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The continued rapid growth of distance education programmes in higher education has brought concerns regarding how stakeholers perceive quality in distance education. The study examined the differences between the mean indicator ratings by different stakeholders in a distance learning programme. The study adopted a case study research design to collect data from 320 students, 56 facilitators and 24 administrative staff selected randomly from the Institute of Distance Learning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. The data collected through questionnaires were analysed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software, version 20. Mean indicator rating analysis revealed that students' highest perception of quality was on support services and the lowest was academic integrity and institutional prestige. Whilst both facilitators and administrators rated support services as the highest, infrastructure scored the lowest. The results of the study therefore, revealed common benchmarks and quality indicator (support services) that all parties deem important in designing, implementing, and evaluating distance education programmes. Respondents noted the lack of appropriate tools and media; unavailability of reliable technology and technological plan; ineffective communication and co-ordination; and, time constraints as some of the quality challenges for distance education at the Institute. The study recommends monitoring and evaluation of service delivery for distance learning programmes to ensure fitness for purpose, value for money and customer satisfaction.

African universities, with dwindling resources but increasing student enrolment, need strategies to reduce waste and risks. In planning for education, educational leaders often fail to have the right policies to deal with these risks. Translating policies into practice as regards managing risk is a challenge, but the need to have strong quality assurance systems in place to ensure effectiveness, efficiency and value for money in an educational eco-system and enterprise is important. In Ghana, many audit reports have recommended that higher education institutions must have risk register/policy and appropriate mechanisms to manage risks. Using policy reviews and a qualitative approach, this paper examines how 10 public universities in Ghana view the various risks that affect them and how they manage these risks. The paper presents a review of risk management and a small study exploring the extent of risk management in universities in Ghana. It makes recommendations for universities in general, and Africa in particular, to appreciate risk management as an effective tool to achieve their strategic objectives and as a mandate to transform Africa as stated in the Africa Union's Agenda 2063 and the United Nations (UN) SDG 4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the work of university administrative and professional staff in Ghana. The pandemic has affected higher education institutions (HEIs) throughout the world in the areas of teaching, learning, research and the provision of administrative support services. In this paper, we used survey data and in-depth interview transcripts to describe how a selection of administrative and professional staff from eight public universities in Ghana are affected. The survey targeted members of the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) which is made up of non-teaching Senior Members of the public universities. We found that the work of university administrators in Ghana was mainly office based with little or no virtual working schedules or platforms. We, therefore, predict a drastic shift from office-based working to blended-working schedules among university administrative and professional staff in the post- COVID-19 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]