Best Practices - An overview
1. The conceptualization of the resource centre ‘Abhivyakti’ – An Expression
A resource centre was developed in the college to facilitate the design education for the students and staff. It differs from a regular college library in its additional focus on projects done by the students of their specialised fields. Through this initiative, the aim of the resource centre is to create a niche in the area of design in terms of product design, home furnishings, garment designing and visual merchandising in the college. The main objective is to focus on methods of implementing outcome-based learning, to enhance out of classroom experiences, provide insight into the research work done by the students and develop entrepreneurship skills.
It also showcases the design collections of Graduating projects and craft cluster projects. The collection is mostly a display of traditional crafts, products, garments, jewellery and accessories. ‘Abhivyakti’ was founded to encourage the study of designs and inspire budding designers with examples of the highest standard. These were the designs for everyday life and emphasized the challenges that designers face, concerning new material, new technologies, design processes and aesthetics. Some of the designs were very artistic and truly classic and captivating. The layout of the ‘Abhivyakti’ was conceptualized by the final year students through a visual merchandising project (miniatures).
Along with the display, artisans and craftsmen are called to take workshops for the students. After learning the craft, students do not keep the craft techniques with themselves only but they work in group under the guidance of artisans and faculties. As a result, they learn craft skills like hand painting, weaving and knitting, product development etc. Then, the products developed by the team are exhibited in the resource centre.
It acts as a platform for the final year students and alumni to showcase their work to develop their entrepreneurship skills. They display the work in terms of exhibitions which is appreciated by the Industry persons and jury members who often visit the campus from time to time. In the Graduation Show, projects like Divyangjan and LGBT range got a chance to create awareness about the concept. of the college. This is a remarkable step towards women empowerment as it helps them to generate a source of income for their livelihood.
2. Skill Development activities for empowering the Staff Members with new skills
Skills are as essential as one's academic status. Education and skills now go hand in hand. Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of the economic growth and social development of a country. Skill development is a vital tool to empower people, to safeguard their future and for the overall development of an individual. It is an important aspect that enhances employability in today's globalization. The core objective of the program is to empower the individual, by enabling her/him to realize their full potential through a process of lifelong learning. As individuals grow, society and nations also benefit from their productivity and growth. This will involve (a) Make a quality vocational training/ short term program (b) Focus on an outcome-based approach towards quality skilling that results in better livelihoods for individuals (c) Recognise the value of on-the-job training, by making apprenticeships in actual work environments an integral part of all skill development efforts.
For achieving this, the workshops organized by the college to train the technical staff members to get awareness and develop new skills. One of our peons has been trained in basic handloom weaving through a workshop conducted with the help of expert from Weaver’s Service Centre. He learnt the weaving process and started assisting in lab demonstration classes. Another employee was trained in library related work where she helped the Librarian in cataloguing and other library maintenance areas. A mask making workshop was organized by the institute for the entire team of Satyam Fashion Institute where all the students, Class IV team, faculty members and staff had learned the skill to developed mask using old clothes or cotton dupatta. Because of the lockdown, there was unavailability of the fabrics which was managed by donating fabric. These were utilized in the worked conducted by our technical staff member for mask making and the prepared masks were distributed to people who cannot afford masks. It was an initiative by the organisation to promote sustainability and skill development for the entire team members.
