American higher education is characterized by keen competition but also by a high degree of cooperativeness. This apparent paradox is illustrated by the extensive use of consultants. The typical higher education consultant is based on one campus and helps a competing institution become more effective. The net result is the reverse of Gresham\u27s Law: good practice drives out bad, and the total enterprise of higher education benefits.
This handbook is intended to help colleges and universities make wise choices about consultants and derive the maximum benefit from them. It draws extensively from experiences of the Consultation and Advisory Service that the Association of American Colleges established in 1980 with generous funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
