The IQAC should be constituted under the chairpersonship of the Head of the Institution with heads of key academic and administrative units and a few teachers and a few distinguished educationists and representatives of the local management and stakeholders as members.
The composition of the IQAC will depend on the size and complexity of the institution and accordingly the representation of teachers may vary. The IQAC helps the institution in planning and monitoring quality-related activities. It ensures the various stakeholders’ and beneficiaries’ crosssectional participation in the institution’s quality-enhancement activities. The guidelines given here are only indicative and will help the institutions in their quality-sustenance activities.
The membership of the nominated members shall be for a period of two years. The IQAC should meet at least once in every quarter. The quorum for the meeting shall be two-thirds of the total number of members. The Agenda, Minutes and Action Taken Reports are to be documented and maintained electronically in a retrievable format.
The role of the Coordinator of the IQAC is crucial in ensuring the effective functioning of all the members. The IQAC Coordinator may be a senior and competent person with rich experience and exposure to quality aspects. He/ She may be a full-time functionary or a senior academician/administrator entrusted with additional responsibility as the IQAC Coordinator. Secretarial assistance should be ensured by the administration. It is essential that the coordinator has a sound knowledge of computers and data management.
Quality assurance is a by-product of the ongoing efforts of an institution to define its objectives and chalk out a work plan to achieve them and also specify the checks and balances to evaluate the degree to which each of the tasks is fulfilled. Hence devotion and commitment to improvement rather than mere institutional control is the basis for devising procedures and instruments for assuring quality. The IQAC has to ensure that whatever is done in the institution for higher education is done efficiently and effectively. In order to do this, the IQAC will have to first establish procedures and modalities to collect data and information on the various aspects of the functioning of the institution. The IQAC Coordinator has a major role in implementing these functions. The IQAC may derive support from the already existing units and mechanism that contribute to the functions listed above.