The New Rating Methodology – A look at NAAC’s Evaluation criteria

Published in ‘The Hindu‘, Bangalore Edition, 31 Mar 2008

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India is one of the largest higher educational system in the world, having more than 400 Universities, 18,000 Colleges and 11 million students enrollment. The present enrollment is just 8 per cent which is very low compared with world average of 23 per cent. The 11^th five year plan is targeting to raise the enrollment rate to 15 per cent at the end of the plan.

Today we are in the era of quality and excellence in education. Many of the higher educational institutions are voluntarily assessing their quality of education through an independent external agency NAAC and are proudly exhibiting their accreditation status.

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is an autonomous institution of the University Grants Commission (UGC) entrusted with the responsibility of Assessment and Accreditation of Colleges and Universities in India. It has redesigned its on-going methodologies with the changing context of world wide higher education scenario.

The new methodology of assessment and accreditation of higher educational institutions came in to effect from 1^st April 2007. The newly adopted grading system is on the lines of internationally accepted system i.e. the Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). The new methodology is applicable for Accreditation, Re-assessment and Re-accreditation of HEIs.

 

What is CGPA?

The CGPA refers to the weighted mean value of all the grade points earned by the institution for its quality parameters.

The instrument for assessment and accreditation has been designed with seven criteria as quality parameters into criterion-wise Key Aspects. There are 36 key aspects and each key aspect is further differentiated into assessment indicators to be used as guidelines / probes by assessors to capture the micro level quality pointers.

The key aspects under each criterion have their own weightages according to the relative importance of the said key aspect in the context of the type of institution. There are specified diferential weightages according to the type of institution (University, Autonomous College, Affiliated / Constituent Colleges)

How is CGPA Calculated?

For the key aspect under a criterion based on the assessment indicators, quality points are assigned to a specific letter grade i.e. 4 for A; 3 for B; 2 for C and 1 for D;. Eg: Curriculum Design and development, the weightage is 50 and the key aspect grade is B i.e. 3 points then the key aspect grade point average is 50 X 3 = 150 total grade points and so on.

The summarized total grade points of all the key aspects under each criterion will be calculated with appropriate weightages based on the above points.

The summary of all these weighted scores are divided by the total weightage i.e. 1000, the sum obtained will be the final institutional quality level on four point scale.

 Calculation of Cumulative Grade Point Average of ‘X’ College

Cr.No.	Criterion – wise Key Aspects	Weightages			Grade points obtained by  X College
					Key Aspect GP	KAGP Weightage (4 X 5)	Total Grade Points
		University	Autonomous Colleges	Affiliated/Constituent Colleges
1		2		3	4	5	6
1.1	Curriculum design & development	90	50	10	3	10 x 3	30
1.2	Academic flexibility	30	20	15	2	15 x 2	30
1.3	Feedback on Curriculum	10	10	10	4	10×4	40
1.4	Curriculum update	10	10	05	3	05×3	15
1.5	Best practices in curriculum aspects	10	10	10	3	10×3	30
	Total	150	100	50			145
GPA for Creterion I : Curricular Aspects = 145/50= 2.9  = (10 x X 1.1) + (15 x X 1.2) + (10 x X 1.3) + (5 x X 1.4) +(10 x X 1.5)                       =  (10 x 3) + (15 x 2) +(10×4) + (05×3) +(10×3) = 145 / 50 = 2.9 In the same way other criterions are calculated
2.1	Admission Process and student profile	20	30	30	3	30 x 3	90
2.2	Catering to diverse needs	20	35	45	3	45 x 3	135
2.3	Teaching-learning process	90	170	270	3	270 x 3	810
2.4	Teacher Quality	60	65	65	2	65 x 2	130
2.5	Evaluation process and reforms	50	40	30	2	30×2	60
2.6	Best practices in teaching, learning and evaluation	10	10	10	3	10×3	30
	Total	250	350	450			1255
GPA for Creterion II : Teaching-learning and evaluation = 1255 / 450 = 2.78
3.1	Promotion of Research	40	30	15	3	15 x 3	45
3.2	Reserch and Publication Output	90	50	25	2	25 x 2	50
3.3	Consultancy	20	10	05	2	5 x 2	10
3.4	Extension activities	30	40	40	3	40 x 3	120
3.5	Collaborations	10	10	05	4	5 x 4	20
3.6	Best practices in research, Consultancy and Extension	10	10	10	3	10 x 3	30
	Total	200	150	100			275
GPA for Creterion III : Research, Consultancy and Extension = 275/100= 2.75
4.1	Physical Facilities	20	20	20	3	20 x 3	60
4.2	Maintenance of infrastructure	10	10	10	2	10 x 2	20
4.3	Library as a learning resource	35	35	35	3	35 x 3	105
4.4	ICT as learning resources	15	15	15	3	15 x 3	45
4.5	Other facilities	10	10	10	4	10 x 4	40
4.6	Best practices in the development of infrastructure and learning resources	10	10	10	3	10 x 3	30
	Total	100	100	100			300
GPA for Creterion IV : Infrastructure and learning resources = 300/100= 3.0
5.1	Student progression	30	30	30	4	30 x 4	120
5.2	Student Supoort	30	30	30	3	30 x 3	90
5.3	Student activities	30	30	30	2	30 x 2	60
5.4	Best practices in student support and progression	10	10	10	1	10 x 1	10
	Total	100	100	100			280
GPA for Creterion V : Student support and progression = 280/100= 2.8
6.1	Institutional vision and leader ship	15	15	15	2	15 x 2	30
6.2	Organizational arrangements	20	20	20	2	20 x 2	40
6.3	Strategy development and deployment	30	30	30	3	30 x 3	90
6.4	Human resource management	40	40	40	2	40 x 2	80
6.5	Financial management and resource mobilization	35	35	35	3	35 x 3	105
6.6	Best practices in governance and leader ship	10	10	10	2	10 x 2	20
	Total	150	150	150			365
GPA for Creterion VI : Governances and leadership = 365/150 = 2.43
7.1	Internal quality assurance systems	20	20	20	2	20 x 2	40
7.2	Inclusive practices	15	15	15	2	15 x 2	30
7.3	Stake holder relation ships	15	15	15	4	15 x 4	60
	Total	50	50	50			130
GPA for Criterion  VII. Innovative Practices =130/50 = 2.6
Total Score		1000	1000	1000

 

The GPA of Affiliated / Constituent College is:

Creterion-I        :       GPA = X₁ = 2.9                      Creterion-II                : GPA = X₂ = 2.78

Creterion-III      :       GPA = X_{3 =} 2.75                     Creterion-IV             : GPA = X_{4 =} 3.0

Creterion-V       :       GPA = X_{5 =} 2.8                       Creterion-VI             : GPA = X_{6 =} 2.43

Creterion-VII    :      GPA = X_{7 =} 2.6

The average of  all Seven Creterions : 19..27 / 7 = 2.75

OR

CGPA = Total Grade Points of all Creterions/1000

= (50 x X ₁) + (450 x X₂) + (100 x X₃) + (100 x X₄) +(100 x X₅) + (150 x X₆) + (50 x X₇)

= 145 + 1255 + 275 + 300 + 280 + 365 + 130   = 2750/1000 = 2.75

Thus, the over all CGPA of the Affiliated / Constituent College is 2.75, the performance descriptor “ Good ” and the letter grade “B”

In the same way the CGPA of a University / Autonomous College can be evaluated.

Final Grading of the Institution:

The final CGPA of an Institution is declared on a 4-Point Scale, with grades and grade description.

Sl.No.	Range of CGPA	Letter Grade	Performance Descriptor
1	3.01 – 4.00	A	Very Good (Accredited)
2	2.01 -3.00	B	Good (Accredited)
3	1.51 – 2.0	C	Satisfactory (Accredited)
4	_< 1.50	D	Unsatisfactory (Not accredited)

What is New?

The new methodology made some modifications in nomenclature of the VI Criteria as Grievance & leadership, Criteria VII as Innovative Practices. Further, differential weightages for different type of institution were introduced. More weightage (45%) was given to affiliated college on teaching – learning evaluation and research, consultancy and extension by University (20%). The best practices on each criteria is included in all the first six criterions. Qualitative measurements are converted to grade points. The relative evaluation would be more exact, due to reductions in variations and standard deviations.

Conclusion:

NAAC has planned the complete the first cycle of assessment of all HEIs by the end of 11^th five year plan in a phased manner. It is a challenging task, requires a good number of peers as assessors not only having professional skills, but also take in to consideration the founding and development of the institution, as well as the geographical area i.e. whether the college is situated in a rural or urban area. There fore I suggest that the assessment but also a monitoring to be set up to ensure the running of the said institution according to the given criteria.