DINHATA COLLEGE SSR 2015 DINHATA COLLEGE P.O.- DINHATA, DIST.- COOCHBEHAR, WEST BENGAL, PIN- 736135 SELF STUDY REPORT 2015 Submitted to NATIONAL ASSESMENT AND ACCREDITATION COUNCIL (NAAC) PREFACE Born in the womb of time, amidst the aftermath of independence and the subsequent accession of the Cooch Behar State to the Indian dominion, Dinhata College emerged as destiny’s child, by being the beacon of higher education of not only Dinhata alone, but also of the whole of North Bengal. Dinhata College took its inception in 1956. Initially, this College was affiliated to the University of Calcutta and subsequently in 1962 with the establishment of the University of North Bengal; its affiliation was carried forward to the latter. From 30thJuly, 2015 this College again has been brought under the affiliation of Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University. The College is enlisted under sections 2(f) and 12(B) of the University Grants Commission (UGC). ‘The flying bird carrying ripe corn in its beak’ ― is the magnificent emblem of Dinhata College. The vision of the College is to spread a quality education to all sections of the socially and economically backward people of Dinhata Sub-division and beyond. With its motto ‘useful education for all’, it imparts degrees in Arts, Science and Commerce and uplifts financially and socially backward students. The students’ diversity includes scheduled castes, backward classes, minorities, etc. The College is located in Dinhata Sub-division near Indo-Bangladesh international border of Cooch Behar district in West Bengal. The nearest major airport is Bagdogra which is 185 Kms. away and the nearest important railway station is New Cooch Behar lying at a distance of 30 Kms. Dinhata College Halt Station is adjacent to the College. With a sprawling campus spread over16 acres and boasting with a large playground, greenery, pond, wet land and buildings, the College offers both Honours and General Courses in B.A./B.Sc./B.Com. Comprising of 17 subjects, including the newly-introduced Computer Science, Physical Education and Sociology, Dinhata College also has a rich repertoire of books and journals. Of late, INFLIBNET facility has been implemented in the central library. The College also has a well equipped seminar hall with modest audio-visual facilities. A computer laboratory has also been constructed in 2014 with the aid received from the UGC. There is a Boys’ Hostel ― “Bidhan Chandra Chhatrabas” and a Women’s Hostel is on the verge of completion. There are two active NSS units in the College and the third one is in the process. The admission is solely on-line for the current academic session and strictly follows the norms of the affiliating University. The prospectus covering fee structure, academic calendar, subject combinations, general rules etc. is also provided on the website of the College. Dr. Sadhan Chandra Kar, Principal DINHATA COLLEGE P.O.- Dinhata, Dist.- Cooch Behar, West Bengal, PIN – 736 135. DINHATA COLLEGE SSR 2015 CONTENTS Page Number A. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY- SWOC REPORT 1-6 B. PROFILE OF THE COLLEGE 7-16 C. CRITERIA-WISE INPUTS CRITERION I Curricular Aspects 18-25 CRITERION II Teaching Learning and Evaluation 26-51 CRITERION III Research, Consultancy and Extension 52-94 CRITERION IV Infrastructure and Learning Resources 95-107 CRITERION V Student Support and Progression 108-122 CRITERION VI Governance, Leadership and Management 123-138 CRITERION VII Innovations and Best Practices 139-147 D. EVALUATIVE REPORTS OF THE DEPARTMENTS BENGALI 149-159 ENGLISH 160-165 SANSKRIT 166-169 DINHATA COLLEGE SSR 2015 HISTORY 170-177 GEOGRAPHY 178-182 PHILOSOPHY 183-187 POLITICAL SCIENCE 188-194 ECONOMICS 195-201 PHYSICS 202-207 CHEMISTRY 208-213 MATHEMATICS 214-218 BOTANY 219-223 ZOOLOGY 224-228 COMMERCE 229-235 NEWLY INTRODUCED SUBJECTS 236 E. DECLARATION BY THE HEAD OF THE INSTITUTION 237 PICTURE GALLERY 239-247 DINHATA COLLEGE SSR 2015 A. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY-SWOC REPORT Introduction: Since its historic inception, in the aftermath of independence, this College emerged as destiny’s child by developing gradually with the passage of time. Initially, only Arts Stream was introduced. Commerce and Science Streams with Honours in many subjects were introduced subsequently. But being the maiden General Degree College of this Sub-Division and catering to the increasing demand for higher education from the large number of feeder schools, the College is finding it difficult to meet the demand of increasing number of students. Keeping in view of its noble object, the College is trying its utmost to accommodate them, even with great hardship and consequently it becomes difficult to provide quality education to all students due to the lack of requisite infrastructure. But the College authority, teaching and non-teaching staff members have all come forward voluntarily to take additional effort to cope up with the arisen situation. However, in spite of having some difficulties, the College wants to rate itself with other educational institutions so that the College understands where it stands, evaluates its strengths and weakness, finds ways to improve its functioning and it is believed that NAAC evaluation will advise the College in the right direction. Hence sincere initiative has been taken to undergo the process of assessment and accreditation by NAAC. Criterion I: The College has its objective of spreading quality education to all sections of the socially and economically backward people of Dinhata Sub-division and beyond. The mission starts with its motto “Useful Education for All”. The College was affiliated to the University of North Bengal till 29.7.2015 and thereafter it came under the affiliation of Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University since 30.7.2015.Altogether 17 subjects are being taught in the College, out of which 12 have both honours and general courses and 5 have general course only. Among these, three subjects viz. Computer Science, Physical Education and Sociology have newly been introduced from the session 2015-2016. Annual academic calendar guides the teachers for the curriculum and the teachers prepare lesson plans to make teaching process effective. It is also strengthened by group discussions, departmental seminars, field visits etc. The social impact of the College can be assessed with the activities of NSS wings. Evaluation methods like Class Tests, Annual Tests, Group Discussions etc. are being adopted to ensure the continuous and comprehensive development of the learners. The College follows the curriculum prescribed by the respective Board of Studies endorsed by the affiliating University and makes its representation through the teachers who become members on the UG Board of Studies. There is a regular up-gradation of teachers’ knowledge-base by attendance to UGC funded Orientation Programmes, Refresher Courses, other short time courses, seminars and workshops. Some of the newly appointed teachers have already been registered for their Ph.D. programme and some have completed their Course Works. A considerable number of our teachers have published their papers in the peer-reviewed journals of National and International repute and also in book chapters. Some of them have sole books and edited books to their credit. The College has a primary objective of having no gender discrimination which is reflected in the proportionate number of female-male students. There is a deep concern for the degrading environment for which Environmental Studies is being taught as a special subject, where in addition to theoretical aspect the students are 1 DINHATA COLLEGE SSR 2015 encouraged to visit nearby areas and submit project reports. This practically associates students’ approach for environment enrichment. The NSS is the major stakeholder in this concern. There is a feedback system on the performance of students in the curriculum and mode of teaching etc., and the teachers eventually evaluate and report to the authority for improvement. The faculty representatives of the College play a pivotal role in improvement of the curriculum on getting feedback. There is an IQAC in the College for overall academic guidance and there are many sub-committees assisting this endeavour. Criterion II: The College has initiated a transparent online admission procedure from A.Y. 2015-16 which is displayed on the College Website. The merit is calculated as per the University formula. However, separate provision for reservation is kept for SC/ST/OBC and differently-abled students. For the year 2015-16, minimum average percentage for honours is 51.17% and maximum is 95.67%. The Teaching-learning process is mostly student centric. In addition to conventional chalk and talk teaching, audio-visual method, group discussion, in-house seminar, etc. are also available. There are also the provisions of special counselling, special classes, project works etc. The wall magazines also add special provision in this regard. The IQAC has academic and infrastructural action plan. Accordingly Honours Courses in Botany and Zoology and General Courses in subjects like Sociology, Physical Education and Computer Science have also been introduced from the current academic session. Departmental seminars, popular talks, wall magazines, video shows are some of the special activities to be mentioned. Constructions of Seminar hall, introduction of INFLIBNET service in the library are also infrastructural progress. The Cells like Career Guidance, Students’ Welfare, Grievance Redressal, Counselling etc. act according to the need of the students. With the introduction of INFLIBNET, e-journals and undergoing extension of reading room, the foot fall of the library has increased. There are at present 29 full time faculties, 2 Government approved part time teachers in the College, out of which 8 possess Ph.D. degrees and 3 have M.Phil. degrees. They are assisted by 18 College sponsored part time teachers and 9 guest teachers. As recruitment of teachers against substantive posts is made through the recommendations of the West Bengal College Service Commission, 12 posts are expected to be filled shortly.