B R Tambakad Ist Grade College, Hirekerur

About B R Tambakad Ist Grade College, Hirekerur

B.R.Tambakad First Grade Arts, Commerce and Science College, Hirekerur, Haveri District of Karnataka, has volunteered to be assessed and accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, Bangalore and submitted the Self -Study-Report.

The College nominated a steering committee consisting of all departmental Heads under the Co-ordinator and this team headed by the Principal prepared the Self -Study Report along the guidelines provided by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council.

Accordingly, NAAC constituted Peer Team consisting of Dr. Janardhan M. Waghmare, Former Vice Chancellor, as Chairman, Dr.V.K. Haridasan, Former Principal, Zamorin,s Guruvayurappan College, Calicut, Kerala as Member-Co-ordinator and Dr (Mrs.) Chandrakantha Jeyabalan , Former Dean , Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai as Member. Dr.B.S.Ponmudiraj , Assistant Adviser, Co-ordinated the team and rendered all necessary assistance. The Peer Team visited the B.R.T.College on 12th to 14th March, 2007.

Hirekerur is a town and Taluka head quarters in the district of Haveri in Karnataka. B.R.Tambakad Arts and Commerce First Grade College was established in the year 1992. It was started as a Women's College and was converted into co-education system in the year 1995. This institution is affiliated to Karnatak University of Dharwad. It is an un-aided College and has been recognized under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act from 23.11.04.

It is located in a campus area of 4 acres and 12 gunthas of land. It is a non-autonomous institution. The mission of the College is to cater to the needs of higher education by imparting quality education to socially and economically backward sections of the society covering the town and nearby villages. It aims at imparting learners an education embedded with moral values, modern trends and global needs like ICT to make the students self-reliant.

At present it offers BA, B.Com. and B.Sc. with 25 combinations of choices. Three language subjects, six social science subjects, six science subjects including the computer science and commerce subjects constitute the combination as prescribed by Dharwad University.The College has a strength of 919 students on its roll including 236 women students during the year 2005 to 2006. They are entirely from within the State of Karnataka. The unit cost of education is Rs. 1552/- including salary components and Rs. 557/- excluding salary components from the academic year 2005-06 onwards. The College has 31 permanent teachers (27 male and 04 female) and 04 part time teachers (03 male and 01 female) appointed by the management. Of them 03 teachers hold M.Phil degree, 02 teachers have registered for Ph.D. and 08 members have passed in SLET examination. The non-teaching staff of the College includes 09 (05 male and 04 female).The teacher-student ratio is 1:26.

The College has provided support services such as NSS, Library, Women's Hostel, Sports facilities, Women's rest room, Canteen, Students Centre, Guest House, Cycle Shed and Gymnasium etc.

The College was started under the guidance of the ex-president of the Management Sri J.B Tambakad. The institution is managed by the Executive Committee of the H.T.V.SS.Ltd. The development work is planned and approved by the Management. At present the Presidentof the College is Sri S.B.Tippannanavar and the Secretary Sri S.S.Patil.

The Principal monitors the overall functioning of the College. The management collects feedback from students on the performance of the teachers, non-teaching staff as well as on other aspects of the functioning of the College. They are having a good tie up with parents to facilitate interaction for responsiveness.

The Peer Team carefully perused and analyzed the Self Study Report submitted by the College. During the visit the team went through all the relevant documents, visited all the departments and interacted with the Management, Principal, Faculty, Non-teaching staff, a cross section of students, parents and alumni. The academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities of the College were examined. Finally the Peer Team would like to make the following observations and comments:

SECTION II THE CRITERIONWISE ANALYSIS
Criterion I- Curricular Aspects
The Mission of the College is 'To create self confidence and co-operation among the students community through education with an emphasis on competitive spirit to face the global challenges.'

As an affiliated College of Karnataka University, Dharwad, the College follows the University syllabus. The medium of instruction is predominantly Kannada in Arts and English in Commerce and Science. They offer 25 programmes of which B.A.Degree courses with 21 combinations, B.Sc. degree with three combinations and B.Com. with all compulsory subjects as prescribed by the University.

Since the College is running the courses of the affiliating University, the review and the revision of the courses are not done at the College level. As a result, the goal and mission of the College cannot be directly reflected in the official curriculum. However, an attempt has been made to realize the mission of the College by alternative means, like co-curricular, extra-curricular activities, sports and personality development activities, teaching current developments etc. One of the activities reflecting the mission of the College is moral education conducted by Basavakendra of Chitradurga Brihanmath.

The programmes offered are not fully vocational in nature. However, the syllabus for B.Com. has components which enhance the job opportunities in the area of Computer Applications, Management Techniques, Industrial Relations and Tax Laws.

They conduct regularly HRD sponsored TQM programmes for all-round development. Bridge courses for the new entrants and remedial courses for the slow learners are arranged. The advanced learners are encouraged with study projects and special assignments. The rapid increase of students from year to year is a clear indication of the phenomenal development of the College. The Vision of the College is made known to all the stakeholders through prospectus and academic calendar.

It is also observed that the College Management has given strong emphasis on computer education for all. Follow up action is taken on the basis of the feedback which helps the College to improve the quality of its programmes.

The University through its affiliation extension committee conducts some amount of academic audit of the College periodically.

Criterion II - Teaching, Learning and Evaluation
Academic year begins with admission of students to various courses of study which is open to all by following the rules and regulations of State Government. At the time of admission the parents, students and HRD-TQM Cell of the College meet and submit 'Students' Development, initiative Form' and that is notified on the merit list and they get admitted. Since the number of applicants are not more than the seats available, the students having the minimum cut-off marks are also admitted.

Teachers are playing the role of mentors and academic advisors to students. Students are engaged by the 'Counselling System' and enough scope for teacher -taught relationship. Remedial coaching is given to the slow learners who are weak in their subjects and the advanced learners are recognized and facilitated .Special coaching for certain competitive examinations are also given. Attending various training programmes, seminars, debates, quizzes and co-curricular activities also supplement the higher learning methods. Performances of the students are assessed and monitored by conducting monthly tests and model examinations. It is commendable that all faculty members maintain a teacher's diary being monitored by HOD and Principal. Hence teaching plan is encouraged for enhancement of teaching commitment. The lecture method of teaching is prominent pedagogical technique. It is heavily supplemented by dictating notes which are being considered as the practical substitutes of text books, which is normally beyond the reach of poor students. Question-answer approach is also practiced in addition to a little use of audio-visual equipments. The science students are using laboratories for their learning.

The College has 269 working days and 200 teaching days in a year. The ratio of full-time teaching staff to non-teaching staff is 31:9.

The students' performance is assessed periodically by conducting unit test and pre-final examinations. Progress of the students is reported to the parents regularly.

The teachers are selected through a selection committee consisting of Management, Principal and Subject Expert after inviting the applications by advertising in newspapers. Payments to staff are made from management funds.

During the last two years, five teachers attended National Seminars/Conferences and one teacher an International Seminar and seven teachers attended State level conferences. But attendance through research papers was not by all of them. Most of the teachers are working as resource persons of some NGOs in the neighborhood.

The method of self-appraisal for the teachers exists. The students' feedback is also sought at the end of every academic session. It is analysed and the findings of the analysis are communicated to the teachers and if needed, corrective actions are taken by the Principal.

Some departments of the College conducted local level seminars/workshops and took students to visit research laboratories elsewhere.

Criterion III: Research, Consultancy and Extension
The College is offering only undergraduate courses. Being the self-supporting College, the teachers are not getting the opportunity of doing Ph.D. or M.Phil. through FIP Programmes. But yet among the teachers there are 3 M.Phil. holders, 5 have passed SLET exam , 3 are doing Ph.D ., 8 are doing M.Phil., and 2 have applied for Ph.D. A conducive atmosphere for research encouragement, publication of papers, attending seminars may be created in due course.

Some teachers have published articles in regional newspapers and magazines. Most of the teachers are offering guest lectures in other institutions and social organizations and extending services to trade and industry. Teachers also act as officials of cultural organizations of the Taluk.

The College is having two units of NSS under programme officers with additional charge.

Consultancy service is minimal. However the College conducts extension activities in collaboration with NGOs; for example the Shrishakti Sanga, Lion's Club etc.,

The College Students have actively participated in free eye operation camp, general health check-up camp, environmental awareness (Vanamahotsava) construction of roads, cleaning of village streets.

It is appreciable that the College Students' Union and Gymkhana wing are active throughout the year. The College also organizes many cultural programmes. It is unique that National level Shivasanchar Kalasnaga are invited and drama exhibitions are organized for the benefit of the public. The College undertakes a good amount of extension work through NSS and social awareness programmes which foster the all round personality development.

Criterion IV- Infrastructure and Learning Resources
The College campus area is 4 acres and 12 gunthas of land. Spacious classrooms, library, and play ground in the campus are available for the students. The Physical Education Department has Gymnasium also. The carpet area of the central library is 2720 sq. feet and has 150 seating capacity.

The total built up area of the College includes classrooms, rooms for laboratories, one room for computer laboratory, Principal room, ladies common room, staff room, canteen, gymnasium, cycle shed and library. The College has enough space for different playgrounds and separate covered space for indoor games. There is a separate management guest house.

Students have access to the Xerox facilities. All classrooms are well furnished with sufficient number of furniture. For larger audience, provision is made in the open air theatre. Toilets for gents and ladies separately and drinking water facility support students inside the campus.

The College has drawn up short and long term plans in consultation with the management for augmenting infrastructure to keep in pace with academic growth. The management looks after the maintenance of the infrastructure.

The library has its advisory committee. There is a qualified librarian to manage the library. The library is not connected for inter - library borrowings. Moreover, computerization of library operations is yet to be started. Presently there are 6191 books, 26 periodicals and 7 journals. Subject related journals are inadequate in number. The library functions on all working days from 8.00 am to 4pm.

The College has a computer facility in the computer science department. There are 20 computers with required softwares and accessories in the department. This department is used to provide computer related teaching to B.Sc. and B.Com. students. Keeping in view the present scenario, the computer facility is far inadequate if its access is maintainable to all the students of the College.

The College arranges every year medical check-up of its students as per the University norms.

Criterion V - Students Support and Progression
The overall environment and support available for the degree level to the students in the institution has a direct impact. Out of 919 students, 236 girl students and 683 men are on roll.

The performance of the students in the University Examinations is highly satisfactory. They have bagged University ranks which exhibit their excellence towards quality education. The students have shown outstanding performance in sports and cultural activities and have bagged University level prizes.

The College regularly publishes and updates its prospectus. Moreover, three hand written fortnightly magazines are brought out by the students. The College has implemented welfare programmes and support services to the students. The College has HRD-TQM Cell, Career Guidance Cell, Students Union, Gymkhana, Kannada Sangha, Commerce Association and Science Association to channelize the talents of the students. The College has a good tie up with the alumni. The institution is put in good performance towards society development by NSS units.

Criterion VI - Organization and Management
The College is managed by the Hirekerur Taluk Vidyavardhaka Souhardha Sahakari Ltd. The managing committee is the administrative body of the College. The development work of the College is planned and approved by the management. The day-to-day administrative matters are dealt by the Principal as the Head of the Institution for co-ordinating and maintenance of academic aspects. HRD -TQM training has been arranged in College for the faculty members. The College accounts are audited by the external auditors. It mobilizes the funds from the students' fees only.

The budget is normally within the collection of fees. The development programmes, infrastructure maintenance are taken up by the management. All posts are recuited through advertisement, on the basis of merit and on interview performance.

In spite of the fact that the College is situated in an economically and socially backward remote rural area the Management is doing commendable work for the development of the institution.

Criterion VII-Healthy Practices
The College has made conscious efforts for enhancing the interests of the students by inculcating the hidden talents, promoting value based disciplined education, stimulating the civic responsibilities and tuning the qualities of good citizens. The College attempts career counseling through HRD-TQM club. Information on job opportunities and avenues of higher learning is available through the club. It is appreciable to mention about cultural activities, participating in sports, organization of personality development programmes. The College has to work under the regulations of Karnataka University. Hence it does not have the liberty of introducing its own educational innovations. However, personality development programmes, civic responsibilities , value based education, community oriented awareness programmes, students participaction in seminars, projects, national festivals , annual social gathering , special coaching in the spheres of public speech , fine arts , quiz , computer education, yogasana and athletics are some of the healthy practices in the College. A desirable pervasive sense of discipline is noted. At the same time the atmosphere in the College campus is conducive for communal harmony and national integration. They also take effort to improve communication skill through Spoken English. The students' participation in programmes of blood grouping and blood donation camps, AIDS awareness programmes, legal awareness is very much encouraged.

BR TAMBAKAD FIRST GRADE ARTS AND COMMERCE COLLEGE,
Hirekerur,
Karnataka
India