Affiliation Criteria/Guidelines for Universities/Institutions of Higher Education
 

 

 

Definitions:

In this criteria any thing repugnant in the subject and context used vide infra:

a. 'affiliation' means affiliation with the university;
b. 'affiliation committee' means the committee, which guides the university regarding affiliation/de-affiliation of institution;
c. 'Commission' means Higher Education Commission;
d. 'inspection committee' means the committee executing inspection of the institute;
e. 'institution' means the educational institution seeking affiliation with the university;
f. 'prescribed' means prescribed by the university;
g. 'principal' means the head of the college or the chief executive of the institution applying for affiliation;
h. 'Senate/BOG' means Senate or Board of Governors of affiliating university as the case may be;
i. 'Vice-Chancellor' means Vice-Chancellor of affiliating university;
j. 'university' means the affiliating university


Legal formalities:

i) The ownership of the institution shall vest in a body corporate and not in individual(s) or family, registered under the relevant laws of companies ordinance/societies registration act/trust act as a foundation/society/trust. This shall not be required in case the institution is in the public sector.
ii) No ownership of the body corporate will be permissible after affiliation without prior approval of the university.
iii) The permission from District Coordination Officer (Education) of the concerned City District Government be sought before applying to the university for affiliation.
iv) No educational institution situated within the territorial limits of a university shall, with the consent of university and sanction of education department for provincial jurisdiction and the sanction of Commission for Federal Capital Territory, be associated in any way with or seek admission to the privileges of any other university.
v) A copy of the registration deed along with a memorandum of association will be supplied to examine the objectives and credentials of the members. A brief profile of each member of management should also be provided.

Application for affiliation:

An institution applying for affiliation to university shall make an application to Registrar of university on prescribed form (Ann-I) at least 6 months prior to the date from which affiliation is sought with sufficient time prior to commencement of academic programmes of university. There shall be an application processing fee at such rates as may be prescribed by university.
The procedure to be followed in disposing of an application for the affiliation of an institution shall be such as may be prescribed. The Senate/BOG may, on the recommendation of the Affiliation Committee, grant or refuse affiliation to an educational institution.

Conditions governing the grant of affiliation:

The provisions for affiliation of institution shall be governed by the following conditionalities:
4.1). Institutional and academic:
i). That the institution is to be under the management of a regularly constituted governing body;
ii). That the site selected for the institution must be suitable from academic point of view. Sustainable physical viability, availability of water, electricity, fuel gas, telephones must be ensured;
iii). That the site existing or selected for the institution must be easily accessible to general public;
iv). That the institution has framed proper rules regarding the efficiency and discipline of its staff and other employees;
v). That provision has been made for well stocked library and well equipped laboratory facilities and other practical work where affiliation is sought in any branch of experimental science. Where affiliation is sought in IT fields due arrangements have been made for imparting instructions in a well-equipped IT laboratory having internet connectivity, which can cater to the course needs of students and teachers ;

vi). That the library shall have at least 50 books per subject as reference books and at least 200 books per subject for supplementary reading. The institution should spend at least Rs. 50,000/- per annum for updating the library by adding new editions and titles. The institution should subscribe 10 daily newspapers and 5 weekly periodicals;
vii). The library shall have seating facility for 20% of the total number of students on roll;
viii). That institution shall have internet connectivity with appropriate number of computers depending upon the student's population and the subjects offered;
ix). That at least 10% of students be granted fee exemptions and scholarships on need basis;
x). That permission granted shall be restricted to a specified place and for a particular subject. No sub-campus or branch shall be established or franchised;
xi). That the strength and qualifications of teaching and other staff and the terms and conditions of their service are adequate;
xii). That the courses of study and syllabi taught in institution should be same as being followed by the university;
xiii). That all examinations leading to award of degrees/diplomas/certificates and their checking and evaluation shall be done by the university;
xiv). That the institution shall not admit students for any degree/discipline except those to be awarded by the university under its seal;
xv). That the institution shall be governed by the statutes, regulations, rules framed by the university from time to time regarding; general scheme of studies; duration of courses ; the medium of instruction and examination ; detailed syllabi for examination held by university; the conditions under which students shall be admitted to the examination of university etc. ;
xvi). That in drawing up the organizational structure of the institutions, the standard and quality of teaching and efficiency of the system must be ensured;
xvii). The strength and qualifications of the teaching and other staff, and the terms and conditions of their service, are appropriate enough to provide for courses of instruction, teaching and training work to be taken;
xviii). That an institution of a public/private university shall have at least 20 to 25% of the faculty with M.Phil degrees, particularly in the subjects of Basic Science; Computer Science ; and Information Technology subjects;
xix). That the institutions in private sector must possess 50% of its teaching members employed on permanent basis with minimum prescribed qualifications as Master's degree from an accredited/chartered university in relevant subjects;
xx). The work load of the faculty should not exceed the limits prescribed by the government/affiliating universities for affiliated institution in public sector;
xxi). That the total number of students in evening classes should not exceed more than 50% of the students admitted in the morning classes and enrollment in the evening classes will be granted only to those persons who are in service;
xxii). That the sponsors will provide career counseling and job search services to students; and
xxiii). That the private universities can affiliate institutions in those subjects, which it offers at its principal seat.

Financial:

i). That subject to the satisfaction of university, the institution is financially stable and has the ability to sustain a regular functioning and efficient working;
ii). That the institution shall furnish such reports, returns and other information as the university may require, to enable it to judge the financial sustainability and soundness of the sponsors ;
iii). That the sponsors shall, prior to enrolling students will establish an endowment fund of Rupees one million, whose interests be utilized for refurbishing the laboratories and libraries and for provision of gadgets aimed at enhancing the quality of education;
iv). That working capital of at least Rs. 2.0 million lies with the institution for smooth functioning of the affairs of institution;
v). That tangible asset in form of land, building etc. not less than Rs. 5.0 million are in existence on ground
vi). That above financial arrangements need to be supported by documentary evidence

Constitutional and Cultural:

i). That the institution shall be required to strictly comply with and respect the constitutional provisions, local laws, cultural and religious sensitivities;
ii). That the institution must restrict to teaching, training and co-curricular activities. Political or other activities detrimental to national, religious, social or local culture shall not be undertaken.

Co-curricular & Health Care facilities:

i) That the sponsors shall promote the extra curricular and recreational activities of students, and to make arrangements for promoting their health and general welfare;
ii) That institution shall ensure to provide co-curricular activities like debating contest, declamation contest Quran Khawani, Naat Khawani, Holding of Musharahas, camp fire, boy scouts, girls guides activities etc. Excursions to places of historical importance and student's visits to factories, stock exchanges, chambers of commerce & industries and other educational trips etc. shall also be arranged for augmenting the development of students ;
iii) That in door and out door facilities for games should be ensured to provide healthy out lets to the youngsters for imbibing the sense of competition and tolerance. The students should be encouraged to participate in one/two of the games. If possible the facilities of gymnasium should also be made available;
iv) The practice of providing necessary health care to the students has gradually dwindled and dispensed with in most of the institutions. Since, the students work in groups and have to spend most of the time together the chances of catching the contagious/infectious diseases are greater than in any other gathering. That's why, it is advisable that quarterly medical check up should be ensured and students be advised for health problems

Monitoring & Visitation:

i). That the institution shall furnish such reports, returns and other information as the university may require, enabling it to judge efficiency and effectiveness of the institution;
ii). That monitoring and visitation of institution will be carried out by an Inspection Committee to be appointed by university, when there exists substantial evidence on any aspect of the institutional inefficiency or malfunctioning;
iii). That the university may call upon any institution to take such action as it may deem necessary in respect of any of the matter specified under law from time to time;
iv). That the institution will abide by the laws of Commission and university with regard to affiliation of institutions framed from time to time;
v). That the university shall have full powers to take any action, it may consider appropriate including de-affiliation of an institution, if it is found indulging in any subversive or unlawful activity, or against provisions of laws. However, in doing so the placement of students pursuing different academic courses will be the responsibility of institution and university;
vi). That the institution shall be liable to provide facilities to the representatives of Commission and university for visitation to enable them to verify that the institution is maintaining appropriate academic standards;
vii). That the institution shall furnish an annual statement of accounts to university with details of fees, donations and other income received and expenditure incurred duly audited within two months of the close of every financial year ;
viii). An inspection of institution shall be held once a year during first three years of its affiliation by the Inspection Committee constituted by university and subsequently once in three years

Space standards and norms:

i). The institution shall be located in a spacious, separate and independent building conducive for academic activities, situated on plot of at least half acre (04 kanals), depending on the location having potential for further development, without any other institution or person sharing the premises;
ii). That sufficient space in shape of classrooms, common room, library, laboratories and common room for girls is available with appropriate size not less than 16' X 32' sq. ft. for each section of a class not exceeding 40 in number;
iii). That size of laboratory in case of Basic / Natural and Applied Science subjects should be at least 20' X 40' sq. ft.;
iv). That institution shall have an auditorium, 2 class rooms, students common room (incase of girls students) and staff room;
v). That institution shall have adequate canteen, toilets, a dispensary and facility for indoor and out door games;
vi). The desirable space standards for institution are laid down in form (Annex -II)

Inspection requirements:

In order to physically verify the detailed academic and physical infrastructure available with the institution, the inspection committee may like to conduct a detailed survey of the institution before grant of affiliation. The affiliation, however, will be granted subject-wise.

Formal agreement:

i). All arrangements of affiliation between institution and university should be agreed upon and formally written down as approved legal agreement and signed by senior authorized representatives. Detailed arrangements for partnership should be set out clearly in the agreement and memorandum of understanding;
ii). The agreement should take into account the scope of the arrangements, responsibilities, financial arrangements, quality control mechanism, mode and means of payment, validity period, procedure for resolution of differences and termination of agreement etc. ;
iii). The agreement should clearly spell out the provisions for quality control mechanism including monitoring, assessment procedures and review and visitation ;
iv). The validity period of the agreements should be clearly agreed upon by the parties. Any provision or extension should specify the requirements for review;
v). Termination of affiliation should safeguard the interests of the students and should be duly notified to the general public and Commission

Conditions and procedure for de-affiliation:

If an institution fails to observe any of conditions of its affiliation, or its affairs are conducted in a manner which is prejudicial to the interest of education or the university, the rights conferred as a result of affiliation may, on an inquiry made by the Affiliation Committee, and after giving an opportunity of hearing to the Principal and with the approval of Senate/BOG, be withdrawn. However, the Vice-Chancellor may, on a report of the Affiliation Committee, and after considering such representation as the institution may wish to make, restore to it such rights either in whole or in parts. The procedure to be followed for the withdrawl of affiliation shall be on case to case basis.
The appeal against refusal or withdrawal of affiliation shall lie to the Vice-Chancellor against the decision of Senate/BOG refusing to affiliate an educational institution or withdrawing the rights conferred on such institution by affiliation or against modification of such rights.

Fees for affiliation and sharing in income:

i). The institution shall be required to pay an annual affiliation fee, at such rates as may be prescribed, to cover the cost of services provided by the university ;
ii). The university and institution will share the gross fees received from students, in the proportions to be determined by the Senate/BOG from time to time

Affiliation committee:

7.1) There shall be constituted an affiliation committee by university, comprising:
i). The Chairman; a professor of the university to be nominated by Vice-Chancellor;
ii). Two Professors/Associate Professors of university of different disciplines, in which affiliation is being sought by the institution;
iii). An expert to be nominated by the Commission;
iv). An Associate Professor/Assistant Professor of a local Government College of concerned academic discipline

7.2). The affiliation Committee may co-opt an expert for specific meetings from inside or outside the university, conforming to the matter being considered

7.3). The quorum for a meeting of Affiliation Committee shall be three members

7.4). The term of office of the members shall be three years

7.5). The functions of the Affiliation Committee shall be :
i) To advise Senate/BOG regarding affiliation of an institution;
ii) To monitor the academic performance of the institutions;
iii) To inquire into complaints alleging breach of conditions of affiliation by institutions and to advise the Senate/BOG thereon;
iv) To recommend to the Senate/BOG the suspension or withdrawal of privileges of the university to an institution ;
v) To perform such other functions as may be assigned from time to time

Inspection Committee:

There shall be an Inspection committee constituted by university, comprising the members of Affiliation Committee of the university with additional membership of Registrar of university to execute the preliminary examination of the institution whether it fulfills the basic requirements to be used as an educational institution to cater the literary needs of the society, supplementing quality education. The Committee will inspect the institution seeking affiliation and to submit its report to Senate/BOG of university. The Senate/BOG will grant affiliation on the advice of Inspection Committee.

 

   
  Annexure - I
 
APPLICATION FORM FOR AFFILIATION
  Note: please answer every question clearly and fully

1. General:
i) Name of Institution, address with fax/email/telephone numbers;
ii) Year and objectives of establishment ;
iii) Name of the controlling authority/chief executive;
iv) Name, designation and qualifications of the head of institution;
v) Name of registered society/body, trust, foundation, NGO etc. ;
vi) Governing body, its composition and other relevant details

2. Physical facilities :
i) Infrastructure available in shape of land, type of current building (owned/rented) and total covered area of the administration building ;
ii) Total number and size of class rooms, capacity for students;
iii) Details of the laboratories, workshops and equipments appropriate to the courses;
iv) Details of the office equipment, furniture and fixtures;
v) Number of quarters/residence at the campus for teaching staff;
vi) Details of sports grounds and other facilities;
vii) Position of gas and water and electricity fitting;
viii) Transport vehicles for official use and students;
ix) Details of hostel buildings

3. Academic facilities:
i). Current academic programmes presented at institution;
ii). Details of subjects to be offered at Bachelor's level with proposed combinations of academic groups;
iii). Subjects to be offered at Master's level

4. Faculty/staff:

i) Faculty strength, names of members of teaching staff, their qualification, designations, experience, pays scales;
ii) Mode of appointment of teaching staff and criteria of selection;
iii) Total number of non-teaching, administrative and supporting staff, their designation, qualifications and experience;
iv) Details of medical services for students and employees


5. Library:
i) Number of books, textbooks, journals (international and national), periodicals, newspapers, reference books in library;
ii) Information regarding accommodated number of students in reading room

6. Facilities regarding Information Technology:
i) Details of computer literacy and integration of networking and visualization into normal institutional activities, student computer ratio;
ii) Internet connectivity available to students

7. Students:
i) Total number of students enrolled in the institution;
ii) Enrolment of students level-wise


8. Admissions:
i) General policy;
ii) Number of students to be enrolled, level-wise;
iii) Procedures and criteria of admission

9. Quality assurance and student supervision:
i) Arrangement for academic supervision of students:
ii) Arrangements for quality assurance:
iii) Level of administrative and technical support for quality assurance

10. Finances:
i) Financial position of institution and sources of income to meet the recurring and developmental expenses of the institution;
ii) Receipts in form of grants, donations, gifts, assets and investment income and fees in term of regular, casual and miscellaneous ;
iii) Recurring expenditure in term of pays, allowances, maintenance, purchases, utilities, running laboratory expenses, examinations, consumable etc.

11. Additional information, if any.
   
  Annex-III
 
STANDARD NORMS FOR THE AFFILIATION OF AN INSTITUTION
 

Component

Nature of Requirement

Standards/Norms for affiliation of institutions 

Departments

Departments (Physics, Chemistry etc)

Only one department

Teacher: Student ratio (desirable)

1:12

Maximum for Science subjects involving lab. Work

1:20

For others

No. of administrative staff including laboratories, library & other staff for miscellaneous duties.

Equal to teaching staff

Teaching Faculty

Teachers

50 % full time faculty members with minimum prescribed qualification as Masters degree in relevant subject

No. of teachers (full-time) required (cadre-wise) per department

-

Associate Professor and Professor

At least 20-25 % faculty with M.Phil degree particularly in Basic Sciences, Computer and I.T. subjects

Libraries

Journals

Subscription to at least 10 Daily newspapers and 5 weekly periodicals

Books required

At least 50 reference books per subject and at least 200 books per subject for supplementary reading

Facilities

Hall/Lecture theatres (desirable)

16’ x 32’ for each section of class             ( not exceeding 40 students )

No of rooms required (desirable)

2 lecture rooms, 1 seminar room, 1 Library cum Reading room, 1 committee room

Teaching and Administrative Staff Offices

Required for each University (desirable)

1 Staff room1 Faculty office

Laboratories/ Workshops/PC/ Internet service

No. of laboratories required (desirable)

At least 1 Lab. Per department with appropriate space (in case of science subject)

Workshops (desirable)

20 to 40 sq ft. per student

PC (desirable)

1 for 3 students in case of IT courses

Internet service (desirable)

256 Kbytes access rate shall be provided

Gross Area

Area in acres

1/2 acre (04 kanals)  at least (depending upon the location having potential for further development)

Built in/covered Area (desirable)

Minimum 100 sq ft. per student.

General facilities: office, staff rooms, cafeteria, reading room, auditorium, committee room, conference room, housing for staff, parking space, and toilets etc.

Basic facilities for staff and students

Hostels(Desirable)

Cubicles (desirable)Dormitories (desirable)Dinning (desirable)Gross space (desirable)

-

Scholarships

Scholarships and free-ships

At least 10% of the students to be given scholarships

Inspection

Peer review

One scientist having an impact factor of 100 will be associated in the inspection of the institution for NOC clearance.

Finance

Endowment Fund (Secured in the name of Trust/Society)

Rs. 1.0 million (not applicable in case of public sector institution)

 

Tangible assets in the form of land/building etc.

Rs.5.0 million

 

Working Capital.

Rs.2.0 million (not applicable in case of public sector institution)

 

Total :

Rs.8.0 million

   
 
UNIVERSITY - INSTITUTION RELATIONSHIP

The university all will consider application for affiliation from institutions offering programmes similar to those offered by the university. The quality assurance system governing university and the institution must be designed to meet the following conditions:

a) It is rigorous enough to offer the security about the standard and quality of the programmes being provided.
b) It provides frequent and reliable two way communication between the institution and the university.
c) It is effectively managed both academically and administratively.

In practice, the nature of the university relationship with each institution may be different, because of the previous experience of staff, the profile of the portfolio of programmes to be offered, the resources available, and geographical location.

a) The university should take an institutional view of the context within which higher education programmes are to be provided. It should set up a team to visit the institution to review the facilities available for higher education students and to discuss with staff of the institutions and their counterparts in the university involved in managing the proposed affiliation provision a range of matters including:

i) Communications, and particularly the lines of academic accountability from the institutions programmes to the university.
ii) Arrangements for the academic and administrative management of the programmes to be offered.
iii) Learning resources: provision on site, and arrangements for access to the University's collections
iv) Staffing strategy: procedures for the identification and appointment of staff to teach, plans for staff development and scholarly activities, and arrangements for staff management and deployment.
v) The provision of information to students in publicity material, handbooks etc, and related matters such as appeals and complaints procedures.
vi) Student services.
vii) Relationships with academic service providers of the university, the Admissions Department and the relevant Faculty Office(s), to secure the integrity of the admissions and, particularly, the assessment processes:

b) The university may prefer arrangements in institutions which bring all their higher education provision together in one policy making forum, constituted to be able to make and secure the implementation of academic judgments on the affiliated higher education progrmmes being offered:
c) The university should make arrangements to monitor periodically the effectiveness of the relationship with its affiliated institutions.



GUIDING CRITERIA

An affiliated institution should possess the following characteristics. It should be able to provide evidence that:

· Its policies for academic planning, quality assurance and resource allocation are coherent and relate to its mission aims and objectives..
· Its systems of governance and management embody clear functions and lines of accountability and responsibility.
· It has demonstrable depth and strength of academic leadership
· Its missions, policies and systems are developed, implemented, communicated and reviewed through consultation with stakeholders.
· It is able to demonstrate continued confidence and stability over an extended period of time in its governance, financial control, quality assurance arrangements and organizational structure.
· Its programs are established and maintained at the appropriate academic standards, as confirmed by academic peers from other higher education institutions and, where appropriate, from professional and statutory bodies.
· Its programmes are regularly self-assessed through annual monitoring and periodic review to ensure that they consistently meet stated objectives and outcomes, and that their subject matter and pedagogical methods are kept up to date.
· Its procedures specify the body responsible for approving amendments to approved programmes.
· Its academic authority is vested in the academic council or equivalent, and the responsibilities of the bodies established within the academic committee structure are clearly differentiated, with their powers of decision, discretion and action carefully described.
· It defines monitors and maintains academic standards through its assessment criteria and practices, which in turn are related to declare learning objectives and learning outcomes.
· It monitors the effectiveness of its learning and teaching infrastructure, ensuring that teaching is consistent with stated objectives and learning outcomes, and that resources for learning are adequate to facilitate students learning to the standard required.
· Its admissions, student induction and student counseling arrangements support its academic aims.
· It engages external peers in the assessment of its students.
· It monitors the reliability and validity of its assessment practices, and the outcomes of its monitoring inform programme planning decisions.
· It manages its assessment procedures expeditiously, and keeps its examiners and students informed at the earliest opportunity.
· It gives students constructive formative feedback on their assessed work.
· It is able to monitor student progression and performance, and provide timely and accurate information to satisfy academic and non-academic information needs.
· Its staff is well qualified, with a significant proportion having higher degrees, relevant professional qualifications and experience, experience of teaching elsewhere in higher education, and experience to curriculum and assessment design.
· Its staff is actively engaged with the pedagogic development of their discipline, through subject associations and relevant professional bodies, institutional staff development opportunities, and teaching development activities.
· Its staff are acknowledged by external academic and professional peers as having academic expertise, as demonstrated through research and scholarly activity, consultancy, external funding for academic development initiatives, and contributions to professional journals.
· Its staff maintains the high professional standards associated with higher education, as demonstrated by the formal consideration of feedback from students and other stakeholders, including reports from professional bodies.

 
 
 
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