Plenary session 8: Institutional and program accreditation in India

Over thirty years ago, members from academia as well as industry in India recognized the potential of accreditation as a means for not only quality assurance, but also quality improvement. The beginnings for setting up a formal accreditation for engineering degree programs in India can be traced to several discussions that took place during mid-1990s. The then President of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Dr. J. Thomas Cain took part in two crucial meetings held in Chennai and Kurukshetra in this context. There was rapid progress thereafter, and engineering degree program accreditation by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) was initiated in 1996. Institutional accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) started a little later.