Contact
Contact

Strategic Plan & Deployment Initiatives

Strategic Plan & Deployment Initiatives

. . . . . the way forward

Background

Madras Christian College traces its origin to the General Assembly School founded by the Rev. John Anderson, a Missionary from the Church of Scotland on 3rd April 1837. Anderson was a pioneer in introducing English medium education in South India. He was ably assisted by Rev. Johnston, Rev. Braidwood and Ms Margaret Locher Anderson. Rev. William Miller who arrived in 1862 upgraded the school to a college by adding F.A. and B.A. courses in 1865 and 1867. Along with a few other Protestant missions in Madras, Miller transformed the institution and named it ‘Madras Christian College’ on 1st January 1877. The rapid expansion of the College and the congested physical space necessitated the shifting of the college from George Town to the 400 acre sylvan Selaiyur forest in Tambaram. The ‘great migration’ took place on 30th January 1937 with a thanksgiving service in which Governor Lord Erskine participated. Women students were admitted from 1939.

In 2016 the College was awarded the status of ‘College with Potential for Excellence’. The College was ranked 10th in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2018. The College is first among the Arts and Science colleges in the state of Tamil Nadu in meeting the Solar Purchase obligation, as it generates 50 percent of its power needs through solar energy.

VISION AND MISSION OF THE COLLEGE

Madras Christian College aspires to be an Institution of excellence transforming lives through education with a commitment to service.

Madras Christian College (MCC) with the inspiration of the love of God offers to people of all communities education of the whole person, which is congruous with God’s revelation in Christ of the true nature of humanity and is appropriate to the needs of India and of the world.

Academic Excellence, Social Relevance and Spiritual Vitality are the institution’s core values.

Initiatives

The Madras Christian College strives to achieve excellence in academics and research by nurturing faculty and students to face the challenges posed by the ever-changing society. Strategic planning and management is a core functionality of the decision-making bodies of Madras Christian College. The Association, Board of Directors, Senatus, Principal and Secretary and the Bursar are a part of these bodies that bring in coordinated interventions in the institution’s direction. The goals of these initiatives are in line with the mission and vision of the Institution intending to achieve academic excellence, social relevance and spiritual vitality.

The Strategic Plan aims to provide a vision and a direction for the years ahead and strategises collective efforts to realise these plans. The key pillars of development will include academic development, industrial connections and collaborations, Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. A number of initiatives and action plans have been drawn up to keep the changing economic and industrial environment. These strategic plans are reviewed and revised from time to time. This strategic plan document will bring together the various stakeholders of the institution to contribute toward the common goals.

The Madras Christian College with its vast legacy will continue to focus on excellence and innovation in academics and research. A number of major changes have taken place in the educational field that pushes the College forward to adopt a series of coordinated efforts for the institution to keep up with the changing times. Several discussions with different stakeholders were held to come to a consensus around key issues. Internal members like the Principal, Bursar, administrative officials, faculty and external consultants have all come together, outlining recommendations and action plans.

MCC - MRF Innovation Park

In a world that is moving fast towards automation, artificial intelligence and developing humanoids, Innovation is inevitable. At the same time, it is to be noted consciously that the world is on the verge of suffering due to various human- induced impact like climate change, natural disasters, diminishing natural resources, growing diseases, endangered biodiversity and more. Adding another dimension to it through the Innovation Park, MCC Strives to nurture Eco-friendly and Sustainable Start-Up ideas coping with emerging technologies as tools. The Innovation Park would be a dedicated ecosystem to foster advanced research, innovative Start-Up Ideas and nurture Entrepreneurs. The Innovation Park is to work in collaboration with the different units in MCC like MCC farm, Artisan & Heritage Village, Centre for Teaching & Learning, Centre for Data Analytics, Centre for Media Production etc., to culminate innovation and enable Start-Ups, thus, evolving into a one of its kind innovation park. The Innovation park would aim to culminate innovation as an outcome of learning, develop entrepreneurial skills, develop new internship/employment opportunities and make an impact on society.

Unlike common innovation/incubation centers, the innovation park would be an integrated model and a bridge between education & training, research and entrepreneurship, wherein a dedicated ecosystem is to be developed to support innovations focused on aiding in mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Hence, this will be India’s first incubator focused on UN’s SDG 13: Climate Action. Some of the thrust areas of focus are Eco-Tourism, Culture & Food, Green & Circular Sustainability, Healthcare & Traditional medicine, Education and Social Development and Eco-Preservation.  Some of the facilities that are to be in the Innovation Park are the Computational Lab, Psychometric lab, Data Analytics Lab, Commerce & Fintech Lab, Design Studio, Makers Space, Artisan Village, Writer’s Café, and Entrepreneur’s Café to name a few.

Research Colloquium

The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), instituted by the Ministry of Education (formerly Human Resource Development), India, renders a systematic assessment for ranking the Institutions of Higher Education in India. Since the inception of the NIRF ranking, academic institutions have urged their faculty members to come up with research publications and patents. This drives many teaching faculty members to yield themselves out of apprehension to publications in predatory journals. To address this issue, an informed purposive series of lectures based on community learning has been drawn up to address the nuances of scientific writing and publishing.

The scope of MCCRC is to equip each other by enriching their research skills, expand interdisciplinary collaborations across the departments, redefine pedagogy through research-based methods, brainstorm domain-specific administrative issues through crowd resourcing, solicit innovative ideations from students as human resources.

The MCC Research Colloquium would play a crucial role in the capacity building of faculty and research scholars, encouraging research on the latest advances contributing to relevant societal needs. This would in turn improve research publications in globally indexed journals improving the accreditation ranking of the institution.

Meston Centre for Teaching and Learning

The Meston Centre for Teaching and Learning at Madras Christian College is a learning space for faculty and students to collaborate and create innovative learning systems and models to meet the needs and challenges of the present. The Centre aims to collaborate with individuals, academic departments, and various units of the College for capacity building and community learning to foster creativity and innovations in all aspects of teaching and learning. In addition to developing strategies, services, and programs, the Centre extends its resources and expertise to various institutions in India and abroad.

A production studio with facilities for creating audio and video recording is being set up to develop micro-learning modules and other teaching and learning resources for the benefit of the College community. In collaboration with expertise from media sciences, the Centre looks forward to creating adaptable and
interesting forms of academic connection to facilitate new-age learning by interesting and engaging means.

Some of the specific objectives of the Centre will be as follows:

  • Collaborating in designing, developing, producing, and delivering online
    courses to be deposited in repositories for asynchronous modes of learning for promoting Hybrid Flexible learning (HyFlex)
  • Constructing rubrics for learning assessments to increase student engagement
  • Educating teachers about student-centered pedagogies. (Project-based
    learning, Service learning-based science camps etc.)
  • Creating learning analytics embedded learning management system (LMS) for flexible teaching and learning for learning outcomes
  • Designing modules for diverse learners and skill development (Microlearning modules for slow learners), Simulations for conducting practical classes
  • Earning while learning programmes for students for developing Innovative online content – development of infographics, gamification, animations, schematics, flowcharts for modules (collaborating on educational technologies)
  • Promote Science and Arts Communication by nurturing those who are inclined
  • Conduct conferences and capacity building programs on pedagogical research and to provide consultancy in drafting educational policies
  • Identify and incubate potential educational entrepreneurs and train them in educational management and leadership.
  • Evolve as a College of Education

Student Support Fund

The Madras Christian College continues to be deeply committed to its mission of serving humanity with spiritual vitality and social relevance. The current turmoil has brought focus to the needs of the student community. As a response to the needs of the students, it is crucial that the College addresses these issues to build and sustain a resilient community. The College aims to provide holistic support to the student on an individual basis, by way of counseling along with financial assistance to help a student tide over an emergency situation, which could be well beyond their understanding.

The funding for this program is to be made possible through the generous donations of faculty, students, parents, alumni and friends of the Madras Christian College Community. Fundraising could be initiated through social media by way of an appeal. Fundraisers through online alumni meetings could be organised to
create an awareness of the program and thereby initiate contributions to the fund.

Scholarships are to be made available for deserving students under the aegis of the Student Support Fund to provide crisis support to deserving students during crisis situations, which include,

  • Death or permanent disability of a sole breadwinner in the student’s family.
    Serious medical condition of a student
  • Students affected by a natural disaster like floods, earthquakes or related natural
    calamities.
  • Differently-abled students from economically backward families.
  • Scholarship for students from economically backward families.
  • First Generation Learner.

Research Ecosystem

Research & Development in any higher education institution must comprise of creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge in various fields of humanities, science & technology and, advance education, learning and enhance research outcomes. The Deanery of Research &
Development (DRD) at MCC was established in 2012 with a Dean and two Associate Deans.

The DRD functions with the following broad objectives to

  • provide information on research projects, grants, etc.
  • equip staff, and research scholars with capacity building measures
  • encourage innovative/creative ideas, start-up projects
  • recognise research contributions with incentives and awards
  • bring state of the art of technology and the latest techniques
  • bring out high-quality in-house journal publication
  • provide a conducive climate for research work

OFFICE OF RESEARCH INTEGRITY

The college is committed to maintaining integrity and transparency in research endeavours. In carrying out its research mission, all faculty members and research scholars engaged in research are expected to adhere to the highest standards of research integrity to protect the accuracy and reliability of the research record and published results. This policy applies to all research and scholarship conducted within the college, irrespective of the funding source if any.

To cultivate and sustain a culture of research integrity, the ORI will

  • Provide the ‘code of conduct (processes and procedures for dealing with allegations of research misconduct)
  • Keep abreast of current good practices for promoting the proper management and conduct of research
  • Deploy a research management and monitoring system to keep track of grant proposals, research projects, publications, and other research products
  • Develop a checklist and training programmes for researchers to familiarise them with research integrity, potential pitfalls, and how to avoid and address them.
  • Build checks to minimise conflicts of interest among reviewers

Research Ecosystem

INCENTIVES AND AWARDS FOR RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Research incentives and recognition are significant in promoting research interest among the faculty and research scholars. To improve the research performance, promote capacity building among research scholars and encourage student innovators, the Deanery focuses on the following aspects and hopes to include more options and clauses in the future depending upon the arising need.

A) For teaching staff:

  • Publications in UGC-CARE/SCOPUS/Web of Science indexed journals during the recently concluded calendar year.
  • Publication of the book (national/international publication) during the recently concluded calendar year.
  • An awardee of a research project (minor and major research grant) from Government and private funding agencies.
  • An awardee of a successful patent filed through college.
  • For books (reputed publications), research articles, and patents received, the first author should be a teaching staff currently in service.

B) For PhD/M.Phil student research scholar (other than teaching staff)

  • Publications in UGC-CARE/SCOPUS/Web of Science indexed journals during the recently concluded calendar year.
  • The first author of the publication must be a PhD/M.Phil student in college roll- call without any due in fee payment.
  • Evidence about published journals is to be mandatorily submitted.
  • The first author (student research scholar) of the publication will be the recipient of the incentive.

Research Ecosystem

SEED MONEY FOR MICRO-PROJECT/ PILOT STUDY

A) FOR TEACHING STAFF AGED A MAXIMUM OF 35 YEARS

  • Project proposal with necessary documents to be submitted through Google form. The guidelines for submission will be intimated by Deanery (R & D).
  • Proposals that address local needs, have the potential for further research and/or are aligned with the driving principles of MCC are encouraged.
  • A maximum of one proposal in each category will be considered. The selected project will receive the grant.
  • The duration of the project will be 6 months. The Project Investigator (PI) should ensure journal publication in UGC-CARE/SCOPUS/Web of Science indexed journals as an outcome of the project.
  • For proposals that address local (campus) needs, the outcome can be a design
    model/policy framework/product prototype etc.

B) FOR TEACHING STAFF AGED MORE THAN 35 YEARS

  • Project proposal with necessary documents to be submitted through Google form. The guidelines for submission will be intimated by Deanery (R & D).
  • Proposals that address local (campus) needs, have the potential for further research and/or are aligned with driving principles of MCC will be encouraged/preferred.
  • A maximum of one proposal in each category will be considered. The selected project will receive the grant.
  • The duration of the project will be 6 months. The Project Investigator (PI) should ensure journal publication in UGC-CARE/SCOPUS/Web of Science indexed journals as an outcome of the project.
  • For proposals that address local (campus) needs, the outcome can be a design
    model/ policy framework/product prototype etc.

All the above-mentioned research proposals for projects, application procedures, claim forms for incentives, and communication for conducting research activities or workshops are to be routed through the Department/Unit Head to the Principal. Deanery (R & D) will facilitate and monitor the progress of the activities of the projects.

Entrepreneurship Development Cell

The Entrepreneurship Development Cell of Madras Christian College was initiated in September 2020 to help young innovators become a quintessential part of the entrepreneurship ecosystem development. The initiative comes at the right time as there is a spur in the development of an innovative ecosystem, and when 2010-20 is
declared as ‘India’s Decade of Innovation’.

The objectives of EDC are to:

  • provide space for the MCC student community to discuss their ideas,
    metamorphose them into innovative proposals, generate IP, and finally execute
    their business plans through incubation,
  • offer training and mentoring for the students to help hone their
    entrepreneurship skills.

Thus the EDC strives to provide a conducive innovation and entrepreneurship/start- up ecosystem for the vibrant student community of Madras Christian College. As an initial measure, the EDC of MCC has been registered with TN-EDII, IEDP HUB, and CED Anna University since September 2020. Furthermore, in line with the aforementioned objectives, the EDC formed the MCC ideation club in October 2020 to foster innovation among students. To encourage and reward young student innovators, MCC Innovation Contest has also been initiated in the year 2021.

MCC Institution Innovation Council

Madras Christian has established the Institution’s Innovation Council (MCC-IIC) as per the norms of the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC), Government of India, during the calendar year 2020- 2021. MCC – IIC focuses on creating a vibrant local innovation ecosystem along with promoting start-up/entrepreneurship
supporting mechanisms at the campus for the staff and students.

The main functions of MCC- IIC are to:

  • motivate, inspire and nurture students and staff by supporting them to work with new ideas and problem statements and transform them into innovative and entrepreneurship-related endeavours.
  • support young innovators to work with new ideas and convert them to prototypes and facilitate patenting and start-up ventures.
  • conduct periodic discussions/workshops/seminars / and arrange interactions with entrepreneurs, investors, and professionals, and create a mentor pool for student innovators.

All activities and events will be administered by a team of faculty members, external council members, financial advisors and industry experts as per the guidelines of MIC. MCC-MRF Innovation Park.