Hansraj College, University of Delhi has the honour of being the Mentor Institution under the flagship Paramarsh Scheme of the UGC, as enshrined in the UGC 'Quality Mandate'. Under the scheme, Hansraj College plays a key role in guiding the non-accredited institutions who aspire for NAAC Accreditation by guiding and mentoring them to get accredited by NAAC.

Under this program, Hansraj College, henceforth referred to as Mentor Institution, organised several activities, webinars, FDPs and team visits comprising of senior faculty members from the college to guide the NAAC Accreditation aspirants, henceforth referred to as Mentee Institution.

The Paramarsh scheme hence brings forth the much-needed academic exposure and administrative rigour to non-accredited institutions which helps in improving their teaching and research aptitude and also helps in gaining NIRF and NAAC Accreditation. The vision is to achieve improved quality for all HEIs.

As part of its implementation plan, Hansraj College as the Mentor Institution has taken several innovative steps to motivate and guide these Mentee Institutions. Some of the various ways in which the Mentor Institute does this are –

• Providing guidance assistance for the application procedure at the initial stage.
• Preparing basic documentations for all requirements under NAAC.
• Introducing the quality metrics of higher education in India.
• Institutionalisation of IQAC in Mentee Institutes with an aim for capacity building.
• Providing guidance assistance to submit Self-Study Report (SSR).
• Imparting knowledge of Best Practices within an institution to motivate the Mentee Institutes to imbibe them.
• Providing knowledge of using E-Sources for effective teaching-learning by developing E-Content using open-source software.
• Imparting the know-how of using MOOCs to introduce Mentee Institutes to the pedagogical skills to create and develop MOOC courses.
• Conducting team visits to Mentee Institutes, organising webinar series and holding Paramarsh Team meetings periodically with Criterion heads and teams of Mentor Institutes to ensure quality assurance and take stock of the progress.
• Creating an ecosystem for promoting quality research in Mentee Institutes.
• Highlighting the role and scope of NEP in higher education and using NEP to build New India.

Scheme Implemented : December, 2019

I. Webinar Series on “Quality Assurance in higher Education – Practices and Issues. (4th May 2020-8th May 2020)

As part of its Webinar Series, the Paramarsh team conducted a 5-day event titled “Quality Assurance in Higher Education – Practices and Issues” for its mentee institutes. The webinars discussed the emergent challenges in the post-Covid 19 scenario with respect to the accreditation process for higher education institutions seeking it. The Webinar Series gave the participants an opportunity to discuss about the various aspects of NAAC, IQAC & the Best Practices in great detail. Eminent speakers were

• Professor Dr. Seyed Ehtesham Hasnain, Vice Chancellor, Jamia Hamdard
• DR. S.S. Mantha, Former Chairman, AICTE
• Dr. Shobana Vasudevan, Principal, R. A. Podar College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai
• Prof. Rakesh Bhatnagar, Vice Chancellor, Banaras Hindu University
• Prof. B.D. Bhole, Mentor, IQAC Cluster, India
• Dr. Savithri Singh, Former Principal, ANDC College, University of Delhi

II. Webinar Series on NAAC’s Assessment Criteria for Accreditation : 8th -14th June, 2020

Experts from the IQAC cluster, Dr.Parag Shah, Dr.Deepak Nanaware, Dr. Hemant Chandak, Dr.Bharat Kangude, Dr. Namita Rajput, Dr. Piyush Pahade & Dr. Gauri Devasthali, conducted webinars wherein each criterion was discussed in great details followed by question answer sessions in which mentees clarified any doubts regarding the different parameters of NAAC criteria. These sessions were extremely productive as a starting point for the mentees to begin the preparation for NAAC accreditation. The webinars were followed by one to one meetings with NAAC Criterion Heads of Hansraj College to help the mentee colleges chalk out a plan for preparation of SSR.

III. Webinar of Basic Documentation, 22nd June, 2020

The process of documentation of NAAC and the application procedure at the initial stages are very crucial for any institute aiming to get NAAC accreditation. In this direction, a Webinar on 'Basic Documentations' was conducted by Dr. Piyush Pahade wherein the different challenges, procedures, techniques and basics of documentation procedures were informed to the participants who were able to assess the essentials of the process of documentation.

IV. Webinar Series on NAAC’s Assessment Criteria for Accreditation : 26th September – 2nd October, 2020

On the request of the mentee institutes, webinar series on each criterion of NAAC were conducted again. Experts from the IQAC cluster, Dr.Parag Shah, Dr.Deepak Nanaware, Dr. Hemant Chandak, Dr.Bharat Kangude, Dr. Namita Rajput, Dr. Piyush Pahade & Dr. Gauri Devasthali, conducted webinars wherein each criterion was discussed in great details followed by question answer sessions in which mentees clarified any doubts regarding the different parameters of NAAC criteria. These sessions were extremely productive as a reinforcement for the mentees in their preparation for NAAC accreditation. The webinars were followed by one to one meetings with NAAC Criterion Heads of Hansraj College to help the mentee colleges chalk out a plan for preparation of SSR.

V. Faculty Development Programme on Online Teaching Tools”, 16th-22nd February, 2021

Hansraj College conducted an FDP on ‘Online Teaching Tools’ to deal with the challenges associated with online teaching. The pandemic of Covid-19 has put forward various challenges in front of the teaching fraternity but on the other hand, it has also shown the need to upgrade our teaching pedagogies in order to cater to online teaching learning needs. The FDP ‘Online Teaching Tools’ is an endeavour in this direction. The FDP was aimed at helping our teaching fraternity in adapting various technologies required for effective online teaching-learning in a smooth manner. The event brought together distinguished speakers and faculties from different institutes. The programme included plenary lectures, contributed hand-on practice on various online teaching tools and developing attractive online e-content which is the need of the hour. This event provided an excellent forum to discover the cutting-edge directions of recent trends in e-content development and also enable teachers to develop and propose MOOC courses with recognized educational bodies, which is essential part of carrier advancement of teachers in universities across India.

Resource persons really helped teachers from our mentee colleges to understand the nuances of online teaching and how one can manage classes without anxiety. The resource persons also familiarized the teachers with various evaluation methods, which are available online and that can be timed properly.

The sessions saw enthusiastic participation by the faculty of mentee institutes as these tools are fundamental in online pedagogy and make the teaching - learning experience interesting. The claim of eagerness for this programme is highly supported by the feedback received from the participants. The majority of the participants were highly satisfied by the contents of the sessions held and found the sessions relevant for their jobs.

Outcomes

• The participants gained knowledge of using various online teaching and assessment tools.
• Knowledge of video-recording, editing tools and voice lecture tools were imparted to the participants.
• Participants were introduced to tools that facilitate live online teaching.
• Participants were also informed about various online content preparation techniques.
• Participants were familiarised with the effective usage of Google services for content dissemination.

Feedback of the FDP conducted for Mentee institutes on Online Teaching

Feedback of the FDP conducted for Mentee institutes on Online Teaching

VI. Faculty Development Programme on “Basics of Research”, 18th-19th June, 2021

Mahatma Hansraj Faculty Development Centre (A Centre of Ministry of Education, Govt. of India under PMMMNMTT Scheme), Hansraj College, organised a one-week online faculty development programme on ‘Basics of Research’ for the mentee institutes. It was an extremely successful and informative session as it was diligently planned to provide a comprehensive and extensive understanding on academic research. The FDP provided an opportunity to the academicians to enhance their research skills and understand research methodologies. A thorough knowledge related to types of research, review of literature, identification of research problem, gathering data, building theoretical framework, generation of hypothesis etc. was shared by the esteemed academicians.

It also familiarised them with the dynamics of research methodology by explaining the difference between research method and research methodology. The fundamental aspects associated with research i.e., definition, design, development, diagnosis and delivery were explained in detail along with the common assumptions and limitations of research. Audio visual tools were also used to bring home the value of research problems, research variables, experiment and innovation in context of research.

The FDP also familiarised the participants with nuances of qualitative research, sentiment analysis, measurement theory, statistical inference etc. Sampling techniques and criteria were also discussed at great lengths. The emphasis on data collection was furthered by a discussion on the sources and collection of data. After data collection, the next step was analysis of data for which the participants were familiarised with the basics of data analysis and data interpretation by using IBM SPSS. The discussion further continued to hypothesis writing, testing and interpretation. The prerequisites of writing and acceptance of research grant proposals were discussed in detail along with issues related to plagiarism and reference management.

Outcomes of FDP

• Participants got in-depth understanding of various nuances of research.
• The participants were introduced to the various aspects of research like types of research, review of literature, identification of research problem, gathering data, building theoretical framework, generation of hypothesis, etc.
• Research problems, research variables, experiment and innovation in context of research was explained in a comprehensive manner.
• A thorough expertise was gained on the sources and methods of data collection.
• Sampling techniques and criterions were elaborately explained.
• Participants were familiarised with basics of data analysis and data interpretation by using IBM SPSS.
• An exhaustive in-depth understanding on the prerequisites of formulating, writing and submission of research grant proposals was achieved.
• Dangers of plagiarism and ways to counter plagiarism was explained. Participants were informed about the nuances of reference management.

Basics of Research

VII. Faculty Development Programme, “Roadmap for building New India with New Education Policy”, 21st-25th July, 2021

In order to apprise the mentee institutes of the nuances of NEP, a FDP titled “Roadmap for building New India with New Education Policy 2020” was organised for the mentee institutes. The aim of the FDP was to enumerate the role and significance of NEP in the future of higher education in India. It provided a platform to arrive at a common understanding of the policy intent, discuss its details and brainstorm inventive and creative means to make rapid strides.

The FDP began with providing a comprehensive understanding of the previous policy interventions in the field of education and important aspects of NEP 2020 such as the new institutions. Further the value of imparting education in the mother tongue as enumerated in NEP 2020 was also deliberated. The economic relevance of NEP with respect to start-ups and entrepreneurship was discussed along with literary questions associated with the NEP and the manner in which the policy will revolutionize the Indian education system. Another major aspect discussed in the FDP was the importance of ‘Experiential Learning’ and the need for a digital classroom during the Covid pandemic. The above discussion on digital learning gave way to a discussion on the concerns regarding the digital-divide and the elitist nature of higher education in India with possible solutions to overcome this challenge. Experiential learning in terms of multi-disciplinary approach, integrative learning, cultural education, HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills), AI, Design Thinking. Therefore, a holistic learning approach was also discussed. The FDP also provided three basic elements required to create an institution i.e., foundational capabilities, student success levers and results. A comparative study of education policy of 1986 and NEP 2020 was provided to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the changes that are brought about by the NEP 2020.

Glimpses of the programme in progress

Outcomes

• A detailed understanding of NEP and its role in building New India was achieved.
• A comprehensive understanding of the policy intent and details was provided.
• Need for a multidisciplinary curriculum was explained.
• Importance of new aspects of teaching-learning techniques such as imparting education in the mother tongue were understood.
• Importance of new age skills like e-learning, using online sources and digital learnings were achieved.
• Participants were introduced to tools for experiential learning.
• All stakeholders were sensitized towards concerns related to online learning.

VIII. Faculty Development Programme on “Creation and development of MOOCs while managing online classes” , 24th-31st August, 2021

The faculty development programme on ‘Creation and Development of MOOCs while Managing Online Classes’ was organized in collaboration with Mahatma Hansraj Faculty Development Centre (MHRFDC), under Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching (PMMMNMTT), Hansraj College, University of Delhi. The programme provided the participants with the unique opportunity to develop various competencies including introductory level hands-on training on creating and developing e-content using online interactive tools while managing online classes and creating MOOCs. The information regarding the related topics such as copyright, plagiarism, and web resources was also covered by the speakers in a very descriptive manner.

A comprehensive understanding about blended learning and web resources was provided which is elemental in creation of MOOCs. The participants learned about the Four Quadrant Approach for e-content and MOOCs with respect to methodology and implementation. The participants received a step-by-step guidance for developing interactive videos with softwares like ‘Screencastify’ and ‘PresentationTube’. They also learned about the designing and development of learner centric MOOCs with Moodle, a Learning Management System. A thorough discussion on making online assignments, projects and quizzes prepared the participants to face the challenges of online-teaching in a more prepared manner. The audience was also instructed with information that a teacher must have to avoid copyrights and plagiarism issues while developing e-content and MOOCs. A very informative and enlightening compilation of Open Access web resources useful for both academics and research was provided during the FDP.

During the feedback session, the participants spoke highly about the FPD and its benefits and assured that they would be utilizing the gained knowledge during the classroom teaching to further improve the learning experience of their students.

Outcomes

• Hands-on insights and training on various aspects of e-learning were the key learning outcomes of the FDP.
• Hands-on training on preproduction, production, and launching of MOOCs on various platforms was imparted to the participants.
• The participants gained practical hands-on training session on developing e-content using the online interactive platform ‘Nearpod’.
• Hands-on session on content creation for MOOCs on platforms like ‘Renderforest’.
• The participants learnt how to develop interactive videos with softwares like “Screencastify” and “Presentation Tube.”
• The participants were able to receive a compilation of Open Access web resources.
• Practical knowledge of Moodle, a Learning Management System (LMS) was attained.
• Positive feedback of the participants was received.

Regular meetings were held between the Paramarsh Team and mentee institutes to continue to guide them as they embarked on their accreditation journey.

Illustrative list of meetings :