St Xaviers College and (right) principal Father Nicholas Tete

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has renewed accreditation of Ranchi’s St Xavier’s College for five years, effective January 2013.

Following a re-accreditation process conducted by NAAC — an autonomous council under University Grants Commission — late last year, the college received “A” grading with 3.23 cumulative grade point average (CGPA) on a scale of 4, director of NAAC H.A. Ranganath informed the college principal in his letter.

The college first received NAAC accreditation for five years in 2006.

Established in 1994, St Xavier’s College was earlier affiliated to Ranchi University, before being accorded autonomous status in 2005.

A postgraduate course in English was first introduced in 2006 and more subjects followed later. At present, eight postgraduate courses are offered.

In all, 24 courses are taught in the college, including BEd, business administration and six other professional courses. Classes are conducted in three shifts, taking into account close to 10,000 students.

There are 75 teachers, for whom the college gets grants-in-aid. Besides, there are nearly an equal number of visiting teachers.

Though satisfied, principal of the Catholic institution Father Nicholas Tete felt there was scope for improvement. “The grading we got is surely satisfactory but we could achieve a better CGPA if we had some more favourable parameters to our credit,” Tete said.

Elaborating, he listed a few drawbacks. “We don’t have a hostel for girl students nor could we provide transport facilities for them,” he said, adding more achievements in the academic field were required as well.

About half the faculty members have doctorate degrees. “It is desirable that more of them, say about 75 per cent, have such degrees,” Tete said.

Similarly, being associated with research projects is also considered an achievement, the principal informed. Funds are available for undertaking research works, he elaborated, adding that depending on the nature of the project, funds ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh are made available for each minor and major research projects.

“It’s not that our teachers don’t get involved in research projects. They have been associated with as many as eight small and big projects,” he said, adding, “But it would be better if that number went up to 15 in each category, major and minor.”

The college will conduct its fourth convocation on February 18, which will be followed by a two-day college fest, the modalities of which are being worked out.

The students who successfully cleared the final examinations of 2011 will be awarded degrees, Tete informed, explaining that degrees are normally given after a year as a matter of practice so that any dispute that may have occurred is resolved in the meantime.

“We don’t invite anyone from outside as the chief guest at the convocation, though the presence of the governor, who is also the chancellor of state universities, is requested,” the principal said.