Support Departments
Symbiosis Centre for International Education (SCIE)
Symbiosis Centre for International Education (SCIE) is a central department created for International Students.This department takes care of international students’ right from their admission till the time they graduate from this University, and acts as a common platform for International Students not only of SIU but from colleges and Universities across Pune.
Symbiosis Centre for Emotional Wellbeing (SCEW)
Symbiosis Centre for Emotional Wellbeing comprises of a team of qualified mental health professionals. Every campus has a psychological counsellor that a student can reach out to if in need of any psychological or emotional help or support.
SCEW provides the students with a safe and confidential space where they can come and share their problems without the fear of being judged.
Symbiosis Community Outreach Programme & Extension (SCOPE)
The Symbiosis International (Deemed University) SIU launched the Symbiosis Community Outreach Programme and Extension (SCOPE) on 2nd July 2012 with the objective of positively impacting the community around SIU as a part of its health promoting initiatives.
Symbiosis Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (SCEI)
Symbiosis Centre for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (SCEI) is a Technology Business Incubator (TBI) ofSymbiosis International (Deemed University). SCEI leverages on the advanced research capabilities that Symbiosis has in the areas of Health-tech, Medical Imaging, Waste Management, AI/ML, Nano Technology, etc to act as a catalyst of growth for technology start-ups.
Symbiosis Centre for Alumni Engagement (SCAE)
The Symbiosis Centre for Alumni Engagement (SCAE) was established to nurture and strengthen a symbiotic and long lasting relation between the SIU and its worldwide alumni community. SCAE is a centralized Alumni information and engagement platform which creates a range of appealing and rewarding programs, meaningful dialogue and exchange of ideas.
Symbiosis Centre for European Studies (SCES)
Symbiosis Centre for European Studies (SCES) is a multidisciplinary support department within Symbiosis Centre for International Education (SCIE) that was launched in January 2019 at the hands of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Czech Republic- HE Mr. Andrej Babiš.SCES liaises with Symbiosis institutes which run academic programmes and lays emphasis on facilitating people-to-people and institute-to-institute connections with Europe, bringing the best of scholarly expertise to India
Symbiosis Centre for India Australia Studies (SCIAS)
India-Australia relations are set to become stronger in recent times. The two countries have signed bilateral agreements on enhancing Trade, Commerce and higher education has always played a dominant role to further enhance cooperation.
It will act as an overarching umbrella for all activities involving students and faculty where they can share ideas across disciplines and sectors with academia and students from Universities in Australia.
Mr. Peter Truswell, Consul-General, Australian Consulate in Mumbai, India, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) inaugurated the Symbiosis Centre for India Australia Studies.
On this occasion he spoke on the theme ‘Interregional Cooperation for Effective Internationalisation of Higher Education’ focusing on the importance education as one of the means to enhance regional cooperation between India Australia.
Symbiosis Centre for Promoting the Philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’
The National Education Policy 2020 states that the purpose of the education system is to produce students who are engaged, productive, and contributing citizens for building an equitable, inclusive, and plural society as envisaged by our Constitution (Government of India. Ministry of Human Resource Development, 2020). The philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’ and its vision of ‘the world as one family’ enables students to be open-minded, broadening their understanding of the world and their own possibilities within it. Its approach is one of tolerance, respect, and compassion for our shared global community which facilitates dialogue and peaceful co-existence. This approach equips students to be global citizens who can engage with people from diverse cultures and look at global issues through a multi-perspectival lens. This philosophy, drawn from Indian wisdom traditions, provokes self-inquiry leading to transformative learning. Thus, the application of this philosophy in their lives enables students to cultivate the mental resilience and self-awareness required to skilfully navigate the challenges of the 21st century with sound ethical moorings and values.
Department of Sports, Recreation and Wellness (DSRW)
Sports and Games are essential components of human resource development, helping to promote good health, comradeship and spirit of healthy competition which in turn has positive impact on holistic development of personality of the Youth who is potential source of energy, enthusiasm and inspiration for development, progress and prosperity of a Nation.
Symbiosis Teaching and Learning Resource Centre (STLRC)
The Symbiosis Teaching Learning Resource Centre i.e. STLRC was established in November 2011, with the aim to help raise the effectiveness and productivity of the Symbiosis faculty in terms of teaching as well as research.The STLRC is Symbiosis International University’s catalyst to inspire and mentor the faculty in their roles as Teachers, Researchers and more so as 'Educational parents'.
Objectives of STLRC:
STLRC always strives to:
- Improve the Teaching Effectiveness of faculty
- Sensitize faculty members in the areas of diversity and inclusion, in the teaching learning environments
- Enable faculty to design innovative assessments
- Facilitate increased research output
- Coordinate Domain specific interventions to improve discipline knowledge of the faculty members
STLRC always strives to:
- Planning and execution of various Faculty Development Programmes under the verticals of Teaching, Learning, Evaluation, Research, Psychological Wellbeing and domain specific areas for all the eight faculties of the University.
- MOOC Development Activity: SIU started various interventions such as encouraging learning through online courses, face-to-face workshops, and face-to-face meetings to familiarize SIU faculty members about learner-centric MOOCs. As a result of which four MOOC proposals have been submitted to CEC i.e. Consortium for Educational Communication. These proposals will now be scrutinized by CEC and we will be informed about the acceptance of the proposals. Ten other MOOC proposals are in the pipeline, which will be submitted to CEC.
- Symbiosis International (Deemed University) in association with Maharashtra State Faculty Development Academy (MSFDA) organized a Faculty Development Programme on Techno-pedagogy and Andragogy for Active Learning (TAAL).
- The TAAL is a ‘8 days programme’ conducted by Symbiosis Teaching Learning Resource Centre (STLRC), in three phases: Phase I – 5 days Residential programme, Phase II – 2 days Online Workshop and Phase III – 1day Refresher. In 2022, two batches of TAAL were conducted in which faculty members from higher education institutions across the State of Maharashtra from varied disciplines had participated.
Dr. Sophia Sandeep Gaikwad
Head of STLRC
Profile
Dr. Sophia has been in the field of Education for the past fourteen years. She looks after the centre, which is responsible for Faculty development, including training and development related to teaching, research, career progression and personal development. Before joining SIU, she was teaching students pursuing Bachelors and Masters in Education. Her Doctoral research is on the theory of Multiple Intelligences. During this tenure, 20 students have completed their Research work as a part of the M.Ed. (Masters’ in education) syllabus under her guidance and have submitted their dissertations to SNDT Women’s University. She has done her Master’s in English Literature as well as Masters in Education and qualified the SET and NET examinations.
Achievement
- She has authored two books on 'Teaching Methodology' and also has been a co-author for three other books. Her research papers have been published in SCOPUS indexed journals. Till date 15 students have completed their Seminar paper i.e. Research paper as a requirement of the last semester for the degree in B.A./B.Sc. Liberal Arts, Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts. These papers were under the theme of Inclusion and Creativity.
- She has designed a 2 credit course on ‘Teaching Methodology’ and teaches the same to the post graduate students of Medical Technology.
- She is an Approved Ph.D. supervisor of Symbiosis International (Deemed University) under the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; and presently 4 scholars are working with her.
- She is also an Approved Ph.D. Supervisor with Lincoln University College, Malaysia under the faculty of Education, and presently supervising work of two scholars. She has been the Reviewer of chapters of the IGI Global book, Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Action Research and Action Learning; and also is Reviewer and Article Editor for selected articles with SAGE open and British Journal of Education Psychology.
Teaching is her passion and she is extremely interested in research and innovation. She is a firm believer in the power of values, and the role of a teacher in transmitting them.
