Report of the Meeting of the Principals and Managers on June4,15

Report of the meeting of the Principals and Managers held at Mt. St.  Thomas on June 4^th ,2015

A meeting of the Principals, Managers and Provincial Superiors was held on June 4^th, 15 at Mt. St. Thomas. The meeting was attended by more than 60 delegates and most of the aided and self-financing colleges were represented at the meeting. The major Archbishop Cardinal Mar George Alencherry in his inaugural address mentioned that the role of the Church in the field of Higher Education was very vital. He stressed that efforts should be made to transmit moral values along with our attempt to improve academic standards. He also mentioned that it is vital on our part to maintain transparency in admissions and appointments. He added that a society without a basis in moral values will be barren and would be incapable of producing good leaders for the country.

Archbishop Emeritus, Mar Joseph Powathil in his presidential address pointed out the need to be watchful for the preservation of Minority rights guaranteed in the Constitution. These constitutional guarantees are meant for the preservation of equality between the Majority and Minority communities. Citing various decisions of the Supreme Court, he made the participants aware of the need to preserve and protect the guarantees provided in the Constitution of India. He also mentioned the increase of State Control over Education and of the pervading of a spirit of communalism in the society. He reminded the audience that the Minority Rights as interpreted by the various decisions of the Supreme court offer the Minorities the right to offer secular education in a religious atmosphere.

Prof.J.Philip, the Director of XIME Business Schools, pointed out  that in the academic ranking of colleges in India, Catholic colleges of Kerala are  lagging way behind and hence a more passionate and aggressive desire should be shown by the Catholic colleges towards achieving academic excellence. Many non-Christian institutions offer better courses and academic standards. Hence, he urged the colleges to adopt new strategies to maintain excellence in the realm of Higher Education. He suggested 7s for the improvement of academic standards: Strategy, Structure, System, Style, Skills, Staff and Shared values.

Mr. James Joseph briefed the participants about the new venture that he is involved in  which consists in marketing jackfruit for different uses as a food product.

Fr. George Madathiparampil welcomed the gathering  and Dr.Chackochan Njavallil proposed the vote of thanks.

Two committees were formed for more consultation on the improvements of academic standards and for the imparting of moral values:

The Committee for Value Education: Rev. Dr. Vincent Nedungatt, Fr.Mangalath and Sr. Alice.

The Committee for

Academic Excellence: Dr. Joselet, Dr.Kattady, Rev. Dr. Antony  Kariyil and Sr. Geo Maria.

Excellence in Higher Education-Meeting of the Principals and Managers on June 4th,15

A meeting of the principals and Managers was held on June 4th at Mount St.Thomas.Cardinal mar George Alencherry inaugurated the meeting.In his talk, he mentioned that it was necessary for our colleges to offer values along with the excellence in academic standards. A  society without values

will be barren and will not produce people who will be able to guide the future generations,he added.

Meeting of the principals and Managers

Report of the meeting of the Principals and Managers held at Mount St. Thomas on June 24^th, 14.

The Major Archbishop Cardinal Mar George Alencherry  inaugurated the Conference.

 Dr. Cyriac Thomas gave the key-note address.

Fr.Tomy Padinjareveettil, Fr.Vincent Nedungatt,Dr.Chackochan Njavallil and Fr. George Madathiparampil spoke at the meeting.

Fr. George Madathiparampil welcomed the gathering.

49 Principals and Managers were present.

Inaugurating the Conference, the Cardinal, while explaining the notion of sustainable development in the protection of the environment, urged the participants to apply the same theory of development in the matter of Christian  education by keeping the identity of Christian education while working for academic excellence. Sustainable Christian Higher education should preserve Christian values and not to dilute them. Our institutions should be concerned about the integrity of our faith and of our society especially at a time when our people are becoming highly susceptible to forces of consumerism and secularism which negate spiritual values.

The Cardinal also referred to the changes that happened at the National level, particularly to the emphasis on Nationalism by the ruling party at the Centre. He maintained that Nationalism should be broad enough to include people of all religions and traditions while retaining one’s love of the country.

Dr. Cyriac Thomas drew the attention of the participants to maintaining the credibility of our institutions of which they are in charge. The leaders of our institutions in the past were respected all over the State because of their integrity and vision. Our institutions should be catalysts in forming leaders who know the present  and  have the ability to see far into the future to shape the present. Christian institutions should see to it that quality should not be lost in the selection of teachers. Referring to the “ Pope Francis effect “, he bemoaned the lack of any impact on our society by the words and actions of the Holy Father.

Fr.Tomy Padinjareveettil explained the preparations for autonomy done by S.B. college and offered to clarify the doubts of many with regard to the implications of autonomy. Fr. Vincent Nedungatt stressed the need for introducing new courses which offer innumerable opportunities for career development of the students. Dr.Chackochan Njavallil briefed the audience about the discussions that took place at the meeting of the directors of the Campus Ministry. He told them about the publication of a book of guidelines, the need to start an e-news letter  and a bimonthly journal  , the starting of competitions to involve more students in Catholic initiatives apart from intensifying their participation in attendance at Eucharistic services, prayer meetings , volunteering for helping the poor and conducting more seminars on religious topics. He also stressed the need to continue classes in Religion and Morals.

It is to be noted that 12 colleges have signed up supporting the venture of the Directors of the Campus ministry to start publishing a bi-monthly in Malayalam exclusively for the Catholic students of our colleges by offering financial support of Rs. 5000 annually.

During the discussions, the Major Archbishop intervened to point out the following facts.

1. Some members of our community are against us because Catholic students are denied admission in our schools and colleges.

2. Some of the institutions run by the religious congregations and parishes are pursuing a very independent line without caring for the needs of the Catholic community.

3. Time to think of starting more colleges to meet the needs of the community.

4.Self-Financing schools are sometimes seen going ahead with a policy that is very detrimental to the Catholic community.

4.KCBC should be informed about the grievances and complaints that  the managements feel in the running of the institutions in order  to bring it to the attention of the Govt.

A committee was formed consisting of the following persons to discuss the anomaly in appointments to the teaching and  to the non-teaching staff of the college.

Dr.Joy(Bharata Matha college),Fr.C handy Punnakkatt(Mananthavady college),Fr. Francis Alappat, VG of Kothamangalam,Fr. Tomy  Padinajareveettil, Fr. Vincent Nedungatt,Sr.Rose Bastian(Vice-Principal,Irinjalakuda),Fr.Varghese Kalaparampil, and Fr.Jose Theken,Irinjalakuda.

The Committee made the following suggestions to be brought to the attention of the Govt. on behalf of KCBC

1. The freedom to appoint at least 50 % of the Ministerial staff who have higher qualifications than SSSLC.

2. Permission to start new courses in the aided stream

3. Permission to appoint teachers in the courses sanctioned in the aided stream.

4. Appointment of Non-teaching staff for the new courses that were sanctioned.

5. Existing staff pattern should be followed in these appointments.

Dr. Chackochan  Njavallil expressed the vote of thanks .

The meeting concluded with a prayer by the Major Archbishop.

Christian Leadership

The Conference on Christian Leadership was held from Nov.21-23.
It was inaugurated by Bp.Bosco Puthur. Prof.J. Philip, Rev. Dr.George Madathiparampil,Prof.Tyagaraj spoke on the occasion.The course was conducted under the leadership of Prof.J.Philip
.Around 14 participants attended the course.Principals, Senior Professors and Directors of Catholic hospitals were in the group.
The Venue was the XIME campus and the staff there were very helpful and  offered all kinds of assistance to the participants.
Some guests in the business and the professional worlds addressed the group.Mr.P.C.Cyriac, Mr. Jose Dominic of the Casino Group of hotels shared their experiences with the participants. I gave a talk on Christian Leadership.

  Meeting of the Directors of Campus Ministry               

                                                     Campus Ministry

The Conference was held on Tuesday, Sept.3, 13 at Mount St. Thomas. H.B. Mar George Cardinal Alencherry inaugurated the Conference which was presided over by Bishop Mar Bosco Puthur. In the inaugural address, the Major Archbishop acknowledged the services of the teachers and congratulated them on their dedication to and love for the Church. He then asked the teachers to enter into dialogues with their colleagues and students, reflecting through their lives the love that is in the heart of the Triune God.

Bishop Bosco Puthur invited them to follow the examples of great Christian leaders like C.S.Lewis, Cardinal Newman and Ozanam.

Rev.Fr.George Madathiparampil  welcomed the gathering. Rev.Dr.Joseph Pamplani, Prof.P.C.Thomas and Dr.Angel Zukowski addressed the gathering.

The following teachers were elected to a committee to continue further consultation to improve the existing methods of formation of students.

Dr.Chackochan Njavallil, Marian College,Kuttikanam,Peermade-685531 –9447572573

Jyothis Thomas,St.Joseph’s  Eng.College,Palai-686579—9447205778

Dr.Sebastian V.S.,S.H.College,Thevara,Cochin-13—9497679451

Dr.Susy Joseph,Assumption College,Changancherry-686101

Neena Thomas,Nirmala college,Muvattupuzha,680009—9495381856

Sr.Suma Therese SABS,Vimala College,Trichur—9526736368

Justin Thomas,St.Joseph’s Eng.college, Palai,686579—9447694464

Arun K.Antony,St.Augustine's College,Ramapuram,686576—9744485895

Janssen Joseph,S.B.College,Chy,686101-9447782154

Sr.Anjana Rose,St.Joseph’s College,Irinjalakuda,680121

Rev.Dr.Jaison Mularikal,Rajagiri Engineering College,Kakanad,Ekm-682039--9567611733

Rev.Fr.Anish Paul Angadiath CST,Bharata Matha,Trikakakara-682021---9605555238

Meeting of the New Lecturers

Meeting of the  New College Teachers

  The meeting was well attended .More than 120 newly appointed lecturers came for the meeting. All of them were given copies of the YOUCAT because of the generosity of Vince Marin of Chicago.

D.A.V. George, the VC of MG University inaugurated the Conference.Prof.Ruble Raj,Dr.Beena Manoj and Dr.Kuruvilla Joseph addressed the gathering.The intention of the meeting was to give them an orientation in their new role as Catholic teachers and enable them to integrate their  Catholic faith with their teaching career. 

The invitation letter and the Programme of the meeting are given below.

Dear Rev .Father/ Sister/Sir:

 

It was suggested at the previous meetings of Principals and Mangers that it would be highly beneficial to hold an orientation course for the newly appointed teachers in our colleges in order to make them more deeply aware of their Catholic heritage and of the role of the Church in education. Hence, it is proposed to hold a one day Educational   Conference for the newly appointed teachers on May 9^th at 10a.m. at Mount St. Thomas. Please be kind enough to send at least five teachers who were appointed in the last couple of years for the Conference.

 

A reply card is attached herewith for the names to be sent to me or to the Curia at Mount St. Thomas before April 15, 2013.

 

A copy of the programme is also attached herewith.

 

Please be kind enough to make this meeting a success by your active intervention so that our first attempt in this area may turn out to be fruitful.

With regards,

Rev. George Madathiparampil

Higher Education, Mount St. Thomas

 

Educational Conference

9.30a.m-3 P.M., May 9,13

Mount St. Thomas

 

The Role of Faith in the Teaching Profession

 

Programme

 

9.30a.m.                    Registration and  Coffee

 

9.50 a.m.                   Prayer Song

 

9.55-10 a.m.            Welcome Speech: Rev.Fr. George Madathiparampil

 

10. a. m.                    Inauguration: H.B. Cardinal Mar George Alencherry

 

10.15 a.m.                            Presidential   Address:  H.E. Mar Bosco  Puthur

 

10.45-11.15a.m.     Inaugural Address: Dr. A.V. George, Vice-Chancellor,

M.G. University

 

11.15am-11.45am Dr. Ruble Raj: “My Faith and My Profession”

 

11.45-12-15 a.m.   Dr. Beena  Manoj: “Faith in My Life “

 

12.15-12.45p.m.    Dr. K. M. Francis: “ Faith and  Teaching Profession.”

 

12.45 – 1 pm                        Self-Introduction

 

1-2p.m.                      Lunch

 

2-2.20p.m.               Dr. Kuruvilla Joseph “ Values and the Teaching Profession.”

 

2.20p.m.-320.pm.   Discussion, Questions and Clarifications, Plans for the Future

 

3.20p.m.                   Vote of Thanks

                                    Coffee and Departure