Strengthening Accountability in JGU
Three years ago, as a quality assurance measure, JGU introduced the Annual Programme Review Report system. An annual report is prepared at the end of the academic year by the Programme Director of each School in JGU, for each degree programme the School offers. The report is prepared in consultation with those who taught the courses contained in the programme in the two semesters in that year.
The report contains both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data includes information on admissions, attrition, progression and pass rate of students, career and placement information if available, and achievements of students and faculty members. The qualitative data presents reflective information on curriculum design, matters relating to teaching, learning, and assessment of students’ performance, what worked, and what needs further development, what changes need to be made, if any, to ensure the academic standards of the programme, and an agenda for action for the academic year to follow. The report is submitted to the Faculty Board of the School via the Dean for discussion, and then a summary of recommendations arising therefrom are forwarded to the Academic Council.
The reporting system conforms to international best practice for programme development and delivery.
A similar quality assurance and accountability measure was lacking in respect of administrative and academic support services when the Internal Quality Assurance Committee decided in early 2017, that all support departments should also submit an annual report relating to their area of work, and that the University should institute a Quality Audit System for all departments.
Six departments have been audited during January – May 2018 as follows
- Infrastructure Department
- Facility Management Office
- Examinations Office
- JGU Health Centre
- Food Services
- Career Development and Placement Division
The main purpose of the Quality Audit is to provide independent, objective, and unbiased view of the systems and procedures of the department and to make suggestions to add value and improve its operations. This exercise is intended to promote self-reflection and continuous quality enhancement of JGU’s practices and procedures, and thereby internalizing a system for transparency and accountability.
The Quality Audits of the six departments noted above was the first step in a system of audits to be implemented across the whole University. The audits were planned by the Quality Assurance and Accreditation Office in consultation with Dr. Sanjeev P. Sahni, Advisor to the Vice Chancellor and Principal Director, Jindal Institute of Behavioural Studies.
The audits are helpful in identifying the strengths of the departments and areas in which they need to improve. A report on these audits is available at: Quality Audits.
Discovery-based Learning
The Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA) started with a master’s programme. With the introduction of a bachelor’s degree in global affairs, the first of its kind in India at an undergraduate level, the School decided that teaching in both of its programmes must match the institutional aspirations of “a multidisciplinary, research driven university fostering excellence in teaching, research, community service, and capacity building and nurturing socially responsible leaders…” Towards this end, the School’s objective is to ensure that its teaching is experiential, participatory, and discovery-based. Students must learn through their own experience.
Provision of Library Services to Match the Academic and Research Aspirations of the University
Its Vision and Mission guide all areas of activity in the University. The mission of the JGU Library is to provide access to up-to-date global sources of information and learning resources through state-of-art technology and services for teaching, research and outreach programs. The library aspires to meet the challenges of providing global up-to-date information to local users and local information to global users.
Innovations introduced which have created a positive impact on the functioning of the institution.
A selection of innovations and best practices are noted below:
- Student Assistantship Programme not only for academic activities but also for sports.
- Provision of self-service pre-paid reprographic services to students and staff, which is available 24X7 and does not require staff intervention.
- Introduction of an open-source Moodle LMS to facilitate academic content delivery and assessments in class at JGBS. This has helped put all academic content online for easy access and some faculty have also taken class quizzes online.
- Introduction of various IT solutions for the enhancement of the quality of services, facilities and programme delivery.
Use of a microchip enabled degree, which reduces the time for authentication of degrees, and is easily verified by any institution/ employer/ governmental authority/ other relevant person.