Women's College, Calcutta
NAAC accredited with 'B++'
P-29, Kshirode Vidyavinode Avenue,Kolkata - 700003
NAAC accredited with 'B++'
P-29, Kshirode Vidyavinode Avenue,Kolkata - 700003
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:
To this end Women’s College, Calcutta will:
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 take the form of a letter or memorandum describing the conduct on which the complaint is based. It will include:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In addition to ensuring compliance with the other provisions stipulated, the Sexual Harassment Act casts certain obligations upon the employer to, inter alia,
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.
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).
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.
The respondent or complainant can appeal to the Governing Body in the following grounds
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.
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.
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.
The substance of this policy is included in the college website and handbook.
Students and faculties are briefed about the harassment policy during induction program.
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 :
2. What Constitutes Ragging?
Ragging constitutes of one or more of any of the following acts:
a) Any conduct by any student or students whether by words spoken or written or by an act which has the effect of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness a fresher or any other student.
b) Indulging in rowdy or undisciplined activities by any student or students which causes annoyance, hardship, physical or psychological harm or to raise fear or apprehension thereof in any fresher or any other student.
c) Asking any student to perform any act which she will not in the ordinary course perform and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame, or torment or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the physique or psyche of such fresher or any other student.
d) Any act by a senior student that prevents, disrupts or disturbs the regular academic activity of any other student or a fresher.
e) Exploiting the services of a fresher or any other student for completing the academic tasks assigned to an individual or a group of students.
f) Any act of financial extortion or forceful and burdensome expenditure put on a fresher or any other student by other students
g) Any act of physical abuse including all variants of it: sexual abuse, homosexual assaults, stripping, forcing obscene and lewd acts, gestures, causing bodily harm or any other danger to individual health ;
h) Any act or abuse by spoken words, emails, post, public insults which would also include deriving perverted pleasure, vicarious or sadistic thrill from actively or passively participating in the discomfiture to a fresher or any other student.
i) Any act that affects the mental health and self-confidence of a fresher or any other student with or without an intent to derive a sadistic pleasure or to show off power, authority or superiority by a student over any fresher or any other student.
3. The Immediate Consequences according to the level of incident
4. Disciplinary Procedure
The Disciplinary Committee will deal with all disciplinary matters. The Committee shall constantly monitor the behaviour of the students. All disciplinary matters will be placed before the Committee, which will hear the matter and take action according to the due process of law.
The affected student is required to submit an anti-ragging affidavit as per the UGC notification.
Continuous watch and vigil over ragging by the college will promptly deal with the incidents of ragging brought to its notice.
The University will summarily punish or reprimand the guilty student, either by itself or by following procedures, administrative or otherwise, by constituting a special Enquiry Committee and put forth its findings or recommendations before the competent authority to take a decision.
Students are encouraged to report any ragging act witnessed or experienced by them to the college administrators, faculty, Disciplinary Committee and Grievance Redressal Cell or any other staff member with whom the student may feel comfortable. The college ensures the confidentiality of such a disclosure by the student.
