Geethanjali College of Engineering & Technology (GCET), Cheeryal, Keesara (M), Hyderabad

A Student’s Guide to Accreditation by National Board of Accreditation (NBA)

and Benefits of Accreditation
Dr. S. Udaya Kumar, Principal, GCET.

This document has been prepared to assist GCET students in understanding the process of accreditation and
its importance in their engineering profession/careers.

What Is Accreditation?
Accreditation is a process of external review in which an educational institution and its educational programs
are evaluated against a set of criteria. Most importantly in the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) process,
NBA team, which is a professional accrediting committee comprising Senior Academicians who have made
significant contribution to Technical Education in India and abroad inspects the programs applied for
Accreditation in the College. NBA accredits programs, not institutions. This allows an accredited program to
truly meet the demands of today’s engineering profession, ultimately preparing students for greater success.

All over the world, accreditation is used to assure quality in educational institutions and programs. In India
accreditation is a voluntary process of peer review conducted by NBA of AICTE, New Delhi. It requires an
educational program to meet certain defined standards or criteria to get accreditation status.

Accreditation Serves to Notify

 Parents and prospective students that a program has met minimum standards
 Faculty, Deans and Administrators of the program its strengths and weaknesses and of ways to improve
the program
 Employers that graduates are well prepared to begin professional practice.

The Importance of Accreditation

The importance of accreditation goes far beyond the quality of a student’s educational program. To an even
greater degree, accreditation, and all of the professional benefits that accompany it, is an integral part of what
industry seeks in young engineers. Employers, as well as NBA, recognize that well-educated students become
valuable employees.

Today’s engineering graduates face a new era in the profession of engineering. Engineers are now faced with
issues of community and infrastructure development at a time of increasing technological advancement. With
this shift comes an even greater need for young engineers who work well in teams or groups, address the needs
of society at large and take into consideration the political, economic and social implications of their work. This
has become not only the challenge of the profession, but engineering education as well.

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Geethanjali College of Engineering & Technology (GCET), Cheeryal, Keesara (M), Hyderabad

NBA criterion for Engineering Programs criterion for Institute

 Graduates must have demonstrated rigorous training in various subjects of the respective discipline and a
working knowledge of different subjects they have studied as part of their program.
 The faculty of the engineering program is committed to sharing with the students the responsibility of
learning and to providing a vigorous academic environment that encourages active learning and high
quality student performance.
 The curriculum provides a thorough base of mathematics, physical sciences, and other engineering
subjects, laboratory experience, and design experience which collectively prepares students to apply their
acquired engineering knowledge to a variety of contemporary problems.

In addition, the curriculum provides the general education necessary to identify the impact of engineering
decisions in the broader societal context.

The engineering program integrates the knowledge and skills acquired from rigorous set of courses, the
extracurricular experiences, and the faculty expertise and scholarship needed to enable the graduates of the
program in developing ability:

1. To apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering into various applications.

2. To design and conduct experiments, analyze and interpret data.
3. To design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs.
4. To function in multidisciplinary teams.
5. To identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems.
6. To develop an understanding of professional and ethical responsibility.
7. To develop an ability to communicate effectively.
8. To develop the broad based education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a
global societal context.
9. To develop an ability to engage in life-long learning.
10. To develop a knowledge of contemporary issues.
11. To develop an ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering
practice.
12. To develop an ability in managing projects and also to evaluate the same in terms of economic feasibility /
financial viability.

Engineering programs accredited by NBA prepare students for a profession in which knowledge of Engineering
subjects gained by study and practice is applied to the materials and forces of nature to benefit mankind.

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Geethanjali College of Engineering & Technology (GCET), Cheeryal, Keesara (M), Hyderabad

The NBA Accreditation Process

The institutions choose which level of a program they want to be considered for accreditation. Most often, the
institution selects its engineering programs at the Bachelor’s level for accreditation review. The accreditation
process examines all aspects of the program; students, curriculum, faculty, administration, facilities and
institutional support. This information is gathered by the program as part of the self-study process. This is
followed by a campus visit during which the program is reviewed against its self-study and the established
criteria. The information gathered from the self-study and campus evaluation report then become the
determining factors for accreditation.

More importantly, this self-study and evaluation report can be used to improve a program’s delivery of
engineering knowledge in the future. Programs either receive accreditation or are denied accreditation.
Accreditation does not provide a ranking of educational programs. NBA accreditation is for a maximum of five
years, after which a program must again be reviewed.

NBA accreditation signifies that the accredited programs have met specific criteria that are determined by
engineering professionals working in industry and education. Accreditation then becomes a tool which students
can use to determine a program’s responsiveness to the needs of the profession. It is with this assurance that
students can make well-informed decisions when choosing to pursue an engineering degree in a college.

GCET prepares its undergraduate students, through high quality educational programs, to professionally and
ethically practice engineering in a competitive global environment. We provide our engineering graduates with
the tools, skills and competencies necessary to understand and apply today's technologies and become leaders in
developing and deploying tomorrow's technologies.

The College is expanding in scientific and engineering knowledge through innovative research and creative
partnerships involving academia, industry, and R&D organizations.

Further, we actively develop outreach activities to assist individuals and organizations to find solutions to
engineering problems through education, consulting activities, and practical research.

Educational Objectives of GCET Programs/Courses

The programs’ educational objectives are:
i. Develop within our graduates the technical proficiency needed for the professional practice of their
respective engineering discipline.
ii. Instill commitment in our graduates towards lifelong scientific inquiry, learning and creativity and
develop within our graduates the ability to communicate effectively.

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Geethanjali College of Engineering & Technology (GCET), Cheeryal, Keesara (M), Hyderabad

iii. Foster within our graduates a commitment to protect public interest, health, safety, and environment
in the practice of their engineering profession with an understanding of the need to maintain the
highest ethical and professional standards.

Educational Outcomes of GCET Programs/Courses

The programs’ educational outcomes are such that our graduates will be able to
1. Apply mathematics, science, and engineering principles to solve their respective discipline’s
engineering problems. Although there will be an emphasis on engineering principles of their
discipline proficiency is also acquired in various general engineering, sciences, and humanities areas
as well.
2. Identify, formulate, and solve a range of engineering problems their respective discipline
systematically employing the skills of critical thinking and creative problem solving.
3. Design and conduct experiments, as well as analyze data, interpret and apply results to various
systems and processes in their engineering discipline and also in interdisciplinary areas.
4. Utilize the techniques, skills, and modern computational tools necessary for their discipline’s
contemporary engineering practice. This includes proficiency in the use of computer hardware and
software packages.
5. Design a system, component, or process to meet the desired technical, economic, safety, and
environmental criteria. They will be able to perform design calculations from the conceptual stage to
full-scale design, and to conduct an economic evaluation of the process.
6. Understand and appreciate the need for professional integrity and ethical decision making in the
professional practice of engineering.
7. Demonstrate an understanding of contemporary issues encountered in the professional practice of
their respective discipline including business practices, environmental, health, and safety issues and
other public interests.
8. Show awareness of the wide reaching effects that engineering decisions have on society, our global
community and our natural environment.
9. Demonstrate proficiency in written and oral communication.
10. Function successfully as members of multi-disciplinary teams.
11. Show awareness of leadership and group dynamics issues and exhibit a level of cooperation that
allows for team productivity.
12. Appreciate the need for and engage in life-long learning to maintain and enhance the professional
practice of their respective engineering discipline.