NAAC peer team to visit AU from May 27 to 29

The peer team of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is set to arrive on the Allahabad University (AU) on a three-day assessment exercise on May 27.

It will be the second visit of the team since the varsity attained central status in 2005.

Preparations are going on in full swing on the campus ahead of the arrival of the team, confirmed AU officials.

AU has high expectations from this NAAC team visit. In the last five years, a large number of academic, non-academic and administrative posts lying vacant for years have been filled.

During the tenure of present vice-chancellor Prof Sangita Srivastava, around 360 appointments have been made against just the vacant posts of teachers besides another 1,100 against vacant non-academic posts—all of which play a role in the award of the grade by NAAC. Apart from this, three new hostels, an Early Childhood Care Centre, Harivansh Rai Bachchan Cultural Centre apart from new buildings have also been constructed which the varsity officials are hopeful would allow AU to bag an ‘A’ grade this time around.

NAAC is an autonomous body that assesses and accredits higher education institutions of the country, and this grading plays a vital role in the varsities and colleges bag fundings from the government as well as funding agencies for further development and projects.

The grading given by NAAC to any higher education institution is valid for five years. The NAAC peer team last visited Allahabad University in 2019. After this, on the recommendation of the peer team, AU was awarded ‘B ++’ grade.

In a notification issued by the AU registrar on May 22, all the deans, heads of departments, directors of the centres and coordinators were informed that the NAAC team is going to come to AU campus between May 27 to 29. Due to this, no teacher and non-teaching staff will be given leave between May 26 and May 29.

Through this notification, it was also instructed that all the departments, centres, offices and sections should complete the necessary preparations by May 24.

During the visit, the team members would hold separate discussions with the VC, heads of the departments and deans, former students, staff and employees besides visiting different departments and viewing presentations by them highlighting their past academic and research achievements and future plans.