administrative expenses have been deducted from the total remuneration.
• If a faculty member is instrumental in bringing in a program or assignment which the College allocates to another faculty member, then 5% of the total value of the assignment shall be paid to the faculty member who brought in the project.
• If the assignment comes through the College, then, 5% of the total value of the assignment shall be allocated to the College.
• In the case of an assignment where more than one faculty member is involved, there shall be a coordinator who either volunteers or is appointed by the Principal. The coordinator shall get 5% of the amount after deducting the administrative expenses
• If the coordinator is also involved in delivering the consultancy assignment, apart from his/her role as coordinator, he/she is eligible for his/her share of remuneration in addition to the amount that is distributed to the coordinator.
• All the members involved in the consulting assignment shall be equally compensated with the remaining amount.
• If a faculty member brings the assignment, and also coordinates it, he/she shall be eligible for 10% of the amount (5% for bringing the assignment and 5% for coordinating the activity)
• If it is a training assignment, where other faculty members are included, the amount shall be distributed as per workload, where the remuneration shall not be less than Rs. 3000/- per hour for junior faculty (less than 10 years of industry/academic experience), and Rs. 5000/- per hour for senior faculty. The College may, from time to time, revise these rates. Such an amount shall be counted as part of administrative expenses.