NIRF ranking: self-financing arts and science colleges pitch for exclusive categorisation

TNAU Vice-Chancellor V. Geethalakshmi hands over certificate of appreciation presented by Association of Self-Financing Arts, and heads of Arts, Science and Management Colleges of Tamil Nadu to the management of V.O. Chidambaram College, Thoothukudi, in appreciation of its 28th rank in NIRF Rankings 2024, in Coimbatore on Tuesday.
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Self-financing arts and science colleges sought an exclusive categorisation for going through the annual National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking, at a discussion on the topic in Coimbatore on Tuesday.

Representatives of Association of Self-Financing Arts, and heads of Arts, Science and Management Colleges of Tamil Nadu reasoned out at a day-long State-level Conference on ‘National Institutional Ranking Framework to Improve Rankings’ that in the absence of government funding that they lose out in the competition against well-established government and aided institutions.

Overall ranking of self-financed colleges had been found to be low due to the difficulty in faring well in ‘perception factor’ and research output vis-a-vis government and government-aided colleges that were equipped well in terms of both manpower and infrastructure, Ajeet Kumar Lal Mohan, Member, Vice-Chancellor Committee, Bharathiar University said.

The self-financing colleges deserved more attention since they had been playing a pivotal role in scaling up gross-enrolment ratio in higher education.

K. Ramasamy, Chancellor, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore, said the existing scope for making improvements had to be used well. The main areas where self-financed colleges would have to work on included improving the quality of faculty by way of facilitating them to complete doctorate degrees, betterment of teacher-student ratio, and containment of attrition.

Given the clarity in the well-defined indicators, all that self-financing colleges need to do for further betterment was strongly documenting their innovative activities, and conducting capacity-building programmes for both faculty and students, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University V. Geethalakshmi said in her address.

Substantial progress could be achieved by the self-financing colleges through networking with well-established institutions and amongst themselves, the Vice-Chancellor emphasised.

T.Sethupati, secretary, Association of Self-Financing Arts, and heads of Arts, Science and Management Colleges of Tamil Nadu, also spoke. Top 100 colleges that had excelled in the NIRF 2024 ranking were felicitated on the occasion.

P.B. Harathi, Principal, PSGR Krishnammal College for Women, Coimbatore, handled a session on ‘NIRF Ranking-Compliance and Quality Enhancement Strategies’ and C. Veerabahu, Principal, V.O.Chidambaram College, Thoothukudi, on ‘NIRF Ranking- Research initiatives and Professional Practices’ while M. Siva Ramkumar, Associate Professor, Department of ECE, SNS College of Technology, Coimbatore, dwelt on ‘NIRF Innovation Rankings-Methodology and Metrics for Innovation Ranking’

Published – October 15, 2024 06:55 pm IST

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