𝐌𝐆𝐔-𝐔𝐆𝐏 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞

MGU-UGP Honours Programme

Starting this academic year (2024-25), Baselius College will offer honours degree programmes affiliated with Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala. The programme shall be known as the Mahatma Gandhi University Under Graduate Programme (Honours), abbreviated as MGU-UGP (Hons.). The new honours programme offers students unparalleled flexibility in tailoring their academic path, allowing them to choose subject combinations that align with their interests and career goals. Unlike existing courses, the revamped four-year programmes present a radically revised curriculum that emphasizes skill development and global relevance, preparing students for an increasingly interconnected world.

Outline of the Programme

The degree programme is designed in such a way that students can achieve a regular degree in three years with 133 credits, and if they complete 177 credits in the fourth year, they can obtain an honours degree. During their fourth year, students will have two academic options: Honours degree (with a project) and Honours with Research. Students who opt for the research stream in their fourth year will be awarded a UG Honours with Research degree, enabling them to directly pursue PhD programmes without a post graduate degree. Meanwhile, students with a four-year honours degree can complete their post-graduation in just one year. Additionally, two-year PG programmes will be available for those who exit the programme after three years.

Besides this, students have the opportunity to accelerate their studies and complete their programmes ahead of schedule by fulfilling the necessary course requirements and earning the required credits for degree completion. Through the ‘N-1’ option, students can condense a three-year programme into two-and-a-half years and a four- year honours programme into three-and-a-half years, allowing for a faster pathway to graduation. Students who have taken a break from their studies will be allowed to re- enter the programme at a later semester (lateral entry). However, to qualify for a certificate, they must successfully complete 133 credits, as stipulated in the degree requirements. At the end of their fourth semester, students undertake an internship or apprenticeship, applying theoretical knowledge in a real-world setting and developing their skills and potential.

Structure of the MGU-UGP (Honours) Programme

The MGU-UGP curriculum structure in operation at Baselius College consists of three broad parts:

1. a) Foundation Components,     b)  Discipline-Specific Pathway Components (Major/Minor), and
2. Discipline-Specific Capstone

a)  Foundation Components

The Foundation component comprises a set of General Foundation Courses and a set of Discipline-Specific Foundation Courses. The latter consists of major courses and minor courses taken during the first and second semesters of the programme. The major is in the programme to which the student is admitted, while the minor is chosen by the student. Students have the option to select two courses from the pool of courses available in the college as their minors in the first semester. These Discipline Specific Foundation Courses shall focus on foundational theories, concepts, perspectives, principles, methods, and critical thinking essential for taking up advanced level courses in the following years.

General Foundation Courses are grouped into four major categories: Ability Enhancement Courses (AEC), which include two English courses and two other languages selected from the available options of Malayalam, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Syriac; Skill Enhancement Courses (SEC), designed to instil 21st-century skills in students; Value Addition Courses (VAC), aimed at inculcating ethical and constitutional values in students; and Multi-Disciplinary Courses (MDC), intended to broaden students’ intellectual experience by understanding the conceptual foundations of various branches of knowledge. Students cannot take the MDC in the same discipline that they have studied during their higher secondary studies.

At the end of the first semester, students have the option to switch their major to either of the Minors or any Multi-Disciplinary Course (MDC) they studied during the first year.

b)  Discipline-Specific Pathway Components

The Discipline Specific Pathway Components comprise two key elements: Discipline Specific Core (DSC) courses and Discipline Specific Elective (DSE) courses, which encompass both Major and Minor courses in the second and third years of study. This pathway provides students with the opportunity to delve deeper into a specific subject or discipline, developing expertise in their chosen area. Upon completing the foundation requirements and earning 68 credits through 17 major courses, students will be eligible to receive a degree from the affiliated university.

c)  Discipline-Specific Capstone Components

The fourth year of the programme is dedicated to Discipline Specific Capstone Components, offering students two options: Honours with Research and Honours degree. Students who acquire minimum 75% in their graduation, up to 6th semester, are eligible for an admission to Honours with Research Programme. At this advanced level, courses are designed to enable students to demonstrate their cumulative knowledge in their main field of study through various means, including research projects, advanced thematic specializations, internships, vocational or professional training, or other types of work experience. Students who have completed their undergraduate degree with Honours (177 credit) can apply for lateral entry into the second year of a postgraduate program, thereby skipping the first year. Additionally, students who hold a Research Honours degree may be eligible for direct admission into a PhD programme, bypassing the need to complete a master’s degree.

The courses are structured to progressively increase in difficulty level across the years. The first two semesters, forming the Foundation level, comprise courses with a difficulty level of 100-199. The next two semesters, the Intermediate level, offer courses with a difficulty level of 200-299. The higher-level courses in the fifth and sixth semesters have a difficulty level of 300-399, while the Capstone level courses in the final two semesters have a difficulty level of 400-499. This structure ensures a gradual increase in academic challenge and complexity

Credit Structure

The academic year will comprise 200 working days, divided into two semesters of 90 working days each. Each semester will have 18 weeks, with five working days per week, and a maximum of 15 weeks available for curriculum transactions. The credit system will be as follows: Major and minor courses: 4 credits each, General foundation courses: 3 credits each and Internship: 2 credits. One credit hour will be equivalent to one hour of lecture/tutorial or two hours of lab/practical/field work per week. Students can enroll in courses totaling a maximum of 30 credits per semester, with a minimum of 16 credits from Baselius College. The credits earned by students each semester and for each course will be recorded in the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) account created for each student through MG University. Each student is assigned a unique student ID in ABC and can monitor their credit progress in ABC through the Digilocker app. To be eligible for a degree from the University, students must earn at least 50% of the total credits required for graduation from MG University.

Course cum credit structure follows:

Academic Monitoring and Student Support

A three-tiered monitoring system will be established to oversee the programme, consisting of:

1. A university-level committee headed by the Vice Chancellor
2. A college-level committee chaired by the Principal
3. A department-level committee led by the Head of the Department

These committees will work together to monitor the program’s progress, ensure students receive mentoring support, and address any academic concerns. Additionally, an Academic Coordinator will be responsible for managing the MGU- UGP Honours programme at the college level. Each department will also have a Senior Faculty Advisor (SFA) and a Faculty Advisor (FA) for each class, providing guidance, clarification, and approval on academic matters.

Assessment and Evaluation

Only students who complete at least 75% of the prescribed classroom activities for a course are eligible to register for the end-semester evaluation. The assessment consists of two components: Continuous Comprehensive Assessment (CCA) worth 30% and End Semester Evaluation (ESE) worth 70%. Each course includes 20% Teacher Specific Content, designed by the course instructor, which is evaluated under CCA. This CCA comprises two sub-components: Formative Assessment (FA), an ongoing, in-process evaluation during a module or course and Summative Assessment (SA), a student evaluation at the end of a module or project or course. The end-semester practical examination is conducted and evaluated by the course faculty or coordinator. The duration and mode of examination shall vary across courses. Nevertheless, the typical examination duration is fixed between a minimum of 1 hour and a maximum of 2 hours. Project work in the eighth semester of honours courses will be assessed out of 200 marks, with 30% allocated to CCA and 70% to ESE. The same assessment pattern applies to internships at the end of the fourth semester