Dashboard for Open and Distance Learning Regional Campus: A Case of The Zimbabwe Open University Regional Centres, A Focus on Mashonaland East Region.

Information has been invariably used for assessment (Ruben 1999), communication on the current performance level of the organization, benchmarking (Sybert 2012), monitoring institutional performance (Committee of University Chairmen, CUC 2006), provide strategic thinking and accountability (Thomas Reuters 2010). Dashboards as sources of information have not been used for continuous improvement purposes by operatives at shop-floor level. This qualitative paradigm using the case study design was used in this study to uncover academic and administrative staff's experiences and negotiate these with the researchers’ own experiences and position (Mertens 2005) to identify dashboard indicators for a Regional Campus in an open and distance learning institution using the case study of Mashonaland East Regional Campus of the Zimbabwe Open University. Focus group discussion was conducted to generate information from the academic staff while interviews were used with administrative staff in the Mashonaland East Regional Campus. The main areas identified by both academic and administrative staff were teaching and learning, research and innovation, community service, registration, library and information services, information and communication technology, financial indicators, module status and stakeholder satisfaction. The list is not in order of importance. The study recommends that these be used in a creative way to design and display the dashboard and continuously refined