1.       Introduction
  In the present academic world  academic excellence is the most important tool for sustained academic growth.  Staff and student complaints are part of the academic life of any College or  academic institute. This is more so for academic institutes because they are  organizations with higher expectations from the society. As a value inculcating  organization, value practice and achieving conflict free environment are the  prime concern of the college.
 
  This policy document aims at minimizing instances of complaints and grievances  through proper teaching –learning and administrative practices and review  mechanism and prompt redressal of complaints and grievances.

The college’s policy on grievance  redressal is governed by the following principles:
  i.        Staff and  Students be treated fairly at all times
  ii.       Complaints are dealt with  courtesy and on time
  iii.      Staff and Students are fully informed of  avenues to escalate their complaints/grievances within the organization and  their rights to alternative remedy, if they are not fully satisfied with the  response of the college to their complaints.
  iv.      College will treat all complaints  efficiently and fairly and will be seen as opportunities for improvement.
  v.       The College employees must work in good  faith keeping in mind College’s policy and without prejudice to interest of the  Staff and Students.
  In order to make redressal mechanism  more meaningful and effective, a structured system is built up towards such  end. The system ensures that the redressal sought is just and fair and is  within the given framework of rules and regulations. The policy document will  be made available at all stakeholders. The concerned employees will be educated  about the complaint handling process.   

1. The Staff and Students will have the  full right to register his complaint if he is not satisfied with the services  provided by the grievance redressal cell he can give his complaint in writing,  orally or over telephone to the management. If complaint is not resolved within  given time or if he is not satisfied with the solution provided by the cell, he  will have the right to approach higher authorities for grievance redressal.

    2. Internal Machinery to handle Customer complaints/  grievances
   
  2.1 Grievance redressal system
 
  (a)     Frame work
  The Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC) of College will be  the authority to redress the grievance of Staff and Students on any related  matters raised by them. The GRC will take decisions on the grievance of them  and try to resolve the grievances. The  GRC will have five members –  Principal, Representative of the management, Member  nominated by the Staff Common Room, Member  nominated by the Administrative Staff and one of the Student Representative of  the college.

(b)     Mechanism
The grievance redressal mechanism for faculty,  staff and students is well defined and operates as follows: 

1. For Faculty

Faculty members bring their grievances to the notice of the  President/secretary of the staff common room or Principal. The receiver of the  complain inquires about the grievances and if needed brings it also to the  notice of the Chairman The Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC)

For Staff

The grievance is referred  through the sectional heads to the concerned Administrative Officer and/or  Office Superintendent or Principal.The receiver of the complain  inquires about the grievances and if needed brings it also to the notice of the  Chairman The Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC) 

1. For Students

Students refer the grievances to  the Professor in charge of  the different  Committees or Principal or student representative of GRC.
  The grievances related to the  examinations are referred to the Principal or OS
  The grievances related to the  departmental activities are represented to the concerned Head of the  Department.
  In case of major grievances, students may also approach the Chairman(GRC)  for necessary action
  The complain can be registered by e-mail or on-line through college web  site.

(c )     Meeting
The GRC will meet once a  fortnight regularly and in case of need any day after the college hrs. or  immediately in case of emergency to resolve the problems.  

POLICY REVIEW AND  APPROVAL

Management, Principal, Staff, and Student of Shri Popatlal  Dhanjibhai Malaviya College, Rajkot approves this GRIEVANCES REDRESSAL POLICY  ON 20TH June 2007.

Management, Principal, Staff and Students of Shri Popatlal  Dhanjibhai Malaviya College of Commerce, Rajkot, responsible for this policy,  will ensure a review of the policy is conducted periodically.

Academic Policy For Undergraduate Programme 

1. Introduction

This policy  document reflects academic objectives of Shri Popatlal Dhanjibhai Malaviya  College of Commerce, Rajkot and the strategies envisaged to achieve the same. 

1. Academic Objectives

The educational objectives of the undergraduates programmes of Shri  Popatlal Dhanjibhai Malaviya College of Commerce are: 

1. To impart commerce education to develop  profession skills that will prepare the students for employment in the relevant  branch of commerce and industry, as against the model that just prepares them  for post-graduate education.
 
2. To develop the capability among students so that  they have the ability to participate in creative, synthetic and integrative  activities of the relevant field of commerce.
 
3. To develop among students breathe of knowledge  so that they have familiarity with many important areas.
 
4. To develop among students ability to apply in  depth knowledge of within the branch of commerce.
 
5. To develop communication skills so that the  students are able to express ideas clearly and persuasively, in written and  oral forms.
 
6. To develop among students the awareness of, and  the competence to savvy users of information technology.
 
7. To develop ability to design and perform  experiments in the revevant discipline, and to acquire the ability to interpret  and evaluate experimental results.
 
8. To develop among students the ability to work  with others, in professional and social settings.
 
9. To create among students the curiosity, the  desire and the ability to keep learning throughout life.
 
10. To develop an understanding among students of  the human, social and business context in which they will utilize their  professional skills.
 
11. To develop a global view among students so that  they can appreciate diversity in the world and in intellectual pursuits.
 
12. To develop ability to recognize and appreciate the  importance of ethical standard in professionals ethics. 

1. The Challenges

The main challenges in designing and appropriate teaching learning  programmed to achieve these objectives are: 

1. The spread in abilities of students:

There are students at the top end who are not  sufficiently challenged if the courses are taught to include all and the low  end cannot cop up with the modern concepts. 

1. The previous training of the students does not  orient them towards commerce and professional requirements.
 
2. Even though students joining the B. Com.  Programme have learnt English as a subject or not they are admitted to the  programme so many of them do not have sufficient ability to use English for  communication at a level where they can be considered to have sufficient  proficiency in professional communication.
 
3. The hands of the college are tied in  construction of the curriculum as the college is affiliated one. 

1. Strategies to Achieve the Academic Objectives

Keeping in view the objectives and the challengers, the  following strategies will be adopted: 

1. Orientation: The teaching learning activities  will be so framed that a student would be exposed to more of technology at the  very beginning of the academic programme. The exposure to real life experiences  and Laboratory has to be increase.
 
2. Business Core: There is a vast business core  knowledge that every commerce student must have. To meet this, the academic  programme would have appropriate activities.
 
3. Terminology Orientation: Terminology forms a  very important part of commerce as a professional discipline. We intend to make  terminology training an internal part of our programme. To ensure that students  learn to use terminology, the training should be from the very beginning, and  in as many courses as possible.
 
4. Bridge in English Programme: The College will  take up a special programme for the student admission in first year without  having English as a subject at 10+2 level and will try to bridge the gap of the  knowledge required to learn the English curriculum of first year.
 
5. Diagnostic and remedial programme: The College  will administer a diagnostic test to assess the student’s ability to use the  terminology effectively. Those that are found lacking minimum required  proficiency will be advised to join a remedial programmer by self learning  modules.
 
6. Professional Orientation: There shall be a  standing committee consisting of industry professionals who will review the programmes  each year and will advise on the necessary modifications in to help students  acquire the professional orientation that prepares the professional orientation  that prepares them for immediate employment in the relevant field.
 
7. Breadth and Depth Requirements: The programme  should be so take it covers the essentials of industry requirement  in the field of commerce and industry. The  students may required to select elective subjects. Electives must be arranged  in streams of sub disciplines like Accountancy, Banking, statistics and  Information Technology. A student must choose at least one stream of four  elective.
 
8. Information Technology: In today’s  information-oriented global economy, university graduates must be good users of  information technology. That is why our programmes will use information  technology as an elective subject at every level.
 
9. Experimental Methods: It is expected that the  laboratory manuals will be carefully designed so that a student learns that  there is an experimental methodology, that it is field independent, that it has  been found reliable. The purpose of the laboratory experiments should be to  teach experimental methods to develop software and to teach experimental  methods to develop software and to obtain information rather than to express  orally. The  students also must learn the  necessity of proper error analysis. A course in self  learning modules, on line studies and  virtual  reality will be a desirable  feature in future

 POLICY ON THE RESPONSIBLE USE OF COLLEGE COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET 

1. Introduction

Shri Popatlal Dhanjibhai Malaviya College of Commerce,  Rajkot has invested much in computing resources over the last yen years and has  encouraged the College community to use these resources creatively in their  work and studies. Access to the Internet, central computers and an ever  increasing number of personal computers are assets in which we may take pride.  Their value is increases the more we take advantage of them. Therefore, the  members of the College community are encouraged to use these resources. Using  these resources in a responsible manner will protect this investment.
  The  College encourages and supports the use of information technology. The contents  of all electronic pages published using College information systems must, however,  comply with College policies, rules, and regulations, as well as local, state  and national laws. Responsible use of college computers and the Internet is  more than adhering to a set of dos and don’ts. When using College computer  resources, everyone is held to the ethical standards established by principles  commonly accepted as a guide to behavior in a community of students and  teachers. The following serve only as examples of how those standards apply to  specific areas of computer and network usage. They are not meant to be a  comprehensive list of what may or may not be done. This policy statement does  not alter any existing College policy or procedure. 

1. Copyright

Today, Relatively inexpensive devices when used in  conjunction with the World Wide Web permit the copying and publishing of  enormous quantities of material. These materials could include original work,  public domain materials, royalty-free-license-free materials, or copyrighted materials.  All electronic publications of College must follow established standards  regarding the reproduction of copyrighted materials. When questions arise  regarding the application of legal ruling and precedents to electronic  publishing, the College community will follow the standards as formulated in  the policy.
  The recommendation  is always to secure appropriate permission when including copyrighted or  trademark material such as text, photographic images, video, or graphic  illustrations, in any electronic   publication.
  These policies apply  to all users of the College computers and network facilities, including but not  limited to College students, faculty, staff, administrators and guest users. 

1. College Computers

Free access to the  College computers is a privilege that may be revoked at any time for abusive  conduct.
  Responsible  use of the college computer and network resources requires that you: 

1. Respect  the copyright of all materials with respect to their incorporation into  papers/assignments, software, presentations, multimedia applications and  Internet servers.
 
2. Respect  the rights of others by not tampering with their accounts, passwords, programs  or data.
 
3. Use  only those computer IDs and passwords for which you are intended. Do not share  your computer accounts or passwords with others. Faculty, administrators and  staff may request separate, “guest” computer IDs for immediate family members.
 
4. Avoid  overuse of the network or printing resources or the central computers’  processing power or disk storage.
 
5. Avoid  the use of College computing and network resources for private commercial  purposes unless such arrangements have been made with the appropriate College  officials
 
6. Preserve  the privacy of personal or institutional data to which you may have access.
 
7.  Choose an obscure password for system accounts  and change it frequently.
 
8. Provide  for the security of computer systems and networks for which you are  responsible. This includes, but is not limited to providing for prevention of  unauthorized access or destruction of programs and data, and providing for  adequate backups.
 
9. Regularly  delete unneeded files and E-mail from your own accounts or computer. 

1. Students Labs

The College student computer labs are  equipped with computers primarily for the academic work of our students.

Those wishing to use student computers for  constructive use are welcome to do so as long as other student computers for  constructive use are welcome to do so as long as other students are not  disturbed, delayed or inconvenienced. Recreational computer use not allowed.

Any student working on a class work,  assignment or students project has priority in the College computer labs, and  any student using a computer for correspondence, social e-mail, etc… is  expected to relinquish their computer promptly in response to a request from a  teacher, attendant or another student.

Students must show a valid ID card for  themselves when asked to do so by lab assistants or staff. Failure to do so may  result in immediate expulsion from the labs.

Loud, disruptive, intimidating or vulgar  behavior will not be tolerated in the student computer labs. Threatening,  intimidating or vulgar behavior toward lab assistants or other students or  failure to leave the labs when so ordered by lab assistants or staff will result  in the revocation of the privilege to use the College students computer labs.  The main computer labs are always quiet zones.

Students may print only one copy of a document  using the college printers by due permission. Students should make additional  copies using a copier.

Food and drink are not permitted in the  computer labs.

Use those computers designated for Internet  at the internet Lab. For any other purpose only when the general-purpose lab  computers are not available. 

1. College Network Resources and the Internet

Since Internet Lab systems are connected to  the Internet it is essential for each user to recognize his/her responsibility  in using these services and systems. The “Internet” is not a single network;  rather, it is group of thousands of individual networks that have chosen to  allow traffic to pass among them. The traffic sent out to the Internet may  actually traverse several different networks before it reaches its destination.  Therefore, users involved in use of the Internet must be sensitive to loads  placed on other systems and participating networks.

Free access to the network is a privilege  that may be revoked at any time for abusive conduct.

Such conduct includes, but is not limited to:
  • using  the network for any purposes that violate state or national laws;
  • using  the network to make unauthorized entry to other computational information  communication resources;
  • use  of another person’s account on the computer systems;
  •  tampering with network cabling or routing devices;

•  use of software or hardware designed to  disrupt the security of the network or devices on the network or devices on the  network, or to spy on the network traffic of other users;
  •knowingly  and intentionally engaging in any activity that spreads computer viruses to  campus computers on the Internet;
  •impersonating  another user in the computers, networks or in E-mail or other messages;
  •use of  abusive or otherwise objectionable languages in either public or private  messages;
  •sending  of messages that are likely to result in the loss of recipients’ work;
  •sending  of “chain letters” or lengthy unsolicited messages to lists of people;
  •distribution  of unsolicited advertising;
  And any other applications that cause serious congestion on  the campus network and interfere with the work of others. 

1. Disciplinary Action

Violators of College  policies are subject to the normal  disciplinary procedures of the College. Violations of College policies with  respect to computing and network usage may result in the loss of computer and  network access. Illegal are subject to prosecution by local, state or national  authorities.

THE POLICY ON HIV AND AIDS

  OBJECTIVES
 
Shri  Popatlal Dhanjibhai Malaviya College of  Commerce, Rajkot has a framed policy on HIV and AIDS to promote the well being  of her students and staff. The aims of this policy are: 

1. To  inform, educate and maintain awareness of HIV infection and AIDS.
 
2. To  state clearly the position of the College with respect to any student or member  of staff infected with HIV.

GENERAL  INFORMATION
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome  (AIDS) is the most serious of the conditions which can be caused by the Human  Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Most people infected with HIV are healthy but on  present evidence most will ultimately develop AIDS. AIDS, HIV has caused part  of the body’s immune system to stop functioning properly and these die from  otherwise rate conditions because the damaged immune system cannot deal  effective with them.

Transmission
HIV is transmitted through infected  blood and some body fluids (such as milk and genital tract fluids, including  semen, vaginal fluid and menstrual blood), but not through saliva or sweat. The  routes of transmission are sexual activity, injection of infected blood  (including from needle-sharing by drug abusers) or from infected mother to  foetus    /infant. High risk sexual  activities are unprotected penetrative sexual intercourse and unprotected oral  sex is menstrual blood is present. In other, non-sexual, circumstances the risk  of infection in negligible.

Occupational  Transmission
HIV transmission in normal work  situation is extremely low, and there is therefore no necessity to know who may  have HIV infection. Few jobs have direct contact with blood or blood products.

THE COLLEGE
  Point of  Contact (HIV / ADIS Advisor)
  The College accepts that an employee or  member who is infected with HIV may not wish to reveal this information to  their GP, dentist, College etc. Whilst the Collage acknowledges that there is  no obligation on the part of the person to inform the College, it nevertheless  recognizes the need for a Collage HIV / AIDS Counsellor to whom people can go  for Counselling, The HIV / AIDS Counsellor is a point of contact form any  member or employee with enquiries or worries about HIV/AIDS, and functions in  complete confidence to advice the person concerned about responsible practices  in respect of living or working in Collage. The Counsellor can liaise with the  other College professor in charge or Principal for this matter. This should be  requested by the person concerned, and give information about other sources of  support outside the College.
The Counsellor/Professor In charge has  an educational role to inform members and employees of the College about  HIV/AIDS and will consult an appropriate the co ordinating agency (Family  planning Association of India) Officer on general aspects of HIV and AIDS.

Confidentiality
Members and staff will treat all  information concerning the HIV status of individuals as strictly confidential.  Disclosure may take place only on terms agreed with the person infected with  HIV and informed consent must be obtained on each occasion. The Collage does  not supply medical information on either its members or staff.

Discrimination
The College will not discriminate  against HIV-infected individuals. It will treat them no differently from others  in respect of accommodation, employment and special dispensation for periods of  absence through ill-health.

Health  promotion
The Collage promotes education to ensure  that members and staff have a basic understanding of HIV and AIDS and know how  to minimize the risk of HIV infection. Everyone should know whom to approach  for accurate, sensitive and confidential advice.

Safety Procedures
  The College recognizes the level of  anxiety generated by inaccurate media coverage of HIV transmission at work.  Highlighting existing health and safety procedures and monitoring regularly the  effectiveness with which they are applied will ensure the extremely low  possibility of transmission is maintained.
  Worldwide  Issues
  HIV infection and AIDS occur in all  parts of the world, but certain areas, particularly sub-Saharan Africa and  parts of Asia, have an especially high incidence. Unsafe sexual practices with  people from these from these areas carry a greater risk of HIV infection. In  these countries it may be wise to take certain medical supplies for use in  emergencies.
Travel and study abroad may require HIV  testing to meet the entry regulations. Members should be informed by their  departments before commencing courses or research if these will involve visits  to countries requiring an HIV test. If a person does not wish to be tested, the  Principal will support the making of alternative arrangements.

People who are  Infected with HIV
Most people who are infected with HIV are  healthy and remain so for years. Many are unaware that they are infected. The  availability of effective drug treatment in developed countries now makes it  more important for individuals to be aware if they are infected with HIV. The  College does not consider that there is any need to change employment duties,  academic activities or facilities used if an individuals is aware of being  infected with HIV.

Special Needs  of People with AIDS
The College will support people who have  AIDS. They may choose to live and work within the College since most will  remain well and able to cope with the demands of employment or academic life  most of the time. However, there may be periods when specialized hospital care  will be necessary. The College will try to meet the specials needs of people  with AIDS just as it would for those with other disabling conditions.

Responsibility
The College expects all members and  staff to behave responsibly. Any persons who know themselves to be infected  with HIV have a special obligation in this respect. In order that members and  staff are aware of good practice at work, play, and during sexual contact, the  College, through its HIV/AIDS Counsellor: 

1. Displays  in the appropriate places guidelines on how to minimize the risk of infection.
 
2. Issues  information on HIV/AIDS to all members and employees.
 
3. Can  arrange regular voluntary HIV/AIDS awareness training sessions.
 
4. Prepares  an annual report to assist review of the College HIV/AIDS policy.

SOURCES OF HELP  AND INFORMATION

• College HIV/AIDS Prof. In  Charge Prof. Pradeep Jobanputra
• College HIV/AIDS Counsellor  Jasubhai Patel (FPAL Rajkot)