Research Foundation of India

Accreditation and Advisory Framework

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), National Board of Accreditation (NBA), Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), and the Accreditation Advisory Committee play vital roles in assuring and enhancing quality standards in higher education and professional accreditation.

Accreditation Advisory provides research and accreditation advisory assistance, as required, to guide and support the development of strategies and procedures that sustain and strengthen oversight of accredited certification bodies. The objective is to ensure robust governance, consistency, and continual improvement across accreditation processes.

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What Does the Advisory Committee Do?

When convened, Advisory Committees evaluate existing oversight procedures and recommend best practices to help Accreditation Advisory effectively supervise accredited certification bodies. Their guidance ensures consistent, high-quality audits conducted by competent and qualified auditors.

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Who Participates in the Advisory Committees?

Advisory Committees comprise technical experts, key stakeholders, and representatives from organizations that own or maintain the standards for which Accreditation Advisory provides accreditation services. Membership also includes voices from civil society and the business sector. All members serve on a voluntary basis, contributing their expertise to uphold excellence and integrity in accreditation systems.

NAAC ACCREDITATION RULES

NAAC Accreditation Process

The Systematic process & steps to apply for the NAAC Accreditation are:

HEI Registration:

• It is mandatory and one of the criteria for the HEIs to upload the institution’s
  details on AISHE (All India Survey on Higher Education) portal and have AISHE
  Reference Code before applying for A&A
• Fill HEI Registration Form
•  NAAC Verifies the Registration
• After validation, the Organisation sends Login Credentials to the HEI
•  Access the Portal with Login Credentials to submit the required necessary
  documents

IIQA Submission:

• Login to the portal, fill the IIQA (Institutional Information for Quality
  Assessment) form
• Pay the IIQA Fee Online
• Submit the necessary documents in the right format
• The Accreditation body validates the documents and passes the decision usually
  within 15 days from the date of the registration
• Proceed to SSR Submission after approval
• In case of rejection, institutions have 2 attempts to resubmit the IIQA form and
  the documents within 1 year

SSR Submission:

• Fill the SSR (Self Study Report) Form
• Pay the SSR Instalment Fee Online
• Upload the data files (Min. 50% of Student data) and documents in the prescribed
  template format
• Submit the form
• The Organisation verifies the SSS (Student Satisfaction Survey) Process, DAV
  Process, and Inflibnet Bibliometric Data

The NAAC looks into SSR QnM for Pre-Qualification Evaluation
PTV Management Process:

• As a part of the PTV Management Process, the committee declares the date of the visit along with the teams to visit the institution within three weeks of receiving the SSR

NAAC Eligibility Criteria for Autonomous colleges and Constituent Colleges /
Affiliated Colleges
The eligibility criteria for the Constituent/ Affiliated institutions and Autonomous Colleges are

• The college must be affiliated to a University recognized by the UGC
  Note: Constituent colleges of a Private and Deemed-to-be Universities are considered as the
  constituent units of the University and thus will not be considered for the NAAC A&A.
• The programmes offered at the college must be recognized by Statutory Professional
  Regulatory Councils and by the Association of Indian Universities(AIU)

NAAC Criteria wise Weightage

All three types of institutions are graded and ranked using 7 Criteria and 34 Key Indicators (KIs).
Each KI has a certain value and weightage and is different for the different types. Institutions
seeking the Accreditation need to attain that value number to get certified and ranked. The
NAAC is emphasizing on ERP Software as one of the Criteria.

No Of CRITERIA	CRITERIA	Required KI for University	Required KI for Autonomous College	Required KI for Affiliated College
Criteria 1	Curricular Aspects	150	150	100
Criteria 2	Teaching-learning & Evaluation	200	300	350
Criteria 3	Research, Innovations & Extension	250	150	120
Criteria 4	Infrastructure & Learning Resources	100	100	100
Criteria 5	Student Support & Progression	100	100	130
Criteria 6	Governance, Leadership & Management	100	100	100
Criteria 7	Institutional Values & Best Practices	100	100	100

Documents required for NAAC Accreditation

The list of documents required and the files to be prepared before applying for the NAAC Accreditation must be in the right PDF format.

Key Documents Required for Colleges

• Latest affiliation letter(s) for the current academic year along with the copy of the
  application and fee details.
• Current academic year recognition/approval letter from Statutory Regulatory Authority
  (SRA) bodies such as AICTE, MCI, BCI, PCI, etc.
• UGC 2f and 12(B) recognition certificate along with the latest Plan/ General
  Development Grant release letter from the UGC

Key Documents for Autonomous Colleges

• Letter from UGC conferring Autonomous Status
• latest AISHE certificate or provide the relevant message indicating the DCF number as a proof from All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) portal
• HEIs covered by any SRA/ UGC must submit the approvals from the respective SRA/UGC indicating the change
• Self-declaration with respect to Affiliation status in the format provided by NAAC

Key Documents Required for University

• Approval of UGC/MHRD/State government certifying the establishment of the University
• Current academic year recognition/ approval letter from Statutory Regulatory Authority (SRA)like AICTE, MCI, BCI, PCI
• UGC 2f and 12(B) recognition certificate