Assessment Report on
Institutional Accreditation of
The Mount Carmel College was
started by the Carmelite Sisters of St. Teresa in 1948 to provide holistic
higher education, which has its deep roots in Christian values for young
women. It aims at guiding them to
acquire the right attitudes, creativity,
skills, love of learning and cultivation of character.
The college is located on
the Palace Road in the shadow of the palace of the former Maharaja of Bangalore
in an area of 9.75 acres. It has over
the years grown not only in terms of the number of students and the faculty but
also in the diversity of its programmes.
The institution has also demonstrated sensitivity to the changing needs
of the society. With its experience of
running 60 educational institutions in the country, the Management has
successfully combined imparting moral values with professional training. The service orientation given to students to
help the underprivileged to achieve academic excellence is quite
significant.
The National Assessment and
Accreditation Council (NAAC) deputed the Peer Team comprising Prof. Harbhajan
Singh Soch, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (Chairman),
Prof. Antony Eapen, Principal, Mar
Ivanios College, Trivandrum and Prof. Sr. Christine Rebello, Principal, St.
Francis College for Women, Secunderabad (members) to visit the college from
September 28, 1999 to October 01, 1999 to make an institutional accreditation.
The Peer Team is very happy
to have visited the beautiful campus of
the college, the departments and laboratories. It interacted with the
Management, teachers, non-teaching staff, and students with the purpose of
validating claims made in the Self-Study Report of the college.
We feel privileged to
present the criterion-wise report of Mount Carmel College.
The college offers 19
undergraduate and two postgraduate programmes thus providing flexibility in the
choice of options. Transcending the
constraints of an affiliated college, it has launched 10 self-financing
courses. They have taken advantage of peer consultation in framing the
curriculum for these programmes, designing teaching methodology, formatting of
question papers and in evaluation. The
department of English has designed 10 modules for Communicative English. In addition, there are five certificate
courses conducted by the departments of Environmental Sciences, Botany,
Zoology, Micro-biology and Computer Science.
The college provides moral
education with the hope that the Carmelites grow as God fearing citizens with
compassion in their heart and with the mission in their life to serve sincerely
wherever they are placed. Thus they have not only academic excellence but also
good character.
While the goal has been
stated clearly, the college will do well to design the curriculum to achieve
it. Participatory exercises in re-designing curriculum in the light of the
re-definition of its goal to meet aspirations of modern youth are recommended.
The college has tried to
recruit the best teachers available through a sheet selection process. There is
transparency and fairness in the selection of teachers. The selection and finalisation of the
candidates is made only after they give a demonstration lesson to students in
the presence of the selection committee members so that their competence in
communication skills is assessed. There is also an institutional system of
training the newly recruited teachers in teaching skills and human values.
The Management is keen to
develop the skills and knowledge of the teachers. The Faculty Improvement
Programme was helpful to encourage teachers obtained their research degrees.
There are 22 Ph.D.s and 42 M.Phil.s among the teachers of the college. The
institution has designed a proforma for making a performance appraisal of
teachers by students. Teachers are
encouraged to make teaching plans and are required to maintain work
diaries. This practice needs to be
regularised. Some departments make
effective use of modern teaching methods such as group discussions, seminars,
use of audio visual programmes and computer aided-learning. Teachers complete
the syllabi and also provide guidance in free time. The departments also provide remedial coaching for poor
achievers.
Teaching is learner
oriented. Further, students are
encouraged to meet teachers regarding their academic problems. Our interaction
with students has given sufficient evidence of teacher dedication and teacher job satisfaction. The
success rate of students in examinations is around 95% and the top five ranks
in the university exams are held by the students of the college.
Learner-centred teaching-learning
strategies may be adopted. Assessment of teacher performance by both external
experts and students is recommended.
Teachers are also encouraged
to attend conferences/seminars/workshops being held within the state by
rotation.
The claim that teaching is
leaner centred can be justified only where teaching – learning processes are
unconventional and are based on an effective use of education technology.
Teacher performance appraisal by expert external peers alone can ensure
accountability and impact.
At present 12% of the
faculty are involved in one way or the other in research activity, three
teachers are working for Ph.D and 14
for their M.Phil. Five projects with a total value of 10.5 lakhs have been
sponsored by funding agencies. Many
members of the faculty serve on Boards of Studies of Bangalore University and
some of them are resource persons at workshops and seminars at state/national
level. The postgraduate Management Institute offers consultancy services.
The extension activities and
outreach programmes of the college through street plays and production of books
and audio visual materials have created immense awareness among the people.
The institution has also
adopted a village, Bilijaji a small under-developed village which is located 30
kms away from Bangalore. The survey of
the village has focussed on certain areas where help and guidance would be
imparted to the villagers over the next three years. They intend reinforcing the cart track and also providing general
extension education to the village folk especially the women with a view to
enlighten them on their village, educational and health problems.
Awareness programmes on drug
abuse, domestic violence, alternative
medicine etc are undertaken by the college.
Special mention needs to be made of ‘Mount Cares’, a week long programme
by the college union which creates awareness of socially relevant issues and
the Mount Carmel charity dispensary which has catered for the needs of the poor
in the neighbourhood for the last many years. Remedial teaching is also
conducted in the evening for children of standards I to VIII of the adjoining
neighbourhood.
The built-in area of the
college is 2.56 lakh sq.ft. as against the total area of 9.75 acres, virtually utilising the land
completely.
The Mount Carmel College
which was once housed in a single building now takes pride of its 75 spacious
classrooms, 26 well equipped laboratories, two libraries with 60,000 volumes of
books and journals, auditorium with seating capacity of 1000, studio, stadium,
botanical garden, health centre, a counselling room, vehicle parking shed and a
non-resident centre. The college has also a placement cell in the management
department, a bank extension counter and a museum. Another auditorium will shortly be commissioned for the benefit
of students.
The College has 65 computers
and internet facility is available in the Departments of Management Studies, Micro-Biology
and Environmental Sciences. The process
of computerisation of the library has already begun. Its sports infrastructure
includes playgrounds and tracks for six games and athletics.
The college’s performance in
sports has been excellent. This college
is virtually the permanent champion in the Bangalore University’s inter-college
championships. 33 students at state level, 9 students at national level and 2
students at the international level.
One handicapped student received the Arjuna award in the year
1997-98.
They have a well equipped
hostel to accommodate for 190 students.
This facility is mainly extended to those students who come from outside
the state.
The Department of Home
Science has an experimental nursery school attached wherein the care of the
tiny tots is taken from the point of view of Home Science.
There is a grievance
redressal cell chaired by the Principal where the teachers get their problems
solved. Housing loans for non-teaching
staff, freeship to the children of the staff are some of the welfare schemes
available.
The college admits all
minority community candidates and follows the regulations of the government for
scheduled caste/tribes/backward classes.
The rest of the candidates are admitted on the basis of merit.
The college has a high
student support profile in arranging financial aid to 684 students 232
scholarships, and also awarding of prizes to 243 students. All this amount comes a to little more than
half a million rupees.
Students of this college
have gained placement in executive positions in companies like Kirloskar, Tata,
Shriram Finance etc.
The number of students who
have qualified are GRE (6), GMAT (50), TOEFL (100), NIFT (22) is encouraging. More
than 80% of the students go for further studies or join jobs. Two of its students won tickets to visit
Japan and France through excellence in elocution competitions.
The Mount Carmel College is
famous for its share of beauty queens for the part many years but that is not
all. In fact, Carmelites have excelled
in the area of science, sports, politics and public administration and also as
entrepreneurs. During the interaction
with students it was observed that students love this college and they are
proud that they belong to this college.
Few years ago the college
was selected by the Bangalore University on behalf of few American institutions
for their India Study Abroad Programme.
The college has also been
winning the overall trophy in the NAMIFEST at the national festival.
Students have an elected
body which meets quite often and discusses with problems with the
Principal. During the student
interaction programme, it was observed that they did not have any grievances
about the academic activity of the college.
The establishment of a Counselling Centre with a professional
counsellor on campus has helped solve many a personal problem of students and
also to provide career information services.
The initiative of the centre in organising leadership camps and
personality development programmes has helped boost the confidence of students.
The college has a Governing
Council comprising the Principal, the Provincial and other members drawn from
parents, educationists and students. It
is an important advisory committee, chaired by the Principal.
The Governing Body of the
college comprises only members of the Carmelite order. This is the only
executive body. It was interesting to
find that both the Governing Council and the Governing Body have full faith in
the administrative capabilities of the Principal and all the decisions taken by
her were endorsed.
The tuition fee charged by
the college is low and no changes have been made during the last three
years. This has helped attract talent
from the weaker segments of the society.
It was encouraging to see
that 82% of the income is spent on academic activity and only 9% each on
administration and welfare programmes.
This indicates sound financial management.
Most of the administrative
functions pertaining to admissions, attendance, evaluation and pay slips have
been computerised in keeping with the times.
The financial management of
the college appears to be very sound.
The College has been giving special attention to cultural and extension activities through 4 clubs and 22 associations.
Special efforts are made by
the college for civic education, moral behaviour, respect for diverse faiths
and beliefs and also for charity.
Significant efforts are also made for empowerment of women to fight
against social evils and gender discrimination.
An innovative experiment of
the college ‘Mounts Club’ permits ex-students to continue to enjoy the sports
facilities. The counselling centre is
well organised and provides personal guidance to students.
Section 3: Over-view
It is heartening to note
that this college has grown in the last fifty years catering for a variety of
academic programmes. The sense of
belonging to Mount Carmel College is easily discernible among students,
teachers, the Principal and members of the Management. The college has done
well by responding to the changing needs of the society.
The Mount Carmel Management
has also started a postgraduate diploma course in Management with the approval
of the All India Council of Technical Education. It was a delight visiting the department and see that modern
technology is put to its optimum use including information services. The whole-time placement office is a
successful contribution to the placement of students in well reputed concerns.
The guest faculty comprising 60 persons from industry and various financial
institutions have provided rich inputs to strengthen the curriculum.
The gray areas of the
college are: lack of required research activity, scientific appraisal of the
teaching/teachers, proper consultancy, and use of modern technology in most of
the departments.
Active participation of the
Governing Council with appropriate powers may help infuse new ideas for the
more effective governance of the college.
A formal, independent grievance redressal cell with well defined
objectives and a teaching/teacher appraisal mechanism may serve as good fora
for feedback. The college would enhance
its potential by introducing more postgraduate programmes and in turn help
promote the research culture among the faculty. While appreciating the efforts of the Management in appointing
teachers from its own resources, a re-look at the salary structures may boost
the morale of the staff.
While interacting with the
teachers and the Principal we found that they are very keen to become an
autonomous college, which in our opinion they rightly deserve.
To conclude, the college has
done splendidly well in all areas under the able leadership of the Principal
which is admired by all segments of the college and society at large.
The Peer Team places on
record its appreciation of the college for the warm hospitality and for having
made its stay enjoyable and comfortable.
-o0o-