Mithibai and Jai Hind colleges get autonomous status: Ready to revamp their courses and syllabus

It’s the busiest time of the year for city colleges, as they work on college admissions and upgradation of facilities on campus before they shut down for summers on May 2. However, two colleges — Jai Hind and Mithibai — have chalked out a different schedule; the next three weeks will be all about implementation of new courses as they have recently been granted an autonomous status by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Mithibai College, Vile Parle
The college has already started conducting workshops for their staff members and are re-working details to begin the new academic year as an autonomous institute. The sessions held with teachers were about examinations, evaluation reforms, research and consultancy promotions and academic excellence. Says principal Dr Rajpal Shripat Hande, “We will now be able to bridge the academia industry gap by redesigning the curriculum and amend it from time to time to meet global standards.”

Students will have a curriculum from an international perspective
Dr Hande says that it’s now time for the college to focus on knowledge concentration from academicians from within the country as well as from foreign universities. He says, “This will help evolve a curriculum from an international perspective. We will also take assistance from leading industrialists as well as experts to help facilitate job opportunities for students graduating from Mithibai.” The college is in the process of preparing guidelines and manuals to provide information on the autonomy and reforms.
Redesigning existing courses and adding corporate grooming and etiquette workshops
From among the many plans lined up for its students, the college plans to redesign its courses to help students enhance their chosen career path. Dr Hande adds, “We are not planning to come up with new courses at the moment, but have plans to redesign and reform the existing ones. We will soon be offering certificate programs too. For example, the BMS department will come up with corporate grooming and etiquette workshops. The BMM department plans to include Urdu and spoken Marathi in their curriculum. We also have plans of introducing a short-term financial market course.”
Marking systems to go high tech
After being give an autonomous status, Mithibai College is all geared to use high-end technology as a tool for evaluation. Dr Hande says, “The management of the college has procured the patented BlackBoard — a learning management system that not only aids in transacting the curriculum, but also in internal assessment and assignments. We are also planning to implement bar-coding to check answer sheets as well as for online assessment evaluation to make it a completely transparent process.” With plans to use the same technology to declare results, it will ensure that students get their assessments on time.
Jai Hind College, Churchgate
The college is focussed on getting students and faculty members involved in making and implementing decisions,” shares principal, Dr Ashok Wadia. They have also got different bodies to identify values that can be inculcated among students, thus the curriculum and assessment policies will be designed accordingly. A look at a few amendments…

Introduction of interdisciplinary subjects
The curriculum will now include interdisciplinary subjects to help students from all streams. “A science student may want to start a business of their own or may want to know a little more on investments and develop their communication skills, and that’s what we are working on. We want to provide them well-rounded education,” says Dr Wadia. The curriculum will also touch upon research components and current affairs, so it will be skill-oriented and relevant for today’s times. “Everything today is fast-paced, so there needs to be experiential training,” he adds.
Also, teachers and students will now be even more involved in the workings of the college. Not just teachers, alumni and recently graduated students will also be involved in giving their inputs for the syllabus in order to make for a more conducive environment to share knowledge.
Credits for extracurricular activities
Recommendation letters will now be replaced by a marksheet or certificate to ensure that any sort of involvement in extracurricular activities is reflected. “The cultural head will make note of the number of hours they spend, what they do and what they have achieved — whether they perform on stage or do backstage jobs,” he shares.
Transparent assessment
With two semester and internal exams, students will now know how they are assessed. Says Dr Wadia, “There will be different parameters to evaluate and mark them. It will be a transparent system to know where they have faltered and how they can improve. A lengthy in-depth transparent system, it will help one know their strengths and weaknesses. We will also ensure on-time results.”