KOCHI: The Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) has been awarded A+ by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), an autonomous body established by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to assess and accredit institutions of higher education in the country. The re-accreditation result was declared on Tuesday, three days after the peer team visit from October 12 to 14.
Sources said the university got a low score of 3.39 out of 4.
“That’s a very low A+ score. In 2016, NAAC had accredited Cusat with an ‘A’ grade and a score of 3.09,” said the sources. Though the university bettered its position in the National Institutional Ranking Framework list released early this year from 44 in 2021 to 41, the NAAC team’s low score has let down the higher-ups. Vice-Chancellor Dr K N Madhusoodanan said: “The university has improved its grade from 3.09 in 2016 to 3.39 in 2022 and this is a result of the collective, consistent and integrated efforts by the staff and students of the institution.”
The assessment is based on quantitative and qualitative analyses. A seven-member NAAC peer team visited Cusat recently for quantitative analysis. University sources said Cusat had won the prestigious Chancellor’s Award for the best university in the state thrice in the past four years.
“As many as 113 names from the university featured in the list of the world’s renowned scientists. The number of patents increased to 25 and the h-index, the list of highly cited researchers, grew to 116 in numbers, making the university one of the very few institutes in the country to cross the truly exceptional mark of 100 h-index. As many as 113 startups function in the university in different incubators. More than 8,500 students from 33 countries across the globe engage in academic and research activities in Cusat,” said the sources.Meanwhile, the authorities at the university are trying to find out what might have gone wrong that cost it an A++ grade.