Accreditation of Engineering Education: A Comprehensive Assessment Plan

Considerable expansion of technical education has taken place in India. However, the quality of technical education graduates of the country is a matter of concern. To enhance the quality and standard in technical education, NBA accreditation, a process of benchmarking of academic quality of an engineering education program or diploma engineering education program by an accreditation agency, has been introduced. India is a signatory nation of Washington Accord through National Board of Accreditation. Now, accreditation has become compulsory for quality assurance, recognition of graduates globally, recognition by the stakeholders, for branding and for expansion of the program. However, very few programs have been accredited so far in India. Outcome Based Education is the central feature of accreditation which focuses on outcomes. It is a student centered approach which measures student performance or outcomes in terms of knowledge, skills, and attributes. The institutions intending to apply for accreditation are facing difficulty in preparing Self Assessment Report (SAR), especially CO- PO attainment. The purpose of this paper is to share our experiences of NBA accreditation process, especially assessment of CO and PO attainment. CO attainment is solely measured by direct measurement methods (internal and external assessments). Program Outcome attainment is calculated by both direct attainment method and indirect attainment method (various surveys). Various boards and committees formed for the preparation for accreditation are also outlined in this paper. The accreditation of two programs of our institute by NBA is an important indication of the appropriateness of the methods applied to achieve this goal. Since NBA is a member of the Washington Accord, this study may help not only local readers but also international readers having similar accreditation systems.