SANSKAR SARJAN EDUCATION SOCIETY’S

D.T.S.S COLLEGE OF COMMERCE (AUTONOMOUS)

Established in 1984, Sanskar Sarjan Education Society’s Dhirajlal Talakchand Sankalchand Shah College of Commerce owes its origins to the tireless efforts of its founder, Late Shri. Dhirubhai Shah. He worked for social and philanthropic causes through the charitable trust, Sanskar Sarjan Education Society, which he established along with a few like-minded friends. The mission of the members of the Society was to provide quality education to the underprivileged children of Kurar Village, an economically backward area in Malad (East) suburb of Mumbai.

In the initial 36 years after its modest inception, the College grew exponentially in scope and reach. During the academic year 2020-2021, the six-storey College building housed multiple academic courses—Bachelor of Commerce, Bachelor of Banking & Insurance, Bachelor of Accounting & Finance, Bachelor of Management Studies, Bachelor of Science (Information Technology), Master of Commerce (Management) and Master of Commerce (Accountancy), Master of Science (Information Technology), M.Phil and Ph.D Center for Commerce and Accountancy to which the Ph.D  for Business Economics and Philosophy has recently been added—to cater to the academic needs of over 4000 students. The rapid expansion and development of the College was helmed by the dynamic Dr. M S Kurhade, Principal, who took over the reins of the College in 2004. After his retirement in 2019, Dr. Sussmita Daxini has taken up as in-charge Principal in a capable and proficient manner.

The year 2020-2021 witnessed a new beginning for the College. In the quest to achieve the vision and mission of its founding fathers, D.T.S.S College of Commerce is poised on the brink of an exciting journey as an autonomous institution. After fulfilling a rigorous application and approval process, the College was granted autonomy by the University Grants Commission vide UGC letter No. F 22-1/2017 (AC) dated 22^nd December, 2020 and University of Mumbai letter No. Aff. / ICD/ 20-21/917 dated 17^th January, 2021 for the period 2020-2021 to 2029-2030. Autonomy implies not only a landmark change but also an enormous responsibility. The shift to autonomy has infused a new zeal and enthusiasm in the D.T.S.S family to deliver the best possible all-round education to our students.

The first exciting step towards autonomy—which will be implemented in a phased manner from the academic year 2021-2022, starting with first year programmes—has been to design fresh programmes and courses, as well as to redesign existing courses for the optimum benefit of our students. Over the course of several months, the management, the Campus Director, the Principal and the faculty collaborated across offline and online modes to introduce two new programmes (B.Com. Hons. and B.Sc. in Data Science), to thoroughly update and modify the courses under existing programmes (B.Com, B.B.I, B.A.F., B.M.S., B.Sc.I.T., M.Sc.I.T. and M.Com), to customize these to the needs of the day and the requirements of our students, and also to develop twenty new short-term courses to enhance the skill-sets of our students.

The next step in the journey of autonomy was to constitute the various Boards of Studies, the Academic Council and the Governing Body according to the guidelines of the University Grants Commission and the University of Mumbai. After being duly constituted, the committees met via online mode to discuss and deliberate upon multiple aspects of the shift to autonomy, including the reframed syllabi.

The Board of Studies for Commerce met on 22^nd May, 2021. After an elaborate deliberation and putting forward of suggestions, the curriculum for the commerce programmes and courses were approved by the members.

The Board of Studies for Accountancy met on 19^th May, 2021. After a detailed discussion and putting forward of suggestions, the curriculum for the accountancy courses were approved by the members.

The Board of Studies for Business Economics met on 20^th May, 2021. After a thorough exchange of details, opinions and suggestions, the curriculum for the commerce programmes and courses were approved by the members.

After all the suggestions from the experts on the various Boards of Studies had been implemented, an online meeting of the Academic Council was held on 10 June 2021. The items on the agenda included discussion and approval of all the new and refurbished programmes, courses and add-on courses, discussion and approval of examination patterns, evaluation methods, admission regulations, extracurricular activities, scholarships, awards, and grants given to the students and the staff. All these items were deliberated with great detail and attention and approved  by the members.

The final step towards formalization of the new curricula was the approval of the Governing Body members. An online meeting of the Governing Body was held on 19 June 2021, and the items on the agenda included approval of the change in nomenclature of courses, approval of the new programmes to be introduced from academic year 2021-2022, approval of the syllabi of Semester-I and Semester-II of all the U.G and P.G courses as well as the new add-on courses, approval of the examination and assessment patterns of all existing and new programmes and courses, approval of the admission rules for all the programmes, and the range of management grants, scholarships, and awards for students and staff. After much discussion, every item on the agenda was approved  by the members of the Governing Body.

To accommodate the new changes ushered in by autonomy, the College is rapidly expanding and upgrading its infrastructure and facilities. A new building is coming up to keep pace with the expansion. All other amenities, including the library and the computer laboratories, are being revamped to cater to the changes envisioned through autonomy.

Thus, the foundation of autonomy is prepared, finalized and approved. D.T.S.S College of Commerce (Autonomous) is set to welcome a fresh batch of students in 2021-2022 with a basket of brand-new programmes, up-to-date courses and customized add-on courses that will shape them into skilled individuals who will not only compete successfully in challenging career markets, but will also responsibly improve the quality of life in society.  The founding fathers of D.T.S.S College embarked on a continuous journey of improvement in order to realize their vision of education, and the shift to autonomy is another exciting step in that journey.

- Dr. Sussmita Daxini