Mumbai University’s CDOE launches its first ever completely online distance learning course

How many courses are offered by the CDOE? What is the status of admissions currently?

There are a total of 29 courses offered by CDOE including undergraduate (UG) and Post Graduation (PG) levels. All the information related to the courses is available on the CDOE’s website. Due to misunderstanding, many students visit Mumbai University’s website for CDOE information and admissions. But we have a separate website. The CDOE started admission to UG courses soon after the Class 12 result of Maharashtra State Board. Whereas for PG courses admissions started last week. The deadline for admission is set as August 30 which is likely to be extended.

Admission schedule is constantly updated on the website.

Is CDOE starting any new course this year?

We are starting a full-fledged online course on Master of Arts (MA) in Sociology. This will be Mumbai University CDOE’s first ever completely online course starting from admissions, lectures to exams and assessment. The course material is fully ready with video lectures as well as other study material. Along with this CDOE is also starting two short-term courses in online mode – Life Skills and Advance English Grammar. Anybody can take these courses at CDOE. In the credit-based system recommended under National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, students now have liberty to pursue a few credits through online mode by picking courses of their choice from various legitimate options available. As CDOE plans to offer such opportunities for a wide range of students, we are starting with these two courses which will be for 2-credits, each. Few more courses to be offered in online mode are in the pipeline. We have a set schedule for recording of lectures to ready course content.

What should students look out for while taking admission?

Aspirants need to note that there are two different portals for admissions for UG and PG courses and they should visit the correct portal. If they keep all the required documents ready, their admission can be completed online within 20 mins. As per guidelines by University Grants Commission (UGC), it is mandatory now for UG-students to create an ID for Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) at the time of taking admission for credit transfers. Whereas for PG students, apart from ABC, students also have to create an ID for Distance Education Bureau (DEB). This system is to ensure that students are not duped by bogus institutes because DEB ID can be created only through universities having UGC approval to offer courses in distance mode.

Is there any impact of the new name – CDOE?

The new name is a result of UGC’s instructions to all universities offering distance mode education. All of them are now called CDOE. This instead brings wide-spread national level recognition for the Mumbai University’s CDOE. With the beginning of new completely online courses, students from across India will be able to enrol with CDOE.

Students in distance education complain about delay in study material and results. Is CDOE taking any efforts to smoothen the process?

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the schedule maintained by the CDOE. But we are constantly working on improving the system. Study materials of all courses are now fully ready and made available to students at the time of admissions. Due to not having full-time professors, we do face a lag in the process of evaluation of papers. But CDOE works closely with professors of Mumbai University for the task. I am personally taking note of evaluations completed every day. It is constantly updated on our internal system to present it to the concerned department for constant review intended to speed up the process.