SMPH leadership recognizes that consulting can be an important part of your work at UW. Although most consulting is done as an outside activity and reported on your Outside Activity Report, internal consulting (also referred to as “in-house consulting”) is appropriate under certain circumstances. Because in-house consulting invariably requires the use of University resources, such activities must be closely related to your University responsibilities. Before reaching out to the Contracts Team for assistance with in-house consulting agreements, please ensure that you have obtained written approval from your department chair to engage in the activity.
SMPH considers the following factors when determining whether a consulting activity can be conducted as in-house consulting:
- How closely related the activity is to other activities under your Faculty Appointment.
- Whether the proposed reimbursement is sufficient to cover all costs associated with the activity (i.e. salary, fringe, overhead, travel, etc.).
- Whether the activity can occur without creating the impression that SMPH/UW endorses a product and/or company.
- Whether SMPH leadership is willing to affirmatively accept the reputational risk of association with the product and/or company.
- Whether the reimbursement amount is sufficient to justify use of administrative resources for negotiating, processing, and tracking agreements.
Performing consulting activities is not a workaround for conflict of interest management plans. It is important to be transparent about your relationship with the consultee in order to avoid any appearance of impropriety. All in-house consulting activities are reviewed by the COI office. It is also important to be mindful of potential conflicts of commitment, which are covered in detail here.
In-house consulting agreements are processed by the SMPH Contracts Team. If you would like to pursue an in-house consulting agreement, please complete the form. You can access the form through the red button below.