Creation and Mandate

The CLSU Open University was formally created on August 29, 1997 through CLSU Board of Regents Resolution No. 50-97. The mandate of the CLSU Open University is to provide education opportunities via degree and non-degree programs to disadvantaged individuals aspiring for higher education or for improved qualifications but who are unable to avail of the traditional modes of instruction.

The CLSU Open University is open as to people, places, and methods. Its main aim is to provide access to higher education to more people, to bring education to them, wherever they live, which in turn requires it to apply/adopt different methods because it cannot achieve its aims through traditional classroom teaching.

Mission

The mission of the CLSU Open University is to provide its students with opportunities to earn formal qualification as well as to develop in them the readiness for lifelong learning in today's knowledge society.

Objectives

Guided and propelled by the general objective of backstopping CLSU in undertaking efforts to make more meaningful contribution to the realization of the goals of national development through human resource development, the OU trains its efforts and resources towards the achievement of the following specific objectives, to wit:
Offer programs that are responsive to the needs of the learners and of their communities through distance education.
Institutionalize a system of continuing education to sustain professional growth and promote lifelong learning.
Package instructional materials for various curricular programs and clientele groups.
Establish a distance education network through collaborative arrangements, institutional linkages and other appropriate mechanisms to enhance the delivery of distance education programs and to generate awareness of and support to the CLSU distance learning program.

Mode of Delivery

Distance education is a mode of education delivery whereby teacher and learner are separated in time and space, and instruction is delivered through specially designed materials and methods using appropriate technologies, and supported by organizational and administrative structures and arrangements.

Learning Materials

The Open University students are provided with specially packaged printed instructional materials or self-learning modules which they study on their own most of the time. SLMs are prepared by a "quality circle" composed of a curriculum designer, who develops the subject based on the approved syllabus; subject matter specialist, who writes the module; a content critic; a language editor; and a media specialist or graphics artist.

Tutorial Sessions

A tutorial session is an important element of distance. It is conducted as part of the academic environment for optimal learning. The Open University conducts face-to-face tutorial sessions to enable students to interact with their tutors and peers. These sessions are held on campus and on-site at the designated Distance and Open Learning Centers (DOLCENs) and help students get acquainted with the University.Tutorial sessions are held five times a semester/term at intervals of two weeks to one month. Each tutorial session lasts for three hours. On-line, via telephone tutorials and other forms of tutorials have been adopted for faster delivery of lessons and for enhanced access to Open University graduate degree programs.