Ethics, Manuals & Policy

Women’s College, Calcutta recognizes the need to function all year round in a manner which minimizes its harmful environmental impact.

Women’s College, Calcutta’s policy has three key aspects:

  • Environmental sustainability: The Green Policy must ensure sustainability of the environment.
  • Economic viability: The policies should be economically viable.
  • Social acceptance: Social acceptance is a key to the success of the Green Policy and therefore, the social context of the community, faculty and students must be taken into consideration in the Green Policy.

To this end Women’s College, Calcutta will:

  • Minimize the quantity of non-recyclable refuse.
    • Reduce the absolute amount of waste that it produces from college kitchens and offices
    • Compost, or cause to be composted, all organic waste.
    • Recycle or safely dispose of white goods, computers and electrical appliances.
    • Use reusable resources and containers and avoid unnecessary packaging where possible.
    • Promote sensitization among staff, students and conference guests about the reuse of items and waste recycling through training and posters.
    • Dispose all waste, whether solid or otherwise, in a scientific manner and ensure that it is not released directly to the environment.
  • Reduce energy consumption, especially of energy derived from fossil fuels, in all college property
    • Give preference to the most energy efficient and environmentally sound appliances available, such as, using energy-saving light bulbs.
    • Encourage staff, students and conference guests to save energy through visible reminders. This particularly concerns turning off electrical appliances when not in use.
    • Ensures that all electronic and electrical equipments, such as computers, are switched off when not in use, and is generally configured in power saving mode when such option is available.
  • Ensure that improvements, purchases and developments are environmentally sound
    • Purchase efficient and environmentally sound appliances and consider replacing old stock with ‘greener’, more efficient alternatives.
  • Minimize misuse of water
    • Repair sources of water leakage, such as dripping taps and showers as quickly as possible.
    • Install appliances which reduce the misuse of water.
  • Minimize the use of chemical pollutants both in college by students and staff, and in college grounds by gardeners
    • Ensure that all cleaning products used by college staff have a minimal detrimental impact on the environment, i.e. biodegradable and non-toxic, even where this exceeds the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations.
    • Dispose the chemical waste generated from the laboratories in a scientific manner.
    • Reduce the practice of burning plastic and any other material that emit harmful gas on burning is prevented in the campus.
  • Ensure that the students and faculties are encouraged to plant trees in the campus.
    • Nurturing the landscape garden and the flower pots in the campus
    • Encourage the faculties and students through NSS to plant trees in the garden
  • Ensure that environmental awareness is created.
    • Conduct events such as plant trees to spread environmental awareness among the students
    • Create awareness of environmental sustainability and take actions to ensure environmental sustainability
    • Conduct environmental awareness workshops as a part of the NSS program
    • Regular observation of the World Environment Day, 5th June
  • Ensure that the buildings conform to green standards

Review architecture of existing buildings and review ways, in consultation with experts, to reduce usage of energy for such buildings, offering greatest efficiency for energy and water usage, and reducing carbon emission.

  • Ensure that the Green Policy is enacted, enforced and reviewed

There is a College Nature Club ‘Mrittika’ that is responsible for the enactment, enforcement and review of the Green Policy. The Club is the source of advice and guidance to staff and students on how to implement this Policy

  • Ensure that the Green Audit Committee will review the Green Policy on an annual basis, and will monitor progress and set measurable targets wherever possible
  • Require that every staff and student member recognizes their responsibility to ensure that the commitments in the Green Policy are properly put into practice

Policy Toward Social Commitment

  • Introduction
  • Scope
  • Principles
    • The College is committed to providing appropriate access to learning opportunities for all those who are able to benefit from them. These opportunities must however be delivered within the constraints of available resources and meet the necessary statutory recommendations.
    • The College recognizes all learners as individuals and will as far as possible meet the specific needs of each individual through counselling during admission, on-going specific and general academic guidance, career-consultation, and a range of other forms of support such as financial aid and psychological counselling.
    • The College recognizes that there are students who require additional support or special arrangements, and is committed in whichever way possible to provide the required support and arrangements, so that all students can benefit from opportunities that the College can offer.
    • To ensure smooth transition and effective articulation between the college and other providers, the college will maintain close liaison with external agencies involved in provision for, or representation of, students with additional learning requirements.
    • The college recognizes its wider community role and runs a government-registered NGO, to increase awareness of the students about the social reality and their responsibility towards human development.
    • In recognition of the needs of employers the college offers vocational courses that meet immediate employment needs.
  • Implementation
    • Strategic responsibility for commitment rests with the Principal.
    • Responsibility for strategic planning for commitment across the curriculum and student support lies with the Governing Body.
    • Responsibility for the development of coherent curriculum pathways lies with the Teacher’s Council.
    • Responsibility for comprehensive arrangements for supporting students with additional support requirements rests with the various sub-committees of the Teacher’s Council.
    • Responsibility of receiving and recording the upgradation of the faculty and the smooth functioning of the teaching-learning process rests with the IQAC co-ordinator.
  • Admissions
  • Equality of Opportunity in Accessing the Curriculum
  • Financial Support for Students
  • Staff Recruitment
  • Harassment, Discrimination and Bullying (HDB)

Quality Assurance And Improvement Policy

  • Policy Statement
    • The functioning of Internal Quality Assurance Cell
    • Annual quality Assurance Report submitted to NAAC
    • Review meetings held by key groups such as various subcommittees of the Teachers’ Council, Staff Council, different Clubs, Students’ Union, Alumni Association, periodic parent-teacher meeting.
  • Policy Scope
  • Policy Aims
    • The College aims to have robust and accurate self-assessment which leads to real improvement.
      • Analyse the capabilities of our staff through observation feedback, learner and parent voice feedback and other ways and provide the appropriate professional development to ensure they have the skills necessary to deliver outstanding practice. For teachers this will focus on the skills to deliver inspirational teaching and learning
      • Establish the aspiration for outstanding teaching and learning
      • The College aims to create successful learners.
    • The College aims to carry out rigorous action planning and monitoring through:
      • Action plans that will achieve year on year improvement
      • Rigorously monitor quality improvement plans and targets through Review meetings
      • Inform all staff, including senior management and governors on the ongoing monitoring of quality improvements
      • The college aims to achieve very high satisfaction for all of our learners, parents, staff and other stakeholders
  • Related Documents
    • Calcutta University Statutes and College Prospectus.
    • Annual Quality Assurance Report.
    • Grievance Redressal Policy and Procedures.
    • Feedback forms.

Computer And Data Use Policy

  • Introduction
  • Application

This operating policy is applicable to the entire Women’s College, Calcutta community using the College data network from any access point, internal or remote. An access to library data network (INFLIBNET AND OPAC) is made available to all registered students, all paid employees, full time, part time and casual from all locations by using their own passwords.

  • Principles
    • Computing resources are provided primarily to support the College mission.
    • College community users are expected to comply with both the State Govt. and the Central Govt. laws and the College rules.
    • Members of the College community are responsible and accountable for their actions and statements in the electronic working and learning environment, according to the disciplinary policy of their respective jurisdiction.
    • Members are expected to exercise reasonable restraint in the consumption of these valuable shared resources, and to use them in ways that do not interfere with the study, work or working environment of other users.
    • Generally, with respect to computing user accounts established for students, faculty and staff, there is a strict maintenance of privacy.
  • Unacceptable Use
  • User Responsibilities
    • Users are responsible for any and all use of their User Accounts.
    • Users should maintain secure passwords for any and all accounts assigned to them.
    • Users should ensure and safeguard against others obtaining unauthorized access to their accounts.
    • Users should not share passwords or any other access control information for their accounts.
    • Users are responsible for ensuring the confidentiality of any restricted data or information they have been granted access to.
    • Users should ensure that confidential information is not observed by others while working at a computer.
    • Users should not leave their computers unattended while logged on to their accounts.
    • Users should exercise discretion when printing confidential information which may be viewed or observed by unauthorized persons.
    • Users may not copy, send, duplicate or transmit by any means, confidential data from College systems for any purpose other than performance of College related business.
    • Users must not move, copy or transfer programs, files or other forms of software from one computing system to another without proper authorization to do so.
    • Users must not distribute, sell or make available software to any person where prohibited by copyright or license.
    • Users must not access and use software belonging to or owned by Women’s College, Calcutta without proper authorization and license rights.
  • User Restrictions
    • Users must not use College computing resources for private business use or any form of direct personal financial gain.
    • Users must not use College computing resources to build support for personal or political interest.
    • Users must not use College computing resources for the creation, transmission, storage, access or viewing of materials which in any way contribute, support or promote actions which are prohibited on the basis of harassment and/or discrimination including but not limited to the categories of:
      • Harassment
      • Sexual Harassment
      • Racial/Ethnic/Cultural Harassment;
      • Discrimination
      • Hate Literature
      • Systemic Harassment/Discrimination
      • Reprisal
    • Users must not use College computing resources for the creation, transmission, storage, access, or viewing of materials prohibited by Central and/or State govt. law, or which, in the sole opinion of the College, are offensive by community standards and values. These restrictions include, but are not limited to the following:
      • Any form of material supporting or contributing to the harassment or discrimination
      • Any form of pornographic, obscene or sexually explicit material; or
      • Any form of illegal trade, negotiation or conspiracy to conduct illegal acts
    • Users must not use College computing resources for the creation, transmission, storage, access or viewing of materials which are deemed by the College to serve no useful academic or administrative purpose. These restrictions include, but are not limited to the following:
      • On-line gaming such as multi-player internet or local area network games
      • Downloading, copying or transmittal of personal use software or any other form of electronic information and materials
      • E-mail communications which denigrate the objectives of the College. If the proposed communication is questionable, it should first be referred to Women’s College, Calcutta Computer Policy
    • Users must not attempt to interfere with the normal operation of College computing systems, facilities or resources. As such users must not:
      • Attempt to encroach on others’ use of computing facilities.
      • Attempt to subvert the restrictions associated with their computer accounts.
      • Attempt to gain access to systems both inside and outside of Women’s College, Calcutta for which they have no authorization.
    • Users must not utilize any College computing facilities for the purpose of creation, development, storage, replication or transmittal of any programme, code, subroutine or other means intended to disrupt, interfere, destroy or corrupt the normal operation of systems or data. (e.g., viruses, worms, hack utilities, net snooping utilities)
  • Additional User Rules For Computer Labs
    • Academic computing labs (teaching or general access) serve to support the teaching and learning endeavours of the College community. Users of these facilities are expected to behave in an appropriate manner so as not to disrupt in any way users of these facilities.
    • In order to ensure the proper functioning of these labs, users must not in any way tamper, change, or disrupt the normal function of the hardware and software contained within these facilities. Examples include such things as changing operating system configurations, desktop attributes or software functions.
    • Lab users shall not download, store or install any software or other electronic file which does not support an approved academic purpose, which is for personal use or for which they do not have the explicit consent to do so by an authorized College official.
    • Lab users must not access, store or transmit any program, code, subroutine or other electronic file which is known or ought to have been known by them to contain destructive or interfering capabilities such as viruses.
    • Lab users shall not participate in any form of personal group messaging such as ”chat lines”, or other forms of synchronous or asynchronous group messaging unless specifically permitted as a program requirement.
    • Lab users must not use the printing services contained within these labs for any non-academic, personal use e.g., flyers, internet documents, manuals etc.
    • For Multi-copy printing concerned subject teacher’s consent is necessary.
    • Lab users must in no way misrepresent their identity through impersonation, alias or anonymity so as to conduct or transmit any communication, data or other file.

Plagiarism, theft, cheating on tests, assignments or reports, misrepresentation of identity, or the falsification of data in any way constitutes “Academic Dishonesty”.

Academic dishonesty is a serious offense and extends to the users to the prohibition of computing lab facilities.

  • The Student Access Lab is considered a study area and as such, noise must be kept at an acceptable level.
  • Procedure For Policy Violation

A first violation (minor) will result in a warning to cease the alleged violation. Warnings may be issued by any College employee witnessing or suspecting a violation of this policy by any student or visitor of the College. Warnings may be issued by any College staff witnessing or suspecting a violation of this policy by any staff member.

A meeting may be set up to review the alleged violation, allow the individual an opportunity to respond, and to discuss the warning. In the case of a student, such meeting shall be attended by the staff member witnessing or suspecting the violation, the subject teachers in which the student is enrolled.

A second violation (minor) will result in a written warning from the Teacher-in-Charge / Principal.

At that point the alleged violation is considered to have become a disciplinary matter and will be referred to the appropriate disciplinary body or process. In issues of student committed violation, the college authority shall determine the course of disciplinary action. Matters of harassment or discrimination are governed by the College’s Policy on Harassment.

Third and subsequent violations (minor) may, in the sole judgment of the Governing Body, result in restriction or complete suspension of access to computing facilities. Such sanctions will remain in effect until the investigation of the alleged violation is complete. Opportunities for review and discussion of the alleged violation will be subject to the “Academic Appeal Procedure” or in the case of staff, the provisions of the College’s employee groups’ collective agreements or terms and conditions of employment.

The College Governing Body may impose whatever measures are reasonably necessary to balance academic freedom against the prevention of a major violation or a reoccurrence of a major violation, including but not limited to immediate restriction or suspension of access by any person or persons to computing resources and services, whether before, during or after investigation of the matter has been completed. Opportunities for review and discussion of the alleged violation will be subject to the “Academic Appeal Procedure” or in the case of staff, the provisions of the College’s employee groups’ collective agreements or terms and conditions of employment Women’s College, Calcutta Computer Policy 2015.

Anti-Harassment Policy

  • Introduction

The college is committed to equal opportunities and to providing an environment in which all staff, students and those for whom the college has a special responsibility (for example visiting academics and students – henceforth referred to as “visitors”) are treated with dignity and respect and in which they can work and study free from any type of discrimination, harassment, or victimization. All members of College are responsible for upholding this policy and should act in accordance with the policy guidance in the course of their day-to-day work or study, ensuring an environment in which the dignity of other staff, students, and visitors is maintained. Offensive behaviour will not be tolerated. Harassment is a serious offence which is punishable under the College’s disciplinary procedures.

This Policy, and the Code of Practice which accompanies it, apply to the academic and office staff of the College, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and all others for whom the college is responsible. References to ‘academic staff’ include Principal / Teacher-in-Charge, Full time and Part time teachers and Guest lecturers.

The college is committed to making all staff and students aware of this policy and to providing effective guidance and briefing on it. The college takes steps to ensure that both the policy and guidance are fully understood and implemented and brought to the attention of all staff and students through the College web-site.

Management of College and all in positions of responsibility or seniority, including students who fall into these categories, have specific responsibilities. These include setting a good personal example, making it clear that harassment will not be tolerated, and the consequences of breaching it, investigating reports of harassment, taking corrective action if necessary, and ensuring that victimisation does not occur as a result of a complaint.

  • Definition of Harassment

Harassment is unwanted conduct on the grounds of sex, marital status, gender reassignment, race, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age that violates a person’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

Harassment may amount to unlawful discrimination, may also breach other legislation and may, in some circumstances, be a criminal offence. Harassment may occur through the use of internet, email, or telephone.

The other person’s motives are not the main factor in deciding if behaviour amounts to harassment. Just because certain behaviour may be acceptable to the alleged harasser or another person does not mean it is not harassment. Being under the influence of alcohol or otherwise intoxicated will not be admitted as an excuse for harassment, and may be regarded as an aggravating feature.

Bullying may be characterised by offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, or misuse of power through means intended to undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient. It includes any behaviour which makes someone else feel threatened, frightened, humiliated or taken advantage of. Some common forms of verbal abuse include taunting; setting impossible deadlines or objectives; withholding key information or giving false information.

Victimisation is a form of misconduct which may in itself result in a disciplinary process, regardless of the outcome of the original complaint of harassment. Victimisation occurs specifically when a person is treated less favourably because he/she has asserted his/her rights under this guidance, either in making a complaint or in assisting a complainant in an investigation. The college will protect any member of staff, student, or visitor from victimisation for bringing a complaint.

Sexual harassment has been characterised as a particularly degrading and unacceptable form of treatment, and is unacceptable to the college, as well as is unlawful, so that a victim may bring legal proceedings. If the conduct amounts to assault it may also constitute a criminal offence. Complaints that sexual harassment has occurred between persons to whom this Policy and the accompanying Code of Practice apply will be taken seriously by the college, and, where appropriate, may result in disciplinary proceedings. The college will monitor the incidence of sexual harassment, and the resolution of complaints, by means of an annual statistical report to Governing Body from the appointed Advisors.

Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination. Direct sex discrimination is less favourable treatment on the grounds of sex. Sexual harassment is direct sex discrimination by way of uninvited conduct based on the sex of the recipient which is intimidating, hostile or offensive to the recipient. It can include harassment which has not been directed at them specifically, but that they have witnessed and which violated their dignity. It may include unwelcome behaviour of a sexual nature which the recipient finds offensive, ranging from unwelcome sexual advances, unpleasant or denigratory remarks, to the display of offensive material of an explicitly sexual nature. Such conduct may be physical, verbal or nonverbal. An aggravating feature of some cases of sexual harassment may be the abuse of a position of authority or trust. In general, the starting point for the determination of what is intimidating, hostile or offensive to the recipient will be the perceptions of the recipient of the alleged conduct. The college’s policy dictates that the provisions of the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equality Act cover homosexual as well as heterosexual harassment. Behaviour will not amount to harassment if the conduct complained of could not reasonably be perceived as offensive.

  • Advice to individuals who may be suffering one or more forms of harassment

Individuals may be unsure whether certain behaviour amounts to harassment. The first step may be to discuss the matter in confidence with a friend or colleague who is familiar with the college setting. Members of staff may want to discuss the matter with immediate superiors, college Management, colleagues. Students may want to discuss the matter with the teacher or any other college officials. Student mentors may be a good people to talk to.

  • Written Complaints
    • Format of Complaints

Written complaints take the form of a letter or memorandum describing the conduct on which the complaint is based. It will include:

  • The date(s) and place(s) on which the offensive conduct occurred,
  • The names of any witnesses, and the name of the respondent
  • Any efforts to resolve the complaint and the results of these efforts
  • If appropriate, the specific outcome the complainant seeks
  • Filling of Complaints

Students: As noted above, complaints against undergraduate students should be filed to the Mentor teacher or the Head of the Department.

Employees: Complaints against employees should be filed to the principal/Teacher-in-Charge.

  • Notification of Respondent

The college has a Disciplinary Committee comprising the senior teachers from all the departments, the Principal and the senior non-teaching staff.

Within fifteen (15) working days of the receipt of the complaint, the Disciplinary Committee will notify the respondent in writing, advise the respondent of the name of the complainant, the nature of the allegations, refer the respondent to this policy, and provide a copy of the complaint. The relevant authority will receive a copy of this correspondence, and will confer with the complainant and the respondent independently to review options for resolution of the complaint. The complainant, with the assistance of the Coordinator, will choose the option he or she prefers, subject to the right of the respondent to request mediation or the right of the respondent or the G.B. Authorised signatories to request the appointment of a Harassment Hearing Committee (see Hearing Committee, below). The respondent will also be advised that any speech or conduct threatening or constituting retaliation against the complainant will be regarded as a serious and separate infraction options for Resolving Written Complaints Mediation.

Either the complainant or the respondent may request the Disciplinary Committee to attempt resolution of the complaint through mediation. Either party may decline to participate, and the Committee/Principal reserves the right to decline mediation if the Committee deems that it is not appropriate as to the particular complaint. If the parties agree to mediate and efforts to mediate the complaint are ongoing, the Committee may suspend other complaint resolution options. If, through mediation, a settlement is agreed to by both parties and approved by the Committee, no further option for resolution will be available. The case will be recorded in the institutional tally and institutional memory file.

If no settlement is reached, the complainant may choose either the Administrative Resolution or the Hearing Committee option.

  • Administrative Resolution

The complainant has the exclusive prerogative of choosing the administrative resolution option, subject to the right of the Committee to determine that administrative resolution is not appropriate in the given case or the right of the respondent or the Teacher-in-Charge / Principal to request the appointment of a Harassment Hearing Committee (see Hearing Committee, below).

In an Administrative Resolution, the Teacher-in-Charge / Principal with whom the complaint is filed, will review the complaint with the Committee, the complainant and the respondent. It will then seek to resolve any factual disputes by interviewing witnesses and reviewing documents in order to establish the credibility of the parties. It will ordinarily complete this investigation within fifteen (15) working days of notification of the respondent and determine whether the preponderance of evidence indicates that harassment occurred.

After completing the investigation, the Teacher-in-Charge / Principal will meet with the complainant and respondent, either together or separately, to discuss an appropriate resolution of the complaint. After this meeting(s), the Teacher-in-Charge / Principal will prepare a statement of the facts with a conclusion.

  • Possible Findings

If harassment is the finding, the Disciplinary Committee will find any prior history of infractions in the institutional memory file, and then recommend a resolution in writing and deliver the recommendation to the Teacher-in-Charge / Principal. The Teacher-in-Charge / Principal will review and accept or reject the recommendation, within fifteen (15) working days of the receipt of the recommendation. The decision will be intimated in writing to the complainant, the respondent and the Committee. The case will be recorded in both the institutional tally and the institutional memory file.

If it is determined that there are insufficient grounds to support the claim of harassment, the parties will be so informed in writing and the complaint will be dismissed.

  • ICC or Internal Complain Committee under The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013

Principal / Teacher-in-Charge will decide whether the whole matter and the proceedings are forwarded to the Internal Complain Committee under The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

  • 1. The Committee is required to complete the inquiry within a time period of 90 days.
    2. On completion of the inquiry, the report will be sent to the employer or the District Officer, as the case may be, they are mandated to take action on the report within 60 days.
    3. The college is required to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee at each office or branch with 10 or more employees. The Disciplinary Committee, in this college has been constituted for this purpose along with other disciplinary activities. The District Officer is required to constitute a Local Complaints Committee at each district, and if required at the block level.
    4. The Complaints Committees are required to provide for conciliation before initiating an inquiry, if requested by the complainant.
    5. Penalties have been prescribed for employers. Non-compliance with the provisions of the Act shall be punishable with a fine of up to 50,000. Repeated violations may lead to higher penalties and cancellation of licence or registration to conduct business.
    • Process for Complaint and Inquiry

Please refer to the following flowchart which provides, in brief, the process to be followed by the aggrieved employee to make the complaint and by the employer to inquire into the complaint. The law allows female employees to request for conciliation in order to settle the matter although a monetary settlement should not be made as a basis of conciliation.

  • Action against Frivolous Complaints

In order to ensure that the protections contemplated under the Sexual Harassment Act do not get misused, provisions for action against “false or malicious” complainants have been made.

Before appealing to the court, if the situation demands, the college authority can refer the case to the Women’s commission.

  • Employer’s Obligations

In addition to ensuring compliance with the other provisions stipulated, the Sexual Harassment Act casts certain obligations upon the employer to, inter alia,

  • Provide a safe working environment.
  • Display conspicuously at the workplace, the penal consequences of indulging in acts that may constitute sexual harassment and the composition of the Disciplinary Committee.
  • Organize workshops and awareness programmes at regular intervals for sensitizing employees on the issues and implications of workplace sexual harassment and organizing orientation.programmes for members of the Disclinary Committee.
  • Treat sexual harassment as a misconduct under the service rules and initiate action for misconduct.

If the Principal / Teacher-in-Charge decides that the situation is not so grave to forward to the Internal Complaints Committee, he/she will appoint a Harassment Hearing Committee to review the case and, after determining the facts, to make a recommendation.

  • Composition of Hearing Committee

The Teacher-in-Charge / Principal will appoint a five-member committee to hear the case. The members will be the Teacher-in-Charge / Principal, the Convenor of the Disciplinary Committee and three members selected from the Governing body members (Preferably external members).

  • Committee Procedures
    • The Harassment Coordinator will provide the Committee members with copies of the complete policy on Discriminatory Harassment; deliver to the Chairperson of the Hearing Committee a complete set of documents in the case; assist the Chairperson in scheduling a hearing, ordinarily within fourteen (14) days of the request for a hearing; assist the Chairperson in identifying the witnesses whom the complainant and respondent intend to call; and identify other persons who might assist the Committee.
    • The hearing will be held, if possible, on consecutive working days and will be closed to persons other than those participating. However, either party may be accompanied by an advisor and/or legal coordinator, with whom he or she may consult, upon request, at reasonable times during the hearing. The intention to be accompanied by legal counsel or an advisor must be communicated to the Chairperson at least two (2) days prior to the hearing.
      Advisors and legal counsel may neither address the Committee nor question witnesses.
    • The hearing will begin with the presentation of the complainant’s case and be followed by the respondent’s response. The Committee will then question both parties and give the parties an opportunity to question each other, provided, however, that upon the request of the complainant, the Committee shall establish an alternative questioning procedure if the complainant elects not to directly confront the respondent
    • Witnesses will not be present except during their testimony. Witnesses, beginning with those of the complainant, will relate their knowledge of relevant facts through questions posed both by the Committee and by both parties. Once the Committee is satisfied that all relevant information has been presented, both parties may present summary statements and/or briefs to the Committee
    • The Committee will meet privately to determine the facts and the extent to which they constitute discriminatory harassment under a preponderance of evidence standard.
  • Possible Findings

If the Committee determines that discriminatory harassment has occurred, they will be given access to the record of any prior infractions by the respondent. The Committee will then assess the seriousness of the case based on the severity of the harassment, the extent to which it was a single or repeated incident, and any record of past infractions. The Committee will develop a recommendation on sanctions. (Possible sanctions include: letter of warning, letter of reprimand, mandatory counselling or training, reparation, suspension, dismissal or termination, any combination of these sanctions, as well as other appropriate alternatives.)

The Committee will communicate its report and recommendation to the Governing Body.

If the Governing Body accepts the report, it will determine and impose the sanctions. Wherever appropriate, the necessary steps will also be taken to reverse actions which the respondent may have taken in the harassment of the complainant (e.g., restoration of rights or privileges, review of academic or personnel evaluations). The Principal / Teacher-in-Charge will send written notice of the resolution of the complaint to the respondent, within ten (10) working days after the decision of the Governing Body. The Disciplinary Committee will record the case in the institutional tally and the institutional memory file.

A copy of the decision will be placed in the respondent’s file; no record will be made in the complainant’s file.

If it is determined that there are insufficient grounds to support the claim of harassment, the parties will be so informed in writing and the complaint will be dismissed. The complaint will be recorded in the institutional tally and in the institutional memory file. If it is determined that a claim of harassment is knowingly false, the Hearing Committee will recommend appropriate sanctions to the complainant’s area and a notation will be made in the complainant’s file. This action will be recorded in the institutional tally and in the institutional memory file.

  • Procedures for Appeal

The respondent or complainant can appeal to the Governing Body in the following grounds

  • The decision lacked a factual basis
  • It did not conform to the procedural requirements of this policy
  • It was based on bias
  • It violated the respondent’s academic freedom
  • Summary of Record Keeping
    • Institutional Tally

Once a year, the Disciplinary Committee will report upon the number of discriminatory harassment complaints filed in the previous twelve (12) months. This report will not include names or identifying facts, but will include: the nature of the allegation; the status of the parties involved (e.g., faculty, staff); and whether or not discriminatory harassment was the finding.

  • Institutional Memory

The need to identify repeat offenders requires that the Harassment Committee keep a central file, separate from individual files. This file will include the names of individuals involved in written or unwritten harassment complaints.

  • Individual Records

No notations or records will be placed in individual files in the case of unwritten complaints, whether or not the situation is resolved. In written complaints, a guilty finding and/or the sanctions imposed will be recorded in the respondent’s file. Similarly, a finding that a knowingly false charge has been filed will be recorded in the complainant’s file.

  • Policy Dissemination

The substance of this policy is included in the college website and handbook.

  • Education and Awareness

Students and faculties are briefed about the harassment policy during induction program.

ANTI-RAGGING POLICY

  • Introduction

Women’s College, Calcutta Campus is a ragging free campus. A number of anti-ragging measures are in place to ensure strict compliance.

Students will refrain from ragging of any kind and those who violate this rule will be instantly suspended from the college for a period of one week. The matter will be placed before the Disciplinary Committee, which will review the incident of ragging and take action according to the due process of law. Students must take note that ragging results in their dismissal from the College. The attention of the students is also drawn to the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India wherein it is mandatory for the institution to file a complaint with the Police Authority, and with all resulting consequences as per The Circular of the Directorate of Higher Education, Government of West Bengal Government/University Grants Commission (UGC), guidelines notified vide no.F.1-16/2009 (CPP-II) dated 21-10-2009 on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions, 2009 (Under Section 26(1) (g) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956) In addition to the above, those students who indulge in the acts of ragging shall attract the punishments as applicable, which include any one or combination thereof :

  • What Constitutes Ragging?

Ragging constitutes of one or more of any of the following acts: