Two-member teams, 5-minute notice, no gifts: New NAAC rules on college, university assessment

NEW DELHI: Following the corruption charges and arrests of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) assessors, the body has brought in major changes to the assessment process. It will be online for colleges and in hybrid mode for universities. Now, colleges will be informed about the peer team only on the day of assessment; in the case of offline visits, the university will be informed just two days prior.

For the virtual visit, colleges will have to arrange for an elaborate video-camera system and show live video captured through a camera with GPS/location enabled.

As per the new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) framed by NAAC, the number of assessors in a peer team have also been reduced.

As per the existing process, the institutions are told who’s coming as part of the peer team three days before the visit. In the case of colleges, a peer review team has three members; in the case of universities, it ranges between five and seven, depending on the size of the institution. Now, just two members of the NAAC team will be present.

On February 3, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested 10 people, including members of a NAAC inspection committee, for seeking bribes from a private Andhra Pradesh deemed-to-be university in exchange for higher NAAC grades.

Following this incident, NAAC had axed around 900 assessors and announced it would be conducting online inspections.The results for one year were also nullified.

On February 10 the body had also announced that it will be launching the Basic (Binary) Accreditation in April-May, 2025, followed by Maturity-Based Graded Levels (MBGL).

On April 23, the body released detailed SOPs for colleges, universities and the assessors.

College accreditation by NAAC: SOPs

Even though it’s online, the peer visit to colleges will be for two days, with a meeting link provided to the colleges five minutes before the process is to start. These guidelines are part of the existing Revised Accreditation Framework (RAF).

The other guidelines include:

• The video camera of the college and peer team members must be always switched on in the meeting and during the online visit
• During the virtual visit, the HEI’s should show live video captured through cameras with GPS or location enabled and as per the instruction of the peer team
• Colleges are not allowed to contact the peer team of NAAC officials, except during the online visit
• The institution has to make all arrangements for technical or operational requirements before the commencement of the visit. This includes arranging for power back-up, on-line video sharing, and required internet bandwidth
• The institutions have also been requested to not organise cultural programmes for the peer team

However, the alumni will have to attend the meeting in physical mode.

The chairperson of the peer team will share the draft report with the head of the institution by email before the visit ends. Subsequently, a 15-minute meeting will be held for the head, IQAC coordinator and the peer team to discuss the report for factual correctness.

NAAC Accreditation: SOP for universities

Since the university will get a physical visit as well, the document states, “universities are required not to provide any formal welcome and strictly avoid offering any gifts like bouquets, shawls, mementos, etc. to the peer team members visiting the HEI.”

It has also issued a warning and said, “Violations to this instruction shall lead to cancellation of the entire process of accreditation of the university, and removal of peer team members from the NAAC Assessor database.”

It also states that all the travel, accommodation and local travel of the two members will be coordinated by NAAC.

FAQs

What does NAAC mean?

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC full form) is an autonomous body under the ministry of education and funded by the University Grants Commission which is responsible for rating institutions of higher education on a set of parameters. The include research, teaching and learning and others.

Are NAAC A++ colleges good?

NAAC grades are a measure of a higher education institution’s overall quality and performance. The ‘A++’ is the top grade that NAAC awards and colleges with that grade can be considered ‘good’.