Best Practices - Quest and Response to Quality Enhancement

(MKB College, Jabalpur published in their journal.)

1 Introduction: Quality is the buzzword

Quantity never really means quality. At least, when it comes to education it is quality which often takes a beating against the growing number of educational institutions making claims of offering state-of-the-art infrastructure and holistic education. Quality in Higher Education has been a matter of high concern and priority at regional, national and international levels especially in the past ten years.  In India, the National Policy on Education 1986 has very categorically questioned the impact of education and has suggested many measures for bringing about innovative practices in education. With higher education becoming an international service, there is a growing concern in the world over about Quality, Standards, and Recognition. Consequent to this trend in higher education, pursuit of “Quality” is emerging as a universal compulsion and this has led to discussions on the application of some of the management concepts in the education sector. Among the various points of interest, the debate on how benchmarks are to be evolved for ensuring and assuring quality in best practices is being continued.

Today students are members of the digital generation.  They are highly affected by the exposure to internet technology and their approach to learning may initiate a ‘plug’ & ‘play experience and not the traditional sequential learning.  The HODs’ and faculty also may need to develop new pedagogy through which there are collective learning experiences in which students work together and learn together with the faculty member acting as a mentor.

The colleges have to develop an attitude by which students will be treated as clients with continuously changing needs and ambitions.  Teachers may have to work more to satisfy the wishes of the students, society than their own personal and individual urges and impulses.  The curriculum would require constant change.  In order to cope with the situation, the university curriculum may have to be guided more by the external impulses rather than internal impulses.  Transformation of thoughts into action and subsequently as tangible results demand teamwork and courage to combat failures and reach the stars.

The idea of the Best Practice evolved from a converging set of needs in higher education. Today, colleges and universities need reliable atmosphere or ambience to foster healthy practices among students. There is a trend of inefficient traditional management practices in higher education. Hence, there is a need to learn and share knowledge in new areas and identify strategic models and processes.
The Best Practices are those that are initiated and implemented by some universities, institutes or colleges that have proved their efficacy over a period of time and deserved to be studied by others for the general good of the total quality in the Higher Education system in India. Other institutes may like to adopt the same for improvement of their systems with modification to suit their conditions and requirements. Also this interaction may lead to future refinement of the practices already being implemented in some institutions.

In NAAC’s scheme of assessment, institutions are assessed for their strengths and weaknesses under seven criteria.  The analysis of the best practices under the first six criteria revealed that the institutions that came forward for AA have been successful in performing their roles & responsibilities with value addition.  Rather than a routine way of taking care of the minimal requirement, they enriched their functioning with relevance and quality.  However, it is the seventh criterion viz. Healthy Practices that brought out the institutional uniqueness and innovativeness that might be of interest to the other institutions.

3. Objectives of the Conference:

·  To enable participants to understand the concept of ‘Best Practice’.
·  To study Best Practices in institutions across India which are situated amidst different      socio-cultural, economic, political regions and varying student social composition (caste, class, rural, urban, cosmopolitan).
· To correlate the Best Practices with the contextual factors i.e. socio-cultural, economic,     political regions and varying student social composition (caste, class, rural, urban, cosmopolitan).
·  To analyze Best Practices for its emergency, its limitations and its applicability.
· To disseminate these findings in the workshop.  To enable each participant to think about the applicability of the Practices in his/her own context.
· To enable educational administrators to acquire sensitivity to their own context and situation so that they can evolve Best Practices on their own through debate and consensus rather than blindly replicate practices.

Therefore, it is of utmost importance to debate critically on the concept of quality and quality practices.  We need to understand the complexity of internal and external conditions which give rise to practices which apparently suit the quality administration of the higher educational institutions.  In the light of these we need to appreciate the practices that have evolved in different institutions and consciously deliberate on the possibilities of adopting them.




5. Healthy Practices: Innovative approach to Higher Education.

 

The criterion on Healthy Practices focuses on the innovative efforts of the institutions that add to its academic growth.  An innovative practice need not necessarily be unique in nature across board, but a pathway created to further the interest of the student and the institution amidst constraints.  In other words, healthy practices are contextual in nature and a practice recognized as healthy in one institution may not necessarily be so in another institution.  On analysis, it is found that most of the top bracket institutions have been commended for at least a few of the following aspects under the criterion on ‘Healthy Practices’.

Special programs offered by the institution that truly reflect the institutional mission, goals and objectives.
*        Efforts of the Principal and faculty members who strive hard with a determination to meet goals and objectives set for the institution.
*        Innovative and job-oriented courses which help the students in career planning.
*        The compulsory courses offered by the institution in addition to the normal ones to enrich the student experience and to challenge faculty and students to go beyond the syllabus.
*        The programs which students could choose voluntarily, outside the usual syllabus and lecture hours.
*        The curriculum which embraces multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, and which offers flexibility in response to the diverse student needs.
*        Implementation of well defined criteria for assessing the viability of academic programs.
*        The clear/established procedure for program design, and its implementation.
*        The role of faculty who interact closely and constructively with the Boards of Studies of the parent university.
*        The emphasis on value-based education.
*        The stimulating learning environment and the value placed on teaching, strengthened by various teaching-learning initiatives supported by faculty research.
*        The co-curricular activities and student centered activities of the institution.
*        The high academic standards maintained in many departments.
*        The rapport and strong tie-up with industry in some of the departments.
*        The reasonably well-developed national and international linkages established by some of the departments.
*        Potential of the faculty with core competence in specific areas to handle Training and Consultancy assignments.
*        The highly talented, motivated and dedicated faculty.
*        The recruitment of well qualified faculty who are drawn from different parts of the country and the efforts of the institution towards promoting it.
*        The substantial seed money set apart by the institution to promote Research culture.
*        Emphasis on integration of research and teaching, and the concept of the research active teacher.
*        The well stocked library with adequate number of foreign journals, Indian Journals, media facilities, internet access, open access system, extended library hours, photocopying facility, etc.
*        The well maintained Computer Labs and their facilitating aspects.
*        The established procedures for eliciting feedback from students through questionnaires and other structured formats.
*        The commitment to make the best use of student feedback to improve academic provision and related support services for students.
*        The creation of a supportive environment and effective guidance procedures at all levels.
*        The optimal use of the existing infrastructure and facilities.
*        Student involvement in meaningful voluntary service.
*        The efforts in religious studies to foster an understanding and appreciation of religions to contribute towards communal harmony and national integration.
*        The various activities organized by the students themselves where the managerial skills of the students are fully shaped and put to test.
*        The efforts of the institution to focus on regional and applied research on issues of social concern.
*        Efforts to maintain high student progression to employment and further study after under-graduate level, with minimal drop-out rate.
*        The excellent placement efforts.
*        The students involvement in publishing magazines.
*        The commitment of the students and their relationship with the faculty that contributes to the institution’s cohesiveness.
*        Alumni involvement.
*        Financial aid to students and concessions to the sports candidates.
*        The tutorial system through which a group of students are attached to a faculty for personal and academic counselling.
*        The freedom and support provided by the management in all activities of the institution.
*        The cordial relationship that exists between the various constituents of the institution.
*        The trust of the faculty on students in allowing them to participate in various programs as well as make appropriate decisions.
*        The rural development programs.
*        The professional development programs offered to the administrative staff.
*        The effective resource mobilization of the institution.
*        The healthy professional environment which is conducive to bring out the best in every individual working in the institution.
*        An atmosphere of mutual trust, love and affection that permeates in the entire campus.
*        The discipline & order, service culture and team spirit among the members of the college.
*        Introduction of some healthy practices viz.,
à        Introduction of “on-the-job-training” projects in the vocational courses.
à        “Legal literacy” program for students.
à        Training in “Spoken English”
*        Excellent infrastructural facilities for curricular and extra-curricular activities.
*        Use of modern aids, audio-visual and computer-aided approaches in teaching.
*        Excellent inter-departmental and student-teacher interactions.
*        Well-appreciated extension activities and social work through National Service Scheme, NCC and by interaction with local NGOs.
*        Importance given to project work, seminars and field work in the curriculum.
*        Establishment of linkages with ex-students, local public, industrial and commercial institutions.
*        Effective teachers’ participation in co-curricular, extra curricular, social and cultural activities and extension activities.
*        Receptive and effective administration.
*        Compulsory student participation in any of the three programs – NSS, NCC and Sports, which encourages team work and group experience.
*        Practice of yoga, meditation and classes on moral instruction which are helpful for the full development of the personality.
*        Various scholarships and stipends available to the students.
*        Enrichment courses for students so as to enable them to acquire competence/skills in areas beyond those covered in the curriculum should help the students in finding employment and create self-confidence.
*        Recognition given to the important role played by the non-teaching staff in academic life.
*        The social commitment of the management to make an impact on the quality of life of the people living in rural areas surrounding the college through value education of women.
*        Interaction with villages around thereby helping rural women in many ways.
*        Orientation/training for newly inducted staff members, class representatives and new students.
*        Class-wise cultural activities roping in all students in some activity or the other.
*        Media center to produce Educational Programs.
*        Outstanding record in sports and games in University, Inter-Collegiate tournaments, Inter University meets, State, National and International level events.
*        Welfare programs and adequate institutional support structure for student progression and development.
*        Women’s empowerment cell, youth red cross unit, fine arts club, and the four wings of NCC and NSS that are active.
*        The breadth and depth of its means of internal communication.
*        Establishment of an effective IQAC and its efforts to support its quality assurance and enhancement process.
*        The constructive relationship between IQAC and the departments.

As one could see, the above list presents both the products as well as processes.  Instead of debating on products vs processes, NAAC teams believed in balancing both.  In fact, in the first cycle of assessment, NAAC had to accept many informal practices in view of the desired outcomes they had made in the system.  Although many institutions reported that they did not have certain formal mechanisms, they insisted that the expected outcomes were being achieved informally.  For example, student feedback, career counselling, skill development of students etc. were areas where one could find four major lacunae: 1) Many institutions did not have formal mechanisms in place. 2) Those who claimed to have formal mechanisms had initiated them very recently. 3) Documentation and support structure for those mechanisms were not adequate.  4) Even in cases where such mechanisms existed, efforts and evidence towards demonstrating the effectiveness of such mechanisms were absent.

However, in an effort to contextualise assessment and promote best practices, the assessment teams had not taken a penalising stand on those issues.  The very existence of such mechanisms – formally or informally – was taken as a best practice.  At the same time, it is reasonable to expect that during re-accreditation the institution would be able to demonstrate that these drawbacks had been set right.  For all those hurriedly initiated mechanisms, the institutions have to demonstrate how effectively they are being sustained.  In addition, they have to act on the recommendations given in the assessment report for further growth and development.

6. Quality Enhancement Strategies:

The assessment report has a separate section on Commendations and Suggestions where- in the team very clearly spells out the commendable aspects of the institution and also records the suggestions, which the institution may consider for its future development.  This has led to a long list of suggestions to highly rated institutions.  An analysis was done for the highly rated institutions with reference to one question: What are the suggestions given to these institutions for their future development?  The outcome is expected to a point of reference for institutions that would like to initiate further quality enhancement strategies.  The following list is the compilation of some of those suggestions:
·    The institution needs to interact with the other institutions, industries and the society at large by drawing visiting faculty from among them for special lectures.  Illustrations alumni and other members of the society may be invited to deliver lectures on areas of their respective specialization. The industry-institution linkage needs to be strengthened from the point of view of student placements and projects.

·    Even though the institution is providing good education in liberal arts and pure science, there is a need to deliver newer courses with larger job potentials on computers, information technology and such other courses.  More post graduate programs and skill oriented certificate courses need to be introduced in a phased manner.
·    There is ample scope for more widespread use of educational technology and multi-media facilities including Computer Aided Learning packages in the teaching-learning process.
·    A handbook containing all the details for the curriculum along with the learning objectives with proper unitization including the references may be prepared for each course/program.
·    The institution needs to introduce many remedial approaches to enable the under privileged students to compete with the rest of the students.  It is imperative to adopt several programs in the form of compensatory education, as an urgent step.
·    The institution should also plan for introducing programs especially for the advantage of those students who are involved in competitive examination preparation.
·    A sizeable number of teachers are engaged in research and teaching but it is noted with surprise that the teachers do not utilize the facilities available at the other research centers in the neighbourhood inspite of their close proximity.  The institution - neighbourhood linkage may be strengthened.
·    Many more teachers should submit relevant proposals in their respective fields to various funding agencies at the national level and avail UGC-Schemes for Research and other outside plan allocations from the UGC as well as other national funding agencies.
·    Research can also be promoted at the undergraduate level by giving meaningful problems for project work.
·    The research culture that is evident in some departments needs to be spread further to other departments.
·    Keeping in view the future development of the institution the peer team feels that the management may consider financial incentives to the teachers who are actively involved in research.
·    The peer group understands the reason for lack of consultancy in many institutions.  However, in the present context every educational institution has to relate itself to the community.  Therefore, it is desirable to take up consultancy with all earnestness.  The institution could offer consultancy and testing services on a commercial basis, without prejudice to its own academic and research activities.
·    The in-house areas of expertise may be subtly advertised through regular admission and placement brochures.
·    Some concession in the workload may be given to those faculty members who are active in research and consultancy.
·    The institution may explore ways through which academic staff on temporary and part-time appointments may be encouraged to play a full part in maintaining and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning and ensuring that appropriate training is available to part-time and temporary staff, and monitoring the quality of education provided by these categories of staff.
·    Conducting  periodic seminars and workshops with particular emphasis on modern teaching and evaluation techniques needs to be considered for faculty development.
·    A formal mechanism may be developed to obtain feedback from academic peers about the curriculum enrichment that is required.
·    Areas where feedback is crucial must be identified and a scientific mechanism be evolved for gathering information from students, teachers and employees on those areas.
·    A formal mechanism for evaluating the faculty performance on the dimensions of teaching, research, consultancy and administrative work, other than the self-appraisal mechanism, may be implemented.
·    The student support and progression would be greatly helped if there is a student feedback system on the various aspects of their educational experience.
·    Though from the point of view of the absolute numbers, the library books appears to be satisfactory, there seems to be not too many new additions to the library.  Subscription to the journals needs to be increased.
·    It would be worthwhile to extend library timings and to keep it open even on Sundays and holidays.  The library needs to have inter-library borrowing facilities and access to Internet.
·    Automation of library and procurement of latest books of high standard need to be given priority.
·    The existing internet facilities may be enhanced.
·    Many of the laboratories need to be further augmented with more modern equipment.
·    Though the sports facilities are adequate, participation could be increased.
·    The institution has to create adequate support structure for the progression of the students.  There is a need to introduce various enrichment programs for the preparation of the students to competitive examinations on priority basis.  The institution should institute a student placement cell in view of its increasing importance to provide timely career guidance and counselling.
·    The institution may develop a Computerized Students Information System (CSIS)
·    It would be a good idea to establish a well-equipped non-resident students center for the benefit of day scholars.
·    No adequate record of student progression to employment or further studies is maintained by the institution.  This, as an institutional obligation, may be pursued.
·    It is necessary to build up a reliable database to ensure effective and efficient administration of the institution.
·    Administration of the institution needs to be more decentralized.  Representatives of R&D organizations, industry, business and service sectors could perhaps be included in the Governing Body and other academic and administrative bodies of the institution.
·    It is considered necessary to devise a program of action to train all technical staff on a time-bound basis with a view to updating them.
·    The alumni association could be activated to involve it more deeply in the various academic and developmental programs of the institution.
·    The institution should consider undertaking more effective measures to mobilize additional resources.
·    The peer committee recommends a well-thought of redressal mechanism to examine the grievances of different sections of the institution to raise the level of their confidence.
·    A Ten Year Perspective Strategic Plan may be developed by the institution.
·    The institution may explore ways on encouraging wider dissemination and appropriate use of the examples of good practice already in place in the departments and faculties.
·    It needs to strengthen its capacity to ensure that the academic standards of its collaborating institutions are satisfactory, to offer appropriate job training to the students.
·    Constitution of an Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) may be seriously thought of.
.
7. Conclusion:

There may be lot of overlaps in the two lists given above.  The institutions will have to look at these aspects and choose the ones that will work well in their context. Around 100 assessment reports are available in the NAAC website (www.naac-india.com).  Institutions may browse these reports to identify the best practices that will be of use to them, keeping in mind what works in one context need not be so in another institution.  Trend setting in the field of education is a difficult task, since most of the best practices are not described well possibly because it could not be done.  This paper has made an attempt to document where the highly commended institutions stand with reference to some of the best practices.  The outcome is expected to be a point of reference for institutions that would like to become more efficient with reference to NAAC’s criteria

The new era has ushered in a boom of hi-tech educational resources to keep pace with information revolution. The new century has brought in a lot of challenges confronting higher education. Twenty first century society is a knowledge society. In this age of knowledge it is the intellectual capital, trained manpower rather than financial and physical capital, which will give the society strength and prosperity. When knowledge and educated people become important strategic resources for development the society has to become more dependent upon those institutions namely, our universities, colleges and higher education institutions that are responsible for creating these critical resources. However, there is always a question about the capacity of our universities to meet the challenges of the growing social and technological needs. The quest will continue. And our response would be to evolve the best practices that could be implemented in our own respective colleges.

Notes and References:

1.  Antony Stella & A. Gnanam. Assuring Quality and Standards in Higher Education: The Contemporary Context and Concerns (New Delhi: Allied Publisher (P) Ltd., 2002).
2.  Dr. Antony Stella. “Best Practices: A Perspective from the NAAC”. (Bangalore: NAAC). (Much of the above reflections and suggestions are from the above mentio- ned paper presented by Dr. Antony Stella, at the workshop for College Principals at Christ College, Bangalore)
3.  Fr. George Palackapilly, SDB & Ms. Nita Burman, ed. Proceedings of the National Consultation on Education (Bangalore: Kristu Jyoti College, 1999).
4.  Mani Jacob, et. al., eds. Resource Book for Value Education (New Delhi: Institute of Value Education, 2002).
5.   Nirmala Jeyaraj, ed. Higher Education: Vision and Mission for Twenty–First Century (Madurai: Lady Doak College, 1998).
6.   N. K. Uberoi, ed. Professional Competency in Higher Education (Delhi: University of Delhi, 1996).
7.   Swami Chinmayananda. The Art of Man Making (Mumbai: Central Chinmaya
      Mission Trust, 2000).
8.  Best Practices in Administration of Higher Educational Institutions in India, A Study Report, Christ College, 2002. (Much of the above reflections and suggestions are from the National Workshop for College Principals, organized by  Christ College, Bangalore).



 

Best Practices: Quest and Response to Quality Enhancement

-             Dr. Fr. Davis George, Principal, St. Aloysius College, Jabalpur 482001


1 Introduction: Quality is the buzzword

Quantity never really means quality. At least, when it comes to education it is quality which often takes a beating against the growing number of educational institutions making claims of offering state-of-the-art infrastructure and holistic education. Quality in Higher Education has been a matter of high concern and priority at regional, national and international levels especially in the past ten years.  In India, the National Policy on Education 1986 has very categorically questioned the impact of education and has suggested many measures for bringing about innovative practices in education. With higher education becoming an international service, there is a growing concern in the world over about Quality, Standards, and Recognition. Consequent to this trend in higher education, pursuit of “Quality” is emerging as a universal compulsion and this has led to discussions on the application of some of the management concepts in the education sector. Among the various points of interest, the debate on how benchmarks are to be evolved for ensuring and assuring quality in best practices is being continued.

Today students are members of the digital generation.  They are highly affected by the exposure to internet technology and their approach to learning may initiate a ‘plug’ & ‘play experience and not the traditional sequential learning.  The HODs’ and faculty also may need to develop new pedagogy through which there are collective learning experiences in which students work together and learn together with the faculty member acting as a mentor.

The colleges have to develop an attitude by which students will be treated as clients with continuously changing needs and ambitions.  Teachers may have to work more to satisfy the wishes of the students, society than their own personal and individual urges and impulses.  The curriculum would require constant change.  In order to cope with the situation, the university curriculum may have to be guided more by the external impulses rather than internal impulses.  Transformation of thoughts into action and subsequently as tangible results demand teamwork and courage to combat failures and reach the stars.

The idea of the Best Practice evolved from a converging set of needs in higher education. Today, colleges and universities need reliable atmosphere or ambience to foster healthy practices among students. There is a trend of inefficient traditional management practices in higher education. Hence, there is a need to learn and share knowledge in new areas and identify strategic models and processes.
The Best Practices are those that are initiated and implemented by some universities, institutes or colleges that have proved their efficacy over a period of time and deserved to be studied by others for the general good of the total quality in the Higher Education system in India. Other institutes may like to adopt the same for improvement of their systems with modification to suit their conditions and requirements. Also this interaction may lead to future refinement of the practices already being implemented in some institutions.

In NAAC’s scheme of assessment, institutions are assessed for their strengths and weaknesses under seven criteria.  The analysis of the best practices under the first six criteria revealed that the institutions that came forward for AA have been successful in performing their roles & responsibilities with value addition.  Rather than a routine way of taking care of the minimal requirement, they enriched their functioning with relevance and quality.  However, it is the seventh criterion viz. Healthy Practices that brought out the institutional uniqueness and innovativeness that might be of interest to the other institutions.

2.  Goal of the session on Best Practices:

To enable Administrators of Higher Education to evolve Best Practices which will suit their own contexts. The goal of the workshop is to engage in an understanding and collective evaluation of Best Practices, to consolidate the strengths and suggest ways and means to overcome obstacles, share and learn from each other’s experience and adapt these best practices, suitable to the context of a particular institution.

3. Objectives of the Conference:

·  To enable participants to understand the concept of ‘Best Practice’.
·  To study Best Practices in institutions across India which are situated amidst different      socio-cultural, economic, political regions and varying student social composition (caste, class, rural, urban, cosmopolitan).
· To correlate the Best Practices with the contextual factors i.e. socio-cultural, economic,     political regions and varying student social composition (caste, class, rural, urban, cosmopolitan).
·  To analyze Best Practices for its emergency, its limitations and its applicability.
· To disseminate these findings in the workshop.  To enable each participant to think about the applicability of the Practices in his/her own context.
· To enable educational administrators to acquire sensitivity to their own context and situation so that they can evolve Best Practices on their own through debate and consensus rather than blindly replicate practices.

Therefore, it is of utmost importance to debate critically on the concept of quality and quality practices.  We need to understand the complexity of internal and external conditions which give rise to practices which apparently suit the quality administration of the higher educational institutions.  In the light of these we need to appreciate the practices that have evolved in different institutions and consciously deliberate on the possibilities of adopting them.




4. Dynamics of the session:

The dynamics of the workshop is participatory and evolution oriented, banking on the experience and expertise of everyone gathered here.  The expert view of resource persons is aimed at generating thought and reflection on the key concepts of Best Practices.  The resource persons will also respond to the views, opinions, ideas and concerns from the participants.

5. Healthy Practices: Innovative approach to Higher Education.

 

The criterion on Healthy Practices focuses on the innovative efforts of the institutions that add to its academic growth.  An innovative practice need not necessarily be unique in nature across board, but a pathway created to further the interest of the student and the institution amidst constraints.  In other words, healthy practices are contextual in nature and a practice recognized as healthy in one institution may not necessarily be so in another institution.  On analysis, it is found that most of the top bracket institutions have been commended for at least a few of the following aspects under the criterion on ‘Healthy Practices’.

Special programs offered by the institution that truly reflect the institutional mission, goals and objectives.
*        Efforts of the Principal and faculty members who strive hard with a determination to meet goals and objectives set for the institution.
*        Innovative and job-oriented courses which help the students in career planning.
*        The compulsory courses offered by the institution in addition to the normal ones to enrich the student experience and to challenge faculty and students to go beyond the syllabus.
*        The programs which students could choose voluntarily, outside the usual syllabus and lecture hours.
*        The curriculum which embraces multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, and which offers flexibility in response to the diverse student needs.
*        Implementation of well defined criteria for assessing the viability of academic programs.
*        The clear/established procedure for program design, and its implementation.
*        The role of faculty who interact closely and constructively with the Boards of Studies of the parent university.
*        The emphasis on value-based education.
*        The stimulating learning environment and the value placed on teaching, strengthened by various teaching-learning initiatives supported by faculty research.
*        The co-curricular activities and student centered activities of the institution.
*        The high academic standards maintained in many departments.
*        The rapport and strong tie-up with industry in some of the departments.
*        The reasonably well-developed national and international linkages established by some of the departments.
*        Potential of the faculty with core competence in specific areas to handle Training and Consultancy assignments.
*        The highly talented, motivated and dedicated faculty.
*        The recruitment of well qualified faculty who are drawn from different parts of the country and the efforts of the institution towards promoting it.
*        The substantial seed money set apart by the institution to promote Research culture.
*        Emphasis on integration of research and teaching, and the concept of the research active teacher.
*        The well stocked library with adequate number of foreign journals, Indian Journals, media facilities, internet access, open access system, extended library hours, photocopying facility, etc.
*        The well maintained Computer Labs and their facilitating aspects.
*        The established procedures for eliciting feedback from students through questionnaires and other structured formats.
*        The commitment to make the best use of student feedback to improve academic provision and related support services for students.
*        The creation of a supportive environment and effective guidance procedures at all levels.
*        The optimal use of the existing infrastructure and facilities.
*        Student involvement in meaningful voluntary service.
*        The efforts in religious studies to foster an understanding and appreciation of religions to contribute towards communal harmony and national integration.
*        The various activities organized by the students themselves where the managerial skills of the students are fully shaped and put to test.
*        The efforts of the institution to focus on regional and applied research on issues of social concern.
*        Efforts to maintain high student progression to employment and further study after under-graduate level, with minimal drop-out rate.
*        The excellent placement efforts.
*        The students involvement in publishing magazines.
*        The commitment of the students and their relationship with the faculty that contributes to the institution’s cohesiveness.
*        Alumni involvement.
*        Financial aid to students and concessions to the sports candidates.
*        The tutorial system through which a group of students are attached to a faculty for personal and academic counselling.
*        The freedom and support provided by the management in all activities of the institution.
*        The cordial relationship that exists between the various constituents of the institution.
*        The trust of the faculty on students in allowing them to participate in various programs as well as make appropriate decisions.
*        The rural development programs.
*        The professional development programs offered to the administrative staff.
*        The effective resource mobilization of the institution.
*        The healthy professional environment which is conducive to bring out the best in every individual working in the institution.
*        An atmosphere of mutual trust, love and affection that permeates in the entire campus.
*        The discipline & order, service culture and team spirit among the members of the college.
*        Introduction of some healthy practices viz.,
à        Introduction of “on-the-job-training” projects in the vocational courses.
à        “Legal literacy” program for students.
à        Training in “Spoken English”
*        Excellent infrastructural facilities for curricular and extra-curricular activities.
*        Use of modern aids, audio-visual and computer-aided approaches in teaching.
*        Excellent inter-departmental and student-teacher interactions.
*        Well-appreciated extension activities and social work through National Service Scheme, NCC and by interaction with local NGOs.
*        Importance given to project work, seminars and field work in the curriculum.
*        Establishment of linkages with ex-students, local public, industrial and commercial institutions.
*        Effective teachers’ participation in co-curricular, extra curricular, social and cultural activities and extension activities.
*        Receptive and effective administration.
*        Compulsory student participation in any of the three programs – NSS, NCC and Sports, which encourages team work and group experience.
*        Practice of yoga, meditation and classes on moral instruction which are helpful for the full development of the personality.
*        Various scholarships and stipends available to the students.
*        Enrichment courses for students so as to enable them to acquire competence/skills in areas beyond those covered in the curriculum should help the students in finding employment and create self-confidence.
*        Recognition given to the important role played by the non-teaching staff in academic life.
*        The social commitment of the management to make an impact on the quality of life of the people living in rural areas surrounding the college through value education of women.
*        Interaction with villages around thereby helping rural women in many ways.
*        Orientation/training for newly inducted staff members, class representatives and new students.
*        Class-wise cultural activities roping in all students in some activity or the other.
*        Media center to produce Educational Programs.
*        Outstanding record in sports and games in University, Inter-Collegiate tournaments, Inter University meets, State, National and International level events.
*        Welfare programs and adequate institutional support structure for student progression and development.
*        Women’s empowerment cell, youth red cross unit, fine arts club, and the four wings of NCC and NSS that are active.
*        The breadth and depth of its means of internal communication.
*        Establishment of an effective IQAC and its efforts to support its quality assurance and enhancement process.
*        The constructive relationship between IQAC and the departments.

As one could see, the above list presents both the products as well as processes.  Instead of debating on products vs processes, NAAC teams believed in balancing both.  In fact, in the first cycle of assessment, NAAC had to accept many informal practices in view of the desired outcomes they had made in the system.  Although many institutions reported that they did not have certain formal mechanisms, they insisted that the expected outcomes were being achieved informally.  For example, student feedback, career counselling, skill development of students etc. were areas where one could find four major lacunae: 1) Many institutions did not have formal mechanisms in place. 2) Those who claimed to have formal mechanisms had initiated them very recently. 3) Documentation and support structure for those mechanisms were not adequate.  4) Even in cases where such mechanisms existed, efforts and evidence towards demonstrating the effectiveness of such mechanisms were absent.

However, in an effort to contextualise assessment and promote best practices, the assessment teams had not taken a penalising stand on those issues.  The very existence of such mechanisms – formally or informally – was taken as a best practice.  At the same time, it is reasonable to expect that during re-accreditation the institution would be able to demonstrate that these drawbacks had been set right.  For all those hurriedly initiated mechanisms, the institutions have to demonstrate how effectively they are being sustained.  In addition, they have to act on the recommendations given in the assessment report for further growth and development.

6. Quality Enhancement Strategies:

The assessment report has a separate section on Commendations and Suggestions where- in the team very clearly spells out the commendable aspects of the institution and also records the suggestions which the institution may consider for its future development.  This has led to a long list of suggestions to highly rated institutions.  An analysis was done for the highly rated institutions with reference to one question: What are the suggestions given to these institutions for their future development?  The outcome is expected to a point of reference for institutions that would like to initiate further quality enhancement strategies.  The following list is the compilation of some of those suggestions:
·    The institution needs to interact with the other institutions, industries and the society at large by drawing visiting faculty from among them for special lectures.  Illustrations alumni and other members of the society may be invited to deliver lectures on areas of their respective specialization. The industry-institution linkage needs to be strengthened from the point of view of student placements and projects.

·    Even though the institution is providing good education in liberal arts and pure science, there is a need to deliver newer courses with larger job potentials on computers, information technology and such other courses.  More post graduate programs and skill oriented certificate courses need to be introduced in a phased manner.
·    There is ample scope for more widespread use of educational technology and multi-media facilities including Computer Aided Learning packages in the teaching-learning process.
·    A handbook containing all the details for the curriculum along with the learning objectives with proper unitization including the references may be prepared for each course/program.
·    The institution needs to introduce many remedial approaches to enable the under privileged students to compete with the rest of the students.  It is imperative to adopt several programs in the form of compensatory education, as an urgent step.
·    The institution should also plan for introducing programs especially for the advantage of those students who are involved in competitive examination preparation.
·    A sizeable number of teachers are engaged in research and teaching but it is noted with surprise that the teachers do not utilize the facilities available at the other research centers in the neighbourhood inspite of their close proximity.  The institution - neighbourhood linkage may be strengthened.
·    Many more teachers should submit relevant proposals in their respective fields to various funding agencies at the national level and avail UGC-Schemes for Research and other outside plan allocations from the UGC as well as other national funding agencies.
·    Research can also be promoted at the undergraduate level by giving meaningful problems for project work.
·    The research culture that is evident in some departments needs to be spread further to other departments.
·    Keeping in view the future development of the institution the peer team feels that the management may consider financial incentives to the teachers who are actively involved in research.
·    The peer group understands the reason for lack of consultancy in many institutions.  However, in the present context every educational institution has to relate itself to the community.  Therefore, it is desirable to take up consultancy with all earnestness.  The institution could offer consultancy and testing services on a commercial basis, without prejudice to its own academic and research activities.
·    The in-house areas of expertise may be subtly advertised through regular admission and placement brochures.
·    Some concession in the workload may be given to those faculty members who are active in research and consultancy.
·    The institution may explore ways through which academic staff on temporary and part-time appointments may be encouraged to play a full part in maintaining and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning and ensuring that appropriate training is available to part-time and temporary staff, and monitoring the quality of education provided by these categories of staff.
·    Conducting  periodic seminars and workshops with particular emphasis on modern teaching and evaluation techniques needs to be considered for faculty development.
·    A formal mechanism may be developed to obtain feedback from academic peers about the curriculum enrichment that is required.
·    Areas where feedback is crucial must be identified and a scientific mechanism be evolved for gathering information from students, teachers and employees on those areas.
·    A formal mechanism for evaluating the faculty performance on the dimensions of teaching, research, consultancy and administrative work, other than the self-appraisal mechanism, may be implemented.
·    The student support and progression would be greatly helped if there is a student feedback system on the various aspects of their educational experience.
·    Though from the point of view of the absolute numbers, the library books appears to be satisfactory, there seems to be not too many new additions to the library.  Subscription to the journals needs to be increased.
·    It would be worthwhile to extend library timings and to keep it open even on Sundays and holidays.  The library needs to have inter-library borrowing facilities and access to Internet.
·    Automation of library and procurement of latest books of high standard need to be given priority.
·    The existing internet facilities may be enhanced.
·    Many of the laboratories need to be further augmented with more modern equipment.
·    Though the sports facilities are adequate, participation could be increased.
·    The institution has to create adequate support structure for the progression of the students.  There is a need to introduce various enrichment programs for the preparation of the students to competitive examinations on priority basis.  The institution should institute a student placement cell in view of its increasing importance to provide timely career guidance and counselling.
·    The institution may develop a Computerized Students Information System (CSIS)
·    It would be a good idea to establish a well-equipped non-resident students center for the benefit of day scholars.
·    No adequate record of student progression to employment or further studies is maintained by the institution.  This, as an institutional obligation, may be pursued.
·    It is necessary to build up a reliable database to ensure effective and efficient administration of the institution.
·    Administration of the institution needs to be more decentralized.  Representatives of R&D organizations, industry, business and service sectors could perhaps be included in the Governing Body and other academic and administrative bodies of the institution.
·    It is considered necessary to devise a program of action to train all technical staff on a time-bound basis with a view to updating them.
·    The alumni association could be activated to involve it more deeply in the various academic and developmental programs of the institution.
·    The institution should consider undertaking more effective measures to mobilize additional resources.
·    The peer committee recommends a well-thought of redressal mechanism to examine the grievances of different sections of the institution to raise the level of their confidence.
·    A Ten Year Perspective Strategic Plan may be developed by the institution.
·    The institution may explore ways on encouraging wider dissemination and appropriate use of the examples of good practice already in place in the departments and faculties.
·    It needs to strengthen its capacity to ensure that the academic standards of its collaborating institutions are satisfactory, to offer appropriate job training to the students.
·    Constitution of an Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) may be seriously thought of.
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7. Conclusion:

There may be lot of overlaps in the two lists given above.  The institutions will have to look at these aspects and choose the ones that will work well in their context. Around 100 assessment reports are available in the NAAC website (www.naac-india.com).  Institutions may browse these reports to identify the best practices that will be of use to them, keeping in mind what works in one context need not be so in another institution.  Trend setting in the field of education is a difficult task, since most of the best practices are not described well possibly because it could not be done.  This paper has made an attempt to document where the highly commended institutions stand with reference to some of the best practices.  The outcome is expected to be a point of reference for institutions that would like to become more efficient with reference to NAAC’s criteria

The new era has ushered in a boom of hi-tech educational resources to keep pace with information revolution. The new century has brought in a lot of challenges confronting higher education. Twenty first century society is a knowledge society. In this age of knowledge it is the intellectual capital, trained manpower rather than financial and physical capital, which will give the society strength and prosperity. When knowledge and educated people become important strategic resources for development the society has to become more dependent upon those institutions namely, our universities, colleges and higher education institutions that are responsible for creating these critical resources. However, there is always a question about the capacity of our universities to meet the challenges of the growing social and technological needs. The quest will continue. And our response would be to evolve the best practices that could be implemented in our own respective colleges.


Notes and References:

1.  Antony Stella & A. Gnanam. Assuring Quality and Standards in Higher Education: The Contemporary Context and Concerns (New Delhi : Allied Publisher (P) Ltd., 2002).
2.  Dr. Antony Stella. “Best Practices: A Perspective from the NAAC”. (Bangalore: NAAC).( Much of the above reflections and suggestions are from the above mentio- ned paper presented by Dr. Antony Stella, at the workshop for College Principals at Christ College, Bangalore)
3.  Fr. George Palackapilly, SDB & Ms. Nita Burman, ed. Proceedings of the National Consultation on Education (Bangalore: Kristu Jyoti College, 1999).
4.  Mani Jacob, et. al., eds. Resource Book for Value Education (New Delhi: Institute of Value Education, 2002).
5.  Nirmala Jeyaraj, ed. Higher Education: Vision and Mission for Twenty – First Century (Madurai: Lady Doak College, 1998).
6.   N. K. Uberoi, ed. Professional Competency in Higher Education (Delhi: University of Delhi, 1996).
7.  Swami Chinmayananda. The Art of Man Making (Mumbai: Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, 2000).
8.  Best Practices in Administration of Higher Educational Institutions in India,
     A Study Report, Christ College, 2002. ( Much of the above reflections and  suggestions are from the National Workshop for College Principals, organized by  Christ College, Bangalore)