NAAC Provisional Accreditation for Colleges (PAC)

Whats is NAAC Provisional Accreditation ?

NAAC Provisional Accreditation for Colleges (PAC) is a temporary status given to the prospective institution preparing for the final Accreditation to make a focused attempt in the lines of guidelines given by the core team of NAAC PAC.

In the emerging scenario of Higher Education, Accreditation means a lot to the Universities and colleges. In the context of New Educational Policy 2020 it is an observed fact that “If there is no quality there will be no accreditation and if there is no accreditation no survival”. By and large, every higher educational institution irrespective of the discipline should go ahead to procure a high grade in accreditation.

  • NAAC PAC is a temporary accreditation status granted to new HEIs (previously unaccredited) that meets satisfactory compliance with a set of standards put forth by the accreditation agency. The provisional accreditation will bevalid for 2 years.
  • The PAC process is comparatively very easy and could be considered as a first step by new institutions aiming for Normal Accreditation.

Steps for PAC

Unlike the Normal accreditation process, the institution seeking NAAC PAC needs to answer only few questions in quantitative and qualitative dimensions based on 10 simple criteria, along with the basic profile of the college.

  • There are 10 quantitative questions which need to be answered based on data from the last completed academic year. Also, there are 15 qualitative questions which require descriptive answers within 100-300 words. 
  • Each of these 25 questions will be evaluated on a 3 point scale – the lowest being 0 and highest 2. This makes the total maximum points to be 50, of which a minimum of 20 is to be scored for getting accredited provisionally.
  • Compared to the SSR submission in the graded accreditation, submitting the requirements of PAC as well as getting accredited is a very simple task and NAAC expects most of the unaccredited colleges to  move this way.
  • During the period of PAC an institution can deliberately have a focused preparation for normal Accreditation.

Purpose of Provisional Accreditation

The institution seeking a Provisional Accreditation gets committed to apply for Normal Accreditation which will be a mandatory criterion of a Higher Education Institution in long run. The applicant institution will get clear cut direction regarding the necessary improvements to procure for top level quality. This will be an encouragement and guidance for institutions to get higher scores in the normal accreditation process.

This includes the following like:

  1. Catering to differential needs of the students
  2. Student-centric methodologies adopted in the institution
  3. ICT enabled tools and online resources
  4. Extension activities to sensitize students on social issues
  5. Facilities for teaching and learning
  6. Library facilities
  7. Academic and administrative pursuits
  8. Decentralization and participative managements,
  9. Institutional Development Plans (IDP)
  10. Functioning of Internal Quality Assurance System (IQAS)

Eligibility Conditions

Any College offering regular programs of Higher Education at undergraduate and above levels are eligible to apply for PROVISIONAL ACCREDITATION FOR COLLEGES (PAC) provided they meet the following criteria:

  1. Not accredited previously by NAAX
  2. Have completed at least one Academic year (from student admission to announcement of results).

The accreditation fee for NAAC PAC shall be Rs.10,000/- + GST. If Peer Team Visit (PTV) is recommended, actual Logistics Fee including GST will be charged.

The institution which fails to get accredited could apply again after a period of 6 Months and within one year of result declaration. Fees paid for accreditation will not be refunded or adjusted.

The college applying for provisional accreditation should fill and submit the proforma online.

The Peer Team members

Normally the inspection team comprises two members. One member in the designation of VC/Director/Professor and the other a principal of a similar type of institution. They may be accompanied by a government nominee on need based. The inspection will be based on the public disclosure of documents submitted to NAAC on the college website. Any violation will be viewed seriously.

Assessment Pattern

There will be ten questions each from quantitative and qualitative aspects related to the college. Each question is graded in a three-point scale ranging from 0 to 2. The maximum scores for 20 questions will be 40. An institution scoring a minimum of 15 score will be accredited

Outcomes of Provisional Accreditation

The result of accreditation will be in a binary scale which showcases whether “Accredited” or “Not Accredited”. The college will also be provided a a Peer Team Report (PTR) and a Digital Certificate.

During the PAC period, the college is expected to strengthen its Internal Quality Assurance measures and proceed to the normal, graded accreditation.

For more details on NAAC Provisional Accreditation of Colleges follow this link

On 02nd March 2022, NAAC has published an updated and final manual for the Provisional Accreditation. It also contains SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) instructions for PAC, as well as specimen formats for Self Declaration and Undertaking.

For More Details and Official Notification Visit Here

Details Regarding PAC: Download Here

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *