| Number of Students | 9,910 |
| Number of Students by DE mode | 5,000 |
| Number of Academic Staff | 270 |
| Summary of External Quality Assurance Processes | The National Quality Assurance and Accreditation policy is in place to regulate the quality of education in the Country. Each
institution has its own quality assurance policy including distance education. A separate quality assurance policy has been developed for the distance education institutions. National QA policy on distance education encourages institutions to develop and implement their own quality assurance policy. The UPNG Open College has a QA policy in place. |
| Summary of Quality Procedures | UPNG was created by Act of Parliament and is deemed to be self accrediting and are not subject to regular quality assurance
or accreditation as condition to funding. However, UPNG has its own quality assurance policy but it is yet to be applied rigorously. The Open College quality assurance policy was not designed and then implemented, but rather evolved along with the development of the institution. OC quality assurance refers to the standard and quality initiatives that were taken and introduced along with the development of systems, processes, and procedures, as well as resulting from emerging needs. The Open College has a comprehensive quality assurance policy and rigorously follows it at all level of its operation. Internal quality assurance processes involve regular and planned review of courses and programs using external peers to review content and relevance of each course offered. Quality assurance in the teaching and learning process involves evaluation of teaching by students and these student evaluations are taken into consideration for course evaluation. Quality assurance in distance education is conducted at course design and materials development level, as well as to assess delivery of courses. Regular surveys are conducted for student feedback, which is compiled and used for review of the course materials and the student support system. Courses are scheduled for review in a cycle of 4/5 years, but in practice it takes longer for such reviews. |
| Percentage of resources that are OER | 1-20% (Comment – about 10%) |
| Intellectual Property Rights Position | Owned by the institution but with some licensing back to the staff (Comment: Staff are paid for the development of content and, thus, content is considered as the property of the university. However, staff may use the content for teaching and learning, but not for profit making activities) |
| Expected changes for DE from the current strategy | The development of distance education in UPNG has been at an embryonic stage since the establishment of the Open College in
2001. It is now at development stage and the Open College Five Year Plan envisages to introduce: Multimedia and e-learning
(including a learning management system) Infrastructure for satellite communication Internal capacity for introducing e-learning Development of programs for professional and soft skill development Improvement of campus and centre management Improvement of student support services |
| Any future considerations for DE | Improving the management of study centres and establishing study centres in rural areas. |
| Summary of the impact of technology on distance education | E-Learning is yet to be introduced at the University. Plans are in place to develop the infrastructure facilities and capacity building for e-Learning. |
- Supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research
- Consultative partner status with UNESCO
- Affiliate member of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization
