Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC)
Composition

Composition of the IQAC

The IQAC may be constituted in every institution under the chairmanship of the head of the institution with heads of important academic and administrative units and a few teachers and a few distinguished educationists/ representatives of the local committee. The composition of the IQAC may be as follows:

• 👉 Chairperson: Head of the Institution.
• 👉 A few senior administrative officers.
• 👉 Three to eight teachers.
• 👉 One or two members from the Management.
• 👉 One/two nominees from local society.
• 👉 One of the teachers is the coordinator of the IQAC.

The composition of the IQAC will depend on the size and complexity of the institution. It helps the colleges in planning and monitoring. IQAC also gives stakeholders or beneficiaries a cross-sectional participation in the institution’s quality enhancement activities. The guidelines given here are only indicative and will help the institutions with quality sustenance activities. The members of the IQAC must shoulder the responsibilities of generating and promoting awareness in the institution and devote time to working out the procedural details. While selecting these members several precautions need to be taken. A few of them are listed below:

• 👉 It is advisable to choose from various backgrounds who have earned respect for integrity and excellence in their teaching and research. Moreover, they should be aware of the ground realities of the institutional environment. They should be known for their commitment to improving the quality of teaching and learning
• 👉 It would be appropriate to choose (senior administrators) in charge of institutional services such as a library, computer center, estate, student welfare, administration, academic tasks, examination, planning, and development.
• 👉 The management representatives should be persons who are aware of the institution’s objectives, limitations, and strengths and are committed to improvement. The local society representatives should be of high standing and should have made significant contributions to society, and, in particular, to education.

Role of Cordinator

The role of the coordinator of the IQAC is crucial in ensuring the effective functioning of all the members. The coordinator of the IQAC may be a senior person with expertise in quality aspects. She/he may be a full-time functionary or, to start with, she/he may be a senior academic /administrator entrusted with the IQAC as an additional responsibility. Secretarial assistance may be facilitated by the administration. It is preferable that the coordinator may have a sound knowledge about the computer, its various functions, and its usage for effective communication.

Operational Features of the IQAC

Quality assurance is a by-product of ongoing efforts to define the objectives of an institution, to have a work plan to achieve them, and to specify the checks and balances to evaluate the degree to which each of the tasks is fulfilled. Hence devotion and commitment to improvement rather than mere institutional control is the basis for devising procedures and instruments for assuring quality. The right balance between the health and growth of an institution needs to be struck. The IQAC has to ensure that whatever is done in the institution for “education” is done efficiently and effectively with high standards. To do this, the IQAC will have to first establish procedures and modalities to collect data and information on various aspects of institutional functioning.
The coordinator of the IQAC and the secretary have a major role in implementing these functions. The IQAC may derive major support from the already existing units and mechanisms that contribute to the functions listed above. The operational features and functions discussed so far are broad-based to facilitate institutions towards academic excellence and institutions may adapt them to their specific needs.

The Annual Quality Assurance Report (AQAR) of the IQAC.

All the accredited institutions which have established the IQAC will submit a self-reviewed progress report annually to the NAAC, detailing the tangible results achieved in key areas which are specifically identified by the IQAC at the beginning of the academic year by devising a perspective plan. The AQAR is the outcome of the perspective plan of the IQAC