Department Overview
The origin of commerce education in St. Xavier’s College, Palayamkottai may be traced back even prior to the inception of Commerce Department in the year 1968, as an ancillary subject for BA (Economics). Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) is the most popular course in St. Xavier’s, ever since the inception of the department. Twenty years of enriched experience geared the department to offer M.Com in 1988 and subsequently B.Com Self-financing and M.Phil courses in 1998 and 2008 respectively. Over the period of Past 56 years the department has grown beyond leaps and bounds; new courses were introduced, offshoot departments such as BBA (2006), B.Com Corporate Secretaryship (2006) and B.Com Honours (2023) were started and the faculty members have got updated and academically enriched. The department was registered as a research department and Commerce Research Centre (CRC) was established in 2010. The centre has produced more than 70 doctorates so far and currently 18 scholars are pursuing their PhD programme under the centre. The research journal ‘Xaverian Journal of Marketing’ is the academic and research reflector of the department.
Mission and Vision
‘Competency with Character’ is the motto of the department. The autonomous status and status of College with Potential for Excellence (CPE) offered by the UGC have facilitated the department to experiment need based syllabi, innovative teaching methodology and innovative programs at various levels to enhance the competency of the students. Internship, Project works, and Industrial Visits are the compulsory parts of the curriculum and the department has signed around 10 MOUs with industrial and commercial units. The add-on course and value-added courses such as Typewriting, Tally and Office Automation have been made compulsory in UG level and Diploma in Computer Application in Business (DCAB) at PG level. The department has an ‘Entrepreneurial Development and Research Centre’ (EDRC) to promote entrepreneurial spirit among the students and to offer various entrepreneurial training programs to them. Organising ‘Entrepreneurs day’, running a Student Cooperative Store (XCOS) and annual Entrepreneurial Orientation and Training Program are the special features of the centre. To promote researches on entrepreneurship and to give a platform to researchers to publish their research articles on entrepreneurship, the centre has launched a bi-annual journal ‘Xaverian Entrepreneur’. The student-led initiatives through Commerce Association enhances the leadership and organization skills of the students. XCom-Carnival - a state level commerce students meet and National or International Conference are the annual features of the Association. To exhibit the talents of the students, the association publishes a quarterly student’s Magazine-cum-Newsletter ‘XCom blooms’.
Notable Alumni
The growth of the department can be attributed to the dedicated services of Stalwarts who served in the department like Dr.M. Kanagasabapathi, Prof. A. Esau Joseph, Prof. Thomas Puthenveedan, Prof. A. Bernard Chandra, Dr. C. Eugine Franco Dr. Lourdes P Rayan and Jesuit associates Rev. Fr. Chandy Chalangadi, Rev. Fr. Francis Vazhapilly, Rev. Dr. Casmir Raj, Rev. Dr. Anthony A Pappuraj, Rev. Dr. Peter Xavier, Rev. Dr. D. Selvanayagam, Rev. Dr. John Bosco Rev. Dr. Andrew Francis and Rev. Dr. S. Mariadoss. The department is at present bestowed with dedicated faculty of good academic background and rich research experience.
Alumni Achievements
The department has got a rich heritage of producing renowned businessmen, managers, accounting professionals, financial analysts, management consultants, politicians and teachers endowed with exceptional competencies and social commitment. Mr. R. P. Adhithan - former MLA of Cheranmahadevi constituency, Mr. RMKV Sivakumar - proprietor of RMK textiles, Mr. Antony Thomas- Managing Director of Nova Carbons India Ltd, Mr. V. Subramanian - Managing Director of NEWS7 TV Channel, Mr. Ramanathan – IRS, Mr. K. Jakkaian - Founder President of Aadhi Tamilar Party, Mr. R. Satish Kumar - Managing Director of Sathi Systems Pvt. Ltd. Osaka, Japan, Mr. Rositto Sax – Common wealth long jump silver winner and so on are the illustrious alumni of the department.
Milestones
The department celebrated its Ruby jubilee in the year 2008, PG Silver Jubilee in the year 2013, and Golden Jubilee in the year 2018. In commemoration of the college centenary celebration, the department launched B.Com Honours from the academic year 2023 – 24 and it is marching towards its future vision of conversion into a separate School of Commerce.