Varsity to conduct mock inspection

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 12

Panjab University will be conducting a four-day mock drill to monitor preparations for the visit of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) team.

The NAAC team is visiting the varsity after five years for analysing its performance. Four teams have been constituted to inspect all departments and presentations prepared for the NAAC officials, who are expected to visit the campus in January next year.

The teams that will carry out the mock drill, which is expected to take place from December 16 to 19, also comprise officials who have acted as auditors during NAAC inspections.

A university official said that during the mock drill, the team members will point out flaws in the presentations prepared by various departments, so that the department officials face no difficulty when the NAAC team puts various queries to them.

The official said that during the previous two visits of the NAAC team, the university bagged top positions in terms of academics and infrastructure.

Records revealed that in 2009, Panjab University got a score of 3.47 out of 4, the maximum in the region. Grade A (denoting very good) was allotted to the university. During that visit, the team was impressed by the university’s infrastructure, its optimum utilisation of resources, faculty, students and research. The NAAC team specifically praised new inter-disciplinary courses started by the university.

NAAC gives weight to various aspects: curricular (15 per cent), teaching-learning and evaluation (25 per cent), research, consultancy and extension (20 per cent), infrastructure and learning resources (10 per cent), student support and progression (10 per cent), governance and leadership (15 per cent) and innovative practices (5 per cent). Aspects covered under the curricular head include design and development, academic flexibility, feedback and update.

The team highlighted that the quality of students at PU was better than any other university as more than 50 per cent of them were from outside the city, who were attracted to it because of its glorious reputation. The report also talked about the vibrant research culture, the creditable output, particularly in international journals. It also praised the infrastructure and projects undertaken by departments.

Earlier, in 2003, the council had given the university five stars. In 2009, the grading system was introduced.