Chandigarh University - [CU]

Chandigarh University has been awarded the prestigious A+ grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). The A+ grade has placed Chandigarh University amongst the India’s most elite and prestigious Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) which is maintaining top standards in delivering and disseminating of quality education to its students. Established in 2012, Chandigarh University has become the youngest university of the country be Assessed and Accredited by NAAC and has been granted A+ grade in the first cycle itself. In addition, Chandigarh University has become the only private university in India to bag A+ grade in the first cycle of the accreditation process and has also become the only state private university of Punjab to be accredited by NAAC.

Chancellor Chandigarh University, Satnam Singh Sandhu said, “The University scored a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.28 on 4 point scale and CU is the first university in the state to be evaluated by NAAC as per the revised scheme, which has made the entire process of accreditation even more stringent and challenging”. It is hard-work done by our students and faculty for 7 years that have resulted in getting this recognition which has endorsed our academic framework and policies that we have been practicing since inception, he added. The Chancellor said, “We have adopted flexible choice-based academic model that gives freedom to the students to undergo learning in multiple disciplines along with transparent & continuous evaluation process that helps in holistic development of our students.”

While explaining the unique practices being adopted by University that helped the University in achieving the fete, the Chancellor said, “With state-of-the-art R&D infrastructure available, our students and faculty have been engaged actively in doing innovation and social relevant research for the society which has resulted in filling of 400 patents and establishment of 85 start-ups within a time span of three years”. The University pioneered to design & offer new-age programs in emerging fields and also customized the traditional programs as per the changing requirements of the Industry which resulted in greater acceptability of our talent in the corporate world, he added. More than 627 multi-nationals gave a record 6314 offers during 2018-19.

In addition, the university sports-persons have won 10 Championships and 86 International and National Medals in various sports tournaments across the globe. The overall performance of University in different aspects such as Student Services, Research, Academic Model, Achievements of Students and Faculty in sports and cultural activities, Industry Liasoning and Acceptance have lead to the achievement of A+ Grade in the prestigious NAAC Accreditation process,” Chancellor Chandigarh University added.

Explaining the accreditation process, Dr.SS Sehgal from Chandigarh University said, “In the previous scheme, before 2017, the entire assessment was based on the peer team visit which was revised and now under the new process, 70 percent of the assessment is based on the data submitted by the institution/university which is assessed by the third party which makes the process of accreditation even more tougher & stringent”. The NAAC accreditation will open new avenues for the University and its students.

By studying in an institution that is NAAC accredited, students get a chance to learn in a cutting-edge environment and earn a degree that would have global recognition. They get instant recognition of an alumnus of a credible institute and get better placement opportunities as the industry prefers hiring with higher-graded institutions.

On the other hand, the university through NAAC accreditation gets to know its strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities through an informed review process. The higher NAAC Grade of the university promotes various intra & inter-institutional interactions. The research funding agencies and industry prefer professors of the A+ Grade Institutes or Universities for allocating the high-end projects.

NAAC is an autonomous body of UGC which evaluates Higher Educational Institutions in terms of their performance related to the educational process and outcomes, curriculum, teaching-learning process, research undertaken, governance, new initiatives and student services. Established in 1994, it works towards the periodic assessment and accreditation of institutions of higher education and also to simulate the academic environment for promotion of quality of teaching-learning process and research initiatives.