In 2001 preliminary discussions took place between Professor B.R.R.N. Mendis, Chairman of the UGC of Sri Lanka, and Professor G. Dhanarajan, President of COL, about the status of external degree provision in Sri Lankan universities. As a result, COL was requested to provide technical advice to the UGC on what measures could be taken to improve the quality and efficiency of external degree provision in Sri Lanka through the use of Open and Distance Learning as part of a larger government initiative to increase access to quality higher education in the country. It was agreed that COL would provide an expert consultant to investigate the current situation of external degrees provision in Sri Lankan universities and to report to the UGC so that they might identify where intervention on their part would be the most useful. After production of the consultant’s report, COL would organize and run a retreat/workshop for the Vice-Chancellors of the relevant universities and their chief administrators of external studies to discuss key issues pertaining to off-campus education and to consider organizational/institutional changes needed to provide an improved service to students