Senate of Serampore | |
Latin: Gloriam Sapientes Possidebunt | |
Motto | The wise will possess glory |
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Established | 1818 |
Type | University under Section 2 (f) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 |
President | Bishop Isaac Mar Philoxenos |
Location | Serampore, West Bengal, India |
Campus | Semi-Urban |
Website | http://www.senateofseramporecollege.edu.in/ |
The Senate of Serampore College (University) is located in Serampore Town, in Hooghly District, West Bengal, India. Serampore was granted the status of university in 1829, making it India's first institution to have the status of a university.[1]
The college was founded by the missionaries Joshua Marshman, William Carey and William Ward (the Serampore trio), to give an education in Arts and Sciences to students of every "caste, colour or country" and to train a ministry for the growing Church in India (See: Christianity in India).
Contents
The Senate
The Senate of Serampore College (University) runs the academic administration of all its affiliated theological colleges. The Council of Serampore College holds a Danish Charter and had the power to confer degrees in any subject, which it currently exercises only for conferring theological degrees as recommended by the Senate.[2]
The present Master is the Rt.Revd.Dr.John S. Sadananda, Bishop of Karnataka Southern Diocese of the CSI.[3]
Several theological Colleges and Seminaries all over India including Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College.
Authority to issue degrees and accreditation
King Frederick VI of Denmark originally granted a Royal Charter giving the Senate of Serampore College the status of a degree granting university.[4] The Senate of Serampore College (University) is a University within the meaning of Section 2 (f)[5] of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956[6] (as modified up to 20 December 1985).
In fact, Serampore was the first institution[7] to be given the status of a university in India.
It confers its own degrees in Theology under the power vested by the Charter and Act of Serampore College.
History
Since Serampore was then a Danish colony, King Frederick VI, the King of Denmark, issued Serampore College its Royal Charter of Incorporation on 23 February 1827, in Copenhagen, Denmark (Charter, 1, Charter, 2, Charter, 3). The charter came in response to Joshua Marshman's visit to King Frederick in August 1826; the charter gave Serampore College the privilege of awarding degrees in Arts and Theology. William Carey, Joshua Marshman, and John Clark Marshman (Joshua's son) were designated as members of the first Council. At its opening, the Trio released a prospectus which proposed "A College for the instruction of Asiatic Christian and other Youth in Eastern Literature and European Science." The College was open to all persons of any caste or creed, and the founders ensured that no denominational test would apply to faculty members. The charter has also been confirmed by the Bengal Govt Act. IV of 1918.
The status accorded by the Danish Charter has since been re-affirmed for the study of Theology[8] and now forms the basis for degrees of all levels conferred by over forty theological colleges throughout India, and is administered by the Senate.It was incorporated by Royal Charter of 1827 and Bengal Government Act. IV of 1918.
Degrees awarded
Presently, the Senate of Serampore College (University) restricts itself to award of degrees pertaining to theology.
The following are the degrees awarded to students through its affiliated colleges throughout India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka:
Internal
Officers of the Senate |
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Graduate programmes
- Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.)
- Bachelor of Theology (B. Th.)
- Bachelor of Missiology (B.Miss)
Postgraduate programmes
Doctoral programmes
External
Diploma programmes
- Diploma in Christian Studies (Dip. C.S.)
- Diploma in Clinical Pastoral Counselling (Dip.C.P.C.)
- Diploma in Bible translation (Dip B.T)
Graduate programmes
Postgraduate programmes
- Master of Christian Studies (MCS)
Doctoral programmes
Affiliated colleges
About 50 colleges[9] are affiliated, including:
- Academy of Integrated Christian Studies, Aizawl, Mizoram
- Aizawl Theological College, Aizawl, Mizoram
- Allahabad Bible Seminary, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
- Andhra Christian Theological College, Hyderabad, Telangana
- Bethel Bible College, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
- Bishop’s College, Calcutta
- Clark Theological College, Aolijen, Mokokchung, Nagaland
- Faith Theological Seminary, Manakala, Adoor, Pathanamthitta, Kerala
- Gujarat United School of Theology, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
- Gossner Theological College, Ranchi, Jharkhand
- Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- Indian Theological Seminary, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- Karnataka Theological College, Mangalore, Ka
- Kerala United Theological Seminary, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
- Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh
- Luther W. New Jr. Theological College (NTC), Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand
- Madras Theological Seminary & College, Chennai
- Master's College of Theology, Vizag, Andhra Pradesh
- Malankara Syrian Orthodox Theological Seminary, Mulanthuruthy, Kerala
- Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam, Kerala
- Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College,Shamshabad,Telangana
- Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam, Kerala
- Serampore College (Theology Department), Serampore, West Bengal
- St. Thomas Orthodox Theological Seminary, Nagpur, Maharashtra
- Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary, Madurai, Tamil Nadu
- Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, Maharashtra
- United Theological College, Bangalore, Karnataka
- United Theological Seminary of Maharashtra, Pune, Maharashtra
See also
- Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College
- South Asia Theological Research Institute
References
- ^ Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education [1]
- ^ World Council of Churches [2] Ministerial Formation, July 2003. Retrieved 23 April 2006.
- ^ The present Vice-Master is Mrs. Hilda Peacock.Anglican Communion News Service
- ^ Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, "Other Universities", Chapter XVI, Calcutta University, Three Missionaries, Carey, Marshman and Ward started the first Mission college at Serampore in 1818, and 9 years later it received a charter from the King of Denmark empowering it to grant degree.[3]
- ^ Under Section 2 (f) of the UGC Act, 1956, University means a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act, and includes any such institution as may, in consultation with the University concerned, be recoginsed by the Commission in accordance with the regulations made in this behalf under this Act. The UGC took the opinion that the Senate fell under the purview of Section 2 (f) of the said Act since The Serampore College Act, 1918 was passed by the Government of West Bengal.[4]
- ^ The University Grants Commission Act, 1956
- ^ Murli Manohar Joshi, Higher Education in India Vision and Action, A paper presented at the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education in the Twenty First Century, Paris, 5–9 October 1998. Internet, accessed 22 August 2008. [5]
- ^ Sankar Ray, The Hindu (Business Line), 11 April 2008 Almost a century later, the charter was endorsed officially under the Bengal Govt Act IV of 1918. [6]
- ^ "Affiliated Colleges". senateofseramporecollege.edu.in. Retrieved 2013-02-27.
External links
- NAC homepage on accredited Colleges
- NAC 2004 Report on the College and its degree issuing position
- The Church of North India
- Friends of Serampore College
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