jp aim- 23-12-13
TRANSCRIPT
Peer Team Report in
NAAC Methodology of Assessment and
Accreditation
Presentation at AIM, NAAC
23-24 December 2013
GUIDING PHILOSOPHY• QA is a process of evaluating program
and/or institutional quality that is*: comprehensive; integrated; purposeful; ongoing; continuous; and everyone’s responsibility*APQN Module Presentation at KL, Malaysia,JP
QA PROCESSES• Institutional and/or program audit Process of assessing procedures/systems of
the institution to ensure effectiveness in support of the Vision-Mission & goals of the institution
• Accreditation (institutional and program) Process for assessing/upgrading the quality
of institution and programs through self-regulation and peer judgment
Things to do…
Before the Visit • Understand QAA’s Process• Analyze the Self-Study Report• Identify the Strengths and Weaknesses• Write a tentative evaluation note• Arrive at Criterion-wise Tentative Scores with
Justification • Ensure no conflict of interest
Things to do…During the Visit• Share your analysis of the report with the Team Members• Agree on Issues that Need Further Probing• Accept Responsibilities to Collect Evidences• Interact with the Mgt., Head, Teaching Faculty, Staff,
Students, Alumni and Parents• Check Documentary Evidence• Cross Check Non-documentary Evidence• Validate the Self-Assessment Report• Agree on the Provisional Criterion-wise Scores• Follow the Code of conduct
Things to do…At the End of the Visit
• Write a Clear Report• Arrive at the Final Scores • Share the findings with the Head of the Institution • Share the Highlights of your Report in the Exit Meeting• Maintain confidentiality [about grading] • Provide the feedback to QAA
Peer Team Report- Importance and PurposeThe importance and purpose of Peer Team Report can be
understood once we recognise that it:• is the agenda and signpost of the institution for planning and
developing strategies to sustain and enhance quality during at least the next five years;
• is a assessment of the performance of the institution in the past;• is a public document to guide other
institutions/stakeholders/freshers to make academic and administrative decisions;
• determines the status of the institution through accreditation;• facilitates or prevents external support when accreditation is
linked to funding by public or private bodies; • boosts or deflates the morale of the institution; and • sets the continuum of the quest for excellence in motion.
Peer Team Report- Expectations
NAAC expects PTR to be:• consistent in content (assessment) and grade
(accreditation)• credible, by being factual and objective;• acceptable to the institution without reservation;• helpful to motivate quality sustenance, quality
enhancement; • fair and free from flaws of different kinds caused
by professional indiscretion, especially in spelling out directions of recommended change.
Peer Team Report- Coverage
PTR is expected to cover the following issues:• the scope and objectives of the assessment;• identification of criteria against which the assessment is
executed (the SSR)• observation made and suggestions for improvement• the institution’s ability to achieve the defined objectives;
and • the judgment of the assessment team’s on the extent of
the institution’s quality provisions, compliance with the applicable standards/regulations and related documentation.
Peer Team Report- NAAC FormatCurrent PTR format of NAAC has 4 parts as following :• SECTION I - GIVES THE GENERAL INFORMATION of the institution
and its context, • SECTION II- CRITERION-WISE ANALYSIS is for recording
Observations [Strengths and/or weaknesses] on Key-Aspects, limiting to three major ones for each in short meaningful sentences. However it is not necessary to indicate all the three bullets each time. Only the relevant ones can be mentioned
• SECTION III- OVERALL ANALYSIS, which includes Institutional Strengths, Institutional Weaknesses, Institutional Challenges, Institutional Opportunities; and
SECTION IV - FOR RECORDING RECOMMENDATIONS for Quality Enhancement of the Institution (limited to ten major ones).
The report is entirely based on the institution's own self-assessment on the one hand, and the criteria of NAAC on the other . Peer team brings in their rich experience to contxtualise these two aspects while finalising PTR. [ Ref page 53 and 68 of peer Team document ]
Grade Report Parity
PTR should match the institutional grade. This parity depends on :
• fact-based writing: This is nothing but the validation and authentication of claims made in the SSR;
• explicitness in writing which leaves no room for imposing an external interpretation based on impressions;
• control of writing and scoring by team consensus arrived at, after an in-depth discussion of issues;
• cross verification of outcomes of similar assessments made of the performance of the institution by responsible bodies such as the AICTE, NCTE, University, State Government etc. and assessment made by external peers on the institution's own initiative; (random surveys made by private or public agencies may not be helpful for obvious reasons); and
• a comparison of grades of similar institutions in the same area assigned by Peer Teams.
The last two are only tangential strategies that can at best help the process of verification of assessment. The grade-report parity essentially rests upon the first three.
Match grade with content of report. Let your Assessment be clear and stand firmly
on criteria of validation of NAAC. Let your assessment complement internal
quality processes. Recommend that which is helpful and practical
in the context of the institution. Validation statements should be well
authenticated. Let the report be clear, precise and positive. Let the report be organized with logical
soundness. Let the language of your report be cohesive and
precise. Maintain the perspective of the assessee-
institution. Write in a tone that is pleasant and acceptable. Be indicative in suggestions. Let the report follow the flow of ideas without
interruption.
Avoid arbitrariness in both validation and determination of scores.
Do not let your own insights supersede validation made with NAAC’s criteria.
Do not impose, directly or indirectly, any external practices not compatible with those of the institution.
Do not recommend that which violates norms of either the institution or the government.
Avoid subjective Assessment based on impressions and not on evidence.
Avoid ambiguous ideas and expressions. Avoid errors of logic in your assessment. Avoid descriptions which are not necessary for
validation. Do not assess or write from your own
perspective. Do not take a magisterial stance. Do not be prescriptive. Do not include tables, graphs, pictures, etc. in
the running text.
Good Report- Some tips Coherence , Cohesion and Style are cardinals of good report writing. Some NAAC tips are given below.
Some key Things to remember about PTR• Peer team report is posted on NAAC
website. So the quality of report, of peer team and also that of NAAC is subjected to public scrutiny
• HEI has option to go for appeal. In that case each word and sentence in PTR could be challenged to Appeals Committee.
• At the best PTR can be a vision document for HEIs. At worst it can spoil image of team and NAAC !
Parting quote !
• It is when you lose sight of yourself, that you lose your way. To keep your truth in sight you must keep yourself in sight and the world to you should be a mirror to reflect to you your image; the world should be a mirror that you reflect upon.” ― C. JoyBell C.
Thank You [email protected]
Acknowledgements- NAAC Manuals and Publications, Modules of APQN QA Package
Dr. Jagannath Patil
Deputy Adviser, NAAC,
President , Asia Pacific Quality Network