Buildings do not make an institution. Equipment does not make an institution. Faculty is the heart of the institution. In human body even if all organs work, if heart fails, everything fails. This is the essence of functioning of an institution and important parameter based on which the students must choose an institution for engineering studies.
The demands of industries with regard to qualities expected from a fresh graduate are forcing every student not only to be proficient in technical knowledge but also to learn various other skills required, especially soft skills. Ability to communicate, ability to work in a team and to build a team to reach the goals are given prime importance. It is also necessary to shape the students to be intellectually strong, physically robust, emotionally stable and socially responsible.
All India Council for Technical Education established accreditation agency in the name of National Board of Accreditation (NBA) and by now it has established itself in Washington Accord.
Every institution must go through the process of accreditation by National Board of Accreditation of AICTE, which takes into consideration various aspects of institutional functioning with precisely the above aspects in mind. The institution which is accredited would have made sufficient efforts to make the graduates coming out acceptable to industries the world over.
One can say with confidence that the institutions which are accredited are good. Accreditation is done by NBA, branch-wise and not institution-wise though the institutional functioning influences greatly the accreditation grade.
The students who are seeking admission to B.E/B.Tech. courses can safely choose the accredited branches in the accredited colleges for admission.
Accreditation
It took nearly three years for NBA identified the criteria that are to be taken into consideration in the accreditation process and the weightages that are to be given. Presently the criteria and the weightages, which are being used by NBA are given hereunder: Teaching learning process, R&D and interaction efforts, supplementary processes, financial management etc and the resulting students' performance all depend on the faculty.
Accreditation is done branch-wise though institution's performance as a whole will also reflect in the process. In an engineering college some courses might get accredited and some others not, some courses might be given accreditation for 5 years, while some for 3 years. It depends on development of each branch in the context of the overall growth of facilities and processes to meet the requirements of the industry.
Another aspect of accreditation is that a branch becomes eligible for accreditation only when two batches of students of a particular branch would have gone out of the institution. This is to take into consideration acceptability of graduates of a branch by the industry and to assess the opinions of the employers about the performance of the concerned graduates.
Branch
Amongst the conventional core branches the students are inclined towards the specialisations of Electronics and Communication, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics and Civil Engineering.
These mainstream branches have an advantage as these graduates can rely on their core area, if the situation in IT sector does not improve. However, it is expected that there will be definite improvement in IT sector and one need not hesitate to get admitted in CSE / IT if the student has an aptitude.
It is necessary for a parent and the student to visit the institutions they wish to join before final decision is made. In principle, there is no possibility for college transfer and branch transfer after admission is taken through EAMCET.
The criteria for selection of a college which is that accredited are:
a) Number of senior faculty available (Professors and Associate professors)
b) Teaching Learning process
c) Students results and campus placement
d) Laboratories, Equipment and buildings.
e) Computer Centre, Library facilities and Internet facilities.
f) Personality Development programmes for Soft skills, Organization of Seminars, games and sports facilities etc.
g) General discipline in the institution.
(The author is the Director of Sreenidhi Institute of Science & Technology, Ghatkesar, Hyderabad)
