ST. JOSEPH’S COLLEGE OF COMMERCE,
The St. Joseph’s College of Commerce applied to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) for assessment and accreditation and submitted its self-study report in the prescribed format. A Peer Team was constituted by the Council to visit the college and validate the self-study report. The Peer Team consisting of Prof.V.Ramakistayya, former Vice-Chancellor of Osmania University, Hyderabad and Shri Madhav Srinivas Kamat, Principal, Murgaon Education Society’s College of Arts and Commerce, Zuarinagar, Goa visited the College on the 05th and the 06th of January, 2000.
St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, managed by Bangalore Jesuit Educational Society (Regd.), is affiliated to Bangalore University. It receives aid from the Government of Karnataka. It is situated in the heart of Bangalore city and has its own campus, a little over 2 acres in extent. The three-storied college building is quite imposing and functionally designed with aesthetic beauty. It is recognized by the University Grants Commission under section 2f and 12B. The College has a student enrolment of 604 and a teaching staff of 20. There are 24 members of administrative staff.
St. Joseph’s College of Commerce came into existence in 1972. Earlier the department of commerce was part of St. Joseph’s College of Arts and Science which was established in 1882 and it has a track record of having maintained high standards of education. Though it is a minority institution the college has been imparting liberal education to students of all denominations without any discrimination. During the past 27 years the college has shown growth and progress in academics, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. It has constantly striven towards excellence and high quality education. It is in this context that it decided to approach the NAAC for assessment and accreditation. The mission of the college is to prepare men and women for others, with faith in God and in themselves and achieve the objective through hard work. St. Joseph’s College wants every Josephite to become a catalyst to bring about socio-economic transformation in the country. Its education policy has two objectives (i) to achieve academic excellence, (ii) to serve socially and economically backward sections of society.
The Peer Team carefully studied and analysed the self-study report of the college. During the institutional visit they went through all the relevant documents and visited all the departments and facilities of the institution. The Peer Team interacted with the Principal, the Management Board and the Governing Council responsible for the management of the college, faculty, non-teaching staff, students, parents and alumni, following a well structured schedule. The report of the Peer Team which follows is based on a thorough analysis of the self-study report, the interactions with the persons mentioned above, careful perusal of documents and on a visit to the college campus, and to the departments and other components.
St. Joseph’s College of Commerce is a single faculty College, affiliated to Bangalore University. It offers UG level educational programmes as per the curriculum and syllabi prescribed by the affiliating university. Although the curriculum is rigid and does not provide for lateral mobility the, college attempts to transact it with high level of efficiency. The commerce stream attracts well motivated and career seeking young men and women. The College authorities have chosen the subject options with a view to provide to students most marketable knowledge and skills to students. At the same time conscious and determined efforts are made to impart to them education in ethical and human values. The emphasis is also laid on the holistic development of students personality by encouraging them to excel as much in sports, creative arts, literary pursuits, performing arts as in academics. The efforts of the college in this direction have borne rich dividends, as they are manifest in the destinations won by its alumni in various fields ranging from theatre to literature and from sports to business.
Besides the university related academic programmes, the college carries out several certificate programmes which are highly employment oriented, in order to enhance the employability of its students.
The Peer Team would like to suggest that the college should increase the subject options in elective courses particularly at the third year B.Com level. Further, with the approval of the authorities of Bangalore University it should introduce innovative and specialized B.Com degree course by integrating commerce, management and computer components.
A rationale and executive plan to reform and re-tailor the curriculum to suit performance in the present day context of commerce and world trade may elevate this single faculty college to a professionally sound institution.
The college has successfully introduced student friendly and student oriented teaching-learning practices.
The student community in this college is heterogeneous. It has tried to cope with the heterogeneous profile of students by means of counselling and by organizing numerous co-curricular and extra curricular activities. Within a short time the student community loses its heterogeneity and acquires a large measure of homogeneity, by such team activities.
The college admits students from all communities, sects and religions and various income groups. There is no entrance test administered at the entry point. For the benefit of academically weak students bridge courses and remedial courses are organized. Many teachers adopt non-conventional teaching methods to make teaching-learning interesting and attractive to the learners. Tutorials, home assignments, class room presentations, and case studies are used for this purpose. Overhead projectors, audio visual equipment and computers are frequently used. Students are encouraged and guided to use the internet facility. Students are guided in their self-study activities. A notable practice is the formation of study groups consisting of strong and weak students in which the strong ones help the weak ones in their studies. Such peer learning benefits students much more than conventional teaching. Teaching-learning processes thus become quite enjoyable and beneficial to all students.
With the help of the faculty the college makes an effort to integrate academic excellence with practical experience which is essential for commerce education. During holidays students are sent to business houses for on-the-job experience.
The college is relatively smaller than others in terms of student enrolment; therefore, the relationship between students and teachers is quite intimate. This helps promote a close and intimate relationship between teachers and the taught. Teachers are available to students for consultation outside College hours as well.
A commerce laboratory comprising commerce, management and accountancy related documents and equipment may be set up in the College.
The college recruits teachers as per the rules and regulations prescribed by the UGC, the university and the government of Karnataka. It encourages teachers to improve their academic qualifications and professional competence by undergoing orientation and refresher courses and also by encouraging them to participate in conferences and workshops. Some teachers subject themselves to appraisal by students voluntarily.
The Peer Team would like to suggest that the student appraisal of teachers may be extended to cover all teachers. It would also like to suggest that the College should move the university to introduce semester/continuous system of evaluation.
With commerce and related information technology having reached on all time height, it is unimaginable for a commerce single faculty to survive, let alone compete, in the present context. Computer aided learning packages such as e-commerce may be expeditiously built into the curriculum and facilities provided to use them and other such strategies. A commerce laboratory without these cannot be considered to be up to date.
The College recognizes the importance of research activities and publications by the faculty and encourages them to carry out research in their chosen fields. So far three teachers have acquired Ph.D. and three are carrying out their doctoral research. Three staff members guide research students of Bangalore and Mysore universities. Students are also encouraged to undertake research activities through projects.
The Professor and Head of the Kannada department has guided four Ph.D. scholars and is now guiding four more scholars. A professor of the Commerce department has guided six Ph.D. scholars. He is also actively involved in consultancy. DCM Daewoo Ltd., Infosys Tech. Ltd., are some of the concerns to which the consultancy has been provided.
The Head of the Department of Kannada has authored 34 books eight of which have won awards. His works are translated into English, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Urdu. Under his guidance the Kannada department of the College has published 14 books which are the works of the students of this department.
The college emphasises extension programmes as a measure for enriching the learning experience of students and for fulfilling the felt needs of the community around it. The NSS unit of the college is quite active in community work particularly in extending a helping hand to the under privileged and deprived sections of the community through its regular and special camp activities. The slums, home for the aged orphanages and institutions catering for needs of the physically and mentally disabled people benefit from the activities of the NSS unit. The women volunteers of the NSS teach school children. Volunteers also work for propagating human rights, environment awareness, ecological preservation and for participation in blood donation camps. They have excellent rapport with, and draw support from, NGOs like SAMVADA, VISTHAR, CRY, HELPAGE etc.
The language departments of the college reach out to the community by presenting plays and organizing extension lectures which are enthusiastically welcomed. All these extension activities are successfully integrated into the teaching-learning processes thus benefiting both teachers and students. They also brighten the image of the college outside.
The College has an excellent, well furnished and well equipped three storied building, with a floor space of over 60,000 sq. ft., functionally designed, well maintained and optimally used. The classrooms are spacious, well ventilated and adequately furnished. The environment of the college is quite conducive to serious teaching-learning work. The college premises are utilized from morning till late in the evening for running the university related courses as also the AICTE recognized courses. The LIC and public sector undertakings, the Institute of Chartered Accountants CDOT, WIPRO, NIIT etc. utilize the college premises for conducting their tests.
The college has a basketball court and a mini play field. There is also an indoor sports hall. Physical education and sports have been a forte of the St. Joseph’s College. A large number of sportsmen of national and international standing produced by its sports department are an eloquent testimony to the success of this department. The cleanliness of the campus is remarkable.
The college library has 12000 books. It is computerized and functions on an open access basis. It is guided by a Library Advisory Committee. The book bank is widely used by the needy students. The library staff provides service to students with a smile. The computer laboratory is spacious, well lighted, well ventilated and equipped with 47 computers. The college keeps on updating this laboratory. Students make full use of this laboratory for improving their skills and also for doing their projects. Internet facilities are provided to students at affordable fees.
A master-plan for a projection into the future with set targets and time-frames may help performance match quality basides making it competitive and creative.
The College canteen is clean and it provides beverages and small eats at concessional prices to students.
There is a counselling centre, the counsellor being available to students on full time basis. Separate rooms for the women students, students union and to the Alumni Association are provided.
Besides there is a well equipped audio-visual room and an auditorium with a sitting capacity of 400.
Student progression is quite satisfactory. The drop out rate is hardly 10% and the pass percentage of students is around 80%. The number of students passing the final examination in first class is very impressive. Out of 360 students who passed 142 secured first class year before. Last year, out of the 360 students who passed as many as 156 secured the first class. “To be a Josephite is to be a live wire” that is the social perception of the college. The Hindu opined that this College is “alma mater of many stalwarts”. The alumni of this College feel that it is the Harvard Business School of India. It is natural that the employment rate of its pass outs is quite high and their success rate quite impressive. Here is a an illustrative list of its prominent alumni given in chronological order: Mr. Irfan Razack: Chairman, Prestige Group of Builders; Mr. BR Viswanath Shetty, Industrialist; Mr. Brijesh Patel, Test Cricketer; Mr. Nadeem Ahmed, Business Man; Mr. Jimmy Anklesaria, Management Consultant in USA; Mr. T V Mohan Das Pai, FCA, Senior Vice-President, Finance and Administration, INFOSYS Technologies Ltd. Bangalore; Mr. Padam Chand Khincha, FCA., guest faculty at IIM, Bangalore; Mr. J. Shankar, FCA, Group Treasurer, Wipro Ltd., Mr. Salil Shetty, World Chief (CEO) of Action Aid, London; Mr. Jagdigh Kuma, Vice-President, Finance, Star TV, Hong Kong; Mr. Karthik Jeswanth, Captain of Karnatak Ranji Cricket team; Mr. Niranjan Natarajan, Creative Director, Trikaya-Grey Advertising Agency; Mr. Ravi Melwani, Proprietor Kids Kemp and Kemp Fort; Mr. Ashish Ballal, Goal Keeper, Indian Hockey Team; Mr. Rahul Dravid, Test Cricketer and Arjuna Award recipient.
The college has a very dynamic, active and vibrant alumni association which carries out several activities for benefit of the present students. It meets regularly in the office located in the college premises. In their interaction with the Peer Team the office bearers pledged every support to the college to raise it to the highest peaks of excellence. They said that they will support the college to make it into the best business school of the world.
Placement services are made available to students by the Business Club. Many reputed companies from Bangalore visit the college for campus recruitment.
The college publishes upgraded prospectus every year which gives aims and objectives, details of the courses offered, and admission procedures and the scholarships available to students.
The handbook contains the following: the Josephite Ideal, college regulations, procedure for the issue of certificates, rules for the award of prizes, regulations pertaining to B.Com. degree course in detail and syllabus.
A supplement containing the calendar of events is also given to students.
The college has a well-defined and well structured management system. It is management by Jesuit Fathers, a world wide religious order of the Roman Catholic Church. The Jesuits in Bangalore are registered under the Bangalore Jesuit Educational Society, under the Karnataka Societies Act. The Governing Body of Bangalore Jesuit Educational Society is elected every year and the Secretary and the Treasurer are appointed by the President who is the Provincial of the Karnataka Jesuit Province. The Principal of the college is a member of the Governing Body and he is also its Correspondent.
At the College level the Management structure is as follows:
The Rector is the head of the institution
The Principal, who is also the Correspondent, and has some powers delegated by the Governing Body or the Rector.
The Head of the Department who assists the Principal
As it is a one-faculty College all teaching staff are members of the Staff Council. The Staff Council which meets at least once a month, and more often if necessary, discusses the academic and other administrative matters of the college and takes collective decisions.
The financial standard of the college is quite sound and the financial practices quite transparent.
The most notable healthy practice of the college is its very strong linkage with the industry through its alumni. Its social accreditation is of very high order. The alumni, parents and the public think very highly of this institution which has produced men and women of outstanding abilities. Its brand equity is of a very height order which should enable it to capitalize on this equity and march forward towards greater excellence and glory in the service of the youth and the country. It is noteworthy that most of the pass-outs of this college turn into job givers rather than job seekers.
The Team is of the opinion that St Joseph’s College of Commerce has emerged over the years as a centre of excellence for human resource development imparting to learners knowledge that is useful, skills that are relevant and values that are foundational. The college has succeeded in evolving an educational culture founded on liberalism, secularism and academic freedom.
Commendations:
The Peer Team would like to commend the institution for the following notable features:
The Peer Team would however, like to suggest the following:
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