The Syrian Virtual University (الجامعة الإفتراضيّة السوريّة) is a Syrian educational institution established by the Syrian Ministry of Higher Education. It provides virtual education (using the internet) to students from around the world. It was established on the 2nd of September 2002 and is the first virtual education institution in the region, and as of 2006, remains the only one. The goals of the SVU include offering education to those who want to learn but cannot afford to do so by going to a "brick and mortar" university. It is headquartered at the Ministry of Higher Education building, Damascus.
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Dr. Riad Daoudi is the current president of the Syrian Virtual University. Dr. Najah AL-Attar (Syria's Vice President) is the head of the council of trustees. The vice president for academic affairs is Dr. Rakan Razzouk (Head of the Syrian Computer Society and an experienced computer/electronics engineer and professor at Damascus university). The vice president for life-long learning is Dr. Anas Tarah. Program directos are Dr. Maher Suleiman (ISE), Dr. Khalil Ajami (BIT), and Dr. Salam Al-Bizri (HND).
SVU provides two kinds of academic programs: partnership programs, those provided in cooperation with foreign universities; and domestic programs, those that are authored by the SVU and taught by local Syrian professors.
partnership programs are often provided in English; and they are taught by the universities that offer them. They include programs that award, upon completion, degrees that range from the associate degree to the PhD.
All domestic programs are provided in Arabic (except for the English HND), some courses are taught in English. Originally, all domestic SVU programs were related to Computer Science, but two new programs in Economics were added in 2007. There is currently a total of six domestic degree programs.
HND stands for the Higher National Diploma in Computing and Business Applications. It is offered in English and Arabic. The duration of study is two years. HND is available in two versions, one taught in Arabic and another in English.
ISE is a credit-based BSc program in Information Systems Engineering. The content is very much that of a traditional Computer Science degree, but offered online. The student has to take a number of "core courses" and then a number of "specialized courses" with the aid of a career planner. There are currently (as of 2008) four core specialization areas: Software Application Development, Multimedia Systems, Networking and Operating Systems, and Intelligent Systems. It is possible to choose an emphasis within a core specialization area. A student must complete requirements in one or more specialization areas to graduate. The duration of study is (typically) five years.
BIT is a program leading to a Bachelor degree in Information Technology. It assimilates "both business concepts and information technology elements". The duration of study is typically four years, and two years for the students who studied in an institute before the SVU (BIT).
The SVU offers a BA in Economics, with three possible branches: Business Administration, Banking and Finance, and Marketing. Duration of study is four years.
This 4-year program is a BA in law, with several specializations, including criminal and constitutional law.
The SVU offers an MBA degree. The Duration is two years. The total tuition cost is around $3500.
Academic Master's degree in Technology Management, with an emphasis on technology transfer, development through technology and application of new technologies in businesses, industries and societies.
The program lasts two years: The first year covers six subjects. Students are required to attend at least half of the online lectures live and active participation in the lectures is a must, while students may download the rest. Students are also required to submit course work on a regular basis, and sit for mid-term and final tests. The curriculum is up-to-date with emphasis on continuing improvement. In the second year, the student prepares his/her Master's thesis which must be at lease 15000 words of the student's original work.
Admission into this top academic program is a highly competitive process, Students must be graduates of Computer, Engineering, Economics or other related fields. SVU only accepts 30 students per intake (2 Intakes per Academic Year), successful candidates must be fluent in English and Arabic (Minimum requirement TOEFL 550, IELTS 7.0, CAE, CPE, Damascus University Master English Language Test 75%), Proficient users of Computers, Internet and IT (the ICDL/ECDL certificate is mandatory for admission)and must also pass a tough general information test of 45 minutes and 45 multiple choice questions with emphasis on Math, Computers, Technology, History and Science.
Once the student pass all his exams (Pass Mark is 60%) and the Master Thesis is evaluated by the University committee, He/She can obtain the Master's Degree in Technology Management (MTM) The diploma is signed and stamped by the dean of the faculty, Head of the SVU and the Syrian Minister of Higher Education. In Spring 2010 over 400 applied for the master and only 30 were admitted. The total tuition cost is around $3500.
A Master degree in Quality Management. The Duration is two years. The total tuition cost is around $3500.
A Master degree in web technologies.
A Master degree in Web Sciences.
Now Students have a wide choice of affordable internet connections that can accommodate the e-learning software requirements, starting as low as 10 USD a month students can use 3G Internet anywhere in syria via the mobile phone network or they can register for ADSL service which has become openly available from 30 USD\Month.
While today not a problem,One of the issues which the SVU faced during its launch phase was the lack of a proper broad-band Internet infrastructure in Syria. This can be viewed as a strategic problem, as it hinders potential students. Faced with the terrible performance of the teleconferencing software on Dial-Up (then the only available option), the university created a number of telecenters (at a great expense) in various Syrian governorates so that students who didn't have broadband Internet (virtually all of them) could attend their lessons comfortably. With the introduction of ADSL and ISDN in 2004, it was hoped that the severity of the problem would be ameliorated. Unfortunately, the situation has not improved much: up to the end of 2007, ADSL is not yet available to students and the general public. Subscriptions are fewer than 5000 in number all over Syria and the cost for any potential adopter is too high (the actual going rate for an ADSL line is almost $1000, due to unavailability and very great demand by Internet Cafes). ISDN, while difficult to attain in many areas, is more publicly available than ADSL, and thus is the only option for Syrian SVU students who wish to attend lessons from their homes. Most Syrian SVU students, however, attend their lessons from a local telecenter.
The Learning Management Environment currently deployed supports only Windows Systems, starting with Windows 95 up to Windows 7 with tsp codec. Mac OS X, and Linux are not currently supported. Only the email subsystem and the forums are platform-independent. There are plans underway to improve the situation by transitioning to a different LMS.
The most appropriate solution for those who wish to use the LMS on their "un-supported" Operating systems, is install VM Ware or MS Virtual machine and setup a copy of windows XP which can be opened from within windows vista, 7 or any other OS for that matter.
Although some problems existed in the foundation programs at first. Today SVU has a very strong base of course material students can study from.