The AAOU Staff Exchange Fellowship Programme was created by the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU). Member institutions of AAOU offer reciprocal short-term visiting fellowships to distance education professionals so they can carry out research projects connected with the promotion and development of distance education. The aim is to increase academic exchanges between Asian open universities and promote intercollegiate research cooperation.
The programme is organised by the member institutions of the AAOU on a voluntary basis, and the AAOU secretariat issues the announcements on recruiting visiting scholars. Based on research focus of the different institutions, scholars from different regions will be chosen to conduct joint research.
The OUC has participated in the programme since 2007. OUC teachers have taken part in the programme and completed short-term (about 2-4 weeks) research exchange activities at Korea National Open University (KNOU), Indira Gandhi National Open University, Open University Malaysia, and Universitas Terbuka. The OUC has hosted academic exchange and cooperative research activities for the KNOU and Taiwan Open University. At the end of the exchange session, the scholar submits an academic report to the cooperative institution about their research achievements and their experiences during the study. Upon their return, the scholar also shares their research achievements in a school-wide report on an annual basis.