The Internal Quality Assurance Committee of the college includes the Principal, staff members, two members from the administration, two members from the Governing Body, an alumnus and a student representative. The diverse inputs from its members ensure that IQAC works towards developing and establishing systems and procedures dedicated to quality and excellence. The committee has worked tirelessly to ensure quality and excellence in the functioning of our college, and has undertaken many initiatives since its inception in 2016. These initiatives are:
ESTABLISHING A LESS PAPER CAMPUS
This strategy was foremost in the list of initiatives to be undertaken by IQAC in 2016. Working towards a less paper trail in academic institutions is a two-pronged strategy: it facilitates creating an environmentally friendly campus while ensuring transparency in the functioning of the institution. Further, an educational institution cannot avoid a paper trail but mitigating the use of paper is achievable. IQAC endeavours in the context of less paper campus include online facilities for:
- Attendance of students
- Student feedback form
- Fee submission
- Applying for leave by members of the staff
- Staff notifications
STUDENT FEEDBACK MECHANISM
Feedback from students has always played an important role in the maintenance of quality and standards in higher education. Initially, each teacher took feedback informally from her students at the completion of an academic session or as she deemed appropriate. However, as quality assurance arrangements have become more formalized, so too have the arrangements for the collection, analysis, and use of feedback. There are a number of other contextual changes that have influenced feedback mechanism.
The expansion and differentiation of higher education has had major implications for its transaction and the students who work and study here:
- A steady decline in student/staff ratios has adversely impacted the traditionally close relationships between teacher and student, which have all but disappeared in most institutions. Thus, informal means of communication between students and their teachers have become less effective in securing reliable feedback. The extreme pressure on academic staff of added administrative responsibilities coupled with their regular teaching and research load have reduced time available for face to face interactions between staff and students.
- Student feedback proposes to:
- Help with monitoring and review of standards
- Enhance the student’s experience of learning and teaching
- Ensure effectiveness of course design and transaction
- Enable a dialogue with students
- Ensure teacher accountability and development
- Measure student satisfaction
IQAC has evolved a system of garnering student feedback through an online form that is available to the students to measure and analyze their satisfaction regarding:
- The teaching-learning process
- Teacher and content transaction
- College infrastructure
- Library facilities
The above parameters help the college administration review the students’ interaction with the college on the academic and administrative aspects. The feedback mechanism becomes an effective system for ensuring quality and excellence in the functioning of the college.
MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME
Every year students were encouraged to participate in this process. In 2016-17 this program was started under convener ship of Mrs Renu Mehta and co-convener Ms.Anamika. Honours students were managed by their respective departments and B.A. Programme students were managed by B.A. Programme Committee. Under this program every student was allocated a Mentor ( Teacher). Regular meetings were held to provide students a platform where they can discuss their problems/issues and concerns. Mentors (teachers) acted as facilitators to help them resolve these problems.
During 2017-2018 Dr (Mrs) Anju Jhamb from Political department and Ms Anamika from Applied Psychology department managed this mentor ship program efficiently an effectively on the same pattern.
In 2018-19 it was decided to centralized mentors ship program under the convener ship of Mrs. Renu Gupta and Dr.(Mrs) Anju Jhamb with an aim to get actual picture of benefits and pitfalls of the Mentorship and to analyze data collected during the process to be used to improve the program subsequently.
It is programmed in such a way that every student attend two mentorship meets every semester. Beside these two meets, they are free to contact their Mentor whenever they need their help.
Honours Students were grouped according to the course they are pursuing and Programme Students according to GE in IIIrd Year, SEC in IInd year and MIL in Ist year.
Each Mentor (teacher) is given a group of 20-25 students. A questionnaire is prepared and students are required to fill it in first meeting, so as to assess their socio-economic status. Other purpose of the first meeting is to discuss various committees and facilities available in the college and what they can expect from this program.
It is heartening to write that 80-90% students turned up enthusiastically for this program.
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE -
1st Mentorship Programme is scheduled on 5th, 19th and 26th of September, 2018 for IIIrd year, IInd year and Ist year students respectively.
2nd Mentorship Programme is scheduled on 3rd , 10th and 31st of October, 2018 for IIIrd year, IInd year and Ist year respectively.
INTER DEPARTMENTAL AUDIT
The University of Delhi doesn’t have an inbuilt system at the institutional level to review the teaching-learning process. It was not a requirement a decade ago but the unprecedented growth in the student teacher ratio necessitates that a systemic review is done periodically to ensure standards of quality and excellence of the teaching-learning process and accountability of the teachers to their profession.
IQAC set up a system to review the teaching-learning process and general functioning of each department in the college in 2016. The process is titled Interdepartmental Audit. Each department is required to have records of:
- teaching and assessment plans of each teacher
- department meetings with duly signed minutes
- result analysis of each semester
- review of mentorship meetings of each teacher which is submitted to the college
- student progression – placement and alumni
- department activities – teacher and students
At the culmination of the academic session in May, each department is audited by a sister department on the above parameters. The audit report with suggestions is submitted to IQAC and the committee requests the Principal to assess for compliance on the part of each department. The measures that have been recommended to the departments over the years, to help them systematize their functioning, are:
IQAC SUGGESTIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENTS
- Identify the USP of your department and write a vision document (where you see your department 5 years down the line)
- Maintain systematic records of
- Student details (semester wise General/SC/ST/OBC/ECA/Sports)
- Timetable (class wise, teacher wise, paper wise)
- Workload (class wise, teacher wise, paper wise)
- Result Analysis (class wise, teacher wise, paper wise)
- Faculty details - their detailed profile, achievements and contribution to college
- and university activities
- Projects/research work of the students
- Career development and placement
- Alumni records
- Trips/excursions (with documentary proof - photos/bills etc)
- Library (subscription to journals, magazines and books)
- Grievance mechanism of the department
- Special recognition and awards to students
- Any tie up with NGOs
- Academic Calendar (month wise)
- Next freshers welcome/farewell
- Local excursions/field visits
- Quiz/seminars/debates
- Other extra curricular activities
Its compliance will be checked during inter departmental audit
- SWOC Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Challenges)
- Collect feedback from students (optional - students to be briefed about the basic spirit
- behind feedback of the department and college)
- Deliberate on and keep due records of innovative best practices in teaching and managing the department
This systemic endeavor has worked to create a culture of excellence and accountability within the institution.
TEACHING PLANS
Teachers in charge of each department submit detailed teaching plans prepared by each teacher, along with a calendar of proposed department activities, to the IQAC. The teaching plans are a blueprint of the teacher’s visualization of how s/he will transact the curriculum, and include student assessment procedures.
TRANSPARENCY IN INTERNAL ASSESSMENT
A well-planned internal assessment procedure is beneficial in giving the students pertinent feedback, pointing out their strengths and weaknesses while giving them support for future development. As a constituent college of the University of Delhi, SPMC adheres to the internal evaluation guidelines laid down the university. The institution held house examinations till 2012. Subsequently they were replaced by class tests, as per the University directive.
SPMC has constituted a committee for internal assessment which guides and monitors internal evaluation processes.
Internal assessment has three components: attendance, assignment and written test, with the weightage of 5, 10 and 10 marks respectively. It is, therefore mandatory for every teacher to give at least one assignment and conduct two written tests for each paper. Further, it has been decided by the IA committee and the TICs that in addition to class tests, internal assessment should also incorporate learning through problem solving and projects. Assessment strategies that apply real life situations are now an integral part of the institution’s evaluation process.
At the closure of each semester, as an integral part of the transparent IA procedures, assessed project assignments and answer scripts of each student are shown to them along with the assessment criteria. Internal assessment marks are announced in the class by the respective teacher and the assessment records are duly signed by the respective students. The system and procedures formulated by the committee ensure that the final internal assessment of each semester – including the weightage given to attendance – is uploaded on the college website and displayed on the notice board, to ensure transparency. After the internal assessment marks are announced, a notice for the re-evaluation of the assessment and tests is issued for those students who are not satisfied with their marks and wish to apply for re-evaluation. These documents are preserved in the documentation centre of the college for a stipulated time period. For semester examinations, both the college as well as the University has prescribed rules and procedures of revaluation which are posted on their respective website.
DEPARTMENTAL PRESENTATIONS HELD
Inter-Departmental Audit Report
InterDepartmentAuditReport_2023