Presidency university gets top NAAC rating

KOLKATA: Six-year-old Presidency University, which will be celebrating its 200th anniversary as Asia's first undergraduate college in 20 days, added another feather to its cap when it got a very impressive 3.04 CGPA and Grade A from National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
It is rare for a new university to get a top rating in its first cycle because NAAC takes into account the number of PhD students produced.But Presidency could start its doctoral course only in 2014 after a statute was put in place. But it more than made up for this by securing the highest marks in governance and infrastructure.
“We are very happy . In the first cycle, it is an achievement The only area where we did not score is the number of PhD awardees. We will take another 4-5 years to churn out PhDs. Everything else was superlative according to NAAC members. They congratulated me personally after the grades were announced,“ said VC Anuradha Lohia. The NAAC team visited the Presidency campus between December 5 and 7.
“The NAAC rating will allow us to go in for more foreign collaborations, become eligible for central funding and attract more foreign students. Besides, faculty from renowned institutes will be interested in joining us,“ said a university official.
“We are yet to churn out our own PhD stu dents. But the research output, infrastructure, governance, updated curriculum, up-to-date teaching-learning process helped us achieve this ,“ added another official.
“This is an achievement for all the faculty members, students and staff of the university under the leadership of VC Anuradha Lohia,“ said registrar Debajyoti Konar.
According to a university official, during inspection, the NAAC members had appreciated the expansion plan of the university . “They also requested us to complete the work within a stipulated time. They appreciated the renovation of the heritage first campus of the university on College Street,“ an official said.
The university started its statute in July 2014. The next cycle of NAAC assessment will be after five years in 2021.
Presidency University had introduced several measures immediately after the upgrade.Unlike several other state-run varsities, Presidency is among the first to introduce both semester system and choice based credit transfer for the students, according to recommendation from the University Grants Commission.