This pamphlet offers a series of self-assessment guidelines and questions which college and university officials can use to help determine the extent to which they are taking the appropriate measures to reasonably protect the institution's interests, maximize the economic value of technical discoveries made by faculty, and still maintain an appropriate separation between academia and the commercial world. After a brief description of the relationship between universities and technology transfer, activities leading to the commercialization of faculty members' discoveries, and a review of risk assessment in technology transfer, a section on the nature of possible risks follows. Those risks include fiduciary liability, liability arising from negligent conduct (simple negligence and product liability), and contractual liability. The following section discusses how institutions can control those risks by either managing commercialization activities through the structure of the activities or by structuring research and development foundations, commercial spin-offs, and related activities. There follows a discussion of the importance of consistent application of appropriate policies with a checklist for self assessment in this area. A final section examines several models in the context of risk management including an evaluation of the effects of the particular structure on a set of elements that are central to commercialization efforts. (JB)