Practical Liability Issues of Information Technology Education: Internship and Consulting Engagements

This article examines university liability created by internship and consulting relationships. Business clients participating in outreach relationships formulate performance expectations based on perceptions of experience and / or qualifications. Clients assign tasks accordingly, and the university...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Informing science 1998-01, Vol.1, p.43-51
Main Authors: A. Peak, Daniel, J. O'hara, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Consultants
Information technology
Internships
Liability
Poisoning
Students
Technology education
Universities and colleges
University faculty
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Summary:This article examines university liability created by internship and consulting relationships. Business clients participating in outreach relationships formulate performance expectations based on perceptions of experience and / or qualifications. Clients assign tasks accordingly, and the university incurs liability that is conditioned by business clients' expectations. Substantial liability is related to unusually large and rare unfavorable outcomes in the outreach engagement, known as tail events. Tail events can significantly and negatively impact the client. Both the liability for and the probability of tail events increase as universities continue to expand business outreach activities. As internship and consulting engagements increase, the probability of a tail event also increases. The responsibilities of IT intern engagements and potential liability of the sponsoring university are analyzed. The university is the primary insurer for the client and indemnifies its representatives. All internship engagements should be formalized by written contract. An example contract is attached. Keywords: University liability, Consulting, Internship, Intern, Information Technology, Contract, Outreach
ISSN:1547-9684
1521-4672
DOI:10.28945/613