SRCC Archives - Page 5 of 14 - DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

From sudden infrastructural changes to administrative departments running around and looking all dazed and cold feet, whether we choose to agree or disagree, but the preparation for NAAC inspection sent almost every college in a frenzy last year. And with the NAAC Peer Team coming, preparations caught up in full swing, involving an uncanny resemblance to a household situation where an unforeseen wedding had suddenly come up. With all the white-washing, denting-painting, revamping, reckless spending of money, running around, fake smiling, boastful talks about one’s college in the air during ‘NAAC days’, our belief in the aforementioned analogy only gets stronger.

With a panel touted as a meticulously chosen handful of very experienced academicians and people who understand the ‘education system very well’ coming and assessing colleges under NAAC, the question arises, does a grading matter after all?

What is NAAC?

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is an autonomous body established by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India to assess and accredit institutions of higher education in the country. An outcome of the recommendations of the National Policy in Education (1986) which laid special emphasis on upholding the quality of higher education in India, the NAAC was established in 1994 with its headquarters at Bangalore.

Upon requests by individual colleges and universities, the primary accreditation agency of the country conducts assessments and grades institutions. The agency’s cumulative gradation of institutions is based on parameters like curriculum, faculty, research, infrastructure, learning resources, organisation, governance and student services.

The process: How does it accredit colleges

Assessment and Accreditation are broadly used for understanding the “Quality Status” of an institution. In the context of Higher Education, the accreditation status indicates that the particular Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) – a College, a University, or any other recognised Unit therein, meets the standards of quality as set by the Accreditation Agency, in terms of its performance, related to the educational processes and outcomes, covering the curriculum, teaching-learning, evaluation, faculty, research, infrastructure, learning resources, organisation, governance, financial well-being and student services.

The top and the bottom: How did DU perform

While most colleges applied for the NAAC accreditation long back, the visits majorly took place last year and the scores were released soon after. In the initial phase, IPCW secured a CGPA of 3.33 (Grade A) and ANDC secured the second spot by getting a CGPA of 3.31 (Grade A). These were followed by Gargi College (3.30), St. Stephen’s College (3.21), Jesus and Mary College (3.26), Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (3.16), Ramanujan College (3.06), Shivaji College (3.26), Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce (3.02), Keshav Mahavidyalaya (3.01), Bharati College (2.85), PGDAV (2.74), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College (2.63), and Motilal Nehru College (2.60).

Later in the year, SRCC and LSR emerged at the top with a whooping score of 3.65 and 3.61 respectively. Take a look at the top 10 scorers in the table here.

Top 10 scorers

These scores are valid for five years after which the colleges will again have to apply for accreditation. It was in 2012 that UGC made accreditation compulsory for higher educational institutions and DU executive council adopted the decision in 2014.

Does the grade even matter?

As far as we remember, such a panel as meticulously chalked out as NAAC didn’t exist many years back. While grading brings in a state of competitive spirit (as if the previous branding and rep-bias that exists in the university wasn’t enough already) the question arises, does the same grade then not end up shining the pride of the already well established and some popular DU colleges and create biases against some others who might actually be needing a lift from the loom of being less sought after and meagerly funded?

Whether the committee gives out grades on the hastily dip-dyed infrastructure especially revamped for their visit or the actual system in place is still a question for many to ponder upon.

The accreditation process got a thumbs up from some colleges, however, many raised objections over the assessment criteria too from time to time. Speaking to a popular national daily, Babli Saraf, principal of Indraprastha College for Women, said there shouldn’t be a “one-size-fits-all” criteria for colleges. “The criteria shouldn’t be the same for a liberal arts college like ours, where we do not have the provisions for a laboratory and are not involved in research publications,” she said.

In most cases, colleges started a laborious and hasty revamp revolution, to save their grace in front of the NAAC peer team and not to raise their quality standard in general altogether. When your transformation drive is initiated to fulfil a set of stipulated ideas by a panel that is not even remotely looking at how you provide for the students, the timely assessment of whether the students and teachers are happy with the administration of the college, whether the college has some unique traits that may not figure in its already set parameters, if the college is lacking in research, what should it do, then that grading doesn’t stand much ground. The NAAC website says that they provide a ‘qualitative part of the outcome as a Peer Team Report (PTR)’ which is an objective report prepared by the Team highlighting its evaluative judgements, mostly using precise keywords instead of long sentences about the college under consideration, but I doubt these objective answers bring any real on-ground changes.

Does a low grading not mar the reputation of a college that might be in dire need of those funds, facilities and attention that it rightfully deserves in order to raise itself to a better education imparting platform? What good is a grade for colleges that are already popular among students and parents and get truckloads of funds? Should a grade not help encourage a college to become a more holistic space than label it as an ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’ type college for years to come. Finally, does a grade mean anything more than a fancy wall hanging of a newspaper clipping on the college walls for many many years, or does it actually ignites change? This is for time to tell and for us to ponder.

If you are interested in reading about NAAC and the process, log on to http://www.naac.gov.in/ for detailed information.

Feature Image: DU Beat

Riya Chhibber

[email protected]

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Features

Spread the Warmth: An initiative by the students of SRCC

By DU Beat January 8, 2017

Spread the warmth is an initiative undertaken by Sanchie Shroff and Shiv Kumar Bansal, both being students of Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi. The campaign, is a pan-India cloth collection and distribution drive happening across seven cities namely Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Patna, Chennai, Kolkata and Siliguri.

The Collection Mechanisms:

1. Collection Centers: Set up collection centers at 75 retail outlets of Big Bazaar across the seven Indian cities.

2. Schools and Colleges: Contact various school and college authorities for implementing this drive

3. Doorstep Collection: Set up volunteer meeting points in Delhi where people from across the city/volunteers from NGOs/ students from schools and colleges voluntarily come together to ensure maximum collection.

Major Highlights of ‘Spread The Warmth’s journey so far:

1. The collection drive across 75 Big Bazaar stores began on the 1st of January, 2017

2. Various Schools and colleges in Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi have initiated the campaign already.

3. Our Siliguri team conducted the Doorstep Collection on 28th and 29th December, 2016. They collected 13.02 Quintals of clothes in just 8.5 hours.

People can contribute by donating their clothes at their nearest Big Bazaar in all 7 cities till 10th January, 2017. They can follow the link to find their nearest Big Bazaar outlet:
http://www.bigbazaar.com/site/spread-the-warmth.php?utm_source=SRCC&utm_campaign=Spread_The_Warmth&utm_medium=Web_Page

On the 8th of January, 2017 we will be conducting a doorstep collection drive in Rohini Sector 9. We request everyone, to join us for the Doorstep Collection Drive in Rohini. To volunteer, they can follow this link: https://goo.gl/forms/xSn37MJoDnWcsvsV2. We would like to inform all the residents of Rohini Sector 9 to contribute to this cause and keep the clothes ready for contribution on 8th.

With the support of esteemed organisations like the Future Group (Big Bazaar), Safexpress, Goonj, Lions Club, etc., we aim to collect tonnes of clothes and impact thousands of lives across the nation.

To support us, drop a mail at: [email protected]
Follow us on: https://www.facebook.com/SpreadTheWarmth2016
https://twitter.com/SpreadDWarmth

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Features

Making Traffic Smarter: Innovation Project 2016 by Shri Ram College of Commerce

By DU Beat October 24, 2016

Students of SRCC are evaluating the factors that influence the acceptability of Smart Bus Transport System under DU’s Innovation Project.

A group of students from Shri Ram College Of Commerce are working on an evaluation of acceptability of Internet Of Things (IoT) in traffic management in Delhi. The concept of Internet Of Things primarily revolves around inter-connecting things with internet to make a self-sustaining system. It is a concept well explored in other countries, but the widespread use of IoT in handling day-to-day problems is still in its nascent stage in India.

To help you understand better, there exists a technology where closets are fitted with sensors, which detect the time certain clothes remain unused, and alert the owner of the same. Some variations in this technology also directly contact NGOs that collect these unused clothes from the owner and put them to better use. This is just an example of the innumerable IoT applications that exist around the world.

This project primarily focuses on IoT technology applied to traffic management in Delhi, and thus, evaluates the Smart Bus Transport system on its acceptability, based on a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The Smart Bus Transport system was designed for improving the public-transit system in Singapore, and connects buses with the internet and commuters’ mobile devices, so that real-time alerts of bus locations, timings and remaining capacity can be transmitted to make travel by public transport more efficient and convenient.

Therefore, a preliminary survey was conducted to identify a traffic problem which the residents and commuters in Delhi would like to be addressed first by an application of IoT. The final survey will be carried out on the lines of TAM. The data generated will then, be subjected to vigorous statistical analysis.

Resident of Delhi? Be a part of the survey. Click on https://innovationproject.typeform.com/to/Pb0TMt and tell them your take on the Internet of Things.

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Shri Ram College of Commerce

Chess champion from SRCC crowd funds a record breaking road trip to promote sport

By Riya Chhibber October 19, 2016

A recent graduate from SRCC, Yogesh Gautam has started a crowdfunding campaign so that he can embark on a 50,000km road journey to promote chess in the interiors of India.

Starting on October 5, from Jammu and Kashmir, Gautam’s itinerary includes places such as Bikaner (Rajasthan), Katch (Gujarat), Katni (Madhya Pradesh), Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu), Agartala (Tripura) and his hometown Bhiwani, Haryana. “I will teach kids Chess, and will distribute chess sets for free, DVDs and books on the game in remote areas. As all of this require funds, I have started a crowd funding campaign for it,” he says, talking to a popular national daily.

The 21-year-old also seeks to break the Guinness World Record for the longest journey by car in a country. “The Guinness World Record for the longest journey by car in a country is 36,060.1km. By travelling 50,000km, I’m hoping to break that record as well. However, that will only be the icing on the cake. The main motive for me to aim for setting these world records is also only to draw more attention towards chess,” adds Gautam.

A fresh graduate from one of the most prestigious colleges in the country, Gautam is all praise for his college in helping him nurture his love for the game. “Not a lot of colleges go the extra mile for their sports students, but my teachers supported me a lot. Not only would I get attendance for my tournaments and practice sessions, the teachers would also give me extra classes just so I could catch up on my coursework,” he was quoted as saying.

His affair with Chess began over a decade ago when his sister gifted him a chess set. He believes that people in India don’t know the game and don’t care about it much. “Aaj tak mujhe koi scholarship nahi mili hai. In my own state, many have been celebrated for bringing Olympic medals in various sports, but many still don’t consider Chess asport. I want to change that”, he remarks in an interview with a national daily.

With inputs from Hindustan Times

Riya Chhibber

[email protected]

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Campus Central

6th Young India Challenge organised by Human Circle at SRCC

By DU Beat September 19, 2016

Human Circle, a community of students and professionals from different backgrounds, educational fields, and goals, organised the sixth Young India Challenge (YIC) on the 17th and 18th of September, 2016 at Shri Ram College of Commerce. The tagline – Do What You Love – was an indication of the event’s proceedings. The conference was aimed at facilitating young people in finding their passion in life. The event started in the morning outside the main auditorium, with ice breaker sessions for the delegates. Post that, everyone moved inside where Kamal Seth, the founder of the organisation, took up the stage and shared the journey of the community and the previous YICs. Sonia Joanna Szymczak, the next speaker, held an interactive session with the delegates asking questions about their expectations from their life and the YIC. Next, Wioleta Burdzy Seth, one of the co-founders of the organisation and a life coach, started with the ‘Hack Your Brain’ session. Continuing the trend, she began by opening a dialogue with the audience. She shared many of her experiences with the delegates and asked them to do the same. “Bend your reality to make your own rules,” said Wioleta when discussing various societal and life pressures influencing people towards their careers. The session concluded with tips and techniques to get a better grip on life. The afternoon session on Day 1 began with conversations with speakers. Sankalp Chhabra, who currently works in the corporate social responsibility sector of Snapdeal, talked about the importance of consistently working hard for your goal. He has many accolades to his name, having worked for the Central Board of Secondary Education and for the Planning Commission of India. Sankalp spoke about his journey as a whole – from the time he realised his goal, to the everyday efforts he put in to achieve it. One of the most substantive statements by Sankalp with regard to this was “You need to make it happen on a day by day basis.” The next speaker, Sonia Joanna Szymczak, spoke about her love for travel and how it influenced her career. She focuses on cross cultural business communication, which she called the “global approach to business and people.” Her presentation revolved around the differences in etiquette around the world, during which she presented a graphic that stated that curiosity and non-judgemental thinking lead to positive learning. She also spoke in depth about her personal experiences and personal growth. After the speaker session, the delegates were divided into teams and were given time to get to know each other. They were also asked to prepare material for the next day. The next day started with an ice-breaking session, wherein the delegates had to collectively work towards building a paper tower. This was followed with a ‘know your mentor’ session, in which each of the 16 mentors introduced themselves and shared snippets of the life-events that contributed in them following their respective career paths. The mentors included Human Circle co-founders, Wioleta Burdsy Seth and Kamal Seth, along with various entrepreneurs coming from different backgrounds. The main project of the day was for the participants to come up with a product which they could patent, trademark or copyright, based on any one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. For this purpose, the delegates were divided into teams and allotted the pre-lunch period to work on their ideas and also consult with the different mentors. During the presentation session, the different teams put forward very innovative ideas concerning a number of issues like inadequate drinking water in rural India, oceanic pollution, poor educational facilities and many more. Each team was allotted a period of 5 minutes to present their product, after which they were questioned by a panel of 3 judges. The two day programme culminated in a prize-distribution ceremony in which the winners of the ‘Young India Challenge’ were presented with prizes, while all of the participants were given ‘Excellence certificates.’ An innovative and enjoyable initiative by Human Circle, the Young India Challenge aims at locating and honing the abilities of the future leaders of our nation. Not only did the delegates have a lot of fun, but they also had a lot of valuable take-aways from the programme. Image credits: Alex Arthur and Hitanksha Jain for DU Beat Vineeta Rana ([email protected]) Swareena Gurung ([email protected] )]]>

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Admissions 2016

SRCC releases first cut-off; touches 98.25 for Economics

By Shubham Kaushik June 29, 2016

Sri Ram College of Commerce has released their first cutoff list for B.A (H) Economics and B.Com (H) courses. The highest eligibility criteria is for Economics – 98.25% for the General category.

Category	B.Com (H)	B.A (H) Economics
General	98	98.25
OBC	95.75	96.25
SC	93.50	95.50
ST	88.25	93
PWD – VH	90	93.75
PWD – HH	90	96
PWD – OH	92.25	96.75
Kashmiri Migrants	88.50	95.25

The college has directed candidates belonging to the General, OBC and SC categories seeking admission to B.Com (H) to report for admissions as per the following schedule dueing 9:00 a.m. and 1 p.m.:

Date	General	OBC	SC
30.06.2016	98.25 and above	96 and above	95 and above
01.07.2016	98 and above	95.75 and above	93.5 and above
02.07.2016	All	All	All

Candidates belonging to other categories have been advised to contact personally for completing the admission formalities on any day between 30 June and 02 July between 9:00 a.m. and 1 p.m. with the prescribed documents.

Shubham Kaushik

[email protected]

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DUB News

SRCC Professor alleges attack by DUSU President

By DU Beat June 15, 2016

A physical education professor of SRCC on Monday alleged that he was attacked by DUSU president Satender Awana, a claim that has been refuted by the student leader. The professor, who’s been identified as Dr. Vineet Mehta, was on duty in the college when Awana, along with a group of students approached the department office to meet the teacher in charge of the college swimming pool.

Dr. Mehta claims that Awana came to meet Dr. Kuljeet Kaur, in charge of the pool committee, on the directions of the college principal, and when the group entered the office, Awana started using expletives against the professor. As Dr. Kaur was not in the office, the student leader asked for her phone number upon which the professor showed his denial and was consequently thrashed.

College authorities allege that the Police were initially reluctant to register an FIR for the fear of a possible backlash from the students. Only when roughly 70 teachers marched to the Maurice Nagar police station and a delegation met the DCP was the FIR registered on 14^th afternoon. Copies were also sent to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Civil Lines, and the Commissioner of Police.

Awana claims that a group of students had approached him before to request a reduction in the swimming pool fee for non – SRCC students from Rs 200 to Rs 20, the standard fee for SRCC students, upon which he took up the issue with the principal. The principal directed him to the physical education department, where, denying allegations of physically assaulting the professor, he claims to have had just an ‘argument’.

The principal has assured prompt representation to the Vice Chancellor and the advisor to DUSU and has also sought legal advice on the issue. The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) has decided to stage a protest against the student leader today to demand action from the university authorities.

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Shri Ram College of Commerce

Highlights of Shri Ram College of Commerce in 2015-16

By Tanya Agarwal April 28, 2016

With yet another academic session almost coming to an end at the University of Delhi, it is time to look back at the year that has gone by, before all of us get busy with semester examination preparation. Going by the thought, DU Beat brings to you its exclusive series ‘Colleges’ Round Up (2015-16)’, where we present the highlighting incidents of numerous DU colleges that took place over 2015 and 2016.

So, go with the flow and view all what activities highlighted the near to end session at Shri Ram College of Commerce.

From Sundar Pichai’s session to hosting the biggest college festival, Crossroads this year, Shri Ram College has had quite an eventful year.

Here’s an overview of all what happened at Sri Ram College of Commerce, this session:

Compiled by Tanya Agarwal for DU Beat

[email protected]

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Shri Ram College of Commerce

Book Barter 3.0 : SRCC’s Book Club organises third edition of their annual fest

By Tanya Agarwal April 3, 2016

The Book Club SRCC witnessed the coming together of book lovers at the third edition of their annual fest ‘Book Barter 3.0’ in a two day long extravaganza on 30^th and 31^st of March. The idea behind the event was to exchange one story for another and encourage each student to pick a book and begin reading. In the process, the book enthusiasts had an enthralling experience discussing ideas and exchanging books.

As many as 150 books exchanged hands at the event. The fad for the books like ‘The God of Small Things’ and ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ could still be felt in the air. The books of authors like John Grisham, Paulo Coelho, Jeffrey Archer and many more were also on display. The participants in the barter were given bookmarks and page holders prepared by the Book Club members as gifts.

The speaker session ‘Author-Itarian’, aimed to cherish modern literature featured Nikita Singh, author of ‘If it’s not forever’ and Bibhu Datta Roy, an investment banker turned writer. When asked whether Nikita Singh would make a transition from her genre of love stories, she remarked, “I would certainly enjoy including darker themes 4-5 years down the line, but my readers shouldn’t expect a total shift to other fiction genres”. Bibhu Datta encouraged potential writers saying, “One should always follow their passion with utmost grit”.

The Chief Event Coordinator, Divyansh Pandey shared his experience of organizing Book Barter 3.0, “The entire event was nothing short of amazing. Even though we had a small team and the evnt being on the wrong side of the mid-sem break, we managed to attract a very healthy and interesting crowd. There were many last minute unexpected curveballs thrown, but the event went on smoothly”.

Along with the Book Barter 3.0, the Book Club also published and provided its annual newsletter, named after the famous Persian poet: Rumi. Rumi, the annual newsletter of the society is filled with various fictional poems and proses along with listicles and crosswords.

Picture credits: The Book Club SRCC

Tanya Agarwal

[email protected]

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