STRATEGIC PLAN AND DEPLOYMENT

The Vision and Mission

The College is committed to a model of quality education that is equitable and leads to the holistic development of all stakeholders. The motto of the College, “Tejasvi-naavadhitam-astu”, has been taken from Taittriya Upanishad and means, “May our learning be endowed with radiance”. Serving a wide cross section of students, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College is committed to provide quality education in the fields of Humanities, Science, and Commerce, and enabling the all-round development of the students in its trust. The College impresses upon ensuring a barrier-free, non-discriminatory, and supportive ecosystem for all its members. The College is also dedicated to creating opportunities for its women and differently abled students in a safe and nurturing environment. The aim, therefore, is to work towards crafting a joyful ecosystem where students are galvanized to maximize their potential while cultivating their conscience.

The Objectives

The College focuses on learner-centric teaching, and dynamic and interactive learning which is fostered by:

Developing core competencies in addition to valuable life skills;
A strong focus on research-based activities;
Innovative teaching practices that include ICT;
Placing strong emphasis on instilling in students a sense of social responsibility;
Modernization and upgradation of college infrastructure, laboratories, learning resources, and computational facilities.

The College is a constituent College of the University of Delhi and diligently follows the underlying Act and Statutes. The College follows UGC rules and regulations with regard to appointments, teaching, admissions, examination and research in higher education.

The College is governed by an experienced Governing Body, which is constituted as follows: Chairperson, Treasurer, Members of the Trust (Sanatan Dharma Sabha), Secretary (the Principal), University representatives and representatives from both the teaching and the non-teaching staff of the College.
The Principal is the academic and administrative Head of the institution.
The Internal Quality Assurance Cell of the College, with Principal as the Chairperson and a senior faculty member as the Coordinator and representations from the teaching and non teaching staff, students, academia and industry experts and College alumni, aims at maintaining the scholastic and co-scholastic quality standards in teaching as well as in administration.
The Administration of the College comprises the Bursar, Public Information Officer, Liaison Officer, Administrative Officer (AO) and Section Officers (Administration and Accounts) who are assisted by senior and junior assistants and other support staff.
The College has a Staff Council headed by the Principal as the Chairman and an elected Secretary. The Staff Council functions through various committees with active involvement of elected convenors, members from the teaching staff and the students.
The College has several specialized cells/units such as NSS, NCC, E- Cell, Placement Cell, Skill Hub etc., to provide value addition in different aspects of higher education.
The College has 13 departments, the functioning of which is the responsibility of the coordinator/TIC, who is appointed on a rotational basis. The TIC conducts regular departmental meetings to take decisions regarding scholastic and co-scholastic activities in the department.
The College has a well stacked library and access to several e-resources and e-databases for the academic and research enrichment of the staff and students. The library is looked after by the library committee, library in-charge/ librarian, a professional assistant and other support staff.

The College believes in a decentralized framework. While all key decisions are routed through the Principal, the day-to-day activities and decisions are taken care of by the staff and the students through staff council and its committees.

The participation of the teachers in the decision making bodies of the institution, namely the Governing Body, the IQAC, the Staff Council committees and other cells/units is encouraged at all levels to ensure transparency in the decision-making process and collective attainment of the vision and mission of the College. The faculty has active participation in planning and decision making related to matters like admissions, time-table, examinations, extracurricular activities and sports, initiatives for student and faculty development and exploring research opportunities.

Department Associations/Seminars and various College cells/societies have active participation of students in organizing various talks, seminars and other events. The Student-Faculty Committees, at department level, meet regularly to discuss scholastic and co-scholastic areas. The Student Union plays an active role in the decision making of the College.

Alumni Association is committed towards development of the College through active participation of the alumni, the teaching staff and the office bearers.

Perspective Plans:

The College is in the process of the implementation of the New Education Policy.
We plan to organize more skill-based, vocational, entrepreneurial and other add-on courses to impart employable skills to the students and help them become future entrepreneurs.
We plan to enter into collaborations with other research partners to extend and deepen the academic and research cooperation.
To encourage research and innovation amongst the faculty and students, College is in the process of enhancing its infrastructural facilities.
We are in the process of initiating a multidisciplinary bilingual research journal.
We propose to conduct more interdisciplinary national/international seminars/FDPs/training programmes/workshops to provide an opportunity to researchers, industry experts, academicians and students to exchange their views and opinions on contemporary issues.
In an attempt to create an environment conscious campus, we plan to take active measures towards use of sustainable energy resources through installation of solar rooftop power plants and waste management efforts such as installing a sewage treatment plant.
Initiate and strengthen measures to improve the Public Perception of the College.
For increased stakeholders’ engagement, we plan to formulate a Parents-Teachers Association.
Strengthen Industry-academia collaboration and encouraging alumni engagement in the College activities.
Strengthen the already robust Institutional Outreach activities with active participation of College societies through linkages with the communities, NGOs, Self-Help Groups etc.
Constant upgradation of ICT facilities in the College.

The college facilitates optimum utilization of institutional capabilities for the successful deployment of its perspective plans as evident from the following initiatives:

NIRF Rankings, MoE

Research and Academic Initiatives

Successful implementation of the research and innovation strategy is evident from the College’s rankings in the NIRF surveys, from 2017-22. As per the NIRF Ranking 2022, the College secured 7th rank and the Research Publication Score of the College was the highest among all Delhi University Colleges which is a testimony to the College’s commitment towards quality research as is evident from the following:

- 11 Innovation, 7 Star Innovative and 41 In-House interdisciplinary projects under DBT STAR College Schemes have been completed involving over 400 students. This has culminated into several publications in scopus indexed journals.
- The College has 17 Research Labs to provide research/ internship opportunities to our students. 750 research articles, 256 books/chapters in books and several papers in national/ international conference proceedings were published by the faculty members during the last five years.
- To further orient the faculty and students towards research, the College during the last five years organised 4 week-long FDPs, 2 refreshers, 4 international conferences, 6 national interdisciplinary seminars/conferences and over 600 institutional academic events in both online and offline mode. The conference proceedings have been published in reputed scopus indexed journals/ books.
- More than 200 faculty members have been involved in several research projects.
- The College Library has subscribed to the National Library and Information Service Infrastructure for Scholarly Content (NLIST), which provides remote access to e-resources. The College library has also designed and developed a Digital Library and Institutional Repository.
- Twenty six of our faculty members are guiding 70 research scholars at Post-Doc/ PhD/ MPhil levels and Research Fellows.
- Our faculty members during the last 5 years have participated in 1131 refresher courses, workshops, orientations, FDPs, and induction programmes.
- The IQAC initiatives, In-house Interdisciplinary Research and Innovation Projects Scheme, PRABODH, and Central Instrumentation Facility are steps towards establishment of the Research and Development Cell in the College.
- Under the Vidya Vistar Scheme of the University of Delhi the College has signed MoUs with two colleges in Uttarakhand under the Scheme to promote capacity building and institutional collaboration.
- The college has signed MoUs with Netaji Subhas University of Technology and Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University, Barabanki, to foster the research environment and provide opportunities for enhancing the technical skills and research temperament.
- During the pandemic the entire teaching learning process successfully shifted to an online mode as a result of sincere attempts from the IQAC of the College.
Placement Activities

The primary objective of the Placement Cell is to provide job and internship opportunities to students. It also organizes workshops and seminars on career related matters. The Cell organizes a Job and Internship Fair annually. Some of our placement partners are GENPACT, KPMG, Wipro, Indigo, BYJU’s, Concentrix, TresVista, E&Y and L&T. The Placement Cell of the College signed up for Coursera for Campus Program which provided free access to around 4000 online courses from leading universities till 30th September, 2020. More than 2800 students registered for this program.

Student Enrichment Initiatives

- - The College has signed an MoU with National Productivity Council, GoI, to facilitate capacity building and entrepreneurial activities. A 3-months’ course in ‘Internship in Information Technology’ was mutually designed and successfully completed with a batch of 12 students from Delhi NCR.
  - The College as a network institute of the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun, a constituent unit of ISRO, GoI, has offered 6 courses on the Basics of Remote Sensing, Geographical Information System and Global Navigation Satellite System.
  - The Placement Cell of the College collaborated with Coursera for Campus Program, which provided free access to around 4000 online courses, for which more than 2800 students registered.
  - The Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Cell of the College has signed 31 MoUs with various institutions to offer opportunities for skill upgradation through various courses.
  - Field visits and academic trips are regularly organized for the students to augment out of classroom learning.
  - The College conducted a one-week Export Development Programme and a workshop on “Industrial Motivation Campaign (IMC-Y) for Youth”in collaboration with MSME Development Institute (MSME), GoI.
  - The IQAC organized a workshop on “Features of National Career Service” in collaboration with National Institute for Career Services, Ministry of Labour & Employment (GoI).
  - In collaboration with NIESBUD, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, GoI, the College organised a 5-day Entrepreneurship Awareness Camp, 1-week FDP on “Entrepreneurship, Motivation and Leadership” and offered short term e-courses.
  - The College provides internship opportunities to the students from other colleges and universities in science and library science courses.
  - The IQAC organized Counseling sessions in collaboration with Zyego for the mental and psychological well-being of all stakeholders.
  - Students were adequately trained in the use of ICT to facilitate online mode of teaching learning through several training sessions and webinars.
Teaching-Learning Pedagogy

The faculty of the College believes in using innovative, participative, experiential and interactive pedagogies to enhance the quality of the teaching-learning process through the use of ICT tools and technologies. The College has a fully functional recording studio, easy access to e-resources/journals and a repository of uploaded lectures. The pandemic saw a shift from physical to the virtual mode of teaching-learning, through platforms like G-Suite, MS Teams, LMS Moodle and Zoom. Webinars/workshops were organized on Zoom and Facebook to train the students and staff in this regard.

The IQAC reviews the efficacy of the teaching-learning process through assessment of the lesson plans, Student-Faculty Committees, Mentoring Groups and Feedback Mechanism. The Student-Faculty Committees meet regularly to discuss scholastic and co-scholastic areas. The feedback is duly analyzed and is used in planning and executing the development plans of the institution.

Towards Green Campus

The college administration works on the several facets of ‘Green Campus’ including Water Conservation, Tree Plantation, Waste Management and Paperless Work. The College received Green Campus award from the Women’s Agency for Generating Employment in 2017 and the Clean Campus award from the International Association of Educators for World Peace and Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) in 2017.

In 2020, the college was recognised as the ‘Swachhta Action Plan Institution’ and in 2021, College received recognition for its exemplary performance in Swachhta Action Plan, Green Campus Initiative “One District One Green Champion” by the Mahatma Gandhi National Council of Rural Education, Ministry of Education, GoI.

The College has:

- - - Strict ‘No Plastic Policy’ and adequate signages displayed in this regard.
    - Strict ban on burning of dried leaves and waste paper.
    - 12 sets of green-blue and 7 sets of green-red-blue garbage bins.
    - A Garbage Room.
    - Chemical waste from Chemistry and Zoology laboratories is segregated.
    - Vast green cover acting as a good carbon sink and a productive oxygen park.
    - Gardens watered using a drip/sprinkler irrigation system.
    - ARSD is the first College to implement this project conforming to the guidelines of Central Ground Water Board with a vast area reserved for rainwater harvesting units along with a rainwater storage tank.
    - A 1260 square feet compost pit used as a vermicomposting unit.
    - MoUs and other arrangements with agencies such as Jaagruti Waste Paper Recycling Services and PomPom Recycling Private Limited for management of degradable and non- degradable waste.
    - A functional Paper Recycling Unit.
    - Eco Club, sponsored by the Department of Environment, Govt. of NCT Delhi, working to raise awareness about environmental concerns, tree planting initiatives and campaigns.
    - Ground and first floor building retrofitted and earthquake proofed.
    - Porta Cabins and third floor building constructed using sustainable and eco-friendly materials such as bamboo.
    - Green audit conducted since the last three years for solid waste, electricity and energy, water and wastewater, hazardous waste, air quality and green inventory including carbon sequestration and carbon footprints.
    - Regular conduct of tree census in the College.
    - Airy and Energy efficient College Building and classrooms.
    - Reuse of single sided used papers for writing and printing in all departments.
    - Metal waste and wooden waste stored and given to authorized scrap agents for further processing.
    - Few glass bottles are reused in the laboratories.
    - Lab staff of the College and other stakeholders adequately trained in e-waste management.
    - In an effort to go paper free, the Accounts Section provides salary slips, form 16, TDS certificates etc. in soft copy.
    - LEDs and solar panels installed to ensure sustainability in energy usage.
    - Installation of a sewage treatment plant is in progress.
    - Facilities for differently abled staff and students: provisions for ramps, wheelchair, tactile pathways, Divyangjan -friendly washrooms and teaching-learning aids and softwares in the library, Divyangjan accessible website compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
    - Restricted entry of automobiles and pedestrian friendly pathways.
Alumni Engagement

The College has a registered Alumni Association and wishes to involve its alumni in a meaningful manner for the benefit of the students and the institution. It has its own website. The College holds an annual Alumni Meet, Confluentia, that serves as a forum to celebrate alumni achievements, connect and network, and for the alumni to inspire the College body. College also confers distinguished alumni awards.

The Alumni contribute to the corporate life of the institution in the following essential ways:

- - Alumni participate in talks and events, and organize workshops to provide a hands-on learning experience and industrial exposure to current students. They also provide career advice and counselling. Rangayan has a longstanding tradition of an alumni performance during the annual theatre festival.
  - Alumni contribute to scholarships and bursaries of the institution, aiding meritorious students in need. Every year ₹50,000/- per annum is contributed by the Alumni Association towards freeships. An alumnus, Mr. Uday Turuga has given an amount of ₹1,00,000 to the College as endowment fund in the memory of Late Dr K. C. Trikha, a superannuated faculty member of the Department of Chemistry, ARSD College, to be awarded to the best student of BSc Hons Chemistry. Gaurav Mohan Sharma, a distinguished alumnus and Director, Alvaro Group, has also donated an endowment fund of ₹3,00,000 towards 3 scholarships of 5000/- to needy and meritorious students of BA Hons Economics.
  - During the pandemic, Mr. Gaurav Mohan Sharma, Director, Alvaro Group, a distinguished alumnus, donated four oxygen concentrators—one for the College and three to the University of Delhi. The College offered a full fee waiver to 12 students who had lost their parents to COVID-19 in collaboration with Gargi and Vidya Prakash Foundation through the efforts of our alumnus, Mr. Rajnikant, General Secretary, Alumni Association.
Institutional Social Responsibility and Outreach Activities
- - NSS has adopted Sriram JJ Cluster under the initiative “SEVADEEP” and runs awareness drives, self-defence programmes, health check camps etc., in collaboration with Connecting Dreams Foundation. Volunteers interacted with SDMC officials addressing water and sanitation issues of that slum.
  - Rangayan organized street plays and a Theatre Training Workshop for the children of the slums.
  - The Women Development Cell empowers students by creating awareness about socio-political, cultural and legal issues relevant to women through talks, workshops and symposiums. The Cell organized several events, including its annual 10-day Self-Defence Training Workshop in collaboration with Delhi Police, gender sensitization workshops, panel discussions, and interactive sessions with resource persons from a wide cross-section of society.
  - Equal Opportunity Cell, in collaboration with Help the Blind Foundation, Hong Kong, has been providing financial assistance worth ₹10,000/- each to 6 visually-challenged students.
  - The College distributed motorized wheelchairs, scooties, and Apple MacBook Air laptops to differently-abled students of Delhi University as part of its MoU with SDRS
  - Enactus ARSD, through its projects, has impacted more than 1500 lives and created 8 entrepreneurs.
- Pandemic Initiatives:
- - Donated groceries, masks etc. to assist those in need and organized awareness campaigns in adopted villages.
  - Crowdfunded an ex-student, Chandan Kumar, to continue with his studies.
  - Mr. Gaurav Mohan Sharma, an alumnus, donated four oxygen concentrators for the College and the University.
  - NSS trained the slum children in the use of ICT
  - Offered full fee waiver to 12 students who lost their parents in the collaboration with Gargi and Vidya Prakash foundation through the efforts of our alumnus, Mr. Rajnikant.