Institutional Best Practices
Best Practice - I Sustainable Practices through Green Guides – A voice to the voiceless.
- To sensitize students on environment and ecology
- To involve students in eco-friendly practices
- To observe and conduct various activities for students on environmentally significant days
- To make students participate and contribute for the animal adoption scheme
- To indulge students in trekking adventures
- To encourage students in green practices such as vehicle free day, bird feeder, appreciating bi-cyclists, waste segregation, plastic free zone, nature and wildlife photography contest, pet space, visit to zoo or wildlife sanctuaries etc.
Speaking of conservation is a fantastic idea but there are several hurdles that need to be set right before implementing the practice.
- To instill among the students the need for such initiatives.
- To come to consensus with the programmes to be conducted through the club.
- To reach out to likeminded students who have real care for and concern towards establishing a healthy and Greener world.
- To decide upon the initiatives that is feasible to our college.
- To design a plan that is innovative and interesting.
Environmental education is a part of education that transforms a person to think in a holistic perspective. It resonates the importance of a healthy and safe environment and helps one to understand and act to face and address the various global environmental issues that would worry us in future. This merely cannot be advocated in a classroom. It requires skills, mindset, orientation and action. Moreover it requires people who don’t just talk but execute their words into action by joining hands to create a better tomorrow. Thus, this initiative of our college is very unique as it focuses on the different dimensions of sustainability. It organizes several programmes that not only help in sustainability but encapsulates much more.
- Nature feel programmes like trekking help the students to realize the importance of clean and green environment.
- Animal adoption scheme is one initiative through which one can help the Zoo authorities in their efforts to conserve wildlife. It is one of the unique way through which one can show his love for animals and contribute for social accountability.
- By organizing vehicle free day we can at least make our contribution towards reducing carbon credits.
- Providing bird feed and visits to pingrapole also show our concern towards the domestic animals that are voiceless.
- Programmes such as cleaning of the campus, reducing the use of plastic and papers makes one conscious of the environment.
Thus sustainable practices can have a greater impact on the future and help mitigate environmental problems and preserve our resources. It enables innovation and promotes societal accountability.
The student volunteers took up the initiative and were able to raise funds to adopt animals from the zoo. There is also a very significant rise in the fund collected for animal adoption every year. We also see a spike in the student enrollment in nature feel programmes like trekking, walkathon and cleanliness drives. Students involve themselves in creating awareness about the importance of environment. The response that we see from the student and faculty is a clear indication that they are trying to realize the importance of sustainable environment. Apart from that, we also see that there is a steady rise in the awareness among the stakeholders about environment protection.
Problems encountered:
Initiatives are never without hurdles. Though there were no major constraints, it did take some time to sort some trivial issues to initiate with the activities of the club. The problems we came across are:
- Identifying genuine volunteers who could contribute ideas.
- Chalking out the objectives and coming to consensus with the objectives.
- Fund raising for animal adoption.
- Choosing the animal for adoption based on the fund collected.
- Practical application of the objectives of the Green guides.
- Coming to consensus regarding the choice of places for nature feel programmes.
Best Practice - II Parents Committee : Bridge between Teachers and Students
- To contribute for curriculum enrichment
- Enable transparency
- To discuss the problems of the students
- To assimilate the barriers
- To address academic and other concerns
- To state the role of parents in the age of social media
- For inputs that can enrich the academic atmosphere
- To appreciate and encourage students for their achievements.
Parents committee is a non – profit body that fosters the development of the college. Parents being one of the important stakeholders play a vital role in the development of the college. Hence, their guidance and valuable suggestions become very important to take the institution to greater heights.
- In order to provide a platform for the parents to participate, analyze, make recommendations and effectively practice the implementation of decisions on matters affecting the teaching and learning process.
- To maintain transparency in terms of academics, continuous internal assessment and evaluation.
- To foster mutual understanding, harmonious relationship and co-operation among stakeholders to achieve common goal.
- To discuss educational policies and programmes of the college.
Parental involvement is a key factor in student success. Establishing a strong contact with a parent community is one of the prime factors required for creating a healthy and transparent academic atmosphere. Hence the college believes in having a mechanism that fosters a harmonious relationship between the stakeholders especially the parents. In this pretext, the college has a well established parents committee to address the concerns of the students. The college has a well established parent committee comprising of 13 members representing each class. Each parent establishes contacts with their concerned class parents through watsapp groups. Through these groups the parents find out problems and suggestions from the other parents and place it before the committee during the meeting that is conducted once in every semester. The committee is chaired by the Chief Executive and the Principal. It has senior faculty and a member coordinator who resolve the concerns. Matters related to the achievements of the students accomplishments of the college, attendance and general concerns are addressed during the meeting. Parents also give lot of inputs for the betterment of the college.
Apart from the parent committee, we also have parents meet that is conducted twice a year. One at the beginning of the year during the orientation programme and another at the end of the academic year. During the meet several suggestions feedback and concerns are addressed. A feedback is also taken by the parents at the end. Apart from this the teachers are in constant touch with the parents through the watsapp groups. The parents are intimated regarding the performance of their ward on a regular basis.
The success of any committee depends on the positive contribution of each member in the group. Moreover it is pro active when the chairman tries to resolve the issues genuinely. Likewise, the parent committee members gave a tremendous response by attending the meeting regularly. Apart from that they positively put forth the suggestions and feedback in the committee. Every suggestion, feedback and concern was considered and addressed by the chairperson. Apart from attending the meeting the parents take part in various activities of the college actively. The same response is observed even during the parents meet, where we see most of the parents taking break from their schedule and attending the meetings.
- Selection of parent representatives to the committee was a laborious task as we had to choose parents who could really attend and contribute to the success of the meeting.
- Unwillingness of few parents to be a part of the forum.
- Few parents do not turn up despite several reminders and personal invitation.
- Few of the parents do not understand the significance of the forum.
- Some parents are just mute spectators who never make their presence felt.
Best Practice for the 4th Cycle of NAAC
BEST PRACTICE- I: Promoting Legal Education through Court Room Drama (Drama De La Corte)
• To develop a passion for art
• To build up communication skills
• To enhance oratory, argumentative and mooting skill
• To fabricate Law and Literature
• To formulate drafting and research techniques
• To ward off stage fear
• To adopt a new pedagogy within the classroom atmosphere
Law is a practical subject belonging to social sciences stream, cannot be taught and confined within a classroom set up. Hence, this practice ensures wider coverage and scope for experiential learning through an outdoor activity involving interdisciplinary aspects of Law, Language and Life.
English language proficiency and skills are the most significant requirement for a Law student. Being the first of its kind, JSSLC has taken this innovative initiative of blending Art, Law and Language to disseminate the legal practice and procedure through theatre.
The event was arranged in view of World Theatre Day This unique activity develops the spirit of team work, plethora of ideas and enhances photographic memory amongst the students. The art of script writing is learnt which improves the drafting skills of the future lawyers. One of the main advantages of this activity is that, through dialogue delivery the communication, oratory and mooting skills are inculcated. The Court etiquettes, procedures and practices are imbibed by the students through narrating, acting and simulation.
Hence, this activity sets in motion the cosmopolitan culture, coordination and paves way for a holistic learning atmosphere at the institution.
The success of this practice is quite evident from the fact that the level of enthusiasm and zeal amongst the students was at the brim. The performance and participation of the students was exemplary and commendable on stage. The stakeholders have immensely appreciated this innovative activity and have recommended the same to the other colleges.
Problems encountered and resources required:
• To cope with students who were not good at acting.
• The stage etiquettes were not known to all students.
• Time constraints.
• To coordinate the students after the class hours.
- To cope with students who were not interested and good in acting
- The stage etiquettes were not known to all students
- Time constraints
- Sharing of limited resources
- To coordinate with the students after the class hours
- Diverse opinions and interests
- The costumes that were required for the play had to be rented
- More cordless mikes were required to synchronize acting and dialogue delivery.
BEST PRACTICE-II : Community Service through Legal Aid (Nyay Samhitha)
- To create legal awareness among the general public.
- To cater to the legal problems of the society.
- To provide legal aid to the needy.
- To grant free legal counselling.
- To work in consonance with the District Legal Services Authority.
- To give practical exposure through experiential learning.
- To sensitize the learners and public about law.
In order to ensure social accountability, the institution has been organizing Legal Aid programme through legal Aid Clinic. The location of the college is an added advantage to assist a larger mass in this venture reaching out to the maximum deprived classes which is our top priority. Like CSR for corporate sectors, Social Accountability for Law institutions is the hallmark.
This practice enhances the proficiency and ethics of students in order to serve the community. The limitation of this practice is that, the beneficiaries are confined only to the villages in and around Mysuru. The active involvement of faculty and students in the functioning of the Cell is an added valour to this practice. This practice reaches out to larger masses at Suttur Jathra where legal aid and assistance is given by our students to public through demonstrations like street plays, village visits, creating awareness to the children and women on legal issues. The NSS and NCC wings of the college assists Legal Aid Clinic in functioning in an effective manner.
The citizens come forward with their problems and legal disputes to the Cell and this forum has resolved their disputes successfully. The Cell coordinates with the District Legal Services Authority, Mysuru, to make its functioning more progressive. The students have done internship in the DLSA to get a first hand exposure. The students after passing out of the institution can deal with any kind of disputes and challenges in their profession.
As the services provided is free of cost, the public have a notion that their problems may not get resolved and be addressed methodically. The time constraints due to semester scheme is one of the major obstacles of this practice, because of which, the expected outcome is not fulfilled. Another constraint is that, the local language of kannada is not known to the student community at our college because the students belong to different States across the country.
Planning to start legal aid branches of the Cell at JSS Hospital, Mysuru and in other nearby rural areas to cater to a larger community.
The workshop on mediation for the final years by International trained mediators from Bengaluru Mediation Centre, Bengaluru, assists the Legal Aid Clinic in bringing about awareness and enhance the mediation skills.
The different ADR mechanisms (Arbitration, Mediation, Conciliation and Negotiation) hones the different skills pertaining to advocacy and profession.
BEST PRACTICE-III : CONTRIBUTE TO COMBAT COVID 19
To imbibe social accountability, human values, life skills and a sense of involvement amongst the student fraternity towards the nation.
To join hands with the District administration in combating the pandemic.
To obtain parents consent.
To select of cadets, training, and availability of cadets during lockdown were some of the challenges.
The cadets and ANO assisted District Administration in manning the Helplines in Covid War Room by answering distress calls; besides giving assurance and counseling for recovery. They also provided information on availability of ICU’s, ventilators, isolation SOPs. Though Transportation and refreshments were provided, the students were apprehensive due to Covid.
The District Administration could combat the issue easily despite surging cases as the citizens and people from remote areas could get timely help and treatment. The effective decentralised administration with the help of NCC Cadets was visible through this practice.
Due to continuous calls by the public, the cadets had to cut down their break time. Maintaining SOP amongst the cadets was a challenging task.
Availability of service-minded volunteers was exigent.
The District Administration should create more avenues to include the youth in handholding the Government in such difficult times.
BEST PRACTICE -IV: ACQUAINT WITH YOUR LIBRARY
To familiarise the students regarding the library resources, services offered, facilities available and to craft them as better library users.
Digitalization, revolutionized use of database but, has snubbed the reading practice of students, hence, there is a need to infuse the library culture in them which was initially challenging.
The unique concept was initiated from 22nd October 2008. The idea behind this was to orient the students towards library culture. The first competition was to write an article on ‘I love my library because….’ and the winners are appreciated and awarded. Many such distinct competitions are continually organised.
This practice is successful and it motivates the student fraternity to participate in the competitions. The outcome of this is a drastic increase in the library users consistently and has enhanced the awareness of the students about the library resources.
To convince the students to visit the library, participate in the competitions and to orient them on the significance of enhancing their personal and professional skills was a great challenge.
This practice develops the knowledge of the library users and equips them with the library resources. It can be concluded that, ‘Nothing can replace the book.’
BEST PRACTICE -V: LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES
Examination Workshop for freshers’ aims at familiarizing the pattern of question paper, common mistakes committed, mentioning question numbers, answering etc
In order to assist for preparation of exams, as students err on the same lines, the workshop projects common mistakes of previous answer scripts to help them realize their faults.
This practice is a part of academic calendar since autonomy. The best scripts are displayed for reference. The PPT s’ guide as to how; long, short and hypothetical questions have to be analysed. The workshop ensures to minimise the mistakes and also builds their self esteem in facing the exams.
The practice assures in reducing the number of mistakes to a maximum extent. The workshop instils self- confidence and boosts the morale of the students to face the exams. The overall performance in different academic programmes is relatively better.
Despite several reminders many students fail to attend the workshop, some of them don’t pay heed to the presentation and land up making the same mistakes.
Such programs in the college widen the horizons of the students regarding their approach towards examinations. It also makes them well prepared to face any kind of assessment without hesitation.
Institutional Best Practices-VI
• To adhere to the concept that lawyers are social engineers.
• To create a better society.
• To ensure better use of human resources.
• To empower the youth of the nation.
• To contribute our part in the personality development.
• To bring about a humanistic approach towards life.
• To instill service motive amongst the students.
India being a developing country needs the awakening of its youth to make it a developed nation. In this scenario, the college students play a vital role in making a nation stand unique in its projection with other countries and that can be done only when one sacrifices his personal good for the betterment of the nation. The above said practice brings about a culture amongst the students which makes them strong to cope up with risks in their lives.
We at JSSLC believe in the concept of ‘Salus Populi Suprema Lex’ meaning the welfare of the people be supreme Law. In pursuit of this concept, the management and college have seen that the societal issues are addressed on a warfooting basis. Being a philanthropic institution, we have a holistic approach and hence we have empathized with the victims of flood hit areas in Karnataka and Kerala (201819).
Inspired by the institutional motto, the faculty and students generously donated and contributed towards this cause. The students from Kerala contributed the fund which was earmarked for Onam celebrations. In addition, the student leaders also took initiative to collect donation and materials (warm clothes, packed ready to eat food, groceries, medicines, fruits, sanitary napkins etc.) In total around Four Lakh rupees was collected and was handed over to the Coorg District Administration and the CMDRF (Chief Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund) Kerala. An alumnus of our college Mr. Ashwas who resides in Wayanad and holds a good position in BCI, Kerala, assisted our students in transporting and distributing the materials to the needy.
This is one of the incidents to prove that, the college has social accountability and responsibility towards the nation in times of emergency and necessity.
The shadow of success is evident by the facts and figures of the amount and materials collected. People supported and contributed positively to this great cause thereby encouraging and motivating the faculty and student fraternity. The success of this activity will help the students to uphold universal values and contribute to the society in future.
Any beginning will have its own short comings likewise even this practice had its own obstacles:
• It was difficult to convince the people regarding the authenticity of this initiative.
• Time Constraints were faced by the team because of a busy semester schedule.
• Transporting the materials was another problem that was faced by the group.
• Communication lapse due to network issues.