1. Title: Womenpreneurs: Unleashing the Power of Female Entrepreneurs
2. Objectives of the Practice
To establish innovation and entrepreneurial activities in the institution.
To create an innovation hub for budding entrepreneurs and faculty.
To create employment opportunities for students.
To enhance the livelihood of marginalized female student community of our college and nearby community through our incubation centre.
To organize business model canvas, boot camps, hackathons, creative idea pitching competitions.
To build industry-academia interaction to catalyse innovation and sustainable ecosystem for entrepreneurship within campus.
To foster entrepreneurship skills and to facilitate financial empowerment among students through the Institutional Innovation Council.
3. The Context
In today’s higher education scenario, the focus is on promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. The promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship in colleges helps in developing creativity, reasoning, problem-solving, adaptive qualities, and skills needed in the present world. A complete ecosystem is required to foster the culture of Innovation from ideas generation to pre-incubation, incubation, and graduating from the incubator as a successful start-up. The key purpose of IIC is to tap out the start-up ideas of the students and to encourage a mindset of continuous learning, creative thinking, and increased innovation among the student community. Establishing IIC in the institution leads to showcase entrepreneurial activities and achievements of our students to the national level. It serves as a platform for the students to establish ties with the industry and to learn from the inspiring stories of entrepreneurs.
4. The Practice
Our institution has established the Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) as per the norms of Innovation Cell, MoE, Govt. of India in September 2019. Since its inception, IIC has been consistently organizing training and interactive sessions on various topics related to innovation, entrepreneurship, and start-ups, like Problem Solving, Ideation, Design Thinking, Critical thinking and Innovation Design, IPR, planning for start-up, its legal and ethical steps, Prototype Validation, BMC, Idea Validation etc. Around 115 entrepreneurial activities were conducted by IIC from September 2019 to May 2023 related to entrepreneurial skill development, and hands-on training. Intending to encourage students to take up entrepreneurship, the Institute has established an in-house incubator, to provide an incubation-cum-entrepreneurial eco-system. The incubator provides a platform for students to develop their creative thinking and manufacture new products to address the challenges faced by the industry and society, and thus become future job providers. An automated Mushroom cultivation unit has been set up by the students to ensure the production of high-quality mushrooms. Students are trained in mushroom farming, and incubator provides technical support and seed funding to students to develop innovative mushroom food products, and other value-added products.
Student Orientation, Student Development, and Faculty Development Programmes are organized to encourage women’s entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Boot Camps are conducted every year and our students have bagged prizes. IIC has signed eight MOUs with industry, NGO, and other organisations for internships, project works, training programmes, and outreach programmes. Training and exposure are provided to students to build confidence and prepare them for a career. IIC of our college has collaborated with StartupTN to conduct entrepreneurship boot camps and various Entrepreneurship development programmes. IIC has collaborated with EDII Tamilnadu for conducting awareness programmes on Tamilnadu Student Innovators Programme (TNSI). TNSI provides opportunity for students to present their innovative solutions to identified validated problem statements. The selected ideas are awarded with 1 lakh for further development to prototype.
An active Stitching Unit, Fashion Hub, an initiative by faculty and students to develop skills in tailoring and embroidery started in 2022. Workshops on Production of Soap and Consumer Products, Toy Making, and Fabric Painting have been organized to provide students with hands-on training and to motivate them to become self-reliant and independent. As IIC is under the umbrella of MoE, our students get opportunities to participate in National and International level Hackathons and interact with eminent business personalities and academicians to enhance their entrepreneurial skills.
5. Evidence of Success
The institution received Star Ratings of 5/5,4/5, 3.5/5, and 3.5/5 for AY 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022, and 2022-23 respectively for its performance from the MoE’s Innovation Council.
Recognized Mentor Institute under Mentor–Mentee scheme of IIC, MoE since September 2023.
Seventeen faculty underwent Basic and Advanced level Innovation Ambassadors training conducted by MoE, IIC. They mentor and support students and faculties in innovative endeavours.
Active “Fashion Hub”.
Received the best creative poster appreciation certificate and memento in the IIC Regional Meet-2022 held at Kochi.
Certificate courses in Mushroom cultivation, Aari-work, and Fabric Painting.
IIC provides the required infrastructure that enables students and faculty to develop innovative ideas and Business Model canvas, through incubation unit.
Innovation initiatives like Experiential Boot Camp for Girl Students and Faculty to work on sustainable development goals for a better future.
An exposure visit to Kanyakumari Parakkai Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture and Training on Preparation of Value-Added Fishery Products created awareness on initiating small-scale entrepreneurship among college girls.
Conducted an Entrepreneurship Outreach Programme on Soap-making to self-help women enhancing their skills and motivating small-scale businesses with minimum capital requirements from within the comfort of their homes.
6. Problems Encountered and Resources Required
Arranging funds for the growing startups is a pressing concern.
The development and execution of the initiatives have to be done in tandem with the routine academic responsibilities of the staff. Hence, more projects will have to be brought in by students and faculty, which can be performed as a part of the regular curriculum.
BEST PRACTICE 2
Women of Impact
1. Title: Women of Impact: Promoting Gender Equality and Community Development for Social Change
2. Objectives of the Practice:
To inculcate ethical standards and create awareness of social responsibilities.
To raise awareness and promote the adoption of sustainable practices towards the environment and society among staff and students.
To develop an institutional social action programme to link and involve different groups in our community and offer different means of collaboration.
To raise awareness and promote the adoption of habits and behavior by students, faculty, and services staff, in line with a more sustainable vision of the organization.
3. The Context
Education is not just acquiring degrees but a medium that leads to a change in the outlook of the society. In today’s scenario, higher education is a beacon of personal, institutional and societal development. Sree Ayyappa College for Women is committed to social responsibility, a concept that includes the dimensions of social responsibility whose strategic focus is made up of social and environmental responsibility, ethics, and sustainability. We believe that these three dimensions should be incorporated and integrated, in an interdisciplinary manner, aligned with our mission and vision of the college. This has resulted in a Campus Community Connect initiative by NSS Units, Red Ribbon Club, and Anti-Drug Club of our college. The faculty and students are encouraged to collaborate with other organizations to carry out community social outreach programmes.
4. The Practice
The college supports all the programmes that inculcate gender equity and social responsibilities in the young students as well as the community. There are clubs and cells like NSS, YRC, Rotaract Club, Red Ribbon Club, Women’s Cell, Antidrug Club that strive to promote gender equity and to spread awareness on the need for a social change. The NSS units, Red Ribbon Club, and Antidrug clubs provide their members and students platform to discuss common issues of social responsibility. These clubs identify issues which have an impact on society and the environment. The Coordinators and Programme Officers of the clubs discuss and develop best practices and plans of action in response to specific issues beneficial to society. The three units of NSS club motivate the young students, help them to plan, implement, and evaluate the activities, and give proper guidance and directions to the student volunteers.
The College Community Connect involves extension and outreach activities which are carried out via different channels of the institute such as various social clubs, National Service Scheme (NSS Club), Youth Red Cross cell, Red Ribbon Club, and Antidrug club. These clubs organise mass drives on creating awareness on environmental and social concerns like drug abuse, management of natural resources, etc. Special focus is given to the health and hygiene by organizing health camps, cleaning drives in the adopted village, awareness programmes on eradication of Breast Cancer and AIDS, and blood donation camps for the public. Our college also encourages NSS Programme Officers and Student Volunteers to participate in the Republic Day Celebrations in New Delhi, and State-level and National-level Camps.
5. Evidence of Success
NSS, RRC and Anti-Drug Club conducted the following programmes in the academic year 2022-23:
Mass tree plantation drive in association with OISCA International.
Massive awareness-cum-Pledge taking programme against Drug abuse.
Awareness to the Public on respecting the National Flag.
Awareness programme to Government School Children about the importance of nutritional diet.
Awareness programmes on breast cancer, AIDS, Drug abuse, Traffic Rules, and Road Safety, Zero waste management, Water management, and Environmental Conservation.
One Day Preventive Health Care Camp.
Organised Blood Donation Camps.
Yoga awareness and demonstration session
Cleaning Drive in the NSS Adopted Village
One-day free medical camp for the benefit of the public in adopted villages.
Cleaning Drive in Government Schools
Participation of NSS Volunteer and Programme Officer from Unit No 97 of Sree Ayyappa College for Women in National level Adventure Programme, Himachal Pradesh, and in the National Integration Camp as the Contingent leader of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University respectively.
A webinar on “Equalize – a call to action to aid in the eradication of AIDS.
Awareness programme on ‘HIV Prevention among Transexual Populations: Knowledge Gaps and Evidence for Action’.
6. Problems Encountered and Resources Required:
Building a socially responsible mindset requires a constant effort for attitude transformation in the student community.
Programme funding is a considerable challenge as the Connect programme competes with human basic need priorities. The institute provides diversified opportunities to students in college to develop their personality through society-beneficial services.
Students and teachers had to face hostility and aversion from the ignorant public while rendering community services like sanitation awareness, mass tree plantation, various training programmes for self-help groups and rural youth, etc.,
Resources Required:
Collaboration with Industries, Government organizations, and NGOs to support community connect programmes.
Allocation of service-oriented schedule within the curriculum framework.
