Accredited with ‘A' ranking by the NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) in 2005 and granted autonomous status by the UGC in 2010, National College readies itself for re-accreditation.
A NAAC peer team will carry out an assessment at the college on July 6 and 7 based on the seven criteria the council has advocated. Anand Deb Mukhopadyay, former Vice Chancellor, Vidyasagar University is the chairperson of the team; Nisar Ali, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kashmir, the Member-Coordinator; and R.K.Pande, Principal, Shivharsh Kisan P.G. College, Basti, Uttar Pradesh, Member.
According to the Principal K.Anbarasu, the college mainly caters to educational needs of students of downtrodden communities.
Nearly 95 per cent of the students belonging to OBC/ SC/ST communities are from families of daily wage earning agricultural labourers. Over 95 per cent of the 3070 students receive educational scholarship from the State government to the tune of Rs.75 lakh.
Of the 112 permanent and 71 management teaching staff, 79 are Ph.D. degree holders, Dr.Anbarasu said, adding that the college has awarded 101 Ph.D. degrees and 449 M.Phil degrees to scholars in the last five years. Staff members published 314 research papers and 51 books during the period.
They were involved in research in the fields of photochemistry, physical organic chemistry, tissue culture, micro palaeontology, coastal geomorphology, crystal growth, ornithology, rural economics, financial management and number theory, he said.
In the last five years, the college has received Rs.3.28 crore from the UGC/DST as grants. For 17 major projects, the UGC/DST provided a funding of over Rs.1.34 crore. The College is managed by a Committee of 14 members with Padma Vibhushan Dr.V. Krishnamurthy, Chairman, Indian Manufacturing and Competitiveness Council, New Delhi, as president.
College secretary K.Raghunathan said that infrastructure has been improved in the last five years with huge investment, and that Rs.15 crore more would be spent for the next five years for the purpose.
