academic Assessment and Accreditation

Name of Country	Name of Agency	Assessment Criteria	Methodology	Outcome	Validity Period
United States of America (USA)	Carries out periodic review (“recognition”) of institutional and programmatic accrediting organizations. CHEA, which accredits the accreditation agencies, and the accreditation agencies which assess and accredit the HEIs https://www.chea.org/	Based on the standards/criteria set by the accreditation agency, the Institution prepares a performance summary.	A group of external Experts/Peers appointed by the accreditation agency reviews the report submitted by the institution and requests for further information wherever necessary. The Peer Team undertakes an ‘Onsite’ visit to the Institution for validating the claims made by the institution.	Based on the report of the Peer Team, the accreditation agency either confers or denies accreditation to the Institution.	There is an external review which takes place every   few years tooncein10 years
United Kingdom (UK)	Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (UK): As the independent body entrusted with monitoring and advising on standards and quality in UK higher education, QAAHE is dedicated to checking that the three million students working towards a UK qualification get the higher education experiences they are entitled to expect. QAAHE ensure that students are involved in all aspects of our work. https://www.qaa.ac.uk/	The QAAHE has set out guidelines on good practices and the principles that the institutions should satisfy. Based on these codes of practices the Institution prepares and submits the self- evaluation documents.	A group of Peers appointed by the accreditation agency reviews the self- evaluation documents prepared by the institution and requests for further information wherever necessary. Institutional audit consists of a comprehensive scrutiny of the internal quality assurance mechanisms and validation of the claims made by the institution. The assessment process also involves interactions and involvement of all stakeholders.	The audit team gives its judgment either as “broad confidence”, or “limited confidence” or “no confidence	Institutional review takes place in a six- year cycle. Based on the judgment, however there may be reviews at shorter intervals as well.
Australia	TEQSA: Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency,  Australia’s independent national quality assurance and regulatory agency for higher education. AUQA was dissolved in 2011 and its functions were transferred to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency. (TEQSA) https://www.teqsa.gov.au/	TEQSA does not provide any specific criteria and as such every institution offering itself for accreditation has to evolve its own quality systems relevant to its specified objectives. The institution submits a portfolio, which is nothing but a documented self-review.	TEQSA appointsaPeerTeamwhichreviewstheportfoliosubmittedbytheinstitution.Peer Team undertakes a site visit and performs the external review. During this visit, the Team is also expected to consider how the institution meets the National Protocols of Higher Education Approval Processes.	The team reports on “Commendable practices” and “areas for improvement”	Based on the recommendations the institutions submit a progress report between 18-24monthsof publication of the audit report. AUQA monitors and provides help as and when required. The subsequent audit may be anytime within a five-year period from the initial audit.
India	The NATIONAL ASSESSMENT AND ACCREDITATION COUNCIL (NAAC) conducts assessment and accreditation of Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) such as colleges, universities or other recognised institutions to derive an understanding of the ‘Quality Status’ of the institution. NAAC evaluates the institutions for its conformance to the standards of quality in terms of its performance related to the educational processes and outcomes, curriculum coverage, teaching-learning processes, faculty, research, infrastructure, learning resources, organisation, governance, financial well being and student services. http://www.naac.gov.in/	Based on the seven criteria frame work of NAAC, the institutions submit their self analysis in the format/ manual given by NAAC, term leads the Self-study Report (SSR).	A group of external Experts/Peers appointed by the NAAC reviews the report submitted by the institution and requests for further information wherever necessary. The Peer Team undertakes the ‘Onsite’ visit to the Institution for validating the claims made by the institution.	Based on the qualitative report of the Peer Team and the scores assigned to the individual criteria and the overall institutional score NAAC assigns a grade.	Institutional review takes place in a five- year cycle. The institutions are expected to submit annually a quality assurance report, through which NAAC monitors their performance.
India	NIRF The National Institutional Ranking Framework is a methodology adopted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India. https://www.nirfindia.org/Home	Based on the 5 criteria (Teaching Learning & Resources, Research and Professional Practice, Graduation Outcome, Outreach & Inclusivity, Perception) set by the agency, the Institution prepares a performance summary.	A group of external Experts/Peers appointed by the NIRF reviews the report submitted by the institution and requests for further information wherever necessary. Third party agency may conduct the survey based on the points prepared by experts for the institution.	Based on the report of the Online Application form, the accreditation agency either confers or denies annual ranking to the Institution.	There is an external review which takes place every years
Asia and Africa	Higher Education Council of ADCO (HECA) is a methodology adopted by the Asia Africa Development Council, for Accreditation and assessment and of higher education Institutions (Universities and Colleges) in Asia and Africa. https://asiafricaonline.com/assessment-parameters-institution/	Based on the seven criteria frame work of HECA, the institutions submit their self analysis in the format/ manual given by HECA, term evaluates the Report of Self-Assessment (RSA).	A group of external Experts/Peers appointed by the HECA reviews the RSA submitted by the institution and requests for further information wherever necessary. The Peer Team may undertakes the ‘Onsite’ visit to the Institution for validating the claims made by the institution.	Based on the qualitative report of the Peer Team and the scores assigned to the individual criteria and the overall institutional score HECA assigns a grade.	Institutional review takes place in a four- year cycle. The institutions are expected to submit annually a quality assurance report, through which HECA monitors their performance.

Corporate Assessment and Accreditation

Country	Name of Agency	Profile	Link
Global (World Wide)	ISO: International Organization for Standardization. They develop and publish International Standards	ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of 164 national standards bodies. Through its members, it brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.	https://www.iso.org/home.html
	TQM: Total quality management	TQM consists of organization-wide efforts to “install and make permanent climate where employees continuously improve their ability to provide on demand products and services that customers will find of particular value”. “Total” emphasizes that departments in addition to production (for example sales and marketing, accounting and finance, engineering and design) are obligated to improve their operations; “management” emphasizes that executives are obligated to actively manage quality through funding, training, staffing, and goal setting. While there is no widely agreed-upon approach, TQM efforts typically draw heavily on the previously developed tools and techniques of quality control. TQM enjoyed widespread attention during the late 1980s and early 1990s before being overshadowed by ISO 9000, Lean manufacturing, and Six Sigma.
	Six Sigma (6σ)	Six Sigma (6σ) is a set of techniques and tools for process improvement. It was introduced by American engineer Bill Smith while working at Motorola in 1986. Jack Welch made it central to his business strategy at General Electric in 1995. A six sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of all opportunities to produce some feature of a part are statistically expected to be free of defects. Six Sigma strategies seek to improve the quality of the output of a process by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimizing impact variability in manufacturing and business processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, mainly empirical, statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization who are experts in these methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has specific value targets, for example: reduce process cycle time, reduce pollution, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits. Six Sigma mostly finds application in large organization
	ISTQB® (International Software Testing Qualifications Board)	ISTQB® (International Software Testing Qualifications Board) has defined the “ISTQB® Certified Tester” scheme that has become the world-wide leader in the certification of competences in software testing. ISTQB® is an organization based on volunteer work by hundreds of international testing experts. As of October 2019, ISTQB® has administered over 920,000 exams and issued more than 673,000 certifications in over 120 countries world-wide. The scheme relies on a Body of Knowledge (Syllabi and Glossary) and exam rules that are applied consistently all over the world, with exams and supporting material being available in many languages. ISTQB® (International Software Testing Qualifications Board) was founded in November 2002 and is a not-for-profit association legally registered in Belgium.	https://www.istqb.org/
India	BIS: Bureau of Indian Standards	BIS Is The National Standard Body Of India Established Under The BIS Act 2016 For The Harmonious Development Of The Activities Of Standardization The erstwhile Indian Standards Institution (ISI) was established in year 1947 (now Bureau of Indian Standards) with the objective of harmonious development of standardization activity in India. Under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016, Bureau establishes Indian Standards in relation to any article or process and amends, revises or cancels the standards so established as may be necessary, by a process of consultation involving consumers, manufacturers, Government and regulatory bodies, technologists, scientists and testing laboratories through duly constituted committees.	https://bis.gov.in/
Asia and Africa	ACBS: ADCO Corporate Business Standards	ACBS corporate business accreditation, which have been developed and adopted by the ADCO Accreditation Council. Members of the council include leading business Institutions that share ADCO’s values and are committed to advancing management education by participating in the ADCO global community of institutions. The fundamental purpose of ADCO accreditation is to encourage business Institutions to hold themselves accountable for improving business practice through scholarly education and impactful intellectual contributions. ADCO achieves this purpose by defining a set of criteria and standards, coordinating peer review and consultation, and recognizing high-quality business Institutions that meet the standards and participate in the process.	https://asiafricaonline.com/about-accrediation/