Part 6: Revised NBA SAR 2025: Industry Collaboration, Research, and Faculty Development
- Dr. Deepessh Divaakaran
- Mar 23
- 11 min read
Updated: Mar 24
Contents in this Article
1. Introduction: From Isolation to Integration
A few years ago, a Tier I institute proudly listed 34 MoUs in their SAR.
But when the NBA team visited and asked:
"What came out of these partnerships?"
The room went quiet.
No internships.
No co-taught courses.
No joint projects.
Just... paper.
That was the old world.
A world where quantity mattered more than quality.
Where industry collaboration was a decorative piece, not a living system.
Revised NBA SAR 2025 has changed that—completely.
Now, it’s not enough to show a document.
You have to show what changed because of it.
In this 6th part of our 9-Part Series on Revised NBA SAR 2025,
we move from the classroom to the world outside.
From how students learn, to how teachers grow, and how the industry connects.
This part is built on what you’ve already read:
Part 1: Why SAR 2025 is a wake-up call
Part 2: What changed in the Criteria
Part 3: Why curriculum must be fixed first
Part 4: How to qualify the Pre-Qualifiers
Part 5: How to implement OBE without shortcuts
And now, we open a new door—
into industry collaboration, faculty development, and research that actually matters.
This isn’t about checking more boxes.
It’s about building a system that makes your college
relevant, respected, and future-ready.
Let’s begin on our series of NBA SAR 2025.
2. Why Industry and Faculty Ecosystem Matter More Than Ever in NBA SAR 2025
The world doesn’t need engineers who know formulas.
It needs engineers who can solve problems that don’t have formulas yet.
And that’s where the industry ecosystem steps in.
In the old accreditation mindset, industry interaction meant two things:
A few guest lectures.
And a dusty folder of MoUs.
But Revised NBA SAR 2025 flips the focus:
It now asks:
“How is your curriculum solving real-world challenges?”
“Are your students learning from industry—not just about it?”
At the same time, faculty can’t just teach from slides.
They need to evolve.
NBA now looks for faculty who:
– Get trained every year
– Connect with industry problems
– Mentor students on innovation
– Research with purpose
This is not a bonus.
This is core accreditation weightage.
Here’s the big shift:
Old SAR:
Faculty = Teachers
Industry = Guest Lectures
Research = Optional
New SAR:
Faculty = Mentors + Innovators
Industry = Co-educators + Partners
Research = Measurable Outcome
Your college will be judged on whether your faculty have entered the real world.
And whether your students are solving for tomorrow.
That’s the ecosystem NBA wants now.
And if you don’t build it, your scores will reflect that.
In the next section, we’ll break down exactly where these changes appear in the Revised SAR 2025, and what you must start doing now.
3. Deep Dive – Some of Key Changes in SAR 2025 Related to This Area
Revised NBA SAR 2025 doesn’t ask:
“Do you have an MoU?”
It asks:
“What did your students and faculty gain from it?”
That’s a tectonic shift.
Let’s explore where this shift appears in the actual criteria— and how your institution must realign.
I am citing here few examples for your understanding from the SAR 2025.
a. Case Studies and Real-Life Examples (2.5 – 10 Marks)
For every theory, there must be an application.
NBA expects faculty to embed case studies from industry, research, and local context into lesson plans.
It's no longer optional—it’s now evaluated.
Recommendation: Maintain a case study bank linked to each subject, updated every semester.
b. Internship / Industrial Training (2.3 – 10 Marks)
Internships must now show clear learning outcomes.
Not just attendance or completion.
NBA may ask:
– What students worked on
– What skills they gained
– What evidence exists
Recommendation: Standardize post-internship reporting + reflection forms mapped to COs/POs.
c. Capstone Projects with Industry Relevance (2.2 – 25 Marks)
Capstones are no longer academic exercises.
They are now expected to solve real, complex, industry-aligned problems.
If your student projects are still theoretical— you’ll score low.
Recommendation: Create an “Industry Problem Bank” for final year projects. Update annually.
d. Faculty Support in Student Innovation Projects (6.1.6 – 10 Marks)
Faculty must not just “guide” projects.
They must mentor innovations—and show how they added value.
Recommendation: Maintain documentation where faculty co-develop solutions with students—prototypes, exhibitions, patents filed.
e. Faculty Internship / Industry Collaboration (6.1.7 – 10 Marks)
If your faculty hasn’t stepped into industry in years, NBA considers that a red flag.
Expect questions like:
– When did faculty last visit industry?
– Did they bring back new insights to the classroom?
Recommendation: Start 5–7 day faculty immersion programs during semester breaks. Maintain outcome reports.
f. Sponsored Research and Consultancy Work (6.2.3, 6.2.4 – 15 Marks Each)
Focus has shifted from number of papers to problem-solving impact.
NBA now values:
– Projects funded by external agencies
– Consulting work for local industry
– Community-based problem solving
Recommendation: Document every research output with objectives, impact, and outcomes aligned to SDGs or PSOs.
g. Internal Research Grants (6.2.6 – 5 Marks)
Institutions must show seed funding support for faculty ideas.
Even small grants matter—what matters more is the ecosystem of support.
Recommendation: Introduce a mini research grant scheme per department. Keep it simple, but accountable.
h. Evidence of Addressing Sustainable Development Goals (3.6 – 10 Marks)
Research must now reflect responsible engineering.
NBA wants to see sustainability embedded in projects, curriculum, and outcomes.
Recommendation: Map every project and innovation to at least one SDG. Maintain visual dashboards and displays.
This is not about adding more documents.
It’s about building an academic system that’s alive, accountable, and connected to the world outside.
Because in 2025, NBA will measure not just what you know— but what you’ve done with what you know.
4. Faculty Development – From Attendance to Impact
Earlier, it was simple.
If faculty attended a 5-day FDP, it was marked as “done.”
But Revised NBA SAR 2025 doesn’t stop at attendance.
It now asks—
“What did your faculty do with what they learned?”
This is the shift:
From events to outcomes.
From certificates to competence.
So, What’s Different Now?
Faculty as Learners
NBA expects faculty to stay current in:
– Emerging technologies
– Pedagogical innovations
– Industry practices
– Interdisciplinary trends
And more than attending—they must apply this knowledge in classrooms.
What to do: Maintain Post-FDP Reflection Sheets and Course Delivery Adjustments linked to new learnings.
Organizing vs. Attending FDPs
SAR 2025 gives value to faculty who organize meaningful FDPs, not just attend them.
This shows leadership.
This shows internal capacity building.
What to do: Create a departmental plan where every faculty member attends one FDP and helps organize another per year.
Link FDPs to CO–PO Attainment
This is where most colleges miss out.
If a faculty attends an FDP on Machine Learning,
they must reflect how it improved delivery of CO2 or CO4 in their subject.
What to do:
Maintain a mapping sheet of FDP learnings → Course changes → Outcome improvement.
My book shows how to align faculty development with outcome attainment and SAR documentation.
Train-the-Trainer Model
Empowered faculty should train their peers internally.
This builds a self-sustaining system, and shows NBA your institution isn’t dependent on outsiders.
What to do: Create an internal training calendar for in-house peer FDPs.
Academic Audit on Development Outcomes
Colleges often audit course files—but not faculty growth.
NBA wants to know:
– Is there a system to review faculty performance beyond feedback scores?
– Are departments reviewing research, innovation, pedagogy?
What to do: Set up Quarterly Academic Growth Reviews within departments.
Use a simple rubric covering: FDPs, research output, mentoring, CO delivery changes.
Faculty development is not a formality anymore.
It’s an input that impacts everything— from student learning to research quality
to NBA scoring.
Train your faculty well— and the SAR will start writing itself.
5. Research with Purpose – From Paper Count to Problem Solving
Earlier, research was about how many papers were published.
But SAR 2025 has made one thing very clear:
Purpose beats volume.
It’s not about how much you wrote.
It’s about what changed because you wrote it.
What’s NBA Really Looking For?
NBA now expects colleges to show:
– Alignment of research to Program Outcomes (POs) and Program Specific Outcomes (PSOs)
– Faculty mentoring students in problem-solving projects
– Community, industry, or sustainability impact
– Innovation and Interdisciplinary mindset
– Faculty research leading to start-ups, products, patents, or policy input
This is a major upgrade from “conference paper counts.”
Types of Research That Truly Matter Now
Applied Research
Direct solutions to local or industry problems.
E.g. reducing water waste in your campus area.
Action Research
Improving teaching–learning through innovation.
E.g. measuring the impact of flipped classrooms on student attainment.
Interdisciplinary Research
Bridging disciplines to tackle real-world complexity.
E.g. using AI in healthcare or sustainability models.
SDG-Aligned Research
Work that aligns with Sustainable Development Goals.
This now carries extra weight in NBA scoring.
Common Mistake:
Research Without Purpose
Many faculty publish to meet promotion criteria.
But when asked:
“What did this paper solve?”
There’s silence.
NBA SAR 2025 wants to close that gap.
What You Should Do Now: Create a Research Impact Tracker
– Title
– Problem addressed
– PO/PSO relevance
– Output (paper, prototype, policy, patent)
– Societal or industrial impact
– Student involvement (if any)
Link Every Major Research Activity to POs
Especially PO3 (Design solutions), PO4 (Investigate problems), and PO11 (Lifelong learning).
Maintain Evidence
– Grant letters
– Outcome reports
– Media coverage or policy citations
– Startup progress sheets (if incubated)
My book has a Research-to-PO mapping guide and practical ways to document research meaningfully.
Bonus Tip: Leverage Institutional Seed Funding
Even small internal research grants (₹25,000–₹50,000) can kickstart powerful projects.
This also shows NBA that the institute believes in its own faculty’s capabilities.
Research is no longer a paper chase.
It’s now a proof-of-impact game.
When your faculty start asking,
“What problem does this solve?”
Your NBA scores will take care of themselves.
6. Industry Collaboration – MoUs Are Just the Beginning
Let’s face it.
For years, “Industry Connect” meant showing MoUs during accreditation.
Signed papers.
Some expired. Some never activated.
Revised NBA SAR 2025 doesn’t fall for that anymore.
Now, it wants evidence of engagement.
MoUs are just the entry point.
Before we go further, let’s address the elephant in the room.
Too many colleges still chase MoU numbers for show, not substance.
Fake or inactive MoUs have become a destructive trend—hurting students, misleading accreditation teams, and reducing education to a PR game.
If you're a college management reading this—stop encouraging this practice.
It may earn you points on paper today, but it will cost your credibility and student outcomes tomorrow.
I’ve written about this deeply in my article:
“The Fake MoUs in Indian Colleges: A Numbers Game at the Cost of Students’ Future”
Let’s commit to real partnerships, not just paperwork.
What NBA Wants to See Now:
Are students solving real-world problems from industry?
Are industry experts part of curriculum design?
Are internships translating into learning outcomes?
Are faculty gaining exposure through industry immersion?
It’s not what’s signed.
It’s what’s working.
What Needs to Change on Ground
MoUs → MoIs (Memorandum of Implementation)
Show how each MoU resulted in:
– Internships
– Joint projects
– Expert lectures
– Capstone mentoring
– Startup support
Create a tracker: MoU → Activities → Outcome
Industry in Curriculum
SAR 2025 values curriculum that reflects industry input.
Especially in electives, labs, and capstone courses.
Involve industry experts in BoS/Academic Council meetings. Document their inputs. Act on them.
Capstone Projects with Industry Mentorship
Your final-year projects shouldn’t be isolated efforts.
They should be co-developed with industry mentors.
Create an “Industry Problem Bank” and pair mentors with student groups.
Industry Experts as Guest Co-Educators
It’s no longer enough to invite a speaker.
The question is:
Was their input integrated into the subject delivery?
Maintain records: session topic → course → PO impact → faculty/student reflection.
Startups & Innovation Cells
If your institute has startups or incubation, NBA now considers that a live industry interface.
Show linkages between student startups and local industry problems or mentors.
Suggested Metrics to Maintain
– Number of active MoUs (not just total)
– Number of internships with learning outcomes
– Number of industry projects mentored
– Number of curriculum changes based on industry input
– Number of FDPs or immersions with industry involvement
In 2025, NBA doesn’t want to know how many companies you shook hands with.
It wants to know what problems you solved together.
Industry partnership is no longer a title.
It’s a transformation.
7. Tools, Templates & Training You Must Deploy
Accreditation success is not about working harder.
It’s about working systematically.
The Revised NBA SAR 2025 expects your academic systems to be:
– Transparent
– Data-backed
– Impact-driven
To make that happen, here’s what your institution must put in place.
1. Industry Interaction Tracker
What it captures:
– MoU → Activities conducted → Outcome achieved
– Internship logs with CO/PO reflections
– Capstone project mentors (industry-based)
– Feedback from industry on student readiness
Use Google Sheets or Airtable for team collaboration.
2. Research Output Tracker
What it tracks:
– Faculty research topics and their PSO mapping
– Sponsored research, consultancy, patents
– Internal seed fund utilization
– SDG alignment of research
Maintain this department-wise and update every semester.
Link this with faculty appraisal metrics.
3. Faculty Development Dashboard
What to include:
– FDPs attended (with takeaways)
– FDPs organized
– Industrial visits by faculty
– Internal peer-led FDPs
– Impact on CO delivery
Use Trello or Notion to create a visual calendar of FDPs and post-FDP reflections.
4. Capstone Project Rubric
What NBA expects now:
– Clear problem statement
– Industry mentor involvement
– Prototype or simulation
– Mapping to POs/PSOs
– Outcome or impact
Standardize rubrics across departments.
Make project evaluation transparent and evidence-based.
5. Faculty Industry Immersion Plan
Most institutions ignore this, but NBA values it.
What to do:
– Facilitate 5-day immersion programs
– Partner with local MSMEs
– Track learning and integration into subject delivery
Maintain documentation: Invitation letter → Learning log → Teaching impact
6. Innovation & Incubation Log
If your college supports startups or IICs:
– Track ideas, mentorship, progress
– Link to curriculum
– Map to SDGs or PSOs
Use Google Forms to capture startup/project data with faculty and industry mentor inputs.
7. Evidence Bank for Sustainable Development Goals
For Criteria like 3.6 and 9.11:
– Maintain photo logs, videos, project abstracts
– Map each activity to a specific SDG
– Include student and faculty roles
Maintain folders semester-wise.
Assign one SPOC per department for SDG mapping.
Don’t wait for SAR deadlines to begin documentation.
Build these tools now.
Train your teams now.
Refine your processes now.
Because when NBA walks into your campus, they’re not coming to see documents.
They’re coming to see systems that run without them.
Back to The Definitive 9-Part Series on Revised NBA SAR 2025 for Tier-I Engineering Colleges – Click here to access the full guide and explore all sections.
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