ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by considering the management of educational institutions. It deals with issues related to leadership and the management of staff involved in key areas particularly the development of materials and the support of student learning - and the management of the interface between the academic and operational and administrative areas of distance education systems. Individual subject areas may still be organised on departmental and faculty/school lines similar to those found in conventional systems, with full-time permanent academic staff and with academic leadership of the subject area vested in a head of department. The Academic Vice-rectorate working through Academic Producers in the various subject areas identifies and contracts external specialists to write the course books. The consensual and democratic models of policy formulation commonly found in areas formulating academic policy are quite inappropriate to the management of materials production and distribution processes.
