St. Andrew’s College received the Best College Award for 2015-16, instituted by the University of Mumbai with a cheque for Rs 50,000. This is a prestigious award as the University of Mumbai has over 700 affiliated colleges. The award was presented on 26 January 2108 by the Vice Chancellor to the Principal Dr. Marie Fernandes. She was accompanied by the Rector, Fr. Magi Murzello and members of the teaching and non-teaching staff. St. Andrew’s College is the only college of the Archdiocese of Mumbai and Cardinal Oswald Gracias is the Chairperson. Fr. Caesar D’Mello is the Managing Trustee, Fr. Magi Murzello is the Rector, Msgr. Nereus Rodrigues, and Adv. Joaquim Reis are the other Trustees who help greatly with their wisdom and experience. The college offers B.A., B.Com., B.M.S., B.M.M., B.Com. (Accounts and Finance), B.Com. (Banking and Insurance), B.Sc. (IT), B.Sc. (Hospitality Studies), M.Com and a Ph.D. in English. Most of the new self-financing courses were introduced during the tenure of Principal A.D. Mascarenhas.

The college has grown steadily and has been accredited by NAAC with an ‘A’ Grade for two consecutive terms, each term is of five years. The college has good infrastructure with well-equipped classrooms, computer laboratories, conference halls to make the teaching-learning process exciting and engaging. Field trips and visits to the National Stock Exchange, industrial units, and other places of interest form part of the routine activities that departments organize. Research is an important component that raises the standard of an institution. The college organizes at least three International or National Conferences every year. Four research journals with ISSN numbers are published by the college.

There is also a student seminar and a student journal for research. Besides, there are other seminars and workshops organized by different departments. Students participate in Avishkar, the research competition organized by the University of Mumbai. The college also has a Ph.D. Centre in English and the Principal is a recognized Ph.D. guide. Six students have completed their Ph.D. under her and eight are registered. Several staff members have also completed minor research projects funded by the UGC and the University.

The college has a well-stocked library with access to digital resources from the British Council, National Digital Library, and Inflibnet. St. Andrew’s College has the UNESCO and Cardinal Paul Poupard Chair for Inter-Religious and Inter-Cultural Dialogue and organizes an International Conference every year and a host of different activities. The college organizes inter-collegiate activities in the auditorium.

These include IN-Tune, a Music competition; Jhankaar, a folk dance competition; Olio, a drama competition; and Aura, the BMS festival. Besides these, there are opportunities to participate in Mind Maze, a quiz competition, and Elocution and Debate Competitions. The Gender Cell also organizes activities to empower women.

The students do well in sports and have a new turf ground to practice. Hockey and football are very popular with the boys and girls. The college has a well-equipped gym and facilities for indoor games as well.Besides engaging the students in the University of Mumbai programme of the NSS, the college has its own Value Education and Social Outreach programme. Students of the Second Year work with different NGOs to understand the suffering of the weak and marginalized.

The Faith on Campus group enhances the spiritual quotient of our students and reaches out to the poor and oppressed. The Internal Quality Assessment Committee which has representatives from the local community and experts from industry meet regularly to raise the benchmark and find ways of improving the quality of education.

Regular meetings with members of the Student Council help to address issues that students face and implement suggestions that they might have. Internal and External Academic audits and Student Feedback of faculty are ways of identifying shortcomings and working to improve them.

With the blessings of God and a team of dedicated staff, both teaching and non-teaching, dedicated students and a supportive Management, the college was able to get the Best College Award. We hope this is the first of many more awards for the college. Dr. Marie Fernandes