Through his experiences at Fergusson College, he realized the difficulties faced by foreign students, particularly those from Afro Asian countries, studying in Pune. Inspired by the ideals of 'Vishwa Bharati' of Gurudeo Tagore and 'Antar Bharati' of Sane Guruji and with a desire to help foreign students and offer them a 'Home away from Home'.
In 1971 he established an organization called Symbiosis, which means 'living together of two different organisms for mutual benefit'. The motto of Symbiosis is "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" - The world is one family.
Symbiosis today comprises 48 institutes imparting training in diverse disciplines. It has students who hail from all states of India and from different countries. It is host to over 34,000 Indian and International students on campus. In 2002, the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India conferred on Symbiosis, the status of a Deemed University. Dr. Mujumdar has succeeded in converting Symbiosis University into an International University and has set up a 'Vishwa Gram', a Global Village on its university campus - where foreign and Indian students can live together in hostels, learn together in classrooms, play together on sports fields and eat together in cafeterias.
It was Dr. Mujumdar's vision to set up a separate Society for furthering the growth of Skill education, Vocational education and distance & open education. It was this vision that gave birth to Symbiosis Open Education Society, a Society established exclusively for offering quality education through distance learning.
SOES is committed to not only propagate distance education but also vocational education and skill development. Since 2011 SOES is imparting skill based education and training to the youth with the objective of employment and entrepreneurship.

She also chaired the Vocational Education & Skill Development Committee of Govt. of Maharashtra for defining the State's Policy. She was also a member of the working group of MHRD and Planning Commission for providing inputs in the area of Vocational Education and Skill Development to GoI for the XII Five year plan. She is also a member of the Governing Council, MSBTE, and Govt. of Maharashtra. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has nominated her as a member of the General Body of National Skill Development Agency (NSDA).
She formulated the concept and model of a Vocational / Skill Development University. Under her leadership, Symbiosis has established India's first skill University Symbiosis University of Applied Sciences in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. She has also set up Symbiosis Skills & Open University in Pune, Maharashtra. Today she is spearheading both these Universities in the capacity of Pro-Chancellor.
Dr. Swati has been a recipient of the 'Sanganak Sarathi IT Award 2010', 'Excellence in Education' award from the Top Management Consortium, Pune and 'Maxell Award of Special Recognition for Excellence - 2016'. Dr. Swati has been invited as a key note speaker on many occasions and has presented several papers in National & International Conferences. She has also done extensive research & consultancy in Private Universities in India for Govt. of Maharashtra.

This year Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning (SCDL) has enrolled 9804 students for various programs. In the last year the domain of Open and Distance Learning has witnessed major changes in regulatory policies. SCDL enrolments experienced a major impact of these changes. However SCDL has coped with the changed policies and overcame the adversities successfully. SCDL has been continuously enhancing its academic offering by introducing various innovative initiatives.

Symbiosis Community College (SCC) has enrolled 548 students this year for its various programs. Apart from its regular programs, SCC has conducted various community oriented programs such as career guidance seminars and soft skills sessions in the last year. These programs were mainly conducted for youth, students and housewives from rural areas. SCC also received sponsorships from various organizations for conducting its programs. Through its various initiatives SCC is offering valuable services to the disadvantaged section of the society.

Symbiosis Vocational Junior College (SVJC) has once again registered 100% result in HSC Board examinations. SVJC has done this for fifth consecutive year. 289 students have been admitted to the 11th and 12th standard for various vocational programs offered by SVJC. I would like state that, SVJC has been successful in changing the perception of the students and parents about the vocational education. Vocational education is not considered as a mainstream education by students however SVJC has proved this wrong as the number of students enrolling with SVJC has been increasing year on year. SVJC students are being hired by reputed companies like TATA, Bajaj, Wipro and other Private sector. This denotes the success of the vocational education.

This year 326 students have been enrolled in Symbiosis Institute of Skill Development (SISD). SISD has been appointed as an authorized learning centre by Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd. Through this centre SISD has been conducting various programs to create IT awareness among rural population.
I am sure that all institutions under SOES and especially our new venture i.e SSOU will reach greater heights in years to come and mark the beginning of a new benchmark in distance learning, vocational and skill based education.

Taking the mission of Skill India forward, Symbiosis Open Education Society has established Maharashtra's rst Skill Development University called the Symbiosis Skills and Open University at Kiwale, Pune. The University was enacted through a bill passed rdby State Legislation on 3 May 2017. The state-of-theart campus has been constructed on 15 acres of land with specialised laboratories, workshops and center of excellence having specialised skill training equipment and machines. The University offers Certicate, Diploma and Degree programs in high growth sectors such as Automobile, Construction, Mechatronics, Architecture, Retail, Ports & Terminal Management, Beauty & Wellness etc. with multi entry exit and credit banking options. The objective of the University is to create 'industry ready' youth who can be gainfully employed upon completion of their courses.
The innovative model of the University provides entry to all, enabling those from both the formal as well as informal systems to acquire education and skills. The model has incorporated the strength and best practices of the vocational and skill development system followed in various countries as well as the characteristics of the Indian ethos and culture.
Partnerships with industry for joint curricula development, skill training, on the job training, joint applied research projects etc. are some of the highlights of the University. Centre of Excellence, labs, simulation software and training workshops have been created to impart skill and practical training.
The University will also have a Community College and a Vocational & Employment Guidance Cell which will offer career guidance and livelihood oriented short term courses to local farmers, women and school drop outs.

Assessment and Evaluation are inevitable part of any learning system. Learner's cognitive ability, their understanding and learnings after participating in educational programs are assessed through the process of examination. Till the recent times, the predominant method used for the assessment of the students was written examinations i.e. paper & pencil examination. With the changing times, like other fields, new trends are also being witnessed in the field of academics. The assessment and evaluation is no exception to this. Use of computers, internet, automation etc. is on the rise in the conduct of examinations.
Realizing this, SOES has developed its own Online Assessment System (OAS) with the help of Persistent Systems Ltd. OAS is basically a software system having numerous features and function and can be used for conducting computer based examinations of various types. Initially, OAS was used for conducting computer based examinations of SCDL and some other Symbiosis Institutes.
Considering the potential and unique benefits of OAS, it was realized that these benefits could be offered to the other institutes / organizations as well for carrying out their assessments. SAS has built a team of highly qualified and proficient IT professionals which is handling all its operations. SAS is widening scope of its operation and is expected to extend its presence in various other fields apart from academics. To cater to new requirements, OAS is upgraded on regular basis and new functionalities are added which results in enhanced performance and offering of several user friendly features.