The University has a network of 36 regional centres throughout the country located in all the four provinces of the country, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and also the Northern areas. The purpose of the regional network is to provide the educational facilities and services to the masses at their doorstep. The university has thirty five departments in four faculties. The number of courses offered by these departments is continuously increasing. For instance in 2000-01, the University was offering 723 courses while in the last academic year 2006-07, the number has increased up to 1377. In the year 2001-02, the students’ enrolment was three hundred thousand while this figure has increased to seven hundred thousand last year. Among these seven hundred thousand students, 52 per cent are female while 48 per cent are male. The male female ratio shows an unshaken trust of Pakistani women in the University. AIOU has the most modern and up-to-date curriculum designed under the guidelines of the Ministry of Education and the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Some of the course text books published by AIOU are being taught in other universities as a part of their syllabus. Admission and evaluation criteria of HEC are followed for all post graduate programmes. Academic audits for improved quality and curriculum refinement are being arranged. The university has eminently qualified faculty with outstanding academic background. All the professors and Associate Professors have Ph.Ds in their relevant subjects. In addition to them there are 51 Assistant Professors and 67 Lecturers in different disciplines. The university has adopted Tenure Track System to retain and attract productive research scholars.
Distance Education System
Tutorial support is an integral part of the Distance Education System. The university has acquired the services of 37 thousand part time tutors across the country. The university has arranged 1350 study centers for tutorial meetings and workshops. Ninety seven approved study centers provide face-to-face instructional support. Today is an era of information technology, and adoption of the latest communication sources is key to success. The university has its own website which is updated on daily basis. All of the facts, figures information about admission and examinations, details about programmes and courses have been made available on this website. The facility of communication box has also been made available to the students and they can communicate with the relevant department regarding their problems/queries. The AIOU programmes have attained a global recognition through a number of international collaborations. In the year 2003, AIOU was declared as one of the 16 Mega Universities of the world for its enormous enrolment. The university publishes a number of Research Journals and the efforts are being made to meet the international standards of research publications. Its faculty members are also contributing their research articles to international research journals. Today is an age of modern technology and its adoption is a must for development and prosperity of a nation. One of the future plans is Technology Transformation of AIOU. The objective of this project is to develop the infrastructure for a modern technology based distance education university including interactive satellite based TV channels. With this project, the university will be able to deliver contents through satellite based broadcast network from studios to study centers. Video conferencing and teleconferencing will also be provided to the students of the university to interact with faculty members as well as with the teachers of the foreign universities. The university is also making agreements with some of the leading universities of the world for strengthening its syllabi and curricula. Recently, a high-level delegation from the University of Colorado visited AIOU and discussed the possible avenues of joint venture collaboration to strengthen journalism education in Pakistan.