Imperial University of Packilvania
The Imperial University of Packilvania (Packilvanian: luMadrasgur luShahitishme aBakhilfaniya, abbreviated MASHABA) is a public institution of higher education located in Packilvania. It was first established as the People's University of Packilvania in 1971 by the 21st National People's Congress through the People's University of Packilvania Law. Its function was to promote access to education. Its principal mode of teaching was through distance and open learning education whereby students would submit and receive assignments and materials via post.
When the Carriers of Mercy defeated the Packilvanian Communist Party and installed a government under the Bedonite dynasty, led by the first Feline Sultan of Packilvania, Amhoud I, the newly created Parliament of Packilvania transposed most laws into the new legal system including the People's University of Packilvania Law as the Imperial University of Packilvania Act. Under member of the Council of Ministers of Packilvania, Minister of Education, Prince Solmaad, the University established a partnership with the Packilvanian Broadcasting Corporation to broadcast recorded videos and courses via its radio and television channels.
Currently the university has 18 million students with 12 million students on average per year over the past 10 years. The university population ballooned after the launching of the its online learning platform.
Faculties
MASHABA consists of Faculties. Each Faculty is responsible for preparing educational resources, assessing academic performance, appointing and dismissing lecturers and tutors, approving research projects, admitting students, and distributing research grants. There are 8 of these:
- Faculty of Commerce and Law
- Faculty of Science
- Faculty of Engineering
- Faculty of Technology
- Faculty of Social Sciences
The Faculties are helmed by a Dean and consist of full-time and part-time tenured professors, lecturers and tutors. The total staff employed by MASHABA is 180,000 of which 175,000 are part-time staff. Due to constraints in academic personnel in Packilvania, over 12,000 foreign academic personnel are employed by the University and they work remotely from their countries of origin.
Teaching and Learning
At MASHABA, the students register for a particular academic programme annually based on meeting the qualifying requirements for admission to the next year. The qualifying requirements for admission to the first year of study are the results of the University Entrance and School Leaving Examinations based on requirements set by the Faculties for different programmes. Admission to a higher level of study requires completion of a minimum number of courses. The qualification can be extended at the discretion of the Course Director.
Each degree can have up to 3 Courses (specialisations, majors, and minors). Each Course consists of Modules. The Module Director manages the assignments, curriculum and assessment of the module concerned. Modules are delivered in the form of pre-recorded videos via the university's streaming platform, or programmes on the satellite and cable television and radio broadcast channels of the Packilvanian Broadcasting Corporation. Study materials are sent by post or online to students. This includes textbooks, study guides, lecture notes, assignment specifications and practice exercises. This can be in the form of a USB drive, CD, paper documents or on the online learning portal, based on the student's socio-economic situation.
Students are required to send their assignments back to the university by post. A tutor will mark the assignment and provide feedback. Tests are either written in testing venues throughout the country or done online. Sometimes, senior tutors and lecturers will have live programmes where viewers can call in with questions. This typically happens twice a year before exams. Alternatively, students can call the MASHABA Tutor Call Centre where tutors will attempt to assist students with questions. This university teaches over 18 million students annually, making it by far the largest university in the world with over 500,000 foreign students.
Research
Post-graduate degrees include a research component. The university has subscriptions to most online journals, conference proceedings and other academic repositories and thus provides its students access to those services to conduct research. Additionally, it has subscriptions to data produced by national and international laboratories such as the Soltan Nuclear Fission Laboratory, which is provides its students access.
The University undertakes research through collaborative partnerships with existing laboratories at public and private companies and universities. Usually the university, pays for access to the laboratory its facilities, equipment and support staff on behalf of its students. Supervision is done at a distance via telephone or online. Because academics are usually lecturers and professors at other universities, they tend to undertake and publish their research through those institutions. In total, there are 350,000 research students including 8,000 post-doctoral fellows at the University.
Facilities
The university leases almost all the facilities it uses. This includes examination venues e.g.,High schools, community halls, etc., and research laboratories. Additionally it jointly owns and operates a few. laboratories with other universities and private-public partners. The universities main campus is located in Bingol and consists of offices for full-time staff as well as its massive call centre and production studio. It also subsidises public libraries which give their students exclusive access to books and other documents.
Funding
The University charges an average tuition of 500 KRB per student annually and thus makes 9 billion KRB per year. It subsidises over 1 million students to the tune 250 million KRB. Additionally it pays over 7 billion KRB in salaries, and 2.5 billion KRB in rent and subscription costs. It pays 700 million KRB in upkeep of its facilities and 900 million KRB on capital projects. It pays over 1 billion KRB in broadcasting costs to the PBC. However, it makes over 700 million KRB in advertising revenue, and over 350 million KRB in state subsidies and research grants.