Payame Noor University
Encyclopedia
Payame Noor University is a state distance education
Distance education
Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...

 university with the headquarters based in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...

, 30 provincial centers, 485 local study centers and campuses all around the country and one International Study Center located in the headquarters. Established in 1988, PNU is a legal body under the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology.
PNU took its first intake at 5 study fields at 28 local study centers. Presently, the university has 3,500 academic members and 1,101,182 national and international students.
Its name means "The message of Light" in Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

.


















History

Payam-e Noor University is a long-distance mega university and open college, whose name means "The message of Light" in Persian. It was established by decisions based on the meetings (No. 94 & 97) in 1986 by SCCR (Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution of Iran) and actually accepted the first group of students in Mehr 1367 (September 1987). After the founding of the university, it began its educational activities by accepting the first group of students in five branches and in the remaining 28 centers of the University of Abu Rayhan and Iran Free University. The development of new branches and departments came from the people and local aids and provided by the board founder.
One of the pillars of the scientific development of the country is expanding education, which result social development along with the blossoming of talents, and prepare human creativities. Conventional and current training alone is not sufficient

to establish this important point. So new methods of education and training programs, such as training contents, open, remote or virtual education, to achieve development objectives, is necessary.
Training contents educational is a system, which, with the use of educational technology, textbooks tutorial and student-centered learning, reduces student necessity to attend classes and courses. In fact, in this type of training, taught classes can be effectively replaced with revisal over the course and troubleshoot classes. Advantages of this system consists of student-centered teaching, possibility of independent study, comprehensive coverage, offering courses in less time in terms of student attendance and, consequently, reduced costs and less dependence on the educational requirements than traditional methods, and yet , effectiveness of Training.
The most important purpose and meaning of open training is reducing barriers related to limitations of time and space in conventional...

Undergraduate Course

Bachelor Degree Programs

Accountancy, Business Administration, Computer Sciences, Computer Software Engineering, Education (Management of Curriculum Planning), English Language Translation, General Psychology, Geography (Rural Geography), Industrial Engineering, Law, Library Sciences, Persian Language and Literature, Social Sciences (Research), Theology and Islamic Studies (Jurisprudence and Basics of Islamic Laws

Post graduate Course

Master Degree Programs:

Business Administration, Education (Curriculum Planning), English Language Teaching, Ethics (Philosophy of Ethics), Executive Administration, General Linguistics, General Psychology, Geography (Rural Planning), Geography (Urban Planning), Mathematics (Applied and Pure), Nahj-ol-Balagheh Studies (Fundamentals of Religion and Islamic Studies), Persian Language and Literature, Persian Language Teaching, Law (International, Private, Penal and Criminology), Public Administration, Social Sciences (Sociology), Theology and Islamic Studies (Koranic Sciences and Hadith, Jurisprudence and Basics of Islamic Laws, Philosophy and Islamic Speech), Theoretical Physics

Ph.D Course

Ph.D Degree Programs

Distance Education Planning, Educational Linguistics, Geography, International Law, Persian Language and Literature, Physical Education (Management) Planning

Accountancy

International Student information

In 1990, the Faculty of Overseas of PNU was established to meet the demands of new categories of applicants for Persian Language and Literature programs of study worldwide at Bachelor, Master and specialized Ph.D Degree Levels. The aims of these programs are the development of the rich culture and literature of Iran among Iranians. Nationals of other countries, too, will be able to have a better understanding of the depth of the Iranian manner of thinking, culture and art through the Persian Language and Literature programs.

In the new organization of the university, the Faculty of Overseas is replaced by the International Study Center. This implies that the Center is authorized to offer all the degree programs of PNU. These programs are correspondence courses, which heavily rely on textbooks. The language of instruction is Persian. Currently, the Center has 1182 students admitted through Encompassing different Degree Programs in 55 countries.


Admission

Since it is impossible for most international students to enroll and take part in the National University Entrance Exam, the International Study Center provides opportunities for students to continue their studies through encompassing degree programs at three levels of Bachelor, Master and Ph.D. Applicants will be admitted at this university on the basis of their high school GPA or their encompassing programs exams results. This center also enrolls students provisionally on the basis of their secondary school or their Bachelor degree GPA at two levels of Bachelor and Master degrees subsequently. The final exams of students of the Center are administered by the assistance of the Iranian consulates and embassies around the world. Having acquired necessary scores at the exams of encompassing semester (first semester), and having high educational background at university or high school levels with high GPA, the encompassing students will become regular. students


Language courses for non-Persian

The following Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

 Language courses are launched for non-Iranians nationals worldwide:
Level Duration
Basic Persian 4 months
Advanced Persian 4 months
Academic Persian 4 months



Controversy

Iranian universities faced criticism in early 2007 about their treatment of Bahá'í
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....

 students. Although religious identification has been removed from entrance exam papers, students are reportedly being expelled once their religion is discovered.

The controversy specifically focused on Payame Noor when an official university letter confirmed the expulsion as government policy. Over 30 Baha'i students have been expelled under the policy.

Additionally, in 2008, the university declared that Arabic will be the "second language" of the university, and that all its services will be offered in Arabic, concurrent with Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...

. (See Iranian Arabs).

Department and Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences

Dean: Dr. Mohammad Taghi Amini - Academic Position: Assistant Professor

Department and Faculty of Engineering

Dean: Dr. Hassan Fallah - Academic Position: Assistant Professor

Department and Faculty of Agricultural Sciences

Dean: Dr. Mohsen Shookat Fadaee - Academic Position: Associate Professor

Department and Faculty of Basic Sciences

Dean: Prof. Seyed Ahmad Mirshokraie - Academic Position: Professor

Department and Faculty of Art and Media

Dean: Dr. Hooshang Khosrobeigi - Academic Position: Assistant Professor

External links

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