Student Support Services

Distance education students shall have reasonable and adequate access to the range of student services and student rights appropriate to support their learning and successful matriculation and graduation comparable to those offered to on-campus users.

Services should include the following: admissions, cashiers, accounts payable (refunds, billing, etc.), bookstore, course catalog, academic advising, technical assistance, registration, withdrawal from programmes, transfers, reinstatements, financial aid information, academic calendar, student records, library services, services for disabled students, policies, procedures, and protocols for taking courses.

Student Background

Degree program entrance requirements for distance education students shall be the same as they are for campus-based students. Distance education students shall meet the same course prerequisites as do campus-based students.

Help Desk Services

The ICDE shall provide a special Help Desk for distance education students, designed to serve as a central point of contact for both technical and non-technical needs. When Help Desk personnel are not personally on duty, telephone and/or online service will be provided to assist students with their needs.

Advising Services

The University distance education students shall have access to experienced advisers through email, telephone, and videoconferencing services. Students are referred to the appropriate adviser or department by the course instructor/facilitator. The advisor will be assigned by the Head of Administration in consultation with the various Heads of Departments concerned.

Learning Materials

The University distance education students, shall be given their learning package comprising of all modules for the semester courses and other materials in hard copies while access to soft copy versions shall be made available on-line including video recordings and other audio-visual materials upon successful registration of the programme

Library Resources

A wide range of electronic resources shall be made available from the ICDE and the University-wide library website for use by faculty and students. These resources shall include Virtual Library, reference resources, and licensed citation, abstracts, indexes, and full-text databases.

For more information, faculty and students are referred to the University On-line Library website. There are a number of electronic databases and articles from journals and newspapers which are available to distance education students. Students who take online classes may gain access to these databases after they have been authenticated via a proxy server.

The username and password which is used to access other information such as email and their student information system is also used for authentication. Students shall be provided distance education library services information via a short handout, Web, or other means to be included by the instructor/facilitator with the course materials.

Information regarding Web access to the University network should be included as well as the librarian’s contact information. Faculty/Facilitators shall be encouraged to incorporate the use of library resources in their distance education and e-learning courses.

Course Registration

Registration is available online for all students via www.gctuICDE.com.gh. The process is the same for distance education students as for on-campus students. All information which are required for registration will be provided to distance education students in a timely manner. Difficulties and/or questions about the registration process should be referred to the Deputy Registrar’s Office or to the student’s advisor.

Orientation

Orientation will be provided for all distance education students in the various learning centers by the Center Coordinators and their teams. The orientation is designed to familiarize new and prospective students with the online learning environment.