Page 8 - VIT Consultancy Policy

5. Definitions

· “VIT” means Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore and Chennai Campus and in context may mean a
subsidiary or affiliate designated as an appropriate entity for the conduct of consultancy activities.

· “Consultant” means any full-time faculty/staff of VIT. Any employee of VIT undertaking consultancy shall
hereinafter be referred to as “Consultant”.

· “Consultancy” is defined as the provision of expert advice, analysis, and interpretation, which draws upon
and applies the expertise and knowledge of VIT's faculty/staff members. It means work of a professional
nature, undertaken by VIT faculty and staff in their field of expertise, for external clients, for which payment
is generally received. The consultancy also includes teaching commitments (Corporate Training) undertaken
outside VIT. Consultancy may be termed as VIT Consultancy or Personal Consultancy, as defined under this
policy. Essential features of Consultancy are:
§ Consultancy is a work of professional nature, undertaken by VIT's faculty and staff in their field of
expertise, for clients outside the institution, for which some financial return is provided
§ It does not have as its main purpose, the generation of new knowledge
§ Consultancy will produce some form of agreed output which may be partly or wholly owned by the
client
§ It tends to be governed by short-term contracts and involves extra work for existing faculty and staff
rather than the employment of new faculty/staff

· “Client” also known as the “customer”means any external organization / individuals who approaches VIT
or its faculty/staff to carry out consultancy work for them.

· “Recommending Authority” means the delegated officer, who is generally the Head of the Department /
Dean / Director as appropriate, or any other Authority so nominated by the management of VIT, who is
responsible for recommending the consultancy work.

· “Approver” means the delegated officer, who is generally the Director of Sponsored Research and
Industrial Consultancy (SpoRIC), or any other authority so nominated by the management of VIT, who is
responsible for approving the consultancy work.

· “VIT Consultancy” means consultancy work undertaken by an individual academic, or other members of
faculty/staff (including technicians), or a team of collaborators, departments, or schools, on behalf of VIT.
Such consultancy will be undertaken within the terms of the member of faculty/staff's contract of
employment. In this case, the contractual relationship is between the client and VIT and not with the
individual faculty/staff. In this case, the office of the Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy would
enter into a written agreement with the Client.
· “Personal or Private Consultancy” means consultancy is undertaken by faculty/ staff in a private capacity
and in his or her own time, for which there is no conflict of interest with the institute's works. However, the
payment for the consultancy rendered on a personal basis shall be remitted by the client directly to the account
of VIT only. The relationship between VIT and the external party with regard to the work being undertaken is
limited to the extent of receiving the consultancy fee. It is expected that the employee must make sure that the
external party is aware of this. In this case, the individual acts entirely in a private capacity and has no legal
link to the institute. No liability passes on to the institute and none of the resources may be used for this
activity. Examples of such resources are equipment and machinery, any consumables such as chemicals,
cutting tools, welding rods, electronic, electrical components, and VIT's Intellectual Property (IP) etc.,
Personal Consultancy must be undertaken outside normal working hours and duties.

Note: If an initial enquiry for consultancy work is made to a faculty/staff through their Deans/Directors/HoDs/
Section Heads and assigned to any faculty/staff, then this shall be construed as VIT Consultancy only and would
not be considered to be Private Consultancy.

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