University Management Research Articles

Implications of Financial Distress on Tertiary Education in Nigeria

The study examined the implications of financial distress on tertiary Education Nigeria. The financial distress in tertiary institutions in Nigeria today can be attributed to poor management and leadership problems. This has tremendously affected the operations of higher institutions in Nigeria. The university system requires a lot of funds for effective administration to be able to achieve its goals. The inability of the government to stick to the UNESCO 26% of national budget for education has seriously affected the management of Nigerian universities. Most of Nigerian tertiary institutions today face a lot of problems due to financial distress. As many of them find it difficult to pay workers’ salaries, provide adequate infrastructure and teaching equipment. The causes and implications of financial distress on tertiary Education were examined. It was recommended that both federal and state governments need to collaborate more with the private sector to explore opportunities for raising non-traditional funds and participation in education financing. Also, government should stop the habit of diverting the funds meant for tertiary education projects to other sectors. In addition, funds disbursed for projects and programmes should be adequately supervised, monitored and evaluated to achieve effective implementation.

Influence of Individual Consideration on Organizational Performance on private Universities in Nairobi County, Kenya

Transformational leadership is a process in which leaders and followers help each other to advance to a higher level of morale and motivation, creating significant changes in the lives of people and organizations. The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of individualized consideration style on organization performance in private universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The objective that guided the study was to: establish the influence of individualized consideration on organizational performance in private universities in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study used Transformational Leadership Theory by Burns (1978) and the conceptual framework was based on the relationship between individualized consideration style and organizational performance. The sample comprised of 288 lecturers and 7 Deans of Academic Affairs of the chartered private universities, and questionnaires and interview guides were used to gather data. Validation of the questionnaires was through Cronbach’s Alpha and the use of expert judgement. The coefficient value was 0.879 at alpha = 0.05. Data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics, and the regression analysis showed a strong relationship between individualized consideration and the performance of private universities. The results revealed a positive and significant relationship between individualized consideration (β = .370, p<.05). It was concluded that offering leadership support and advice, mentorship, career development, and solving individual needs among their employees influences performance. The following recommendations were made: the management of private universities ought to offer leadership support and advice to their employees as this is important in improving their performance. Furthermore, they should realize that in order to realize higher performance for their institutions they need to ensure that the leaders in the institutions act as both mentors and coaches for the employees and recognize their contributions to the organization. The Deans of Academic Affairs need to attend seminars and training in transformational leadership so that they can be well-versed in transformational leadership skills, responsibilities, and characteristics.

Academia’s engagement with Sustainable Development Goals: status quo and barriers at Great Zimbabwe University

PurposeThis study aims to examine academic staff’s engagement with sustainable development goals (SDGs) in higher education institutions.Design/methodology/approachThe triangulation, convergence model of the mixed methods research design was adopted as the strategy for inquiry. A total of 56 questionnaires and 25 interviews were used to collect the data, and this was buttressed by document review and use of secondary data obtained from Scival.FindingsThe results show moderate levels of engagement of academic staff with the SDGs. However, SDGs familiarisation is not correlated with the rate of localisation. The lack of funding deflated political will by university management, demotivated academia and shrinking government support are the leading impediments to SDGs localisation.Research limitations/implicationsThe results could be improved by using a larger sample size equally distributed across disciplines. Triangulation of academics’ views with those of students and non-academic staff could have improved the understanding of other dynamics involved in the localisation of SDGs by university teaching staff.Practical implicationsThe results point towards the need for a university-based framework that interweaves national, institutional, thematic, structural and personal aspects into the SDGs implementation matrix. The underlying determinants of successful localisation of SDGs by academia need to be addressed through a bottom-up approach.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first attempt in Zimbabwe to exclusively look at University teaching staff’s engagement with SDGs.

Social Justice and Credible Leadership in the 21st Century University Leadership and Management

In this study we examined social justice and credible leadership in the 21st century university leadership and management. The research employed a correlational survey design. The population of the study comprised of academic staff of selected universities in the South-South geo political zone of Nigeria. The selected universities are University of Port Harcourt, University of Calabar, University of Delta, Niger Delta University, and University of Benin. The sample for the study comprised forty academic staff from each of the universities who were randomly selected after stratification. Out of the 240 questionnaires were distributed, only 214 copies were retrieved, of which 11 copies were invalid because some of the items were not answered, leaving the researcher with only 203(84.5%) response rate that were considered manageable for the data analysis. The study utilized a self-structured questionnaire titled Social Justice in Education Questionnaire (SJEQ) and Credible Leadership in University Management Questionnaire (CLUMQ), the Questionnaire consisted of three sections. Section ‘A’ gathered information on respondents demographic data, Section ‘B’ contained 15 items that addressed the research questions, and Section ‘C’ included 10 items that are related to Credible Leadership in University leadership and Management. Respondents rated items on a 4-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (Very Low Extent) to 4 (Very High Extent). Data collection was done from February to May 2024. The instrument underwent face and content validity by experts in measurement and evaluation in two Nigerian universities, and the internal consistency was verified using Cronbach's alpha and reliability indices of α = .872 and .789 were obtained respectively, the indices were considered very reliable. The questionnaires were administered with the help of two trained research assistants who assisted in ensuring instant retrieval of the instrument distribution to the selected academic staff members. Descriptive statistics: means and standard deviations were used to answer the research questions, while linear regression statistic was employed to test research hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The findings of this study revealed a positive relationship between social justice practices and leadership and management credibility in the 21st. The study concluded that the integration of social justice principles into leadership and management practices within university systems are essential. Amongst other things, the study recommended that University leaders should prioritize equitable resource allocation to ensure that all departments and programs receive the necessary resources to thrive.

Transformative approaches to managing student unrest in a South African university

Higher education and training institutions in South Africa have experienced widespread student unrest and crises in recent years, particularly within universities. This issue has been attributed to strained relationships between students and university management. Therefore, it is imperative to address the conflict gap between students and management in order to promote peaceful university operations. This study employed qualitative research, utilising decoloniality theory and a transformative paradigm lens within a qualitative research approach and participatory research design. Data was collected through focus group discussions (FGDs), with participants selected using a homogeneous sampling technique. For this study, three management employees, three students (SRC members), three lecturers, and three security officers from the chosen university were selected as participants using the homogeneous sampling technique. Data analysis was conducted using Braun and Clarke's six-step thematic analysis. One of the key findings is that the lack of a proper structure to manage unrest and the failure to involve students in decision-making pose significant challenges in the management of student unrest. The potential solutions to these challenges include the establishment of appropriate structures, the involvement of stakeholders in decision-making processes, and the development of common ground among stakeholders. These solutions could effectively address the issue at hand. Furthermore, a major recommendation is to engage society in order to address student unrest comprehensively. The study concludes that applying principles of openness and integrity is crucial in building and maintaining trust among stakeholders, as trust has been identified as a significant factor in bridging the gap between them.

Impact of Electronic-Governance on Students’ Management in Environmental Education Department University of Calabar-Calabar, Nigeria

Impact of Electronic-Governance on Students’ Management in Environmental Education Department University of Calabar-Calabar, Nigeria

Abnormal behavior monitoring enhanced smart university stadium under the background of “Internet plus”

AbstractWith the rapid development of the Internet of Things and 5G technology, smart university gymnasiums have become more and more important. However, it has become increasingly difficult for university gymnasium management, especially to detect abnormal behavior with dense crowds under limited venue space. To handle this issue, this paper designs an Artificial Intelligence Internet of Things (AIoT) abnormal behavior detection system which consists of the 5G camera, 5G transmission network and cloud platform. The 5G camera captures and transmits the video to the cloud platform by exploiting the 5G wireless sensor network. In the cloud platform, a hybrid variational autoencoder backbone which exploits the pre‐trained VGG16 and Transformer model is deployed to detect abnormal behaviors. Moreover, by introducing adversarial training mechanisms, the robustness of the proposed model is effectively improved. The experimental results on our self‐built gymnasium abnormal behavior dataset show that the proposed model can correctly identify most of the abnormal behaviors in the gymnasium compared to other models.

Student Satisfaction with Lecturer Performance at Pelita Harapan University

The study examined the relationship between student satisfaction and lecturer performance in higher education. This study aimed to identify and measure the relationship between student satisfaction levels and lecturer performance in the academic environment, as well as evaluate the validity and reliability of the research instruments used. This ex post facto research involved students from various majors at UPH Medan campus as the population. Samples were taken randomly using a proportional technique. Data were collected through a Likert scale-based questionnaire and analyzed using inferential statistics. Analysis steps include data grouping, tabulation, and hypothesis testing. Validity, reliability, and classical assumption tests were also applied to ensure the consistency and accuracy of the data. The results showed that all items in the questionnaire were valid, with the highest validity in item number 9 for student satisfaction and number 7 for lecturer performance. The instrument's reliability was also high, with Cronbach's Alpha values of 0.766 for student satisfaction and 0.773 for lecturer performance. The simple linear regression model shows that every one-unit increase in the student satisfaction variable increases lecturer performance by 0.260. The t-test and F-test confirm the significant effect of student satisfaction on lecturer performance, both partially and simultaneously. The Adjusted R Square value of 30.7% indicates that student satisfaction significantly influences lecturer performance. This study confirms that student satisfaction positively and significantly influences lecturer performance. This finding provides important implications for university management to improve lecturer performance through increasing student satisfaction.

Academic Resilience and Academic Engagement as Predictors of Academic Burnout among Postgraduate Students at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana

This article investigates the predictive roles of academic resilience and academic engagement in academic burnout among postgraduate students at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Guided by seven objectives transformed into three research questions and four hypotheses, a descriptive survey design with a quantitative approach was employed. The population consisted of 847 postgraduate students, with 265 participants selected through stratified and simple random sampling. Questionnaires were adapted to measure the study objectives, and data were analysed using simple linear regression and multiple linear regression analyses. The findings revealed significant predictive relationships between academic resilience, academic engagement, and academic burnout. A positive relationship was also established between academic resilience and academic engagement. The study concluded that academic resilience and engagement play crucial roles in predicting and understanding academic burnout among postgraduate students. It recommended collaborative efforts between university management, lecturers, and counsellors to implement policies and measures to address this issue.

Research on the Strategy of Promoting Innovation in Art Education Management in Colleges and Universities Through Self-Media Platforms

Art education is an important part of China’s socialist education system. It can improve students’ aesthetic literacy, stimulate their innovative potential, open up their thinking patterns, and enrich their emotional expressions, which plays an important role in improving students’ comprehensive quality. With the rapid development of network information technology, the relationship between self-media platforms and the management of art education in colleges and universities is becoming increasingly close. This paper aims to explore the innovative strategies of self-media platforms to promote the management of art education in colleges and universities, and to promote the innovative reform of art education management in colleges and universities.

Analysis of employment factors for university graduates in Kazakhstan

Having a university degree provides only a slight advantage over those without higher education, making other factors crucial in determining a graduate’s employment prospects. This study aims to analyze the factors that affect the employment of university graduates and define opportunities for public administration and university management in Kazakhstan. A logistic regression model based on primary data was used to examine the impact of the availability of practical experience and jobs in their specialty, social connections, technology development, and entrepreneurship on the likelihood of employment. The survey was conducted in 2022 and involved 300 graduates of the 2020–2021 academic year from all regions of Kazakhstan. Findings show that personal connections (F3) and technology and entrepreneurship (F4) positively impact graduates’ job prospects. However, lack of experience (F1) and the limited number of job offers (F2) reduce employment likelihood. If a graduate responds with 3 points for F1, 7 for F2, 7 for F3, and 1 for F4, they are less likely to secure a job in their specialty within a year of graduation. The main practical value of this study is that university career centers can use this model to predict the likelihood of graduates being employed. Providing a sophisticated online platform and different analytics-driven career services, open access to administrative data on the labor market, and new programs for students’ job experience and entrepreneurship will prepare university graduates for a dynamic labor market and reduce the mismatch between education and employment needs.

Power Of Social Media on Academic Achievement of Business Education Students in Universities in Anambra State, Nigeria

This study determines the power of social media on the academic achievement of business education students in universities in Anambra State. One research question guided the study. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population of the study consisted of 719 business education students in the three universities offering the programme. The entire population was used for the study. A structured questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach Alpha it yielded an overall coefficient index of 0.81. Data collected for the study were analyzed using mean and to answer the research question. The findings of the study revealed that the power of social media does not affect the academic achievement of business education students. Based on the findings, it was concluded that social media enhances the academic achievement of business education students. Consequently, it was recommended among others that lecturers and university management should include social media in the business education curriculum.

Faktor-Faktor yang Mempengaruhi Keputusan dalam Memilih Universitas Negeri di Indonesia: Studi pada Siswa-Siswi SMA Kelas XII Sumatera Utara

The objective of the research is to find out the main priority which highly influenced students to continue their study to the universities, especially public universities in Indonesia. Various facilities and services provided by the universities become the consideration in choosing the universities according their talent, interest, and selection. These alternatives are presented in 5 (five) criteria and sub-criteria which will be analyzed, and which factor that will become their main priority in choosing the universities according to their willingness and expectation. The research uses AHP method by calculating the weight of priority based on the response to the questionnaires in 111 Grade XII Senior Hight School students as the respondents from high ranking (A) schools in North Sumatera. The result of the research shows that of the five criteria, the criterion of University Image has the highest position with the weight of 0.33. In the highest priority of sub-criterion of University Image is International Accreditation with the weight of 0.24, and in sub-criterion of Tuition is cost of living, in sub-criterion of Tuition is cost of living, in sub-criterion of Location is the university which is located in urban area with the weight of 0.13, the sub-criterion of Facility and Infrastructure provided by the university is IT facility for Learning Media with the weight of 0.16. Therefore, based on the main priority of the criteria and each criterion which have been obtained, it is expected that the management of the public universities in Indonesia know what has to be heeded and improved in the interest of the prospective students.

Research on Countermeasures to Build a Green University Management System under the Concept of Ecological Education

Higher learning institutions have played a significant role in enhancing ecological education and ideological development among students. This is in response to the many problems occurring in the modern world concerning ideological and environmental aspects. Despite the efforts made by the state through increasing investments to deal with these aspects effectively, the resulting impact is not satisfactory. As a result, higher learning institutions have served as a significant area in offering solutions to these problems by nurturing high-level social talents. Education in higher learning institutions has dramatically expanded and integrated new research areas to counteract the limitations of traditional learning methods. Colleges and universities have upgraded their teaching activities and education sites in the modern era. However, these institutions have experienced many challenges and problems which have severely affected the ideological education ecosystem and the moral quality of students. The ecological education crisis in most learning institutions has become an unavoidable drift of the current education development. As a result, ideological education in colleges and universities is regarded as an ecosystem since it is analyzed from an ecological perspective. The ecology of ideological education refers to the environmental balance, law, and processes involved in the ideological education system. Furthermore, it incorporates value alignment and procedural thinking on the interaction between the environment and various aspects. Ecological and environmental development significantly impacts higher education students' values, emotions, and thoughts in the new environment. Therefore ecological changes have clear impacts on the living environment, which is in compliance with sustainable development concept.

Evaluation of Ambient Air Quality Levels at Various Locations Within Lead City University, Ibadan

BACKGROUND: Air quality in university environment is strongly affected by the student population explosion, climatic conditions and industrial activity within the institution. Monitoring the main air pollutants such as carbon dioxides, carbon monoxide and particulate matter may help control the most polluted areas of the institution and take measures to reduce the pollution.Universities are big metropolitan institutions with sizable populations of students, employees, and visitors. However, university settings can contribute to air pollution, with diverse activities such as lab work, cooking in dorms, and vehicle traffic, among others, causing interior and ambient air pollution. It is impossible to estimate how much air pollution affects the health and happiness of students without embarking on this type of research work. PURPOSE/AIM: Evaluation of meteorology parameters (i.e. temperature and relative humidity (RH)) and ambient air quality (CO, CO2 and particulate matter (PM2.5)) level at various locations within Lead City University, Ibadan is essential. METHODOLOGY: Ambient concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), Relative humidity (RH), Temperature (TEMP), and Particulate Matter (PM2.5) were measured in 15 locations across Lead City University over a two-week period (between 25th of June 2023 and 3rd of August 2023) with Bosean air quality detector -T-201. RESULTS: Morning temperatures in all the locations measured ranging from 23.7°C to 29.2°C while afternoon temperature fluctuates more significantly, with the lowest recorded at 27.2°C and the highest at a notably warmer 35.8°C in all the locations measured. The morning RH levels ranging from 63.8% to 74.7% while afternoon RH values, ranging from 58.2% to 63.4%. The finding also shows that afternoon CO2 levels range from 468.5 ppm to 971.6 ppm, with Location 13 having an unusually high average. Morning CO levels ranging from 4.1 ppm to 49 ppm, with location 13 showing the most highest figure of 184.2 ppm. CO2 and CO levels are mostly within acceptable ranges as recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) that CO2 concentration levels in school buildings should kept below 1000 ppm and CO be below an average of nine parts per million (ppm) for any eight-hour period, and below 25 ppm for any one-hour period as an indicative benchmark of good indoor air quality (IAQ). Morning RH values range from 63.8% to 74.7%, with Location 1 having the highest average while afternoon RH values are between 58.9% and 67.7%, with Location 6 having the highest average. The relatively narrow variance in RH indicates that the dataset predominantly represents conditions with moderate humidity levels. Morning PM levels vary from 8.9 to 17.1µg/m³, suggesting diverse air quality conditions across the samples. In the afternoon, PM concentrations display a broader range, from 8.9 to an exceptionally high 436.1 in Location 13. Interestingly, all the air pollutants measured are still within the USA EPA permissible level of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for PM2.5, which is 35 μg/m3, and CO, which is 40 mg/m3 and CO2 between 400 - 1,000ppm CONCLUSION: Variability in these parameters has implications for human health therefore, adequate ventilation and pollution control measures is thereby recommended for the university management in order to improve indoor air quality.

An Initial Exploration of the Reform of Human Resource Management in Universities

This paper aims to explore the issues of human resource management reform in universities and provide some preliminary exploration and suggestions. As important institutions for talent cultivation, universities face new challenges and changes in human resource management, requiring continuous adaptation and improvement. This paper first introduces the background and current situation of human resource management in universities, then discusses the necessity and challenges of reform. Through empirical research and case analysis, it summarizes the key elements and successful experiences of human resource management reform in universities. Finally, it proposes strategies and prospects for the reform of human resource management in universities.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL UNIVERSITIES IN THE CONDITIONS OF DIGITALIZATION, SMART ECONOMY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONAL TOURISM

The article defines the key aspects of methodical support of financial management of entrepreneurial universities in the conditions of digitalization, smart economy and development of educational tourism. Attention is focused on the fact that at this time Ukraine faced complex phenomena caused by the invasion of the Russian Federation on the territory of our state, which caused powerful changes in all sectors, industries and industries of Ukraine. It was noted that against the background of active digitalization and financial instability, migration shifts and the flow of human resources took place. In this context, there is a need for an active policy of creating and evaluating the effectiveness of the concept of financial management of entrepreneurial universities in the conditions of digitalization, smart economy and the development of educational tourism, taking into account the challenges faced by the modern economy of Ukraine. With the use of methods of production functions, the article proposes an assessment of the financial management of entrepreneurial universities. It was noted a need to increase the financial support of entrepreneurial universities, which is important for improving the quality of education and tax revenues at the regional and state levels. Attention is focused on the phenomenon of increased outflow of students outside of Ukraine with the simultaneous outflow of teaching staff abroad. It was noted that it is the effective financial policy of supporting entrepreneurial universities that can reduce negative phenomena in education.

Investigasi Determinan Faktor yang Memengaruhi Penyalahgunaan Aset pada Perguruan Tinggi

This study uses the fraud star theory approach to analyze the factors that influence asset missaproriation. The factors tested in this study are financial pressure, internal control system, quality of human resources, organizational culture, and integrity. The research uses a quantitative approach with a survey method of dsitributing questionnairies online. A total of 146 respondents related to asset management at univirsities in west kalimantan province became research respondents who were then tested and analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with the help of Smart PLS 3.3.3. The results showed that financial pressure and the quality human resources positively and signifianctly affected asset misuse. Organizational culture has a positive but insignificant effect on asset misuse. While the internal control system has a negative but insignificant effect on asset misuse, integrity has a negative and significant effect on asset misuse. The result of this study contribute as a reference for universities in implementing asset management policies wich can then be seen based on factors that influence asset misuse such as employees or official financial pressure, the quality human resources in the organization, the organizational culture that has been implemented in the organization, and integrity of employees. Good internal control system is also very important in universities an an effort so that asset management in universities can be carried out.

Statistical representation of university management as a means for sustainable development in connection with the productive sector

Organisations are constituted with a specific purpose or aim, however, in their productive action, collaborative work has been perceived in isolation, so that the lack of knowledge in the forms of interaction with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with MSMEs, limit, based on their advantages and particular characteristics, the generation of a proposal that provides them with the basis for proper management in their processes and linkage with HEIs, Therefore, the academy should consider strengthening through a model that allows HEIs to generate interaction and participation in AST for the strengthening of academic activities as well as help in the management of MSMEs' processes.

Cyberbullying: An Analytical Study of its Psychological and Social Effects on Female Students at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University

The aim of this study is to identify the reality of cyberbullying among female students at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University in order to recognize the phenomenon in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, its most common types, negative effects, and the university's efforts in this regard. The study relied on a quantitative descriptive approach to process the primary data through a questionnaire distributed to 67 students from various specialties. The data analysis revealed a number of results, the most important of which was that the level of exposure of female students to cyberbullying was moderate, with an average of about 2.58, and the most prominent forms were mockery and defamation. Without severe negative effects, according to the sample individuals, the average was about 2.93, and it manifested in isolation, increased sleep hours, and loss of confidence. The positive role of university management in confronting bullying through student activities was also evident, with an average of about 4.41. The study emphasized the importance of respecting university laws, values, and behaviors, raising the awareness of female students about the consequences of cyberbullying while maintaining personal secrets, and directing students on how to make the best use of modern technologies.