In pursuance of its Action Plan for performance evaluation, assessment and accreditation and quality up-gradation of institutions of higher education, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bangalore proposes that every accredited institution should establish an Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) as a quality sustenance measure. Since quality enhancement is a continuous process, the IQAC will become a part of the institution’s system and work towards realisation 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. For this, during the post-accreditation period, institutions need to channelize its efforts and measures towards promoting the holistic academic excellence including the peer committee recommendations. The work of the IQAC is the first step towards internalization and institutionalization of quality enhancement initiatives. Its success depends upon the sense of belongingness and participation in all the constituents of the institution.
It will not be yet another hierarchical structure or a record-keeping exercise in the institution. It will be a facilitative and participative voluntary system/unit/organ of the institution. It has the potential to become a vehicle for ushering in quality enhancement by working out planned interventionist strategies by IQAC to remove deficiencies and enhance quality like the “Quality Circles” in industries.
To ensure quality culture as the prime concern for the Higher Education Institutions through institutionalizing and internalizing all the initiatives taken with internal and external support.
The primary aim of IQAC is
IQAC shall evolve mechanisms and procedures for
Some of the functions expected of the IQAC are:
The composition of the IQAC will depend on the size and complexity of the institution, accordingly the representation of teachers may vary. It helps the institutions in planning and monitoring. IQAC also gives stakeholders or beneficiaries a cross-sectional participation in the institution’s quality enhancement activities. The guidelines given here are only indicative and will help the institutions for quality sustenance activities.
The membership of such nominated members shall be for a period of two years. The IQAC should meet at least once in every quarter. The quorum for the meeting shall be two-third of the total number of members. The agenda, minutes and Action Taken Reports are to be documented with official signatures and maintained electronically in a retrievable format.
It is necessary for the members of the IQAC to shoulder the responsibilities of generating and promoting awareness in the institution and to devote time for working out the procedural details. While selecting these members several precautions need to be taken. A few of them are listed below: