Internal Quality Assurance Cell

As per National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) guidelines every accredited institution should establish an Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) as a post-accreditation quality sustenance measure. Since quality enhancement is a continuous process, the IQAC becomes a part of the institution’s system and works towards realization of the goals of quality enhancement and sustenance.

The prime task of the IQAC is to develop a system for conscious, consistent and catalytic improvement in the overall performance of institutions.

PU was accredited by NAAC in 2001 for the first cycle, in 2009 for the second cycle and in 2015 for the third cycle. IQAC established at PU continued to strive for the betterment of processes and setup. The NAAC visited the Panjab University Campus from March 02-05, 2015.

Taking the concrete step further PU has established a concrete central IQAC hosted in MIS Cell of PU on May 2003.

Role of the Coordinator

Coordinator, MIS Cell of PU bears the delegated responsibilities of Coordinator, IQAC. The following are the roles and responsibilities carried by coordinator IQAC:

  • To coordinate the dissemination of information on various quality parameters of higher education
  • To coordinate the documentation of the various programmes / activities leading to quality improvement
  • To coordinate the quality-related activities of the institution
  • To coordinate in preparation of the Annual Quality Assurance Report (AQAR) to be submitted to NAAC based on the quality parameters.
  • To coordinate the timely and efficient execution of the decisions of IQAC committee.

Operational Features of the IQAC at PU

Some of the functions expected of the IQAC are:

  1. Development and application of quality benchmarks/parameters for various academic and administrative activities of the institution;
  2. Facilitating the creation of a learner-centric environment conducive to quality education and faculty maturation to adopt the required knowledge and technology for participatory teaching and learning process;
  3. Arrangement for feedback response from students, parents and other stakeholders on quality-related institutional processes;
  4. Dissemination of information on various quality parameters of higher education;
  5. Organization of inter and intra institutional workshops, seminars on quality related themes and promotion of quality circles;
  6. Documentation of the various programmes/activities leading to quality improvement;
  7. Acting as a nodal agency of the Institution for coordinating quality-related activities, including adoption and dissemination of best practices;
  8. Development and maintenance of institutional database through MIS for the purpose of maintaining /enhancing the institutional quality;
  9. Development of Quality Culture in the institution;
  10. Preparation of the Annual Quality Assurance Report (AQAR) as per guidelines and parameters of NAAC, to be submitted to NAAC.

IQAC will facilitate / contribute

  • To a heightened level of clarity and focus in institutional functioning towards quality enhancement and facilitate internalization of the quality culture.
  • To the enhancement and integration among the various activities of the institution and institutionalize many good practices.
  • To provide a sound basis for decision making to improve institutional functioning.
  • To act as a change agent in the institution.
  • To better internal communication.

Quality Assurance initiatives taken by MIS/IQAC

  • Enrollment Data
    Enrollment data is collected from depts/colleges every year by the Statistical Cell of DR Colleges. In the absence of IT support/resources and proper controls, it was difficult for them to ensure the quality. MIS/IQAC Cell took initiatives to compile the Master List of courses (year-wise) from Handbook of Information and other sources. It was ensured that all faculties, all departments, and all courses are included. Steps have been taken by MIS/IQAC Cell to improve the quality of data to ensure completeness and correctness of data
  • Examination Data
    Earlier, during data compilation for various surveys, data collected from various sources (e.g. manual results, computerized results, departmental results etc) would be summed up and sent. In the absence of any common list of courses it was difficult to ensure whether data about all the courses have been included. The format for data collection was prepared with pre-filled courses, and DR (Exams) was requested to send the data in that format. The pre-filled data saved their time too, and at the same time ensured completeness of data and verification of courses at the same time.
  • Researchers Data
    Data about Researchers is collected at various sources like R&S Branch, General Branch, Secrecy Branch, Thesis Section etc. Meetings were held with the concerned dealings, format of data studied, problems and communication gaps were identified. MIS/IQAC took the source data (in MS Word format) from R&S Branch and converted it into MS Excel format for data analysis and has identified the data flow from enrollment till award of degree. The various result notifications (of syndicate) about award of PhD are in MS-Word format and contain useful information about researchers. Efforts are on to streamline the process in this direction and to get quality data/information about research statistics.
  • International Students Data
    Data storage and collection procedures have been refined to cater various national and international surveys. The information layout has been useful for internal purpose as well. Templates have been designed to collect data about various other activities like International Students data/MoUs signed by PU etc.

Templates have been designed to collect data about various other activities like International Students data/MoUs signed by PU etc.

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