Top Ten Colleges

"THE ARTS DEPARTMENT IN our college settles for nothing but the best. We keep raising the bar every year.” – Fr. A. Albert Muthumalai, S.J., Principal

Loyola College has continued to remain for the past 7 years, in the list of Top 10 Colleges in India ranked by India Today.

India Today Ranking (2002 to 2008) Loyola College position

	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002
Arts	1	1	3	3	1	1	7
Science	1	1	1	1	3	4	1
Commerce	2	3	3	8	4	4	4

Source: India Today Magazine, June 2002 to 2008

Arts

Loyola College, Chennai, seems to have done it again as it maintains its numero uno position in the arts stream in this year's college survey.

Back to the topper, things couldn't be better for 83-year-old Loyola. As a beaming Father Albert Muthumalai, principal of the college for the past four years says, it is evident that the arts department settles for nothing but the best. It is as if the department keeps raising the bar after setting high precedents for itself, which include a place in the Guinness Book of World Records two years ago when 12 students from the Tamil literature department enacted 13 stories from the Bible for 72 hours at a stretch.

A consistent topper in the INDIA TODAY college survey, Loyola has always laid emphasis on the overall development of its students, covering not just the academics and extra-curricular activities like sports but instilling a sense of social responsibilities in students as well. The college library houses 1,02,000 books and 225 journals with its digital wing ensuring 24X7 access.

In what has been a pioneering trend, Loyola encourages an inter-disciplinary approach towards social sciences. “This is being fast replicated by other educational institutions. Social science cannot be understood from a fragmentary perspective. Sociology, or any other arts subject for that matter, cannot exit in isolation. This unificatory approach is a vital step ahead,” says Dr. Bernard D'Sami, co-ordinator, internal quality assurance cell and former head, history department, Loyola. In fact, last March, the college conducted a national-level social science conference in a bid to create a thinktank on the unification of social sciences. Veteran sociologist T.K. Oomen chaired the conference.

However, the primary emphasis at Loyola is on academics. The arts stream encompass a wide range of subjects including history, economics, literature, sociology, community development, human resource management, medical and psychiatric social work and human rights. Loyola also offers specialised training in a host of Oriental and European languages along with Indian languages like Malayalam, Telugu and Sanskrit. The college offers post-graduation and research opportunities like M.Phil. and Ph.D. in all the arts subjects, except Tamil literature.

The arts department of the college has a long history of nurturing and producing great sports persons. In January this year, it won the 17th state-level inter-collegiate football tournament for the second time in a row. The following month, the Loyola hockey team won the first South India inter-collegiate hockey tournament held in Chennai, beating St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore. Such individual tournaments apart, Loyola students form almost two-thirds of the Madras University 's sports team.

With such a firm grounding, many Loyola students flourish in the civil service examinations. The arts department has also been a feeding point for many prestigious universities, both within and outside the country. The alumni list of the college is very impressive as it includes names like those of Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Former minister Dayanidhi Maran, TVS honcho Venu Srinvisan, tennis players Vijay Amritraj and Ramesh Krishnan, hockey player Vasudevan Baskaran and Kollywood actos like Vijay, Vikram and Surya.

Commerce

Giving stiff competition to SRCC is second ranker Loyola of Chennai which has moved up from its rank last year. The commerce department of the college provides it students an international programme on national entrepreneurial network, which is the only of its kind in south India . “It is one of the training programmes which makes our commerce department one of the leaders,” says Father Albert Muthumalai. Wizards like chess world champion Viswanathan Anand are products of the Loyola's commerce department. Every year the college adds value through partnering with international institutions and organisations. This year it signed an MOU with the Management Development Institute of Singapore and the London Metropolitan University (LMU) to develop undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and for a range of academic exchanges.

Science

With Loyola College retaining its first position in the science stream in this year's survey, there has been no surprise in the top slot.

The snake-and-ladder movements apart, the toppers in the science stream have much to talk about while laying claim to their distinguished positions. Loyola, for instance, has everything an aspiring science graduate could ask for. Spread over 99 acres with a lush green cover of more than 300 trees of 50 different species, the college campus itself can serve as a study in bio-diversity.

Though quality research is the prerogative of universities in India, Loyola as an autonomous institution contributes to the knowledge pool with its critical body of research every year. The introduction of rare courses like plant bio-technology, advanced zoology and visual communication is no coincidence but the results of carefully weighted options.

An institution that stresses on research with a social relevance, Loyola has been quick to come up with solutions that come to the aid of society during crises. For example, it provided high-tech solutions for the Chennai Corporation to curb the spread of water-bound diseases during heavy rains. Dr. S. Vincent, faculty at the Department of Advanced Zoology and Bio-technology, led representatives of Madras University and the Chennai Corporation in identifying choked storm water drains in low-lying areas, using the geographic information system (GPS). A Rs50 lakh grant was provided by the Department of Information and Technology for this purpose.

Thanks to the efforts, the Chennai Corporation could control the spread of cholera and other communicable diseases in the city. “We tracked the vulnerable areas by using disease maps from the Health Department, revenue maps of water drainages and data provided through GPS imagery,” explains Dr. Vincent, who has been appointed member secretary of the Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology by the Tamil Nadu Government.

Research in new areas promises students of Loyola ample exposure. In what is an enterprising venture, the zoology department, along with other departments like economics, social work and commerce, has been working to save the shrinking Pulicat Lake, containing 56 islands on the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh border and to safeguard the livelihood of nearly one lakh people who are dependent on the lake. Similarly, research prospects to protect the coastal eco-system have made the science department of Loyola a very happening laboratory.

Another initiative of Loyola which deserves mention is the National Centre on Academic Access and Excellence. Its objective is to make higher education accessible to all while retaining its standards at the highest level, says Dr. Bernard D'Sami, coordinator, internal quality assurance cell of Loyola college. “Only 8 per cent in the college-going age group are now in higher education. The Knowledge Commission has a target of 15 per cent. We have to open the doors of higher education to all. “Significantly, around 25 per cent of the seats offered to poor and underprivileged students. Principal Father Albert Muthumalai says such moves have been the outcome of a visionary guidance received at the 34th general congregation of members of the Society of Jesus, conducted in Rome in 1995. ”From all over the world 223 Jesuit delegates vowed to take an active role in reducing the widening gap between the rich and poor, the literate and the illiterate in a globalised era,” he says.

D. Rajasekaran, a Dalit student doing M.Phil. at the zoology department, says, “Loyola has always been supportive of first generation college goers and students from deprived selections.” Groups comprising five students are each mentored by a faculty member, which ensures personalised attention. Well thought-out outreach programmes, mentoring schemes, personality development and spoken English programmes are conducted to raise confidence and communication skills of such students. “These students lag behind only in the first year. From second year on, they gain confidence, cover lost ground and shine like a diamond in Loyola's crown,” says Father Muthumalai.

Source: “Top Ten Colleges of India” – India Today (June 2, 2008)