Preface Ever since the assessment and accreditation by NAAC in 2002, Barrackpore Rastraguru Surendranath Collegeis the first college outside the Kolkata and the second college in West Bengal which is submitting the Self Study report for Re-accreditation. In the first assessment, the college was awarded ‘B’ grade with 73.13 percent of marks. The NAAC Peer Team gave some individual suggestion and guidelines in their Recommendation Report. Those suggestions and Recommendations gave a new dimension and imputes to the forward march of our institution. During the last five years we have tried out best to develop our institution with all the stakeholders of the college. The Self Study Report is given in two (2) Volumes. Volume one contains Institutional Data consisting of Profile of the College, Criterion wise Inputs, Profile of the Departments and Volume two contains Executive Summary, Criterion wise Evaluative Report and Evaluation report of the Departments. During the preparation of Self Study Report, we have to collect individual wise, Department wise and Institutional wise. In this regard, cooperative and assistances from all the stakeholders are gratefully acknowledged. Executive Summary While presenting our Self Study Report in connection with the Re- accreditation of Barrackpore Rastraguru Surendranath College, Barrackpore, 24 Parganas (North), West Bengal. I would like to quote from a Bengali Poem, written by Rabindranath Tagore to express the feeling for our quest for excellence, the vision of the college as: “ Je Nodee Haraae Sroat Cholite Na Paare Sahasra Shaibal Daam Baandhe Asi Taare” i.e. if the river stop flowing, it becomes covered by moss. If we want to project our country as knowledge economy we should not compromise on quality, the elixir of higher education. Quality higher education leads to human capital formation with higher productivity which can bring about higher economic growth we are striving for. Actually, we are cultivating, producing and disseminating knowledge in the institutions of higher education. It is a continuous process as we are striving for enhancement of knowledge through research activities in various fields and improvement in intellect and thought. We all know that change is the only constant in nature and we have to mould ourselves accordingly. During the last five years we acted upon different criteria as follow: Curricular Aspects: To facilitate vertical progression of our students we have introduced Four PG courses on autonomous basis since 2004. To increase horizontal mobility of students three new courses at the UG level have been introduced during the last five years. Four value added courses have been introduced to make the students globally competent and help them building their careers. At present, the college runs 26 UG programmes, Four PG programmes and six Value Added Programmes. College is offering sufficient Academic Flexibility . Well thought curricula have been designed on the basis of the feedback from different stakeholders. Teaching- Learning and Evaluation: So far as teaching–learning process is concerned we have given utmost importance on it. I Admission process is transparent and totally computerised. Students can avail of the opportunity of admission through Internet by Online Submission. Access and Equity: During the last five years there has been an increase in the number of students by almost 12%. The increase in the girls students is significant and it is now ~60% of the students population representing gender balance. 45% of the students are coming from the families whose monthly income is less than Rs. 5000/-and SC and ST students are given their due share as per Government norms. Monitoring the performance of the teachers, students and non-teaching staff is unique in this college. Daily basis performance appraisal of teachers is maintained which had been appreciated by the previous peer members during last visit. This unique feature is still sustained. Multi-cornered feedback mechanism has been emphasised and it is being used for reforms and developments. Feedback from the students in this college was started before the prescription given by the Peer members. This is also a special feature of this college and this is updated and sincerely maintained. Number of faculty members increased from 46 to 85. Besides, 56 Part time- management Appointee teachers have been appointed leading to improve the teachers: student ratio. Appointment procedure is very transparent and Teacher Quality is very high. Some Guest Teachers from different Universities and institute of repute like ISI, IACS, Bose Institute etc are invited to impart quality teaching at the PG level and UG level. Number of Non-teaching staff increased from 47 to 57 for better support services. The success rate at the end level examination of the University of Calcutta is almost 100% during the last five years. Students getting 1st class marks in absolute number and in percentage are increasing. The percentage of college students getting 1st class marks is more than the University average of the same. A good number of our students are rank holders in the University’s merit list. From the analysis of the result of the University of Calcutta it is seen that the college obtains the top position compared to the colleges of the neighbourhood area i.e. in the North 24 Parganas District and the college II occupies a place in the top 10 colleges among the affiliated college to the University of Calcutta. This has been possible through continuous evaluation of the students. Research, Consultancy and Extension: A Research Monitoring Cell has been formed to motivate the teachers and postgraduate students to engage themselves in research and project works. Around fifty percent of the teachers are engaged in direct research and number of publications by the faculty is reasonably high. College is funding at present for six Minor Research Projects. Career Development cell is participating in consultancy and generating resource. College has developed a strong culture of its NCC & NSS activities. Extensive community services through Thalassaemia Eradication, Voluntary Blood Donors Club, Adoption of a Municipal Ward are the commitments towards society. The College has set up a number of collaboration with different organizations of national and international repute like Indian Red Cross Society, IGNOU, IACS etc. Infrastructure and Learning Resources: To ensure quality in education we have to emphasise on Capacity Building encompassing options. Physical infrastructure has been more than doubled from 60000.sq. ft. to 125000 sq. ft. Number of computer increased from 32 to 160 leading to ratio 1:35 Up gradation of computers with latest versions. Number of LCD projectors increased from 01 to 09 and Internet node developed up to 78 to encourage ICT. Number of library book increased from 22000 to 31000; Number of Journals increased from 08 to 40 including e-journals. Library space increased from 4000 sq. ft. to 10000 sq. ft. Open Access of Library from 2003 with Uninterrupted Internet Service. Girls’ Hostel has been set up. Sincere efforts for Good House Keeping; Optimal utilisation of the Infrastructure. Availability of sport coaching in the college ground, improved Canteen and Sanitary facility. III Arrangement of separate office space for each department as recommended by Peer members. Student Support: System of monitoring student progression through different mechanism. To aware the students of the dignity of labour on the one hand and enthuse the financially challenged students to pursue their studies on the other, college promote the “Earn and Learn” programme and ‘Art Exhibition’ programme. On average every year 12% students are receiving Merit and Means Fund. Accidental Insurance benefits up to Rs. 22000/-has been arranged to the students for the treatment. Coaching facility for Football, Cricket, Athletes and Gymnasium has been introduced since 2004-2005. Special Diet for the sportsmen is arranged since 2005-06. Health facilities are provided to students through Health Centre, Health Awareness Programme and Students’ Health Home. Mass Participation of students in Cultural Competition, Sports activity (both Indoor & Out door); Publication of Wall and Printed Magazine. Introduction of Placement Cell since 2004-05, with effective student counselling services. Participation of students in different academic and administrative bodies. Effective support from the Alumni through its registered association. Effective safety measures for students and college assets. Governance and Leadership: The governance and leadership role of the college as well as the Principal is being felt in collegiating the teachers, students, non-teaching member, Alumni, Society persons. Operation of Decentralisation and Participative Management with functioning of different committees. Special drive for recruitment of teachers and non teaching staff and required training for them to improve the teacher- taught ratio and support services. Strict Observance of Govt. Rules in Recruitment Procedure. Resource generation increased to 2.5 fold during last five years and its optimal utilisation for academic growth. Maintenance of Up to date & Regular Internal and External Audit Mechanism. IV The college is free from Ragging, Agitation, Sexual harassment and any bias towards any caste, creed and religion. The college is providing financial support during emergency to its staff members through registered Staff