Motto:Empowered to Empower

Vision:Promote Holistic Development and Empowerment of Women

Vision:Promote Holistic Development and Empowerment of Women

Objectives

• To educate and create awareness among women on the importance of women’s  
• To enhance the self-esteem and self-confidence of women.
• To cultivate leadership skills in women and guide them in different fields.
• To sensitize students on serious gender issues and create awareness on exploitation of women

Best Practices

1. Celebrating International Women’s Day and training them to take part in the inter-collegiate competitions related to women empowerment.
2. Encouraging students to participate in the Medical Camps.
3. Helping the under privilegedin the old age home and orphanages.
4. Conducting rallies to create awareness among women against sexual abuse and violence.
5. Organizing seminars and awareness talks related to women’s issues.
6. Motivating the students to participate in intercollegiate competitions to inculcate leadership qualities.
7. Giving hands on training to promote entrepreneurial skills

The Centre for Women Studies was instituted to act as a catalyst for promoting and strengthening women studies through Teaching , Training, Extension, Library, Publication, Seminars , Workshops, Networking and Coordinating with other agencies. Women’s Cell in Holy Cross College was formed in1983 to give awareness to the students on gender equity. Women Studies is an interdisciplinary study of women and society.

             Women’s issues are taken into consideration by the Centre for Women Studies through Women’s Cell. The aim of the Women’s cell is to create awareness and to stand for women’s empowerment, social justice and self-dignity. International Women’s day is celebrated every year and various competitions are held in connection with that. From 2018-2019, the cell with its newer version of ‘Crossian Centre for Women Studies’ has taken a new dimension in the functioning of  women’s cell and women studiesactivities. It motivates the students to change the attitude of the society, their role in decision making and imparting knowledge on women’s legal rights.

Objectives

1. To raise public awareness about gender discrimination and the unequal status of women and men, by arranging workshops, seminars, conferences and extension activities.
2. To empower women in their struggle against inequality and for effective participation in all areas of society and development.
3. To sensitize people to acknowledge and appreciate women’s roles in society.
4. To contribute to the pursuit of women’s rights.
5. To generate awareness about the significance of women in society.

Activities of Women Studies Centre

From 2005-2006 onwards, a certificate course on women studies had been opted by the students of women’s cell. In 2010-2011, when the curriculum was revamped, the course on women’s studies became one of the Foundation Courses and was made mandatory for all the UG students as a certificate course with an extra credit. The external component for the course on women studies was mime/ role play based on women’s issues. Realizing the impact of Women’s studies in 2016-2017,  the curriculum was restructured and the course on ‘Women’s Studies’ was made a mandatory course under part IV (Foundation Course). In 2017-2018, this course was incorporated within the curriculum for all UG students.

The Department of Tamil has opted a course on Feminism for III UG students.

Moreover, 30 hours of UGC Sponsored training programme was  extended to  students which included Mock  trail, Moot court, Court trail and Court Procedure in 2016.

As part of the extension programme, several homes for the aged and orphanages are being frequently visited by the students of the cell.

The Women study Centre has separate book collections. The College Library has a good number of books and journals on women studies.

          Our staff members have published17 Research articles related to women issues.

Seminars and Workshops are conducted to promote awareness on women related issues.

1. District Employment office, Nagercoil
2. Social Welfare office, Nagercoil
3. Puthiyathalamurai TV channel
4. NGO- Sneagham organization
5. District Court, Nagercoil

Objectives

• To develop the skills and the aesthetic sense of the students in general and also to provide livelihood to students from the socially backward stratum.
• To provide an opportunity to take up employment oriented / skill based courses enabling the students to be financially independent in future.

History

     Skill Development Program has been given to the UG students since the 1990s in order to create in them self-confidence and motivate them towards self-employment and to develop the skills on voluntary basis. When the autonomous status was conferred to the college in 2007-08, each course given under skill development programme earned one extra credit for the students. In 2010-11 when the curriculum was restructured, the skill based courses have been made mandatory for all I UG students with one extra credit under the title “Holy Cross Academy”. From 2016-17 onwards the skill based courses were included in the curriculum under Part V for all students.

       The courses given under the “Holy Cross Academy” varies depending upon the needs of the students. Students can choose any one of the courses based on their choice and interest. The courses offered during 2018-19 are

1. Basic Beauty and Hair Dressing
2. Bright face and beauty Hair Style
3. Tailoring
4. Catering
5. Doll Making
6. Hindi
7. Tally
8. Jewel Making
9. Music
10. Artificial Bouquet Making
11. Painting
12. Web designing
13. Hand Embroidery
14. Aari work

These courses are offered only on holidays / Saturdays from 9.30 a.m - 2.30 p.m for 10 days by experts from outside.

Aim

The main objective of Entry Level Services is to motivate and guide the students to write competitive examinations.

Every year nearly 50 students are selected and they are motivated and guided by experts in this field. Moreover, special programmes are also arranged.

Soft Skill Training Programme

The following topics are covered in soft skill training programme

• Discovering Self
• Goal Setting
• Leadership Qualities
• Career Action Plan
• Public Speaking Skill
• Time Management
• Decision Making Skill
• Stress Management

Orientation on Competitive Examinations

            The orientation on eligibility criteria, syllabi and the examination pattern for different competitive examinations are provided to the students.

“Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world” – Hilary Clinton.

The Entrepreneurship Development Cell of our institution aims to develop an entrepreneurial temperament and impart career skills to the students’ educational setting. This is to ensure that the students are well equipped while they take up entrepreneurial ventures and careers which will result in economic independence and stability.

History

During the initial years, Entrepreneurship Cell, being merged with Career Guidance Cell functioned as a single unit under the name “’Career Guidance and Entrepreneurship Cell’. The activities of this cell included campus drives; coaching classes; motivational talks etc. To enhance thrust on entrepreneurial activities, the above cell was bifurcated and the Entrepreneurship Development Cell began to function as an individual unit from the academic year 2016-17.

Objectives

• To conduct survey for identifying the entrepreneurial aptitude/skills of our students.
• To organize skill based courses to facilitate earn while you learn scheme.
• To train students to extract wealth from waste and market them.
• To train the students in entrepreneurial skills through workshops and camps.
• To organize sales exhibition within the campus in order to improve marketing skills of students.
• To introduce the students to fund availability in the forms of subsidies and loans.
• To facilitate interaction with experts, professionals and businessmen to enrich the students knowledge on business opportunities and management skills.
• To effect product promotion through collaboration with NGOs and business personalities of our locality.

Proposed Entrepreneurial Ventures

• Organic farming (organic garden and organic manure)
• Tailoring in collaboration with textiles
• YouTube channel
• Jewel making
• Doll making
• Artificial flower making
• Pickle making

Objectives

• To prepare students through motivational talks to face the challenges in career life.
• To organize Orientation programs on various career opportunities.
• To organize two wheeler and four wheeler driving programs and dual degree programs as a part of empowering the students.
• To provide service through campus interviews and job placements.
• To empower women with leadership skills.

Environmental awareness is an integral part of education. The Centre for Environmental Studies is an active body of Holy Cross College aimed at evoking the necessity and responsibility of students to grow up as responsible  human beings who know to respect, protect, and preserve  nature and all its diverse flora and fauna from anthropogenic  afflictions, and present it to the future generations just as God has given it to us.

The centre achieves  its goal of spreading environmental concern among the students by promoting research on biodiversity of the district and by its numerous resources for promoting environmental awareness like informational and inspirational seminars,environmental books and brochures which are just a few of the tools that can get the students involved in promoting the environmental concern.

The environmental initiatives and ventures are taken forth by Centre for Environmental Studies through ECO CLUB which devotes its activities towards keeping the campus plastic-free and maintains the hygiene and cleanliness of the college. The Centre for Environmental Studies also has a GREEN AUDIT TEAM for conducting environmental audits and the team implements conservation strategies and suggests methods for energy conservation, Carbon Foot Print Reduction and various other environmental issues.

Objectives

1. To foster a sense of connection to the natural world and its flora and fauna through various academic and extension programs.
2. To encourage the conservation of irreplaceable natural resources and vulnerable plant and animal species through field visits, training programs and seminars.
3. To function as a nodal centre for environmental research, biodiversity surveys and auditing to enhance knowledge and to imbibe environmental awareness on the consequences of human activities on various land and water resources and identify remedial solutions.
4. To invoke an aversion to human activities detrimental to the environment and initiate campaigns to educate the public about  these issues.

Eco-Initiatives and Projects

National and international agencies are fighting towards protecting our environment and conserving its resources. But it is also the responsibility of every citizen to use our environmental resources with care and protect them from degradation. In order to inculcate this practice among the students, the Centre for Environmental Studies of Holy Cross College, engage them in practicing environmental based research and surveys and also give awareness to the public and women in the neighbouring villages through various projects. The centre also work in alliance with the Kanyakumari District Administration through Friends for Nature Society, in which the members of Holy Cross College hold executive positions, thereby helping to serve the general public.

• Carbon Foot Print Reduction Campaign
• Swachh Bharath Mission
• Shuttle Free Day
• Sparrow Conservation Project
• District Level awareness on Plastic Poisoning and Pollution
• Quit Plastics Campaigns
• Celebration of National and International Environmental Days
• Awareness on Environmental Pollution and Carcinogenesis
• Wetland Water Bird Count and Conservation of Birds in the District
• Palmyra tree Conservation and Planting
• Rebuilding Kanyakumari
• Energy and Water Conservation
• Tree plantation Project.

ACADEMIC PROGRAMME

We live in the environment and use the environmental resources like air, land and water to meet our needs. While meeting the ever-growing needs, we apply pressure on the environment, which exceeds its capacity to repair or replace itself.  We use environmental resources such as ground water beyond its limit of replacement, thereby losing it forever, pollute the environment with one-time plastics, vehicle emissions, use unleaded fuel, electrical appliances consuming more electricity, etc. Therefore, there is a need to create ‘awareness’ about Environmental protection and conservation. We achieve this by our self-designed curriculum on Environmental Studies Course which comprises of three modules.

MODULE I – THEORY

The curriculum for our Environmental Studies Program is based on the UGC syllabus. The text book has been authored by the Co-ordinators of the Centre of Environmental Studies, for the benefit of our students. Completion of this study program is an essential criteria for  completion of the undergraduate degree program.

MODULE  II - RESEARCH

As part of the Environmental Studies program, it is mandatory for every student to carry out research, based on the biodiversity of the region, economic value of biodiversity, conservation and protection of flora and fauna of the region.

Also, the students of the team conduct surveys on:

The Fauna of the Campus

The Floral diversity of the Campus

Butterfly biodiversity of the Campus

MODULE  III – CERTIFICATE COURSE ON “ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION”

A Course module on the general topics of public concern is being given as continuous seminar sessions during the even semester,where we host invited lectures by international and national experts and environmentalists who deal with each lecture session individually, at the end of which, the participating students are issued certificates.

Lecture 1 - Plastic Poisoning and the need to avoid plastics in daily life

Lecture 2- Environmental Carcinogenesis

Lecture 3 – Environmental Radiation and its Health effects

Lecture 4 – Pesticide Pollution and the need for Organic terrace gardens

Lecture 5 – Water Conservation Strategies

Lecture 6 – Air and Water Pollution and its effects on Living beings

Lecture 7- Population Explosion and ways to curb the issue

Lecture 8- Energy Conservation- Needs and ways

Lecture 9 –Agricultural and Food –based Entrepreneurship among women.

Lecture 10 – On the road to well-being.

The Green Audit Team of Holy Cross College focuses on Environmental Survey, Biodiversity Auditing, Motivating Environment-based Research among students &Biodiversity Documentation. Every year the team checks on available natural resources in the campus and suggests remedial measures to implement water harvesting, conservation strategies, energy conservation and newer methods to minimise consumption of energy. The team motivates students to use cycles to lessen the carbondioxide emission and bring forth a pollution free campus. (Biodiversity survey of the campus, Butterfly diversity, Flora of the campus, etc)

ECO CLUB

Save Nature for Future

 

OBJECTIVES

• To promote interest, knowledge and concern about the environment and its economic, cultural, scientific and aesthetic values.
• To provide environmental education to the rural/urban people
• To establish partnership and to exchange technological know-how with like-minded organizations involved in conservation and development of forest, environment and biological diversity.

Highlights

Keeping the college campus plastic free.

• “Plastic–Free World” awareness campaign.
• Tree planting.
• Awareness programs related to environmental issues and health.
• Solid waste management - Vermicomposting.
• Promoting organic farming.
• Wild Life week” Celebration.

Future plans – (2018 – 2019)

Theme of the year – “Quit Plastics”

• Plastic free campus.
• Health related awareness programs.
• Vana Mahotsav – planting tree saplings in the college campus and nearby Government schools.
• Awareness program on “World sparrow day “.
• “Quit Plastics” awareness rally.
• “Plastic free world” awareness campaign in nearby Government schools.
• Planting of Palmyra seeds.

Crossian Centre for Documentation collects and records data regarding the daily activities of the various departments, clubs and committees including the PTA and the Alumni. The various activities are uploaded by the faculty members through the email  hccdoc18@gmail.com. During the general body meeting the consolidated activity reports of departments, clubs and committees are presented by the documentation committee members to enable the faculty/ departments to verify the data.

Crossian Centre for Innovation and Incubation

The centre was established in the institution in 2017-’18. The objective of the Centre is to groom students towards start ups, entrepreneurship and research. It offers a new echo system for the young entrepreneur.

Crossian Centre for Human Resource Development is active in identifying and enhancing the human potential of the college. Its objective is to organize orientation programmes for the newly recruited faculty members and to conduct workshops on leadership, research, consultancy and new technologies for the staff. Personality  and professional development programs are also conducted periodically for the non-teaching staff.

It also conducts motivational sessions, executive, entrepreneurial, leadership and skill development programmes for the students.

Vision

The vision is to build the youth with the mind and spirit to serve the society and work for the social uplift of our nation

Mission

The National Service Scheme has been functioning with motto “NOT ME BUT YOU” to identify the needs and problems of the community and involve themselves in problem solving process.

Objectives

• To understand the community in which they work
• To understand themselves in relation to their community
• To identify the needs and problems of the community and involve them in problem solving
• To gain skills in mobilizing community participation
• To acquire leadership qualities and democratic attitudes
• To develop capacity to meet emergencies and natural disasters
• To practice national integration and social harmony

   Goal

Education through Community Service and Community Service through Education

UNITS

                                Units No :76, 77

There are two units and totally 200 NSS Volunteers actively participate in the NSS

Highlights

• Environment Protection
• Health Awareness Programme
• Plastic Awareness Programme
• Human Rights
• Pollution control Measures
• Disaster Management
• National Integration
• Sanitation Awareness
• AIDS Awareness
• Tree Plantation
• Safety Measures
• First Aid Training
• Voters Awareness
• Pollution Control Measures
• Women Empowerment and Welfare
• Personality Development
• Leadership Development Programme
• Blood Donation
• Social Harmony
• Swatch Bharat Programme