Rev. Sr. Dr. Celine E (Sr. Vinitha) CSST
Rev. Sr. Dr. Celine E (Sr. Vinitha) CSST is the Manager of renowned St.Teresa’s College (Autonomous), Ernakulam and is taking all her efforts to bring the college into the new heights.
Sr. Vinitha joined the department of English in 1988. She was awarded Ph.D by the Mahatma Gandhi University in1999 for her doctoral thesis on Marxism in Dorris Lessing. She is a recognized research guide of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, research supervisor of Anna University, Coimbatore and recognized Ph.D examiner of Bharatiar University. She is also the recognized M.Phil guide of Bharathidasan University. She has several research publications to her credit. She is the author of the works Passage to the Sun-Collection of Poems (1999), Encounters-Collection of Poems (2012) and Road Less Travelled and Other Stories (2013). Her spirituality and academics are closely linked. Her motto in life is to reach God through her deeds and help others find the divine. She believes that everything she sees and hears bears the touch of the master and even her writing is an expression of her communion with the supreme.
Rev. Sr. Dr. Celine E (Sr. Vinitha) CSST is extremely delighted to welcome you to St. Teresa’s College. A vision, which was planted by Sr. Teresa of Rose of Lima, the foundress and Mother, a women with extraordinary vision and foresight who believed that social transformation was possible through educating and empowering women.
St.Teresa’s College, a pioneering institution in the field of Higher Education in India, was established on 15th June in the year 1925, as the first Women’s College of the erstwhile Cochin State and the second in the whole of Kerala by the Congregation of the Carmelite Sisters of St.Teresa. The College started with Sr. Beatrice as its first Principal and Mother Veronica as the first Manager and a student strength of just 41. While high academic standards were maintained in the college from the very start, students were also taught the value and dignity of labour, good social relationship and above all, lasting spiritual values. College was a second grade Arts College affiliated to the Madras University and offered the Intermediate Course with Ancient History, Modern History and Logic under Part III.
During World War II, the College buildings were commandeered by the Army and converted into a military hospital and was reoccupied by the College only by 1946. With the dawn of Independence of the country in 1947, there was tremendous rise in the enrollment in our institutions of higher education; and St.Teresa’s College generously took its share in the process of democratization of University education. The growth of the institution during the post-independence era was tremendous both in quality and quantity.
In the beginning of the academic year 1957-58, the affiliation of the college was transferred from Madras University to the Travancore University, which was renamed in August 1957 as Kerala University. The College has always been rendering help to deserving and financially handicapped students and towards this end, the Students Aid Fund was started in the year 1959, which still continues. National Service Scheme was introduced in 1969. A book bank was introduced in 1971 with UGC assistance for the benefit of financially backward students. It has not been all work and no play for the Teresians. St. Teresa’s College formed the first women’s basketball team in the University and the State in 1961.
A Sports Hostel came into existence in 1986. When the Principal Sr. Marie Cecile retired in February 1986, Sr. Emeline became the new Principal. Women’s Cell was organized in the college in 1991. The AWARD ERA of St.Teresa’s College started in 1994, when the College received the prestigious and highly coveted first R. SANKAR AWARD instituted by the Government of Kerala given to the Best College of the State for all-round excellence. The college was awarded the R SANKAR AWARD three times after that for the Best Non-Special Grade Private College in the years1995, 1998 and 2000.St.Teresa’s College celebrated its Platinum Jubilee on 4th December 2000. In the pursuit of excellence there have been many creditable achievements the latest being that it has been raised to the status of “FIVE STARS” in 1999 by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council [NAAC], Bangalore.
The College was bestowed “College with Potential for Excellence” status by the UGC in 2010 and granted Autonomous status in 2014. The College was reaccredited by the NAAC in the fourth cycle of Accreditation with the highest grade of A++ with a CGPA of 3.57 in 2019. College has ranked 41st in NIRF India Ranking 2023 by MOE. St.Teresa’s College has forged partnerships with outstanding International Academic institutions to enhance student development, faculty growth and academic research. The College has signed an MoU with Newman University, UK, Richmond, The American International University, London, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan and Indo Swedish Academic Exchange Forum (ISAEF).
St. Teresa’s College is committed to enriching the lives of their students by empowering them. They provide a holistic education that enables them to actively participate in community life. Womens’ education is a crucial factor that contributes to nation-building and for the past ninety years, they have been educating young women from different strata of our society. The concept of education needs to change keeping in mind the needs of the present generation of learners and they strive to equip students with the necessary skill sets to meet the different challenges that they may be required to meet.