College of Open and Distance Learning (CODL)

The CODL Head Office is located in Addis Ababa close to what is commonly known as Mexico (Maichew) Square. The CODL has sixty Coordinating Centers that are responsible for registration of students, distribution of learning materials, and organization and coordination of tutorial and examination sessions in the regions. The Centers are also responsible for liaising with government and non-government bodies and the peoples of the regions.

The Coordinating Centers are directly responsible to the Regional Desks in matters of administration, and all work at centers is monitored by the Desks.

The CODL is headed by its own Dean who is directly answerable to the President of the University College. It has a Vice-Dean who assists the Dean. Under the Dean, the CODL has the following organs: the Registrar, Student Support, the Editorial, Tutorial and Assessment Unit, the Practicals Unit, Finance, the Production Unit, the Distribution Unit, Regional Desks, and the Coordination Centers of the Regions.

The CODL places the highest value on diligence, teamwork, active student participation, transparency and accountability so as to ensure quality and sustained improvement as per highest national and international standards that contribute to Ethiopia’s development.
The CODL trains students both at the undergraduate level (10+1 and 10+2 Certificate, 10+3 Diploma and BA Degree) and post-graduate level (MA Degree). The post-graduate program is given in partnership with the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). For further information on the post-graduate program, see the section under IGNOU.

So far, the CODL has generated a large number of graduates with first degrees, diplomas and certificates.

The CODL has both academic and support staff who work on full-time, short-term contract, and part-time bases. The full-time staff are about three hundred while those who serve on short-term contract and part-time bases are more than two hundred. The academic staff members’ qualifications range from BA’s to PhD’s.

In its attempt to encourage its staff to improve their qualifications, SMUC grants workload reduction for its full-time staff to pursue their studies at post-graduate level and encourages its administrative staff to pursue their studies at the undergraduate level, too. A considerable number of its staff have made use of this opportunity. The CODL gives scholarships to deserving members of its staff to pursue their studies in its own programs at undergraduate level. Short-term training and workshops are also given, both within SMUC and outside, to members of its staff.

To enhance the quality of the distance education provided, the CODL has several unique features. Firstly, in its many Coordination Centers, it has IT facilities and computer training laboratories for students and dial-up connections with the Head Office. At strategic Coordination Centers, it has Natural Science laboratory facilities for use by Teacher Education Diploma level students. Located at the Head Office, the Audio-Video Studio produces audio and audio-video materials and CDs that are distributed together with learning modules with no additional cost to students. The CODL is in a class of its own among Private Higher Education Institutions in Ethiopia as it produces quality print learning materials including modules at its own printing press.