Dr. S. Padmavati has been working as the Principal of Shri Shankarlal Sundarbai Shasun Jain College for Women, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She has done Jainology, Diploma in Hindi Translation, B. Ed., M. Ed., B. Com, M. Com, M. Phil. and PhD as part of her academics. She has published 14 Research Papers in various national and international journals. Before joining Shasun College, she has worked as PGT Teacher, Department Head and as Chief Excellence Officer in reputed academic institutions. She has also worked as M. Phil and PhD guides to help students in completing their projects and has many awards on her name. She is a lifetime member of Indian Commerce Association.

Shri Shankarlal Sundarbai Shasun Jain College For Women Chennai

When you joined SSS Shasun College, what was your vision for it and how are you trying to achieve the same?

"To make this institute best in line with international standards, for students to pursue their dreams"

When I joined this college, my vision was to make this institute a center of excellence in line with world class standards and give such an ambiance to students which can promote creative learning on campus and help them realise their actual potential and in their holistic development. And to fulfill my objective, we are adopting innovative teaching methods and encouraging our staff members to learn new techniques, updating our college infrastructure, responding to the changes both in technology and applications, associating with leading industries and research institutions and have made a commitment to comply with all legal requirements.

How does your college prepare its students for placements?

"By organizing placement based trainings and panel discussions with Alumni"

The Placement Cell of our college plays a crucial role in locating finest job opportunities for students by constantly maintaining good relationships with reputed firms and industrial establishments. This cell organizes a series of placement related training in partnership with Esquare Training Consultants Pvt Ltd, career guidance workshops and competition for the students in collaboration with Global Talent Track Private Limited. Apart from this, panel discussions with prominent Alumni helps us to know about corporate expectations from us from the placement perspective. Our top recruiters are Infosys, Wipro, CTS, TCS, HCL, Capgemini, Wipro, Sutherland, McKinsey, E&Y, HDFC, Star Health Insurance and total 776 students have been placed in various sectors like IT, ITES, Finance & Accounts, Banking & Insurance and Health care sectors. The cell has achieved a stellar record of 94% placement in the last academic year. 

What is your philosophy of leadership? 

"True leadership is giving your team equal opportunities to speak, learn and grow"

I strongly believe in a decentralized and participative kind of leadership and management. And being a Principal, I make sure my support, guidance and supervision is available whenever my team needs it. Here in our college Principal, Vice Principal, Directors, IQAC Members, HoDs, faculty and administrative staff are empowered to propose, design, formulate and execute their plans within the framework of governance. In addition to this, Directors, Programme Coordinators, Head of Departments are given administrative powers to execute and monitor day to day academic activities. And faculty members have leadership roles in statutory bodies, institution-level committees, clubs and associations.

How do you strategize and update the curriculum to make it befitting for the students?

"We update it regularly to inculcate new programs, and value added courses"

We follow the curriculum designed by the University of Madras which gets updated every 5 years and our college has adopted the Choice-Based Credit System and some of the prominent features of it are cited below.

  • It permits students to learn at their own pace and they can choose electives from a wide range of elective courses offered by the University.
  • Students can use an interdisciplinary and interdisciplinary learning approach.

Additional value-added courses are also offered to students to acquire more than required number of credits and these courses are developed and approved by members of an expert committee from various institutions and organizations. 

What do you think should be the College's top priority over the next 10 years?

"To produce best future leaders and professionals by giving them finest education and amenities"

In the upcoming years, our objective is to make our students capable enough so that they can contribute equally in the growth and development of society and nation. Our college also aims to produce national leaders, entrepreneurs and bureaucrats by providing them specialized coaches for civil services preparation. Together with all this, we are planning to offer leadership programmes, capacity building, design thinking, life skills, online skill education, financial technology, liberal education and multidisciplinary courses to students. 

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Which extracurricular activities are organized in college to enhance the skills of students?

"Activities like environment events, fitness exercises, comedy and drama and debates are conducted by us"

We have numerous clubs such as Environment Club, Debate Club, Fitness Club, Leo Club, Readers Sail Club, Red Ribbon Club, Heritage Club, Humour Club along with NCC and NSS Club in order to organize the extension activities, community outreach programs, fun events and activities for students. In addition to this, we have Shasun Civil Aspirants Leadership Empowerment Wing to prepare students for prestigious competitive government exams and State public services, She Cell to focus on educating women on various dimensions like legal rights, gender equality and equity, health and hygiene, leadership, building an identity and healthy living, Shakthi Cell to offer courses on cultural arts and give a platform to students for exhibitions and Shasun Knowledge Advocacy Lead Program to provide certificate courses and to enhance learning and knowledge.

How do you bring in a practical and practical approach towards subjects?

"By offering MOOC courses to students and arranging events like professional visits and seminars"

For the purpose of bridging the gap between academia and industry, we regularly organize events like guest lectures where industry experts from various sectors are invited to give inputs on the latest technologies, software programs and research opportunities present in the outside world. And workshops and seminars are organized to provide practical hands-on experience to students on the topics they learn in classrooms. Internship programmes are also offered to the students. Lastly, we continuously encourage our students to do MOOC courses and industrial visits are arranged for each final-year student to make students aware about how things, people and processes work synchronously in companies. 

How does your college enhance the faculty skills and prepare as per industry standards?

"They are trained through FDPs, seminars, conferences, professional development programs and government projects"

The Internal Quality Assurance Cell and each department in collaboration conduct 7-days faculty development programs for all the college faculty. Apart from FDPs, we conduct regular seminars, conferences and workshop series on academic journal writing, obtaining intellectual property rights, patents and copyrights etc. We also encourage them to participate in the Professional Development Programs organized by Andhra Chamber of Commerce, Hindustan Chamber of Commerce, Madras Management Association and Confederation of Indian Industry etc. and training is provided to them by MOOC Courses. The Centre of Excellence in collaboration with National Skills Development Corporation, Government of India provides skill enhancement programs and forums to the faculty to develop skills like web designing, AR and VR, data analytics and accounting software etc.in them. Lastly, opportunities are given to faculties to work on various government projects in the Education Department, Greater Chennai Corporation initiatives, CSR projects and collaborations etc.

What are some of the greatest strengths of your college and how can it be enhanced?

"Our technically empowered infra, domestic and foreign alliances and our faculties makes us strong"

Our main pillars of strength are our MoUs with industry experts and government bodies, collaboration with national and international forums, students and faculty exchange programs with international bodies. Next thing which makes us resilient is our technology enabled infrastructure and ICT enabled education system. The specialized Centres of Excellence for Retail, Media, Entertainment and Communication to offer services in the areas of computer graphic design, audio video production, professional photography and animated videos and Art & Culture wing to create awareness, study, teaching, performance, research & documentation of the arts from India and Abroad are few other pillars of strength for us.

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Which challenges are you facing to uplift the education quality of your Shasun Jain College?

"Hurdles are there in getting government approvals to fund research projects and expanding foreign alliance"

I believe both research and publications are significant aspects in leveling up the quality of education in an institution. Although we regularly organize workshops and seminars, conferences on various topics like journal writing, IPR, Patenting, contemporary developments in the respective fields etc. However, we face challenges in securing government grants for funding research projects, increasing foreign collaborations and no. of paper presentations in international conferences by the students. In addition to this, we face issues in reaching out to some significant Alumni of ours and in maintaining consistent long term professional association with them.