DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ANNUAL REPORT 2013-2014 CHRIST UNIVERSITY BANGALORE 560029 ANNUAL REPORT (2013-2014) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Page 1 VISION To be the best institution for commerce education in the country MISSION To nurture commerce professionals who possess high level of knowledge and competence to effectively contribute to the society with commitment and integrity ANNUAL REPORT (2013-2014) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Page 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION TITLE PAGE NO. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 1 FACULTY 8 2 CURRICULUM 17 3 STUDENTSHIP 20 4 STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN 2013-2014 49 5 EXTENSION AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES 54 6 ADMINISTRATION 58 7 LECTURES, PROGRAMMES AND EVENTS 63 8 ACADEMIC OUTREACH 73 9 RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS 82 ANNUAL REPORT (2013-2014) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Page 3 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE REPORT OF ACTIVITIES 2013-14 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The academic year 2013-2014 began with a strategic overview meeting on 29 May 2013.“Enhancing Stakeholder‟s Satisfaction” was the vision for the year and the discussion stressed on the need for identifying the stakeholder‟s expectations [students, parents, employers & society]. Faculty teams deliberated on the required strategies, processes, capabilities and appropriate performance measures to realise the vision. The annual report of this year in review reflects in a variety of ways how the department has connected to its vision, primarily at three different levels- faculty development, curriculum and student development. Significant achievements worth mentioning belong to the area of faculty development. The faculty learning circles provided a platform for professional and intellectual dialogues while on the other hand FPDP‟s, FDP, OBT and QIP raised their curiosities about various concepts and led to widened and strengthened intellect. Ten faculty members have completed MOOC and as many as seven of them are nearing the completion of the course. In the area of research, the importance of producing good quality publication was enunciated and the faculty members were directed from time to time to achieve the same. Three faculty members were awarded PhD this year, taking the total number of PhD holders in the department to eight. One MRP, 2 RDC‟s and 3 working papers were initiated during the year. As many as 18 articles were published in the newspapers and many publications and presentations kept coming. Instances where faculty members were invited as resource persons and key note speakers in and out of Karnataka increased. More than the numbers, the culture of research which is gaining momentum along with collaborative learning and sharing of knowledge gives a sense of gratification to the department. With respect to students, the focus was to introduce new teaching methodology that would engage them more thoroughly and enhance the learning experience. Many students– centric initiatives were introduced. The peer learning system was introduced for all the first year classes. Groups were made blending a mix of gender, learning abilities, language and region. Advanced learners were identified as group leaders to facilitate learning of group ANNUAL REPORT (2013-2014) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Page 4 members within and outside class-rooms. Leaders directly connect with the class /subject teachers with problems of individual group members that were addressed appropriately. This peer learning exercise proved to be advantageous in two ways- firstly the students benefitted from the collaborative and cohesive learning and secondly the teachers were able to focus on mentoring. Student mentoring and attendance follow was continuously monitored by all class teachers which reflected in their attendance percentages and performance in examinations. A comprehensive curriculum revision was undertaken in 2012 for all programmes, to align them to industry standards and current trends. Therefore the major task for the current year was to implement them with the appropriate teaching methods and techniques. The BCom (Hons) programme electives were restructured and all the fifth and sixth semester courses were completely revised and approved in the Jan 2014 BOS. The programme now has only two electives a) Banking & Insurance and b) Finance & Investment. The Auditing & Taxation courses have been brought in as core papers in the fifth and the sixth semesters. New initiatives were taken on the students support front. For instance, two faculty members were appointed as mentors to serve and guide the students with special needs and likewise to cater to the students of international origin. For the students who had back logs, special coaching and remedial classes were arranged which in turn helped them to clear the papers and complete the programme within the stipulated period. This year the placements were encouraging with about 20 companies visiting the campus and selecting around 180 students. Placement related workshops were conducted for final year students with activities like resume building, numerical aptitude, logical reasoning, Excel training etc. This enabled them to become more confident and perform better during placement process. To enhance the quality of the question bank a through orientation was given to teachers. A QB coordinator was also appointed to monitor the progress and timely completion of the QB review process. This proved to be very effective, as the Commerce Department emerged as the first department in the Deanery to complete the QB review process within the stipulated time. A landmark achievement was the MOU signed with CISI – Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment, UK. The programme was offered to the Bcom (Hons) students to pursue the IOC certification which is highly recognised among Investment Bankers globally. The coaching by industry experts was undertaken in the campus and was open to both the students and faculty members. The University level MOU with SAP Labs for the SAP-01 level certification was completed by many BCOM students. ANNUAL REPORT (2013-2014) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Page 5 The commerce lab resources helped in giving practical exposure to students and thereby enhancing their learning experience. The introduction of the Journal Club for the MCOM students proved to be instrumental in strengthening their research skills. In addition to that, two new clubs, the finance club and the debate club was introduced to provide a platform to the students for honing their knowledge, skills and attitude. The year progressed with a rich blend of curricular and co-curricular and cultural activates. National Seminar, Panel discussions, Research paper presentation seminars were organised along with the regular CUCA inter-class, inter-collegiate activates, Darpan, Blossoms and In Bloom cultural activities, and departmental and University level sports activities. The CUCA initiated a body by the name of CUFA (Christ University Festing Association), whose main objective is to streamline the selection process for sending the students to inter collegiate fests and to train them to become winners. This year too, the students of commerce department bagged many awards in inter collegiate cultural fests by defeating many contenders which reinforced their own belief that they are indeed one amongst the best. The style of administration was to involve faculty members in the decision making process through discussions and collaboration of ideas. This strategy solicited their committed participation in implementation and execution. Every idea/ initiative of the department was discussed in the department meetings; group-wise deliberations were made and were open to suggestions and criticisms. Groups were consciously made with a blend of seniors and juniors, or based on different specialisations as the case maybe to elicit profound insights. Responsibilities for various activities were delegated on rotation to faculties based on their expertise, ensuring their active involvement and balanced work load for all. The importance of proper documentation of all activities conducted was emphasised from the beginning and brought commendations during the quality audit process. Some of the initiatives were bench-marked as best practices - viz- curriculum review process, Learning circle discussions and their outcomes, student-centric pedagogies, special students mentoring, special supplementary coaching etc. to name a few. Amidst good news, we recognize that a great deal still needs to be done. The Department of Commerce is one of the largest departments in the University spanning four niche programs and catering to a large student community of 1500 +. While the department continues to attract highly impressive students, we continue to explore opportunities for development and strengthening of courses and other competitive programs. ANNUAL REPORT (2013-2014) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Page 6 In Retrospect, the academic year 2013-2014 has been quite fruitful, thanks to the dedicated team work of 29 faculty members and 2 support staff who are progressive, creative and committed to student and self development. The quality and creativity of the students of this department has also been a reason for this year‟s achievement. With the synergies of the students, faculty and the University we wish to move forward in this direction in a more focussed manner in the new academic year commencing in June 2014. Nithila Vincent Head, Department of Commerce 30 April 2014 ANNUAL REPORT (2013-2014) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Page 7 SECTION 1 FACULTY 1.1 FACULTY DETAILS GRADE NUMBER Professor 1 Associate Professor 3 Assistant Professor 25 Total 29 S NO FACULTY NAME GRADE QUALIFICATION 1 Alice Mani Asso. Professor M.Com, M.Phil, Ph.D 2 Anson K J Asst. Professor V M.Com, M.Phil 3 Anuradha P S Asso. Professor III M.Com, NET, M.Phil, Ph.D 4 Anusha Srinivasan Iyer Asst. Professor V M.B.A, M.Phil 5 Aruna P Asst. Professor IV M.Com, M.Phil, NET 6 Amalanathan S Asst. Professor V M.Com, M.Phil, NET 7 Bindu Nair Asst. Professor IV M.Com, M.Phil 8 Christopher Devakumar Asst. Professor V M.Com, M.Phil 9 Geetanjali Purswani Asst. Professor V M.Com, M.Phil 10 Girish. S Asst. Professor IV M.Com, M.Phil 11 Karthigai Prakasam. C Asst. Professor II M.Com, MBA, MHRM, M.Phil, Ph.D 12 Kavitha Jayakumar Asst.