Symbiosis International University: Delivering On All-Round Excellence

The long-term vision of the University is there for everybody to see. SIU is certainly eyeing a pan-India growth, made evident through the announcement of the launch of its off-campus centre in Nagpur. This follows the successive and successful launch of two of its other recent campuses in Hyderabad and Indore. The former would cater to MBA and Law aspirants, while the former focuses on BBA and B.tech programs. But, it's safe to say that the University harbors not just expansionary dreams but is also looking to establish their credentials on certain fronts. A great showing in terms of student placements, a partnership with Google News Lab and setting up of an affordable health centre proves SIU's commitment to delivering all-round excellence. 

Symbiosis is a family of 46 academic institutions, imparting quality education for over 40 years. It hosts over 27,000 Indian and International students on campus. Its seven faculties – Law, Management, Computer Studies, Health & Biomedical Sciences, Media, Communication & Design, Humanities and Social Sciences & Engineering – are some of the most sought-after programs in the country with a vision to transforming individuals, preparing and empowering them to make a positive impact on the world. 

Yet again, the institute made headlines in the just concluded placement drive. Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development has just concluded its summer placement season with a record number of job offers secured by students across verticals such as FMCG/ FMCD, Consulting, E-commerce, BFSI, Telecom, Manufacturing and Technology, Information Technology, Pharmaceutical, Infrastructure, etc. This year, the school saw a 36% increase in average stipend with the highest stipend emerging as Rs 2.50 lakh and an average stipend of Rs 1.14 lac for last year's MBA batch. The Batch of MBA 2017 also saw numerous pre-placement offers from business houses such as ITC, P&G, HUL, ABG, Colgate Palmolive, Yes Bank, JP Morgan, Capgemini, Pidilite, Goldman Sachs, Philips, Wipro, Cummins, Genpact, Vodafone, Honeywell, Arcesium, Titan, IBM, Indus Valley Partners Pvt. Ltd., & HSBC. The Symbiosis Institute for International Business offer MBA courses aimed at the power and electricity sector in particular.

Another prestigious milestone includes Symbiosis Institute of Media Communication (SIMC) being chosen as one of the 46 Institutes across the world to be partnering with Google News Lab to offer cutting edge journalism courses to students as well as faculty. The Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS), originally founded as a management training institute for the defence personnel and dependants, marked its silver jubilee celebrations this year.

In the field of medical science, The Symbiosis Centre for Health Skills and the Hospital Building situated at Symbiosis International University, Lavale campus is the country’s first ever center for health skills in line with Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s ‘Skill India’ initiative. The 100-bedded charitable hospital will provide affordable health care to the people from nearby villages.

Noted corporates too are tying up with SIU for leveraging its expertise. For instance, Blue Dart, India’s most admired courier and logistics firm, and a part of the worldwide DHL Group, has tied up with Symbiosis to offer its employees an MBA program.

In another development, SIU which is gearing up to take its research initiatives to the next level, has tied up with the software-to-SUV conglomerate Mahindra Group. Singapore Management University is also a part of this tie-up and will explore solutions to meet the next generation of automotive skilling needs.

Also, the IBM Research Grant in Predictive Analytics was given to SIBM this year, overcoming stiff competition from other B-Schools.

In a separate development, Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce (SCAC) has become the only college in Pune to be conferred the status of ‘Colleges with Potential for Excellence’ (CPE) by the University Grants Commission in the recently declared list. While SCAC is not part of SIU, but affiliated to a state university, the development has come as further proof for the academic standards of Symbiosis Group.

Celebrities who have visited SIU campus recently include Aamir Khan, who had shot a part of one of his movies there, and the noted actor who is also known for his social messages was all in praise of the life’s work of Dr. SB Mujumdar, SIU’s Founder.

SIU units like SIBM also continue to innovate with great results. Their MBA with specialization in Innovation and Entrepreneurship is already a huge hit, and SIBM is now planning to focus on case studies and caselets, just like how Harvard Business School has made the concept famous. A recent addition has been the introduction of Certification programmes in Banking, Finance and Insurance (CPBFI) from Symbiosis School of Banking and Finance (SSBF) and Bajaj Finserv.

The university is abuzz with excitement with its latest off-campus centre proposed to open on the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s 75-acre land at Wathoda in east Nagpur. This will be Symbiosis’ second largest campus after the Pune campus. The Nagpur campus will offer courses in management (BBA-MBA), law (BA LLB and BBA LLB), design (fashion & textile), skill development in fields of health, information technology and communication. Apart from offering multi-disciplinary courses, Symbiosis will also facilitate 20% of total courses related to skill development. Symbiosis has been given 10 years to fully develop the centre (as against 5 years earlier) and will have to begin the first session with two years from the sanctioning of the building plan. Symbiosis will invest Rs 400 crore for developing the centre. Significantly, of the proposed 4,000 seats, 25% will be reserved for locals who will also get 15% concession in fees.

The institute also opened a campus in Hyderabad offering MBA and Law courses for the time being. SIBM-H has gone on to launch an incubation zone to promote innovative start-ups. Symbiosis is branching out to Madhya Pradesh, with a campus in Indore, and the brand Symbiosis continues to be a favoured destination for top academics with the VC post there getting over 500 applications.