After nearly 2 years, University of Mumbai hopes to get NAAC grade

After functioning without a grade from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) for 22 months, University of Mumbai (MU) has begun the process of applying for a new grade. Officials said they hoped MU would receive its grade by the end of the month.

MU was last accredited by NAAC in April 2012 and had received ‘A’ grade, which was valid till March 31, 2017. Instead of starting the re-application process before the deadline, MU began the process more than a year after its accreditation had lapsed.

“The accreditation process took so long because the university had to start the process from scratch, as per the new UGC laws,” said an official from the university on condition of anonymity. In 2018, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had released new guidelines which allowed institutions to re-apply for accreditation throughout the year and stipulated that colleges with a NAAC score of 3.51 and above would be considered for autonomous status without an onsite visit by an expert committee. Previously, applications could not be submitted later than March 31.

“The re-accreditation process for NAAC is a three-step process, and we have already finished the first step by uploading the Institutional Information for Quality Assessment (IIQA) form. The remaining process will be completed within the next 30 days,” said the official, adding that a special team was constituted last year to put together the NAAC application forms. “We were also cautious and wanted to ensure all errors are avoided. With IIQA process in place, the remaining steps will be completed with three-four weeks,” said the official. He also said that the updated UGC laws will ensure work on the re-accreditation process begins soon so that MU receives its grades before the end of the academic year.

Usually, universities and institutes affiliated to the UGC re-apply to continue their affiliations before their previous affiliation lapses. HT has reported how, MU missed the chance to receive grants amounting to ₹200 crore towards academic development from the Central government, despite recommendations by the state council, due to not having its NAAC grade. This issue was also raised by the student union in the senate meeting conducted in February 2018.

In August 2018, HT had reported that MU officials were hoping to get the NAAC grade by December 2018. “Our teams are working over-time, sometimes even from home, and the process is almost in place. We should be able to send our application in the next few weeks and hopefully, our grading will be complete by December this year,” an MU official had said in August 2018.