This year, in its second accreditation cycle, 3985 higher education institutions were upgraded. Whereas in the third and fourth cycles, a total of 1435,127 institutions got accreditation from NAAC. A total of 14596 colleges and universities obtained accreditation, going through all the four cycles. Several state universities have achieved NAAC status for the first time this year. Kerala University, Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology (MMMUT), Gorakhpur and a dozen other universities scored excellent grades.
Benefits of Benchmarking
“The Kerala University with NAAC A++ grade aims at promoting research activities and academic curriculum up-gradation. We analyzed the demand for new courses and to meet the industry demand, have started diploma courses in Data Science and Renewable Energy to help students get job opportunities in future,” said PP, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Kerala University Ajay Kumar says he got 3.67 marks out of 4.0 of NAAC rating this year.
Referring to the need to set up new centers for emerging areas of space physics, Kumar further says, “The A++ rank has provided the University with Rs 30 lakh from the state government for laying the foundation for ‘Research Center in Space Physics’. In memory of Indian physicist and cosmologist Thanu Padmanabhan. On the academic front, the NAAC A++ benchmarking has awarded the university the Asian Institute of Film and Media Studies (AIFMS), a business arm of Toonj Academy. Inspired to start ‘Master of Design’ course in direct collaboration with
Apart from the academic strengthening of the University, grading has improved our administrative functioning. “Vocational and pedagogical training centers will be set up on the campus to train the academic staff in cutting-edge work in teaching-learning teaching, so that they can support the training modules of the courses more efficiently,” says Kumar.
adding research rigor
Earned grades help institutions with funding from policy makers, research grants and other academic commitments.
This year Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology (MMMUT), Gorakhpur emerged as the first State University to get ‘A’ grade by NAAC with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.1. “The university has recently been awarded NAAC Grade-A for the quality of education and academic environment. We have established Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in several departments, well maintained industrial laboratories for better computational facilities, and have shown a good placement record even during the pandemic,” says VK Dwivedi, Professor, Training and Placement Cell at MMMUT. Huh. Gorakhpur.
The university will lay emphasis on green energy concepts; The infrastructure, therefore, will lead to increased use of solar energy, rainwater harvesting and tree plantation drives to make the campus pollution-free, says Dwivedi.
Referring to the future academic promotion plan of the ‘A’ grade University, Dwivedi said, “MMUT is committed to provide quality and affordable education to the students. Monetary support in the form of stipends and advanced equipment in research laboratory facilities to PhD scholars. Students will often be asked to participate in national, international conferences and seminars.”
Dwivedi says that professors from many branches of engineering are tasked with monitoring their PhD students to publish more and more research papers in renowned journals. “A plan of action for obtaining a patent for an innovative solution or product manufactured by the R&D department has also been prepared,” he says.
Emphasizing on the encouragement received on the research arm of Kerala University after securing A++ grade, Kumar says, “An international research center will be set up on the campus to translate research findings by premier institutes into industry-specific products The Kerala government has approved the proposal and is in the process of sanctioning Rs 20 crore for infrastructure and recruitment of experienced consultants. It also proposed several research inclusive initiatives to facilitate collective research and exchange of knowledge. are,” says Kumar.