1. Introduction

In order to be able to offer high quality ODL required by the business sector the university staff need proper training, not just in how to use the technology, but more importantly, in understanding how learning takes place, and how to design, manage and administer ODL teaching approaches based on that knowledge. The university teaching staff is required to adopt a different mindset, that of facilitating and supporting learning while assuming new roles as managers, administrators, motivators, mentors and tutors of learning. Without this fundamental knowledge and new attitudes it is almost impossible to offer high quality ODL.

In other words, any university or other educational institution cannot offer the high quality ODL without professional ODL staff. Therefore, the top management of each educational institution has to focus on its main asset - human resources and their development.

To be successful and efficient in this field top management should:

• Approach the human resource development strategically.
• Ensure that individual skills development is linked to the university achieving its goals.

A strategic approach to HRD ensures that individual skill development is linked to the university and DE centre achieving their goals. Therefore, the DE centres should:

• Identify the skills needed to achieve their goals.
• Base decisions to develop their staff on DE centre and university strategic goals.

Therefore, the DE centres should:

• Collect information on existing skill profiles;
• Collect information on skill gaps of their staff.

• Formal comparison of existing skills of staff against required skills;
• Monitoring of individual development plans;
• Analysis of other data collected by a DE centre, e.g. staff management data and surveys;
• Analysis of internal and external changes and trends which may require the development of new skills.

• Include the identification of competence and skill development priorities;
• Describe the competence and skill development opportunities;
• Identify funding for implementation of the HRD plan through university budget process;
• Allocate responsibilities for implementation and evaluation.

The responsibility for development should be shared and demonstrated:

• By university/DE centre by ensuring that an appropriate action is taken to support staff members;
• By staff members that initiate and participate in agreed development activities.

• Provide development opportunities in an accessible manner to maximise individuals' learning by offering a range of methodologies;
• Prioritise development decisions in terms of their relevance to individuals' needs and contributions to achieving university/DE centre goals.

• Measuring the amount, type and distribution of development
• Analysing and reporting on development against categories relevant to the university/DE centre.

• Assessing the contribution of HRD to the university/DE centre goals
• Measuring inputs such as expenditure or time spent on development

One of the challenges of describing roles and competencies in distance education is that the field itself is changing rapidly, as it expands into new areas, both geographical and educational, and as established distance programs reassess their goals and consequently their systems and structures. As Jocelyn Calvert has noted, "Distance education is not a fixed strategy, but rather a symbol for diversity, flexibility and access. What we call distance education must be capable of taking many forms." (Distance Education in Single and Dual Mode Institutions, The Commonwealth of Learning, 1992).

2.1. Factors influencing roles and competencies in Distance Education

According to Jennifer O'Rourke (Roles and Competencies in Distance Education), the following factors may change the roles and competencies required for successful launching and operation of distance education programs:

Social context and clientele

Much of the recently documented experience in distance education practice is from tertiary institutions operating in first world countries. As distance education practice expands in third world countries, and as it serves learners across the educational spectrum, from primary education to the workplace, its structures and systems may change in response to the needs of the clientele. For example, systems and roles derived from a university context in which academic and administrative roles are traditionally defined may not be appropriate for a situation in which learning materials are developed for technical training in the workplace and a shop foreman is the mentor.

Second generation distance learning

Many of the roles and structures that have evolved to date were designed to address the fact that providers of distance learning are often new to the field, and need to re-orient their own perspectives and practices in education and help others to reconsider these issues when developing distance education programs. After twenty years of distance education practice, and in contexts in which educators themselves have studied at a distance, this requirement for re-orientation may be reduced, and there should be more provision within roles and structures for educators to integrate their own experiences both as distance learners and as distance educators.

Financial considerations

In almost all contexts, there are increasing demands that funds invested in distance education programs are well spent; that duplication of effort is avoided, resources are shared as much as possible, and there is a coherent rationale for each new program. In turn, this requires increasing collaboration among providers. Those in distance education may need more skills in working with others who are not part of one's organisational culture or structure, and who may be from different sectors, while still meeting the primary goal of serving the learners' needs. Research and analysis skills will also become increasingly important, in order to demonstrate that proposed distance programs are meeting an unmet social need, or serve an identified need more effectively than other alternatives do.

Institutional context

As distance education becomes more commonplace, and is seen as part of the teaching repertoire or administrative repertoire of an organization rather than a separate enterprise, there may be increasing pressure to subsume distance education into the organization as a whole.

While integration has many possible benefits, it can also put more demands on those who are in the position of serving as advocates for the unseen student, as tutors, counsellors or administrators.

There is also a trend towards regarding distance education as a profit making enterprise, which may require reaching out to new clientele, providing more short courses or non-credit programs to very specific groups of learners. Balancing the needs of the clientele with a profit-making mandate will require a shift in perspectives, roles and skills of distance educators.

Although the debate may continue about whether a single or dual mode distance institution serves students better, a more significant factor than the type of structure is the extent to which services to distance learners are centralized or decentralized. A centralized system is one that provides all course materials, registration, tutorial service, counselling and student support from one central location, using distance means, such as mail, telephone and computer contact, to serve its learners.

A decentralized system may have a centralized course development and course duplication system, but provide some or all of the following services through regional or local centres: registrations, student record keeping, assignment marking, tutorial services, student counselling. It is possible that decentralization can go one step further, sharing course development among course team members at several regional sites, or translating and duplicating course materials into a regional language at a regional centre. If the trend toward decentralization continues, it will further challenge the industrial model of mass production from a central location staffed with specialists (which has been used to describe centralized distance education), and replace it with a more community-based extension model, which relies more on generalists with a range of skills, especially the ability to communicate with other members of the organization at a distance.

Societal changes

Increasing acceptance of lifelong learning for both personal and professional growth will mean that both prospective learners and providers will consider distance education as a viable option to meet learning needs at various stages of life and careers. The value of distance education for improving qualifications of professionals in practice, such as teachers and nurses, has been demonstrated over 25 years of practice. Open and distance learning are being used in a wide range of settings: workplace learning, technology training, volunteer training, enhancing the range of subjects available in remote primary and secondary schools, etc. Distance education expertise could evolve into several layers, with experienced providers developing materials which are then offered at a distance by a number of smaller organizations, and also offering training in distance education practice to smaller, regional, or more specialized providers.

National programs

As distance education develops in support of a national system of education, especially at the tertiary level and in technical/vocational areas, there may be more need for roles in coordination and direction from a national or regional perspective.

Changing technologies

While print will remain as an important medium in distance education, the increasing use of other media may change approaches to distance education. As video and audio techniques and equipment become simpler and more affordable, it is very likely there will be a trend away from the production style more typical of broadcast standards, which requires substantial script preparation, studio work, and editing, towards a less formal, less produced standard, which requires a different working approach. Rather than a media expert reconfiguring raw material prepared by a subject matter expert, the subject matter experts will be required to become more familiar with the use of the medium, and the media expert will become a resource person and mentor, enabling others to become competent users of the medium. The increasing use of slow-scan video and similar technologies for real-time interaction can reinforce this trend, since the emphasis is on the quality of the interaction rather than on any given image or component. In the print medium, with the advent of desktop publishing, there are two divergent possibilities: one is that print preparation could become a more exclusive domain, in which content is transformed by media experts; and the other is that as subject matter experts have increasing access to and facility with computers, they will be able to work along with those with graphic design and computer expertise, to develop a familiarity with the medium and its capabilities.

2.2. Competencies and skills of ODL staff

Competence refers to a state of being well qualified to perform an activity, task or job function. When a person is competent to do something, he or she has achieved a state of competence that is recognizable and verifiable to a particular community of practitioners. A competency, then, refers to the way that a state of competence can be demonstrated to the relevant community. According to the International Board of Standards for Training, Performance and Instruction (IBSTPI), a competency involves a related set of knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable a person to effectively perform the activities of a given occupation or function in such a way that meets or exceeds the standards expected in a particular profession or work setting (Richey et al., 2001). The structure and assessment of competencies may differ from one community of practice to another and even within a community. Typically, a competency is divided into specific indicators describing the requisite knowledge, skills, attitudes and context of performance.

The competencies and skills that are essential for the successful ODL can be held by people - ODL practitioners - ODL staff in a number of different roles and in a number of different situations. Therefore we can approach the problem of competencies and skills of ODL staff from the two different points of view:

A. Either we can identify the required competencies for the single stages of the ODL programme life cycle (start-up, development, offering, and up-dating);
B. Or we can a priori determine the needed roles - staff categories and apply them as a model template to an institution.

In the next part we will focus on the approach A as this one is according to our experience more suitable one for the young developing organisations.

• Leadership competencies: any successful ODL programme or unit need a key person that has vision, influence and leadership skills to get the project started and take care of it in its first years. These competencies and skills are needed throughout the whole life cycle of the ODL programme and could be in one or several key individuals within the institution. From the beginning it might be the pro vice-chancellor or dean of continuing education faculty; later on it can be academic co-ordinator or manager of ODL programme.
• Administrative skills: logistic skills, planning skills, communication skills, financial management skills, change management, and information management skills. The roles of persons who have these competencies can very depending on the project phase and it may be manager of administrative university unit (usually at the very beginning) or administrator of DE unit (later on).
• Course development: team work skills, writing skills, knowledge in pedagogy, andragogy, and ODL, high level professional knowledge in the relevant field, communication skills, time management skills, feedback skills, and basic ICT skills. The following roles can be recognised at this stage: full time member of teaching staff at the home or other university, part time member of teaching staff at the home or other university, course author, instructional designer, multimedia specialist, subject leader (needs additional competencies).
• Course offering - teaching, tutoring, student support: awareness about adult learners' needs; expertise in a subject area; knowledge about how ODL works; ability to communicate students' needs to institution and vice versa; feedback and assessment skills; time and stress management; interpersonal skills in student advising, counselling, and problem solving. At this stage the individuals may be in the following roles: tutor, mentor, student advisor, student counsellor.
• Research and evaluation: the competencies in this field are needed at each phase of ODL programme life cycle.
• Logistics Co-ordination: These competencies are essential to the smooth operation of a distance education program. While the roles assigned to these important tasks tend to be considered "support" or "clerical", a distance education system cannot operate if the right materials are not sent out at the right time, if assignments are not handled correctly, if provisions are not made for secure operation of examinations.

Tasks and roles may vary, depending on:

• organizational or institutional context,
• on the stage of development of distance education, and
• on the goals of the distance education program.

2.3.1. Policy Making

Those in leadership positions are responsible, probably in consultation with those in leadership positions in the organisation as a whole, for establishing policies regarding major issues such as:

• Start up phase
  • scope and nature of the program;
  • population to be served, in terms of their learning needs, prior qualifications, age range, locale;
  • relationship of the proposed distance program to those offered by other providers, within the institution, and/or beyond the institution (either face to face or distance);
  • accreditation of the proposed program;
  • financial issues
  • articulating and promoting the concept of distance education inside the mother institution,
  • reaching agreement with other interested parties, such as educational providers, accrediting bodies, etc., about the relationship of the distance program to other programs, external acceptance of credit transfer and accreditation, etc.
• Implementation Phase
  • reviewing policies and determining if changes are needed for greater effectiveness and efficiency, or to serve new clientele, or to adapt to changing conditions within or beyond the organization
  • promotion and development of support for the program, within the organization, among prospective users, among employers, and in society as a whole
  • intra- and inter-organizational consultation on major issues such as accreditation, articulation of distance education programs and other educational opportunities, policy, etc.

Those in leadership and administrative positions are responsible for:

• Start Up Phase
  • preparing schedules and budgets for development and implementation of the program;
  • identifying and recruiting staff for providing administrative support, such as student registration, clerical support for course development, duplication and delivery, for handling assignment submissions, returns and record keeping, for setting up arrangements for examinations, secure duplication and delivery of examination materials, receipt and recording of students' exam papers; OR for arrangement with other units within the organization to handle some or all of these tasks as part of their responsibilities;
  • recruiting subject matter experts for course development, and/or identification and modification of appropriate course materials, (either on a full time or part time basis) OR identifying and obtaining agreements for secondments of appropriate individuals to take on these roles
  • identifying and recruiting a course development administrator and other staff to work with subject matter experts or course development teams, as instructional designers, media specialists, production specialists (either on a full or part time basis) OR identifying and obtaining agreements for secondments of appropriate individuals to take on these roles;
  • establishing, in consultation with course development administrator, systems and procedures for course development, course duplication and dispatch;
  • establishing systems and procedures for student enrollment, for record keeping, for assignments and examinations transmittal, in consultation with registrar or administrator of student records of main organization, and distance education student services administrator;
  • establishing a promotional and information program to announce the distance education program to prospective users, to gain support for it within the organization.
• Implementation Phase
  • monitoring the major activities of the unit or project, such as course development, production and dispatch, administration of student services and record keeping, evaluation;
  • identification of any problem areas that need review, determining if issue is in resource allocation, role structure, staffing, level of accountability, and taking action to remedy the problem;
  • actively sustaining communication and administrative links between central distance education unit and regional and local sites to ensure that systems to serve students through these sites are operating efficiently, to obtain feedback about any issues that are apparent to local or regional site coordinators.

Research may be conducted by staff within the distance education unit, as part of their job function, and/or by staff external to the distance education unit, depending on the scope and scale of the research endeavour and the requirements for expertise, familiarity with the program and objectivity, for any given project. Staff in the following positions within the distance education unit could be engaged in research projects: course development administrator, student services administrator, course team leader, course team member.

• Before the start up phase, staff are engaged in:
  • research to identify the need for the program, and
  • preparing advice for policy makers on feasibility, projected scope and scale, populations to be served
• During the start up phase, staff who have research skills would be responsible for:
  • developing appropriate systems to
    • record student characteristics, retention rates, points of drop-out, success rates, student
    • evaluation of course materials and processes;
    • monitor costs of course development and delivery;
    • monitor efficiency of course materials dispatch, receipt and return of assignments;
    • monitor tutor feedback (in conjunction with director of student services, if there is one).
• During the implementation phase, staff who have research skills would be responsible for:
  • monitoring the outcomes from the systems developed above; weighing and cross referencing information received, and recommending adjustments to the monitoring and evaluation systems based on this feedback;
  • recommending changes to course development processes or to instructional practice (tutoring, assignment marking, etc.) based on considered appraisal of information received from evaluation and monitoring processes, consultation with course authors and course tutors, student services, and administrative staff;
  • conducting needs analysis among current and prospective learners to identify learning needs that could be addressed by additional programs, courses, or subject areas.

2.3.4.1. Course development administrator

• Start Up Phase
  • establishing, in consultation with the senior administrator, systems and procedures for course development, including model schedules and budgets, recommended methods for needs analysis, course development, media selection and course evaluation, provisions for working with media specialists, whether these are external or internal members of the distance education unit;
  • establishing linkages with other units within the institution whose participation is needed in the course development process, such as the library, audio visual department, graphics department;
  • in consultation with senior administrator and/or academic department, recruiting subject matter experts for course development, and/or identification and modification of appropriate course materials, (either on a full time or part time basis) OR identifying and obtaining agreements for secondments of appropriate individuals to take on these roles;1
  • identifying and recruiting staff to work with subject matter experts or course development teams, as instructional designers, media specialists, production specialists (either on a full or part time basis) OR identifying and obtaining agreements for secondments of appropriate individuals to take on these roles;1
  • serving as a mentor to the first course development teams, providing consultation and workshops as needed; monitoring to identify any areas in which team members require additional help or expertise, and making arrangements to provide it;
  • developing procedures manuals and workshop materials to support course development teams;
  • establishing, in consultation with others with research capabilities, evaluation procedures to monitor the delivery phase and the final outcomes of the courses on offer.
• Implementation Phase and "After implementation" Phase (in the case of course development, it is difficult to distinguish between the start-up and the implementation phase).
  • monitoring the instructional phase of the first courses, obtaining feedback from tutors, learners, local centre administrators about any difficulties that require immediate attention, and ensuring these are addressed;
  • identifying any changes required to the course development process as indicated by any aspect of the course delivery process (for example, feedback from tutors or students may indicate that assignments are unmanageably lengthy and students cannot both complete them and proceed with the next required unit: this may indicate a need to test the assignments for length and complexity before including them);
  • planning a longer range course development schedule, taking into account the experience of the first course development teams, the potential of increasing expertise in subsequent teams;
  • preparing, in consultation with course developers, an initial budget and course development schedule for each course development project proposed;
  • maintaining linkages with other units within the organization whose participation is needed in the course development process;
  • recruiting subject matter experts for course development, and/or identification and modification of appropriate course materials, (either on a full time or part time basis) OR identifying and obtaining agreements for secondments of appropriate individuals to take on these roles;
  • identifying and recruiting staff to work with subject matter experts or course development teams, as instructional designers, media specialists, production specialists (either on a full or part time basis) OR identifying and obtaining agreements for secondments of appropriate individuals to take on these roles;
  • ongoing monitoring of each stage of all course preparation projects to ensure they are on budget and on schedule;
  • implementing evaluation procedures throughout the delivery phase, reviewing the final outcomes of the courses on offer, and recommending changes to the course materials and or the course delivery in response to the evaluation indicators;
  • actively developing and maintaining communications linkages with local and or regional site coordinators in order to obtain regular feedback about how the course materials are used, learners' perceptions, etc.

The subject matter expert is an individual with expertise in a particular content or subject area. Course development begins in the start up phase, and continues in the implementation phase, after the distance education program has been officially launched as new courses continue to be developed. There are core course development responsibilities and additional responsibilities particular to the start up and implementation phases.

• Start Up Phase
  • identifying the particular challenges and constraints in providing a distance education course in that subject area, (for example, making provision for field work in an environmental studies course, or providing for a practicum in a health care course);
  • in a dual mode institution, developing ways of demonstrating that the distance course provides the same learning outcomes as the face to face course, even if the methods and some of the content are different.
  • identifying the appropriate entry level competencies required for learners at the beginning of the course, and the outcomes on completion;
  • developing, in consultation with other course development members, an outline of the course, including the main content areas, instructional techniques, resource materials required, media choices, assessment approaches;
  • preparing course materials; writing course content, reviewing it with other course development team members; revising; preparing materials in non-print media, in consultation with experts in those media;
  • working on each stage of revision and course development, including the final stage before duplication, to ensure that the content, structure, assessment and intended outcomes are internally consistent and congruent with the intent of the course;
  • if the course is to be piloted, working closely with those administering the pilot arrangements, to ensure the arrangements are consistent with the intended outcomes, planning formative evaluation processes, reviewing results of pilot testing and formative evaluation and revising the course as appropriate.
• Implementation Phase
  • monitoring the first offering of the distance course, if possible, serving as an instructor or tutor for at least the first offering, providing immediate solutions if problems with the course materials jeopardise the possibility of successful completion, and noting any less serious course materials issues for later consideration;
  • making minor revisions to the course in response to consistent difficulties learners may have, or to changed content aspects (for example, new geographical boundaries, new scientific information);
  • preparing additional resource materials and/or assignment and examination materials;
  • working with course tutors on any issues they present about content, assessment, etc. to help clarify what is intended by course materials, etc.;
  • in a context in which the subject matter expert is also responsible for instructing the course, directly, and/or supervising tutors, this role includes supervising and monitoring the work of tutors to ensure consistency and fairness of assessment.

There are core course development responsibilities and additional responsibilities particular to the start up and implementation phases.

• Start Up Phase
  • assisting in the evaluation of procedures and frameworks established for course development, including scheduling, budget, course preparation processes, etc., by monitoring how well the procedures work in practice, recommending immediate changes if a procedural problem poses a major roadblock to successful completion of course development, and noting other issues for review and revision for future course developments.
  • assisting in the identification of learning and resource needs among members of the course development team, recommending to the course development administrator suitable approaches to addressing these needs, e.g. workshops in distance education, use of media; preparation of a list of useful books on course development, etc.
  • working with the subject matter specialist to identify appropriate entry level competencies required for learners at the beginning of the course, and the outcomes on completion;
  • working with the subject matter specialist to develop an outline of the course, including the main content areas, instructional techniques, resource materials required, media choices, assessment approaches;
  • reviewing course materials as they are prepared, providing comments and suggestions about level of language, presentation style, structure, size of units, use of graphics (illustrations, diagrams, etc.), use of media, linkages between components in different media, congruence of content, assessment approaches and expected outcomes;
  • working with subject matter specialist and media specialist to prepare non-print media components, including such tasks as script preparation, planning visuals, ensuring continuity between media component and learning objectives;
  • working with the subject matter specialist on each stage of revision and course development, including the final stage before duplication, to ensure that the content, structure, assessment and intended outcomes are internally consistent and congruent with the intent of the course;
  • if the course is to be piloted, working closely with the subject matter specialist and those administering the pilot arrangements, to ensure the piloting arrangements are consistent with the intended outcomes, planning formative evaluation processes, reviewing results of pilot testing and formative evaluation and recommending revisions to the course as appropriate;
  • working with subject matter specialist to plan evaluation of the course on an ongoing basis.
• Implementation Phase
  • consulting with the subject matter specialist during the first offering of a course, reviewing results of monitoring and feedback, recommending any changes needed immediately if difficulties jeopardize the learners' successful completion of the course, and suggesting changes for subsequent offerings of the course;
  • along with the course development administrator, identifying any changes required to the course development process as indicated by any aspect of the course delivery process (for example, feedback from tutors or students may indicate that assignments are unmanageably lengthy and students cannot both complete them and proceed with the next required unit: this may indicate a need to test the assignments for length and complexity before including them);
  • preparing recommendations on improving the course development process, based on feedback from other course team members, learners, etc., in order to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

As for the subject matter specialist and the course developer, the media specialist has core course development responsibilities, and additional responsibilities particular to start up and implementation phases:

• Start Up Phase
  • recommending to the course development administrator the range of media and their costs, suitable for prospective courses in distance education program, for the course development administrator to consider for inclusion in model budgets and procedures;
  • for media available for use in course development, preparation or assembly of information materials for course team members unfamiliar with media use, providing guidance on the most appropriate use of various media, timeframes, costs and logistics involved in production, considerations for student use, such as cost and accessibility;
  • if specific media are likely to be used in course development, preparation of information materials and workshops on how to use a given medium, production values for particular media.
  • in consultation with other course development team members, recommending appropriate uses of media for use in the course;
  • if administrative responsibilities are also part of role, communicating with course administrators within the distance education unit and at local or regional sites to ensure that facilities and/or equipment are available for media under consideration,;
  • working with course development team members to plan content and approach for a media production, including script preparation, visuals, ensuring continuity between media components and learning objectives;
  • working with course development team members to prepare a schedule and budget for media production;
  • in situations in which there are other media team members (for example, camera operators, graphic artists, post production editors, etc.) involved in the production, briefing media team about content and goals of the media component, and serving as liaison between the course development team members and the media team;
  • working closely with the course development team and the media team throughout the production process, to ensure best use of the medium, appropriate production values are maintained, learning goals are met, and scheduling and budget are on target;
  • if the course is to be piloted, assisting with the planning of the formative evaluation process, especially in relation to evaluating the effectiveness of the use of media, and recommending revisions as appropriate;
• Implementation Phase
  • if administrative responsibilities are part of role, maintaining communication with course administrators and with local or regional site coordinators to ensure that facilities and equipment needed for media use are still available and in good order; providing for repair, replacement as needed;
  • consulting with course development members during the first offering of a course, reviewing results of monitoring and feedback of media components, recommending any changes needed immediately if difficulties jeopardize the learners' successful completion of the course, and suggesting changes for subsequent offerings of the course.

The administrative support roles are crucial to the successful operation of a distance education program, primarily because they provide the learners' only channel into the education system. Unlike learners in a face to face situation, distance students have no alternative means of bypassing the system to get their message across. It is through the administrative staff that almost all of the information, resources and communication is relayed from the educational organization to the student and from the student to the educational organization, including course materials, instruction, assignments, accreditation procedures, examinations, counselling, etc.

A profile of these roles is provided below. Most roles are described as if they were the more senior position of a small group with similar responsibilities. This is for two reasons: in systems in which they are the sole person with that role, they carry all the responsibility for fulfilling that function and for coordination with other units, and in larger organizations, in which there are a number of people carrying out these functions, they would both supervise and carry out their own job functions, since few organizations are large enough to have people in these roles whose sole responsibility is supervision.

The following roles address the administrative functions required in a distance education unit.

2.3.5.1. Student services administrator

Depending on the projected size and rate of growth of the distance education program, a position to coordinate all aspects of administrative service to students may be needed at the very outset, or may evolve over the first few years, as an expansion of the information coordinator or enrollment coordinator's roles, for example. If the student services coordinator is on staff in the distance education unit from the beginning, these would be the first responsibilities.

• Start Up Phase
  • in consultation with the senior administrator, and with the organization as a whole, developing systems for student enrolment, record keeping, assignments and examinations coordination;
  • in consultation with senior administrator, establishing promotional and information program to announce the distance education program to prospective users and to gain support for it within the organization.
  
  In centralized system, also responsible for:

• setting up systems to provide student support at a distance, including tutorial, counselling, library service, using means appropriate to the context and feasible given communications and transportation systems available.2

In decentralized systems, also responsible for:

• setting up a system of local and regional sites for tutorials, administration and record keeping, promotion of programs, student counselling, library service, etc.;2
• preparation of information materials for staff of local and regional sites about procedures;
• development and delivery of workshops for staff of local and regional sites.


• Implementation Phase
  • monitoring efficiency and effectiveness of systems for student enrollment, course materials dispatch, assignment and examination handling; identifying and taking action to remedy problems;
  • handling liaison with regional and local study centres to ensure that materials, resources and equipment are available;
  • reviewing information and training needs of staff at local and regional study centres, preparation of information materials and /or workshops to address those needs;
  • handling liaison with coordinator, tutorial services, to ensure continuity between administrative services and academic support services;
  • handling liaison with organization as a whole regarding student record systems, student accreditation, financial systems.

Responsible for:

• promoting program, provision of information to those within and beyond the organization;
• preparing information materials, calendars, course descriptions, information about how to enrol; requires coordination with program administrators regarding accreditation information, cost of courses or programs, any logistical arrangements, etc., with course development staff regarding course description, and any other logistical requirements - access to media or to study centre, or to placement for practicum;
• developing connections with community groups, other educational organizations and public institutions, such as libraries, who are interested in disseminating information about the distance education program;
• preparing and placing advertising about the program;
• preparing press releases, media information regarding program.

2.3.5.3. Course materials preparation coordinator

Responsible for:

• preparing finished course materials, in consultation with course development teams and checking for accuracy prior to duplication;
• handling final preparation of print materials, by computer, stencil, etc., coordination with course team members, ensuring proofreading is completed;
• handling ongoing maintenance of existing courses, ensuring course materials masters are kept in good order, ensuring revisions are implemented, copyright permissions are current;
• attending to any other issues that may affect course currency, (e.g. ensuring that texts are available for text-dependent courses).

Responsible for:

• coordinating duplication of course materials both in house and externally;
• handling liaison with print shop, monitoring pricing, quality and delivery, ensuring materials received on time in good order;
• handling liaison with warehouse/dispatch area to ensure materials ready when they are scheduled to be dispatched.

Responsible for:

• supervising or monitoring assembly of course components, preparation of courses for distribution to students, either in bulk to regional or local centres, or individually by mail, other means;
• monitoring costs and efficiency of delivery systems used, reporting problems regarding lost materials, delivery time lags to administrative supervisor; liaison with regional/local centres regarding any delivery problems.

Responsible for:

• handling student enquiries, providing information about enrolment process to prospective students and to others within the organization;
• managing student enrollment process, ensuring enrolment processing is handled in sufficient time to provide for delivery of materials to students in time for course offering;
• handling receipts of tuition revenue, materials deposits, etc., noting on student record files, forwarding funds to the main organization for deposit;
• working with other units in the organization who are concerned with student registration, e.g. admissions officer, faculties in tertiary institutions;
• recommending systems for enrollment, student records to student services administrator, and developing systems in consultation with student services administrators.

Responsible for:

• preparing planning schedule each year for assignment receipt and return for all paced courses;
• providing all tutors with copy of schedule and procedural information and coordinating dispatch and receipt with them;
• receiving and recording student assignments, forwarding to tutors for marking, following up if assignments are not returned from tutor on schedule, recording all student marks, (as back up record), handling student complaints, enquiries.

  Examinations (in situations in which examinations are held under controlled circumstances):

• setting up arrangements for local examination centres (if there are no local or regional study centres); ensuring examination supervisors meet qualifications;
• setting up alternative arrangements (e.g. proctors) for any individuals who cannot attend examination centre;
• handling duplication and distribution of examination materials to exam centres ensuring security of exam materials and process;
• receiving returned examination scripts and distributing to tutors or instructors for marking;
• recording marks, ensuring that marks are received by deadline set by central organization.

In a decentralized system, in which a number of services are provided directly to distance education students in the district, the staff of the study centres take on a number of the administrative and academic responsibilities that may be coordinated by a central administrative unit, for example, assignment coordination, recruiting tutors, provision of academic counselling, etc.

The study centre coordinator serves as a primary link among staff of the study centre, the main distance education centre, and the learners. Responsibilities include:

• Start Up Phase
  • identifying (possibly in consultation with senior administrator) appropriate location for study centre, negotiating with host institution (if centre is in a local institution) regarding rental rates, provision of services and equipment, working hours, security, etc.;
  • organizing set up of study centre, obtaining equipment and supplies;
  • identifying (along with student services administrator and tutorial administrator) staffing needs, recruiting and hiring appropriate staff;
  • providing information and publicity about the local centre and the services it will provide (in consultation with information/promotions coordinator);
  • coordinating (along with student services administrator) systems for enrolling learners, receiving payments, dispatching materials.
• Implementation Phase
  • coordinating work of local staff providing administrative and academic services to local students;
  • coordinating workshops on tutoring and counselling;
  • serving as an information resource and academic counsellor for current and prospective students;
  • in situations in which course materials are duplicated locally, coordinating the receipt of master materials, translation, if required, and duplication and dispatch to students.

2.3.6.1. Tutorial services/student counselling coordinator

This individual is responsible for overseeing academic services provided to learners, including tutoring, assignment marking, on site sessions, academic student counselling. This is a somewhat different role than that of the student services administrator, who is responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of all the administrative systems that serve students. Depending on the organizational structure and goals, there may be some overlap between tutorial services and administrative services coordination, but, especially in a decentralized organization, it is important to have one individual responsible for coordinating the work of tutorial staff and academic counsellors.

Initially, this role may be that of student advisor/student counsellor, and it may expand into the role of tutorial services administrator. However, if the distance education program is planned for rapid expansion, it would be advisable to have this position as part of the staff complement from the outset.

• Start Up Phase
  • preparing job outlines for tutors, including required qualifications and attributes, responsibilities;
  • providing information and academic counselling to prospective students enquiring about program.

  In centralized system:

• providing information, making recommendations for hiring tutors to relevant academic departments.

  In decentralized system:

  • in consultation with the senior administrator and with local and regional site coordinators (and with the relevant academic department, if required), identifying and recruiting tutors for local and regional sites;
  • providing information materials and workshops on academic counselling to local and regional staff who will be meeting prospective students.

• Implementation Phase
  • providing information and workshops for training in tutoring and academic counselling to tutors and others in the distance education program;
  • providing information and academic counselling to current and prospective students enquiring about program.

  In centralized system:

  • serving as liaison between academic departments in main organization and administrative services of distance education unit.

  In decentralized system:

  • serving as liaison on issues related to tutoring and counselling among: academic departments in main organization, central distance education unit and local and regional study centres.

These individuals serve as the primary instructional contact for distance learners. Depending on the organizational structure and goals, the subject matter specialist who prepared a given course may also be the instructor and/or supervisor of tutors for that course. Tutors may be individuals who already have full time teaching appointments within the organization and who take on distance teaching responsibilities in addition to their regular workload; they may be part time instructors, they may be associated with the organization as graduate students or research assistants, or they may be graduates who have some teaching experience, and who live near local or regional study centres, or who live near the main institution, and are contracted to tutor on a part time basis.

Their responsibilities would include:

• Start Up Phase
  • developing familiarity with course materials (if the tutor has not had a role in course authorship);
  • obtaining a general profile of prospective students, their learning needs and goals, circumstances;
  • learning about principles of distance education and distance education tutoring, by reading, participation in workshops.
• Implementation Phase
  • coordinating with enrollment coordinator and assignments coordinator about number of students assigned, assignment scheduling, procedural requirements;
  • where feasible, contacting students as they are beginning work on the course, to identify any concerns, questions, and to establish a personal connection with students;
  • receiving and marking assignments and forwarding marks to appropriate person (usually an assignments coordinator) who records them on student record systems;
  • may prepare supplementary learning materials for distribution to students, for example, model answers, copies of exceptional student work, general commentaries about the assignments, common errors;
  • discussing any serious issues related to student work (e.g. possibility of plagiarism) with tutorial supervisor or with academic supervisor;
  • may have input into examination content, depending on allocation of responsibilities with course author or academic department;
  • receiving and marking final examinations and forwarding marks to appropriate person (usually an assignments coordinator) who records them on student record systems;
  • noting any serious and consistent difficulties learners have with the course, and bringing these to the attention of the course development team; assisting with remedial work on the course materials if required;
  • may participate in evaluation of course materials.

Library services may or may not be included as part of the distance education program. There are several schools of thought on this question. In an academic program, it is sometimes felt that learners should take the initiative to explore beyond the course materials provided, and refer to current literature when preparing papers. Others feel that any materials required for successful completion of the course should be included in the course materials, either as a text or as a reprint, and requiring learners to conduct library based research puts at a disadvantage those who do not have adequate access to these facilities. A third position recommends that learners have the opportunity to exercise some choice in their program, and provision for this is made by making available relevant resource materials on a variety of topics, that learners can select and obtain as needed, from the central library of the organization, as a package of reprints from the distance education unit, or from a special collection made available at local study centres.

If these options are to be made available for distance education, coordination will be required with the library at the main institution. Some distance education organizations designate one individual within the main library to serve the needs of distance students, others include serving distance students as part of the library's mandate, and still others develop mini-libraries which are assembled and shipped to the local study centres. However, in a dual mode system, it is most likely that the library services coordinator would be someone whose main responsibilities are with the main library of the institution, and who has additional responsibilities related to distance education. These are likely to be:

• Start Up Phase
  • advising senior administrator and course development manager on possible library services available for distance education, given resources and constraints available;
  • working with senior administrator and course development manager to establish viable systems to provide library services for distance education;
  • working with course development manager and course team members to identify library needs for any courses under development and to address ways of meeting those needs.

References

1. Ally, M. & Coldeway, D. O. (1999). Establishing competencies and curricula for the distance education expert at the Master's level. Journal of Distance Education, 14(1), 75-88.
2. Beaudoin, M. (1990). The instructor's changing role in distance education. The American Journal of Distance Education 4(2), 21-29.
3. Kinnaman, D.E. (1995). The future of distance education. Education Technologv & Learning 5 (4), 58.
4. Moore, M.G. & Kearsley, G. (1996). Distance education: a systems view. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
5. O'Rourke, J. (1993). Roles and Competencies in Distance Education. The Commonwealth of Learning.
6. Thach, E.C. (1993). Exploring the role of the deliverer in distance education. International Journal of Instructional Media 20(4), 289-307.
7. Thach, E.C. & Murphy, K.L. (1995). Competencies for distance education professionals. Educational Technology Research and Development, 43(1), 57-79.
8. Willis, B. (1992). Strategies for Teaching at a Distance. ERIC Digest. Eric Clearinghouse on Information Resources, Syracuse, N.Y.
9. Richey, R. C., Fields, D. C., & Foxon, M. (with Roberts, R. C., Spannaus, T. & Spector, J. M.) (2001). Instructional design competencies: The standards (3rd ed.). Syracuse, NY: ERIC Clearinghouse on Information and Technology. ED453803.

About Authors

Iveta Orbánová, Ing. Graduated in 1984 at the Technical University of Košice, Faculty of Civil Engineering. She has been active in the field of distance education since 1984. Holder of two diplomas of University Continuing Education Certification Programme at the Kennesaw State University, Atlanta, USA (1999-2002), Certificate in Open Learning from Heriot-Watt University, UK (1999). At present, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Public Administration, Department Economics, P.J. Safarik University in Kosice, Slovakia. The main professional areas of interest: open and distance education, eLearning, regional development, project management and project writing. Extended experience in the area of international programmes, coordinator, contractor or member of managerial and research teams of many EU and national funded projects (e.g. 5th framework programme, Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates, TEMPUS PHARE).

E-mail: orbanova@fvs.upjs.sk.

Nataša Urbančíková, M.S., Ph.D. Graduated in 1984 at the Technical University of Košice, Faculty of Electrotechnical Engineering, receiving Ph.D. degree in 1995 in Microelectronic. Holder of three diplomas of University Continuing Education Certification Programme at the Kennesaw State University, Atlanta, USA (1999-2002) and Education Administration Certificate at the Loyola University of Chicago, USA (1995). At present, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, Department of Management and Marketing (Marketing, Financial Institution Marketing, Marketing research) and project manager at the Institute of Regional and Community Development at the Technical University of Kosice. The area of interest: open and distance education, marketing, regional development, project management. Extended experience in the area of international programmes, coordinator, contractor or member of managerial and research teams of many EU and national funded projects (e.g. 4 and 5th framework programmes, Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates, TEMPUS PHARE).

E-mail: natasa.urbancikova@tuke.sk.