Far Eastern National University

About Far Eastern National University

FENU's Symbols

History FENU (1899-1990)

History FENU (1991-2008)

Russian Far East

Basic Facts

Established:	1899
Location:	Downtown Vladivostok, Russia 40+ branches worldwide
Students:	35,000+
Ph.D. students:	570+
International students:	500+
Students of international dual degree programs:	200+
Faculty & staff:	4,000+
Ph.D. (Dr.Sc.& Cand.Sc.):	970+
Academic & Research Institutes & Schools:	77
Academic Departments (Chairs):	152

Educational programs:	585
Bachelor (undergraduate) specialties:	36
Post-bachelor ("specialist") majors:	152
Master (graduate) specialties:	28
Post-graduate (Ph.D. research) specialties:	62/td>
Pre-university and professional development programs:	100+
Ph.D. (Dr.Sc., Cand.Sc.) Councils:	13
Buildings:	60+
Web site in English:	www.fenu.ru
Web site in Russian:	www.dvgu.ru
FENU distance learning in English:	en.OpenUniversity.ru

Accreditation, Recognition, and Ratings

Far Eastern National University is a federal institution of higher education accredited and funded by the Russian Ministry of Education. FENU is the top rated, the largest, and the oldest university of Eastern Russia, established in 1899 by a special order of the Imperor Nikolai II.

According to the ratings of the Russian Ministry of Education, FENU is one of the top five Russian universities. FENU has been listed number two in a recent publication of the top national universities issued by the Russian Ministry of Education.

FENU is the only university of Eastern Russia accredited as a scientific university by the Russian Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology. FENU earned this accreditation for its scientific achievements: according to the Science Citation Index, FENU faculty members contribute 78% publications of all Russian Far East universities and colleges in worldwide peered scientific journals. FENU has joint academic departments with every research institute in natural sciences accredited by the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Russian Far East. In 1999, FENU won a competition among 90 best Russian Universities for a one-million US dollar grant from the American Civil Research and Development Fund. FENU was able to establish the Research and Educational Center of Marine Biota. Due to its high level of fundamental and applied research, FENU has become a leading scientific and research center of ecological expertise of Sakhalin oil and gas projects. The level of fundamental research in FENU makes it one of the top universities of Russia.

FENU is the largest and the oldest non-commercial Internet provider and IT developer in the Russian Far East. FENU was the second in Russia, after Saint-Petersburg State University, to use H323 Internet protocol and multi-Mbps Internet channels for regular educational videoconferences. Utilizing Internet videoconference technology, FENU pioneered several educational programs: Russian and Japanese languages; Russian-American joint credit courses in Law; and international dual degree programs in Business.

FENU offers educational programs and conducts fundamental research in practically all fields of human knowledge. FENU alumni include 49 of 58 Primorsky Supreme Court Justices; more than 900 of 1,050 members of the Primorsky Bar Association; 70% of the regional scientists holding PhD degrees; 90% of the regional journalists; and almost 100% of the regional specialists in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and oriental studies.

International Recognition

FENU is a national leader in developing relations with Pacific Rim Countries, a major bridge between Russian education and worldwide university society. The university has 40+ branches in Russia, USA, Japan, China, and Korea. It develops more than 80 partnership projects, including 64 academic exchange programs, with universities at the USA, Japan, People`s Republic of China, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, Great Britain, France, Australia, Thailand, India, and Vietnam.

Not only universities are partners of the Far Eastern National University. It has unique partnership projects with Ministries of many countries. Jointly with Ministries of International Affairs and Ministries of Education of People`s Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Japan, India, and Vietnam, FENU established:

Center of the Chinese Language
Center of Testing Chinese as a Foreign Language
Educational Center of the Republic of Korea
Japan Center
Chair of Indian Studies at FENU (jointly with Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Center of the Embassy of India)
Vietnamese Cultural Center at Vladivostok
Cultural Center of Germany
Cultural Center of Korea
Cultural Center of India

Among innovative international programs started by Far Eastern National University, the following ones are the most famous:

Joint dual degree program in business and management with University of Maryland University College: started in 1991 by a unique order issued by the USSR Ministry of Education.

FENU Branch in Hakodate (Japan) was established in 1994. Having the enrollment of 100 Japanese students per year, it became the first branch institution of Russian university in the history of Russian-Japanese relationships.

FENU Russian School for International Students (since 1989) provides an effective training in Russian as a Foreign Language and cross-cultural courses related to Russia. Over this period, about 4,000 undergraduate and graduate exchange students, university faculty members, business people, staff members of foreign companies and enterprises from China, Japan, Korea, the United States, and other Asia Pacific countries have taken these language and culture courses. Due to the decision of the Russian Federation Ministry of Education, FESU Russian College was declared as the Far Eastern State Center for Testing and Certification of Russian as a Foreign Language.

In 2001, Far Eastern National University in cooperation with Heilongjiang University (Harbin, People`s Republic of China) and Dalian University of Foreign Languages (Dalian, People`s Republic of China) established joint educational programs in language studies.

FENU Higher College of Korean Studies, a major center of Korean Studies in the Russia, was built in cooperation with KOHAP Group (Republic of Korea) in 1995 in token of strengthening friendly and cooperative relations between the Republic of Korea and Russia.

Research Institute of Korea was founded jointly with Korea Foundation in 1999.

UNESCO Chair of Marine Ecology; Branch of UNESCO Chair of Human Rights and Demography, one of a few UNESCO chairs in Russia

Regional Center for International Cooperation and Academic Mobility which was established in cooperation with the Russian Federation Ministry of Education.

FENU represents the Russian Federation in the largest and the most prestigious university associations, including the famous Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), established by the University of California (Berkeley), University of Southern California, and the Caltech. FENU is the only Russian member of this Association. FENU is a member of many other well known university associations, such as the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP), the Association of Asian Pacific University Presidents (AAPUP), the Northeast Asian Forum of University presidents (NAFUP).

FENU is famous for its international programs combining Internet and face-to-face modes of learning:

Dual degree program with University of Maryland University College (UMUC), USA: started in 1991 as a classical face-to-face program, in 1999 it became one of the first online dual degree programs in Russia. By October 2003, 265 FENU students graduated from UMUC with bachelor degrees in Business and Management, along with their Russian university degrees. Since 1999, UMUC accepts 90 FENU credits of 120 credits total, required for the undergraduate degree, and offers ten online courses for the remaining 30 credits. This is the most well known academic program in the Russian Far East, and its alumni belong to the business elite of Russia.

Dual degree program with University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Australia: started in 2001 jointly with USQ, leader in providing flexible learning opportunities to the world, as determined by the International Council for Open and Distance Learning. FENU was the first Russian university to start a dual degree program with USQ. Sixteen of the 24 subjects required for the USQ bachelor degree in Business are transferred from FENU, and FENU faculty members teach the remaining eight USQ subjects jointly with USQ instructors. The program initiated the first educational videoconferencing in the history of Russian-Australian relations.

Internet videoconference partnership with Waseda University (WU), Tokyo, Japan: started in 2000 with the top-ranked private Japanese university. The partnership was later extended to a large-scale 2002-2005 project. Each semester, ten Russian tutors teach Russian language to the WU students, and ten Japanese tutors teach Japanese language to the FENU students for a total of 40 academic hours per week. The quality and scale of the videoconferences are unique in the history of the Russian-Japanese relations. This project is experimental and preceding an even greater educational program.

Internet videoconference partnership with Seattle University (SU), USA: started in 2001, two years later the project won a grant award of the Foundation for Russian-American Economic Cooperation (FRAEC), and was recognized by FRAEC in December 2003. The highest judges and officials of the Primorsky Regional Supreme Court, Primorsky Bar Association, Federal Ministry of Justice Administration, participate in the videoconferences with the judges of the Washington State Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, members of the Washington State Bar Association, and other representatives of the American legal system. They participate in FENU-SU distance learning programs, aimed at implementing the American legal experience in the ongoing reform of the Russian judicial system. In terms of the positions of the people and the quality of technology and connection, this videoconference project seemed far fetched to many experts. Since 2003, using H323 protocol for video communications dramatically improved the quality of connection and opened a new arena for the international projects. In October 2003, FENU offered the first videoconference-based web course on the "International Law of Human Rights", taught by Prof. Christopher Roeder of SU law school. Credit transfer agreement between SU and FENU and an agreement to accept qualified FENU Law Institute graduates to the SU law school LL.M. program are the achievements unprecedented in the history of the Russian legal education.

Internet videoconference partnership with University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW), USA: a partnership started in 1996 as a traditional faculty exchange program. It eventually developed to an IT-based partnership in which FENU is recognized as a national leader in the field of distance education. A course entitled "Current Problems of International Law and Business", taught by Prof. Rod Matthews (WU) and Prof. Natalia Prisekina (FENU) for Russian and American students joined in one class, is the first Russian-American videoconference credit law course in history.

On-Campus Study of International Students at FENU

Annually FENU hosts more than 1,000 international visitors; about 40 international professors teach at FENU, and more than 200 international academic exchange students are enrolled to FENU programs on all levels from undergraduate to Ph.D. study. Each year about 300 more international students take courses of Russian as a Foreign Language on-campus at FENU. Most of them live in a special international dormitory section at the heart of FENU's main campus.

FENU Online Degree Programs and Credit Courses

FENU was among the first Russian universities to create e-courses and e-tests (since 1992). The University opened its first e-degree programs in 1999. The FENU Open University, a subdivision responsible for online distance learning, was established in 2001. Starting the same year, any prospective student from any part of the world can enroll to various FENU online programs leading to accredited university degrees in business, management, marketing, accounting, finances, computer sciences, history, philosophy, sociology, and several other areas. Over 100 FENU credit courses are available online. More that 1800 students are enrolled to FENU DL degree programs. In addition, over 9,000 on-campus students register for more than 60,000 e-courses each semester. They take about 250,000 proctored e-tests annually. The scale and level of IT-support of these programs ensure FENU leadership in the field of Russian education. Since 2004, 23 Russian as a Foreign Language and cross-cultural courses are available online for international students staying at home.