First Year Programme

Course level:  Certificate

Objectives of this level:  This programme is designed for young as well as experienced leaders who want to gain a basic understanding of the Bible, Theology, and the principles of Leadership. The certificate programme provides the background for students to grow in all three dimensions: spiritual, cognitive (academic) and ministry, and prepares them to continue their studies in the next stages.

Manner of study:  The student participates in two semesters (one full-time academic year) of online classes which include: video lectures, participation in live webinars, reading textbooks, writing reflective articles, research articles, writing a journal, working on case studies and writing a final exam.

In addition to online classes, other educational activities (non-video lessons) include the following: Spiritual guidance (mentoring) sessions, weekly practical service as agreed upon with the faculty, and participation in Formation Conferences.

Recommended duration for this course level:  2 to 3 years part-time. The faculty advises students to complete this level in a maximum of 3 years by taking at least 2 courses per term.

Number of credits:  60 ECTS credits. Every credit of a Pars course represents 28 hours of participation in a learning activity.

This is in line with the European education system, where each credit is equivalent to 25-30 study hours. It should be noted that one course in the US education system (which is usually followed by the Iranian university system) is equivalent to 40-50 hours. Students should consider this difference when comparing Pars courses to university credits from Iranian and United States systems. The total number of Pars undergraduate course credits (ECTS) is 180, which is equivalent to approximately 128 credits in the US and Iranian education systems.

Credit distribution: Credit selection: Students must take all foundational courses (25 credits), 3 to 4 core courses (between 11 and 16 credits), 5 to 10 credits of non-video courses (eg, attend 2 conferences = 4 credits; one year of Mentoring = 1 credit; doing one year of practical service = 3 credits; in total, 8 credits), and the rest (9 to 19 credits) are to be chosen from the elective courses.

Students can choose any elective course offered by the school as their elective credits, provided they have already taken the prerequisite courses for that course. Prerequisite courses for each course are specified in the student handbook and also in the course catalogue of Pars School of Theology.

Students who plan to continue their studies with Pars beyond the first level can take more credits of either core courses or electives. In this case, if their credits in these two categories exceed the set ceiling, the additional credits will be considered as counting towards the following level of study.

Students who, for acceptable reasons, are unable to pass the minimum number of non-video credits, can discuss their problem with the school management and ask for guidance if they intend to complete their studies. At the discretion of the faculty, students who continue their studies with Pars in the following levels may be allowed to compensate for the deficit of their non-video credits in the ensuing years.