Need for recognition and affiliation for an institute of higher education

By Dr. Chandra Niranjan 

While doing the greater decision of selecting and short-listing the ideal institution to pursue a degree program or any higher education course, an individual quite often goes through the different affiliations, accreditation and recognitions that the institute or the college claims to own. More often, almost all the institutions utilize these affiliations as a major influential or selling point or, an attraction. The number of institutions as well as the number of choices left for a candidate or a parent has become really large in the present days that they have only left back quite good amount of bottlenecks in people’s minds. However, there is quite a lot more to stand up to, than merely a set of proving letters.

The real question here is - How does one see the significance of accreditations and affiliations that still prevail in the current world? An individual needs to have a clear idea about what these accreditations and affiliations stand for, than just short-listing institutions on a check list basis, depending on their advertisements that claim several points to their credit list.

“Accreditations” carry a vital role as they indicate the approval and recognition of statutory bodies that are established exclusively to assure quality and ensure consistent levels of learning and producing excellence in the sector of higher education in the country. It is important for institutions to be affiliated and accredited; otherwise they would be unable to carry-forward any legal actions in claiming themselves as a recognized institution. The capacity and capability to issue diplomas and degrees come by the good quality and feature of accreditation. Numerous distinctive components are considered for evaluating quality in order to study and appraise the institution’s eligibility to get accredited.

“Affiliations” are the basic and minimal quality of an educational institute. They ensure that the institute under consideration follows the basic prevalent norms issued by the affiliation bodies and ensure following the rule of standardization. This establishes and builds uniformity in the process of providing qualitative education. When an institute follows uniform standards, it ensures that the required level of standards and regulations are followed and that the necessary facilities are provided on par with the industry. Gone are the days when recognition was the only method of validation by almost everyone in the society.

It is now a requirement to be recognized whether an institute meets the set principles, whereas, accreditation is a term that involves periodic reviews between regular intervals in order to determine if the required objectives and standards are being achieved. An external agency or a bureau would be appointed in most cases in order to verify for compliance of the standards. Upon satisfaction and clearance by the bureau, the status of accreditation would be granted to an institution under consideration. Accreditation is also likely to be made void if any deviations from the list of objectives are observed during the periodic reviews and assessment.

The accreditation and affiliation process guarantees the following:

• Better performance in the process of academia and the results that are related to teaching and instruction.
• A standardized and regularly updated curriculum in order to implement and to follow effective learning.
• High quality in the progression of the institution, the pedagogy, the faculty members, the research and the learning materials.
• Quality infrastructure to be provided in order to facilitate convenience and overall development of the people within the system and the system as a whole.
• Economic and financial well-being of the institution, thereby enhancing the quality of the services that are provided to its students.

While doing the greater decision of selecting and short-listing the ideal institution to pursue a degree program or any higher education course, an individual quite often goes through the different affiliations, accreditation and recognitions that the institute or the college claims to own. More often, almost all the institutions utilize these affiliations as a major influential or selling point or, an attraction. The number of institutions as well as the number of choices left for a candidate or a parent has become really large in the present days that they have only left back quite good amount of bottlenecks in people’s minds. However, there is quite a lot more to stand up to, than merely a set of proving letters.

The real question here is - How does one see the significance of accreditations and affiliations that still prevail in the current world? An individual needs to have a clear idea about what these accreditations and affiliations stand for, than just short-listing institutions on a check list basis, depending on their advertisements that claim several points to their credit list.

“Accreditations” carry a vital role as they indicate the approval and recognition of statutory bodies that are established exclusively to assure quality and ensure consistent levels of learning and producing excellence in the sector of higher education in the country. It is important for institutions to be affiliated and accredited; otherwise they would be unable to carry-forward any legal actions in claiming themselves as a recognized institution. The capacity and capability to issue diplomas and degrees come by the good quality and feature of accreditation. Numerous distinctive components are considered for evaluating quality in order to study and appraise the institution’s eligibility to get accredited.

“Affiliations” are the basic and minimal quality of an educational institute. They ensure that the institute under consideration follows the basic prevalent norms issued by the affiliation bodies and ensure following the rule of standardization. This establishes and builds uniformity in the process of providing qualitative education. When an institute follows uniform standards, it ensures that the required level of standards and regulations are followed and that the necessary facilities are provided on par with the industry. Gone are the days when recognition was the only method of validation by almost everyone in the society.

It is now a requirement to be recognized whether an institute meets the set principles, whereas, accreditation is a term that involves periodic reviews between regular intervals in order to determine if the required objectives and standards are being achieved. An external agency or a bureau would be appointed in most cases in order to verify for compliance of the standards. Upon satisfaction and clearance by the bureau, the status of accreditation would be granted to an institution under consideration. Accreditation is also likely to be made void if any deviations from the list of objectives are observed during the periodic reviews and assessment.

The accreditation and affiliation process guarantees the following:

• Better performance in the process of academia and the results that are related to teaching and instruction.
• A standardized and regularly updated curriculum in order to implement and to follow effective learning.
• High quality in the progression of the institution, the pedagogy, the faculty members, the research and the learning materials.
• Quality infrastructure to be provided in order to facilitate convenience and overall development of the people within the system and the system as a whole.
• Economic and financial well-being of the institution, thereby enhancing the quality of the services that are provided to its students.

About the Author:

Dr. Chandra Niranjan completed his PhD from UK. He is a degree holder in MBA (HR), MA (English Literature) and PGDM. 

Article Courtesy: International School of Business and Research (ISBR)