What SPPU’s academic and administrative audit is all about

What will the SPPU audit check for?

Dr Parag Kalkar, Pro Vice Chancellor, SPPU, told The Indian Express the audit is for three types of compliances in associated institutes — administrative, academic, and statutory.

Under the administrative compliance, the administrative setup required for a college to run — necessary infrastructure, faculty, an approved principal, an approved librarian, and teaching and non-teaching staff — will be checked.

The academic calendar, student feedback, and other related issues will also be covered by SPPU under the second type.

Committees mandated by the Centre and state government, such as the college development committee, sexual harassment committee, equal opportunity cell, National Education Policy (NEP) implementation committee, and other compliances will be checked for under statutory compliance.

What are the audit phases?

The audit will also be carried out in three phases. The first phase, currently underway, involves affiliated institutes and colleges collecting and submitting information to the university.

In a circular released on March 29, SPPU extended the deadline for colleges to submit the data online from March 31 to April 9. Kalkar said this extension was provided as some colleges had not yet submitted the data due to its comprehensiveness.

The second phase would be a ‘self-appraisal phase’ during which colleges would grade themselves based on the data they have collected.

In the last phase, committees from the university would travel to the colleges for a physical inspection of the submitted data. Teams will be formed and trained for the inspection of these colleges. This committee will also provide recommendations to colleges for improvement.

‘Self-realisation about the improvement’

SPPU plans to audit 33 per cent of its affiliated institutions this year, and the rest are expected in the following two years. This year, the colleges to be audited will be selected at random.

“The audit is not just meant to create pressure on the colleges for the physical inspection. The college will also have self-realisation about the improvement that is required after they have collected this data. It is an important process to know the things they are doing or not doing. They will get the idea of what is and what needs to be done,” said Kelkar.

“The university will also get an insight for future development, the areas we need to focus on, and what we need to discuss with principals and head of the institutions.”